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e. Conversations

One of the recent trends in oral skills pedagogy is the

emphasis on having students analyze and evaluate the language
that they or others produce. In other word, it is not adequate to

have students produce lots of language; they must become more
meta-linguistically aware of many features of language in order

to become competent speakers and interlocutors in English.

One speaking activity which is particularly suited to this kind
of analysis is conversation, the most fundamental form of oral

communication (Murcia, 2001: 108).

11. Factor Affecting Students Speaking Ability

According to Shumin in Richards and Reynandya, (2002:

205) there are four factors that affect student oral
communication ability; these are age or maturational

constraints, aural medium, socio-cultural factors and
affective factors. Below are the explanations of the four factors

that affect students’ speaking skill:

a. Age or Maturational Constraints

Age is one of the most commonly cited determinant factors

of success or failure in foreign language learning. Several
experts such as Krashen, Long, and Scarcella argue that

acquirers who begin learning a second language in early childhood
through natural exposure achieve higher proficiency

than those beginning as adults. Many adults fail to reach native-

like proficiency in a second language. Their

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