POWER TEACHING
By Heru Prasetyono, S.Pd.
Power Teaching is one of the newest methods that can improve speaking skill and class climate in speaking class. The discussion of the points is presented in the following section.
a. Power Teaching can improve students’ speaking skill.
1) Power Teaching can improve students’ speaking achievement.
The findings of the action research showed that Power Teaching can improve students’ speaking skill. The improvement can be noted from the improvement of speaking achievement. The achievement can be mastered because Power Teaching offers better opportunities for learning. Power Teaching is an interactive and challenging method. Power Teaching can create joyful atmosphere. So the students are not afraid to express their purpose and idea. They are challenged to speak up. It makes the students’ speaking skill improves.
Prasetyono states that Power Teaching is a highly interactive form of method. It will make the students active. It can be seen when the teacher delivers information to students in short “chunks.” The students then deliver what they have just learned to their partners, using hand-gestures to help remember specific vocabulary. Research shows that students retain more information when they have an opportunity to put it into their own words and use gestures to support then in delivering the purpose of information.
Based on the logic and theory above it can be concluded that Power Teaching can improve the students’ speaking skill.
2) Power Teaching improves the students’ vocabulary and grammar.
Power Teaching provides essential portion either for vocabulary building or grammatical expressions. Vocabulary and grammar become the crucial parts so they are placed at the beginning of activity. It is done for considering the important role of vocabulary and grammar in speaking. It means that the students have got enough knowledge about vocabulary and grammar.
Thonburry (2002: 2) states that discussing vocabulary of second language speaking is crucial because it gives the challenges for the students to correct connection between the form and meaning of words. Besides, it enables the students to use the correct form of words for the meaning intended. From the statement above it can be noted that vocabulary is the vital tool for the students to convey meaning in expressions of communicative activities.
As important as vocabulary, grammatical form also has in important role in language speaking. For grammar focus the teacher gave the students some practices o phrases and grammatical pattern and it could be done in written form.
It can be said that appropriate vocabulary and grammatical form have important roles of the points in conveying meaning in speaking activity.
3) Power Teaching improves the students’ pronunciation.
The step “Class-Yes” is a step to grab the students’ attention. After this step, the teacher delivers information. Automatically, the teacher has to give a good model of pronunciation. So the students will have good pronunciation. Bukart (1998) categorizes that pronunciation is one of basic knowledge in speaking, together with grammar and vocabulary are mechanic knowledge in speaking. Mechanic means the concept of using the right words in the order with correct pronunciation. The teacher has a role in providing sufficient practice of the knowledge that will help the students in communicating in real life situation.
Brown-Nation (1997) states that in speaking class the students must be exposed to three kinds of key items. One of them is form-focused instruction dealing with putting attention to the details of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. In line with Brown, Willis (1996: 110) states that students will never be able to imitate new sounds if they never hear them. Making the students practicing each word and phrase until it is perfect can be frustrating and time consuming.
Solving the problem above, Willis suggests that the improvement of pronunciation can be acquired subconsciously while interacting in target language. By practicing pronunciation in communicative activities, it will help the students to improve their pronunciation.
4) Power Teaching improves the students’ ability to construct coherent utterances and stretches of speech without hesitation (fluency).
“Class-Yes” is an important step. The students will have good attention. It makes the students will be easy to understand what the speaker (teacher) means. When in the step “Teach-Okay”, the students are also easy to communicate an intended by the teacher to their partner. The students feel free to communicate purpose and idea without hesitation. Parrot (1993: 197) describes fluency as the ability to communicate an intended by the speaker. Fluency also involves the ability to adjust the message according to the response of the listener or interlocutor, to construct coherent utterances and stretches of speech, to respond and to speak without hesitation. It also involves the ability to use strategies such as simplification, circumlocution and gesture to aid communication when the speaker may not have access to the vocabulary or grammar which would normally be appropriate.
5) Power Teaching improves the students’ ability to express their purpose, idea, or information (content).
Power Teaching is a system that utilizes all areas of the brain. The step “Class-Yes” provides a chance for the teacher delivers purpose, idea and information (content) to the students and they engage throughout their lessons, and helps them retain much more purpose, idea, and information (content). It is used the students as a provision to express those to their partner. Prasetyono states that a powerful speaker is someone who when he speaks, whether in formal of communications and informal has a dazzling attraction with an effective content of the speaking (systematic, right, clear, and concise) so the people who hear it understand clearly and they are stirred their feelings.
