sábado, 26 de febrero de 2011


DOES RETELLING TECHNIQUE 
IMPROVE SPEAKING FLUENCY?
Noor Rachmawaty
(itaw75123@yahoo.com)
Istanti Hermagustiana
(dulcemaria_81@yahoo.com)
Universitas Mulawarman, Indonesia
Learning a new language is both an autonomous process and a collaborative one. It is autonomous when a learner learns independently, while it is 
collaborative when learners and a teacher work together. Lindsay and 
Knight (2006) point out that the language learning process itself can be divided into five stages: 
Input, Noticing, Recognizing Patterns and Rule Making,Use and 
Rule modification, Automating.
Lindsay and Knight (2006) further explain that input of the target language is essential for learners; it can be an exposure to the language in either 
oral or written forms, in formal or informal settings. The next stage is noticing in which learners become aware of the language to which they are exposed. Teacher’s role in helping learners know the gap in their learning is 2 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 21, Number 1, February 2010     
also countable in this process. Once learners have the capability of noticing 
the rule patterns of the target language, they will start to apply their knowledge in writing or speaking activities. At a certain point learners will begin 
to use the target language intuitively more like the way they use their first 
language (L1).  At this stage, the target language has been stored in their 
memory so that it is immediately accessible and remains there.
Though individuals have similar process of learning a language, they 
have different capability of processing the input they get. Students in one 
class have different abilities in absorbing the knowledge as well as in performing the competencies in the target language. Therefore, teacher often 
finds a number of students who have low proficiencies in producing the 
target language they are learning. 
Normally, in the English  Language Teaching program in Indonesian 
universities/colleges, the students are trained to be English teachers at elementary to senior high school levels. This means being proficient in English is important as they will be role models for their future students. Therefore, in the first up to the fourth semesters, the students must take some micro skill courses such as Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. These 
courses are the pre-requisites before they take the higher level courses. 
Knowing that being able to produce both spoken and written English 
fluently and accurately is important for future English teachers, we decided 
to focus on students who have low proficiency in English. Speaking class 
was considered an appropriate class to conduct the study as we could categorize students into different levels based on their performance. The students or respondents in this study were those who had joined Speaking I to 
Speaking III classes and were taught by the same lecturer. Their ability in 
producing spoken English was considered ‘low’ though they had joined the 
speaking classes. The term ‘low’ in this case means that when the students 
were asked to speak there were problems:  there were  pauses, unnatural 
speech patterns which were difficult to listen to, incorrect pronunciations
and sentence structures, and lack of vocabulary. 
One of the goals in an  EFL Speaking class is improving students’ 
communicative skill so they can express themselves using the target language appropriately based on its social and cultural contexts. In order to achieve the goals teachers apply different teaching techniques in the classroom. Yet, it is widely known that no best single method or technique to
apply in the teaching and learning process; the choice of methods depends 
on the types of learners, learners’ motivation in learning new language, 
learners’ attitudes towards language learning and so on.Rachmawaty & Hermagustiana, Retelling Technique  3
Storytelling technique has been known as one of teaching activities in 
second or foreign language classes. One of the reasons is because it relies 
so much on words, offering a major and constant source of language experience  for children (Wright, 1995 in Xu, 2007). In addition, stories themselves can be considered language treasures to use as models of language 
for students of different levels and ages. 
Kalmback (1986) in Stoicovy (2004) states that retelling is a process 
of re-memorizing what we listened to and read. Further, Stoicovy states that 
in relation to language teaching, retelling technique can be used as a way to 
promote students’ comprehension and understanding of discourse.
Stoicovy (2004) also points out that based on several studies, retelling 
has positive influence in language learning as it promotes students’ ability 
in rearranging information from the text that they have read. In addition, 
Brown & Cambourne (1987) mention that during the retelling process students apply and develop their language knowledge through the internalization of the texts’ features. 
Retelling helps teachers identify the level of students’ comprehension 
of what they listen to or read. In addition retelling is a common way that 
many people use as part of their communication. To overcome the difficulty in using the target language, telling stories is one of the recommended 
techniques which can help language learners in improving his  knowledge 
of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and pronunciation. Moreover stories 
provide various topics for learners to begin a conversation with others 
(Deacon and Murphey, 2001). 
Based on the arguments  for the positive influence of retelling in language learning,  we decided to see the influence of retelling  of  students’ 
fluency by conducting this study. The students here were students whose 
language proficiency was categorized as ’Low’.
METHOD
The research subjects were six English students in  a remedial class. 
The students were placed in this class  because  they had some speaking 
problems. 
We made use of an English reading text to gain some data in this 
study. The subjects were required to read a story and then retold it. Their 
speech was recorded and transcribed. Additionally, a questionnaire was 
used to support the data found in the transcripts. The questionnaire basically elicited the students’ strategies in pre and while ‘Retelling’.4 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 21, Number 1, February 2010     
To collect the data, we provided the subjects a short reading text to retell. First, each subject read the text for 30 minutes. Then, they had a few 
minutes to get prepared before retelling the text on their own. While retelling, each subject’s speech was recorded. This recording was then transcribed and analyzed to figure out the speaking fluency level and the subjects’ comprehension of the text. The last step was to give a questionnaire 
to all of the subjects to discover the use of speaking strategies in the retelling process.
We gave a total of six reading texts when we conducted the treatments. 
The procedure of retelling in the treatment period was similar to that in the 
pre-test and the post-test. The data were analyzed by calculating the mean 
scores of the pre-test and the post-test. After the result was obtained, we 
used a test of correlation. It was used to find out whether the retelling technique affected the students’ speaking fluency significantly.
Two raters did the scoring of the tests in order to achieve inter-rater reliability. Moreover, the data from the questionnaire were also analyzed to 
figure out the speaking strategies applied during the process of retelling the 
story.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After the pre- and post-tests were given, we had the overall scores of 
retelling performed by the participants along with the calculation of the 
mean scores.
Table 1. Overall Scores of Pre-Test and Post-test
Pre-Test Post-test
Scorer 1 Scorer 2 Mean Conversion Scorer 1 Scorer 2 Mean Conversion
30 17 23.5 D 57 52 54.5 C
17 17 17 E 52 57 54.5 C
17 17 17 E 44 52 48 C
52 43 47.5 C 65 57 61 C
30 17 23.5 D 39 52 45.5 C
9 9 9 E 39 48 43.5 C
Data Analysis
We arrange the data into a table which shows the number and the letter 
conversion. This is to show whether the retelling techniques given during 
the treatment gave a significant effect to the participants’ speaking fluency.Rachmawaty & Hermagustiana, Retelling Technique  5
Table 2 contains of the percentage of the participants’ speaking score 
in the pre-test. It shows that 16.7% of the participants were good at retelling 
the story. This was proven by ‘C’, meaning good enough when we converted it into the rubric of assessment. The other participants with the percentages of 33.3% and 50% obtained ‘D’ and ‘E’ respectively.
Table 2. The Percentage of the Pre-test
Conversion letter Frequency Percentage
A+ 0 0
A 0 0
A- 0 0
B+ 0 0
B 0 0
B- 0 0
C+ 0 0
C 1 16.7%
C- 0 0
D+ 0 0
D 0 0
D- 2 33.3%
E 3 50%
Total 100%
Table 3 comprises the percentage of the participants’ speaking scores 
in the post-test. It shows that there was an increase in the participants’ fluency in retelling the story. 16.7% of the participants were better at retelling 
the story compared to the pre-test. In addition, no participants in the posttest obtained ‘D’ or ‘E’. 
Table 3. The Percentage of the Post-test
Conversion letter Frequency Percentage
A+ 0 0
A 0 0
A- 0 0
B+ 0 0
B 0 0
B- 0 0
C+ 1 16.7%
C 4 66.6%
C- 1 16.7%
D+ 0 06 TEFLIN Journal, Volume 21, Number 1, February 2010     
Table continued
D 0 0
D- 0 0
E 0 0
Total 100%
From the scores of the  pre- and post-tests, we  ran a t-test to see whether 
significant difference exists in this study. The calculation shows that the ttest value was statistically greater than the t-table value. We came up with 
the final conclusion that the retelling technique given during the treatment 
period had a significant effect on the participants’ English speaking fluency.
Some aspects in speaking will be discussed in accordance with the participants’ progress in retelling the story. The first criterion is comprehensibility. In the pre-test, for example, the sixth participant misunderstood the 
story. Instead of saying “He was not very happy”, she said “He was very 
happy”. This was fatal, for it changed the content of the story. However, the 
implementation of  retelling technique could reduce the mistake. This was 
apparent in the transcript of the post test done by the first subject. In the 
pre-test, the subject could only deal with less than 80% of the whole story, 
whereas, in the post-test, he was able to finish the story. 
Vocabulary is also of importance. This aspect became a consideration 
when the participants’ speaking fluency was assessed. The increase on vocabulary can be seen clearly as all participants showed good progress in 
retelling the story. Some participants have successfully applied words different from the original text but had similar implied meanings. The following is an example:
They the turtle see many new things.
The phrase new things was used by the fourth subject to replace the phrase 
in the sentence “You can see mountains, oceans, and cities-all the things 
you want to see.”
Generally, the strategies used by the participants in retelling a story 
began with rewriting the text by deleting some unknown words, then memorizing it. When they had trouble recalling the words in their draft, they 
tried to continue the story in some ways: by skipping the forgotten words, 
or trying to speak in a halting manner. We argue that what they have implemented is part of strategic competence that they use to negotiate the content of the story. This is in line with the definition of strategic competence 
as the ability to use strategies such as paraphrasing, repetition, avoidance of 
the unfamiliar words or terms, and word guessing (Savignon, 1997).Rachmawaty & Hermagustiana, Retelling Technique  7
From the abovementioned discussion, we come up with a conclusion 
that the research subjects or the participants have applied various strategies 
in the retelling process and those strategies are able to help them speak 
fluently.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Based on the research findings, we draw some conclusions as follows. 
Retelling is considered a technique which can be applied to improve students’ speaking fluency. This is indicated a number of statistical data, First,
all of the participants produced higher scores in the post-test than those in 
the pre-test. Second, before the participants used the technique of retelling, 
the mean score was 22.9, and after the treatment was given to the participants, the main score was 51.17. Third, the t-score was 7.77. This score was 
higher than the t-table, 2.571. This shows that the treatment given to the 
participants affects their speaking fluency significantly.  In addition, the 
study revealed some findings regarding the remedial students’ retelling.
First, before retelling a story in English, the students made some notes in 
which there were a list of words, phrases, or simple sentences used as a 
speaking guide. Secondly, there was a tendency of avoiding unfamiliar 
words in the texts; instead, they preferred using their own words. Additionally, from the transcripts, it is seen that that strategy was frequently used in 
retelling the stories.
In accordance with the previous conclusions, we suggest some points 
for the improvement of speaking fluency quality of English students. First, 
speaking lecturers are expected to implement the retelling technique more 
often than usual in order to develop students’ speaking fluency. Second, the 
students themselves need to actively collect short stories to retell in or outside the class. This is advised to be done in pairs or groups. The last suggestion is for  researchers to carry  out further research that may  study the 
aspect of techniques or methods on students’ speaking fluency. Further studies should involve a bigger number of research subjects, be carried out in 
a longer time frame and consider the length of the text as well as the proficiency level in order that the more valid and generalizable findings can be 


Abstract

Does retelling technique improve speaking fluency?
Learning a new language is an autonomous and collaborative process, learners can learn by themselves or with a teacher. According to Lindsay and Knight (2006) there are five stages in the language learning process such as: input, noticing, recognizing patterns and rule making, use and rule modification and automating. The research was made up with a population of Indonesian students that are going to be English teachers, and that are supposed to skill all the stages named above and a sample of six low level students who does not speak fluently. First, the initial level of the research was determine through a pre-test the student’s skills, then the treatment which consisted on retelling stories six times, and finally a post-test to determine if the treatment was efficient. The data was analyzed through speaking transcripts to see the progress, showing that student’s fluency increased a lot by improving their vocabulary and comprehensibility. 

sábado, 12 de febrero de 2011

Reducing Sentences Exercises

I. Schenker, in her article “Smart House”, houses will be networked making people’s life easier and more comfortable. The electronic devices will be connected to internet and will have special chips to control housework, communications, shopping, bills or people social life. The disadvantages of having a networked  home do not seem to be significant. People will just have to pay some extra dollars for the chips, the connection to internet and the security to protect the system against pirating. The maintenance will not have to be afforded because the service will repair themselves. In short, the money that people will not mean much considering all the benefits of having a smart house. (110)
II.   This study went through 1,600 marginal and end comments written on 110 drafts of essays by 47 universities ESL advanced students, considering the pragmatic goals and the linguistic features of each comment. (2) Then, drafts of each individual essay were examined to observe the influence of the first draft commentary on the students’ revisions and assess the changes that were made in response to the teacher’s feedback improved the essays. (3) A significant proportion of the comments led to substantive student revision, and there were particular types of commentary that were more helpful than others. (4) The final results are suggestive of several important implications for L2 writing instruction and future studies on a vital neglected topic. (115)
  
Adam Smith, founder of modern economics, proposed a theory that made controversial. This economist educated in England, wrote the first study of political economy. The Wealth of Nations published in the same year that Americans declared their independence from England in 1776. Smith’s book pointed out and directed attention to the interdependence of freedom, order, economic processes and free trade laws. His influence during his lifetime did not affect economic, but it was considerable in the next century. “The invisible hand” and “laissez-faire” are synonymous with Smith’s names. Some people will say “He was a good man- he really understood how business works!” and others “He was an evil man- really sold the average citizen down the river”. Both reactions are extreme, but indicate controversy aroused by Smith’s ideas is still alive.  

miércoles, 1 de diciembre de 2010

Paraphrasing

Exercise 1
Paraphrase each sentence. They may be more than one way to rewrite each one. Remember to change vocabulary, phrases and sentence structure wherever you can.
1.   Despite their massive size, elephants are known for being agile.
Although their huge size, elephants are recognized for been agile.

2.   Because elephants consume up to 500 pounds of food a day, they are able to strip a forest bare in no time.
      Elephants eat up to 500 pounds a day, for that reason they can pull down a forest quickly.

3.   Over the centuries, lions have been used in art to represent power and magnificence.
      Lions have been used in art to simbolize strength and bravery for ages.

4.   Lions are social animals with one dominant male in each pride.
      Lions are interacting animal that have one male that is authority in each pride.

5.   George Washington Carver was a dedicated teacher, in addition, he was known as a talented artist, musician, and researcher who made valuable contributions to his people and his country.
George Washington carver who was a devoted teacher and was known as a very good artist, musician and researcher, made important contributions to his community and his country.

6.   Archibald McLeish, known for his poetry, was appointed head of the Library of Congress by President Roosevelt in 1939.
      President Roosevelt named Archibald McLeish who is known for his poetry, head of the Library of Congress in 1939. 
Exercise 2
Read each paragraph and state the main idea in your own words. If you find the main idea stated directly in the paragraph, be sure to use the paraphrasing techniques that you practice in exercise one.
1.   There is plenty of water on the earth. In fact, there is enough water in this planet for everyone to have huge lake. The trouble is that the water is not always found in the place where it is needed. In addition, much of the water is polluted or salty. Because of these problems, there are many people without sufficient water.
Main Idea: Problems that are with water aroun the world.

2.   New oil supplies need to be found to replace those that have been used up. There is a constant search for new oil fields. Oil hunters sink their wells there are signs of oil. Each of these drillings costs thousands and thousands of dollars, and often there is not enough oil to make it profitable. Nevertheless, the search for new oil never ends.
Main idea: The search of new oil to replace those that have already been used.

3.   Quakers, a religious group known as the Society of Friends, have always worked for human causes. Before the Civil War in the United States, they were against slavery and led the movement to help slaves escape from the southern part of the United States and seek freedom in the northern part. Today, they fight hunger and disease around the globe and still aid people fleeing tyranny and war. Their beliefs are based on the principles of pacifism and simple living.
Main idea: Purpose of the Quaker's work. 
Exercise 3
Fill in the outline and write a 100 word summary.
Thesis: Students should be take into account at the moment of make decisions at the faculty.
I (Main idea) Students should be informed about the process of selecting faculty members.
II (Main idea) Students are the only ones who knows what they need to learn and they should participate in the creation of the curriculum.
III (Main idea) Students must discuss about the injustices they percieve in the faculty sistem.
Summary
Although students are the only ones who know what university should do for them, they never are asked what they think about topics like the selection of schedule, curriculum and faculty members. So this is one of the major issues in the faculty, because if students are the ones who spend hours studuying subjects selected by other people, they should be asked what they want to learn and how they want to do it. Another point is the selection of professors, the best personal to evaluate are the students and they just know the professor the first day of class. Furthermore they are no even ask about the schedule although the hours at which classes are offered affect them dayli, but the worst thing about it is that students do not do anything about it even though it affects them directly.
Clouds
This picture is a perfect capture of the clouds over the ocean and it transmits me a state of peace and quiteness, because I feel like I am flying and going to a better place, where everything is peace, and if you look at it carefully you find shapes in the clouds, it is just fascinating.

martes, 9 de noviembre de 2010

Identifying Topics, Main Ideas, and Supporting Details

I found this information at http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/308.HTM
Understanding the topic of a textbook chapter, an article, a paragraph, a sentence or a passage is a sophisticated reading task. Being able to draw conclusions, evaluate, and critically interpret articles or chapters is important for overall comprehension in college reading. Textbook chapters, articles, paragraphs, sentences, or passages all have topics and main ideas. The topic is the broad, general theme or message. It is what some call the subject. The main idea is the "key concept" being expressed. Details, major and minor, support the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many. Locating the topic, main idea, and supporting details helps you understand the point(s) the writer is attempting to express. Identifying the relationship between these will increase your comprehension.

Grasping the Main Idea:

Every paragraph has a key concept or main idea. The main idea is the most important piece of information the author wants you to know about the concept of that paragraph.
When authors write they have an idea in mind that they are trying to get across. This is especially true as authors compose paragraphs. An author organizes each paragraph's main idea and supporting details in support of the topic or central theme, and each paragraph supports the paragraph preceding it.
A writer will state his/her main idea explicitly somewhere in the paragraph. That main idea may be stated at the beginning of the paragraph, in the middle, or at the end. The sentence in which the main idea is stated is the topic sentence of that paragraph.
The topic sentence announces the general theme ( or portion of the theme) to be dealt with in the paragraph. Although the topic sentence may appear anywhere in the paragraph, it is usually first - and for a very good reason. This sentence provides the focus for the writer while writing and for the reader while reading. When you find the topic sentence, be sure to underline it so that it will stand out not only now, but also later when you review.

Identifying the Topic:

The first thing you must be able to do to get at the main idea of a paragraph is to identify the topic - the subject of the paragraph. Think of the paragraph as a wheel with the topic being the hub - the central core around which the whole wheel (or paragraph) spins. Your strategy for topic identification is simply to ask yourself the question, "What is this about?" Keep asking yourself that question as you read a paragraph, until the answer to your question becomes clear. Sometimes you can spot the topic by looking for a word or two that repeat. Usually you can state the topic in a few words.
There are three types of paragraph
Introductory paragraphs tell you, in advance, such things as (1) the main ideas of the chapter or section; (2) the extent or limits of the coverage; (3) how the topic is developed; and (4) the writer's attitude toward the topic. Transitional paragraphs are usually short; their sole function is to tie together what you have read so far and what is to come - to set the stage for succeeding ideas of the chapter or section. Summarizing paragraphs are used to restate briefly the main ideas of the chapter or section. The writer may also draw some conclusion from these ideas, or speculate on some conclusion based on the evidence he/she has presented.
All three types should alert you: the introductory paragraph of things to come; the transitional paragraph of a new topic; and the summarizing paragraph of main ideas that you should have gotten.