Learning Language Basic Skills; Problems the Learners Encounter and Solutions

To learn a language means to be able to master four basic skills in using a language.
Speaking, Reading, Listening, and writing are four skills to teach if we are to guarantee one can
use a language. Those four basic skills should also be supported by enough drilling in Grammar.
Grammar is all about the rules that regulate one’s use of a language. Tenses, part of speech,
prepositions, are just few of many examples grammar covers. In this essay I will give elaboration
on the importance or the goals in teaching grammar and all four basic skills in a language. I will
give little opinion on what should be the better ways in teaching all five based on my observation
and library research. Finally, I will present few problems student are encountered with in
learning those five. I note down these problems again from my little observation and interview
toward several random language learners. The observations used in this essay are done in Faculty
of letters, Jember University.
Learning Speaking
Speaking skill ensures the language learners to be able to communicate actively in a
target language. Thus, one’s eloquence in using a target language orally is greatly determined by
how well he or she learns speaking skills. However, learning speaking is no easy task, let alone
teaching it. Students often encounter many problems. Confidence and being afraid of making
mistakes are two of the greatest psychological barriers that hold the learners back from
advancing in their study. Students tend to have fears before larger groups. This happens
especially in a culture that people tend to use other people’s weaknesses as laughing matter.
Although students are able to overcome this problem, adjusting their speech to different
situations seem to be the problem of the more advanced learners. Therefore, the language
teachers should call for cultural learning to engage in the learning of speaking. Many language
learners I interview claim that the lack of vocabularies obstructs them from producing a good
speaking skill. These are the most problem found in most language learners that urge an
immediate solvency.
Building up confidence should be the first step a good language teacher does to the
learners. The teacher should be able to identify each learner’s problems. This is a matter of
constructing a mindset and a friendly atmosphere in the classroom that speaking is a fun activity
and that it is easy. Teachers should be able to convince the students that speaking fears are
common and that it happens to everyone. This especially is effective to those who are new to
language learning. When they are advanced enough, the focus of the teaching should be about
how to develop what they have acquired. In his book Teaching Speaking, Listening, And Writing
Wallace (2004) points out the importance of teaching students with the variety of lessons.
Students are also required to adapt their speech to different situations. They need to know how
speakers are different from each other and how different situations employ different forms of
speech. The students should also realize the importance of differentiating between formal use
and informal use of a language. Thus, speaking to a judge in a court should be different from
speaking to some close friend in informal everyday basis. It is also important to note down that
the learners should be introduced to dialects a target language might have. Drills on vocabulary
are also essential that the teachers should find out the ways to increase their vocabulary. This can
be done by giving them regular homework on vocabulary. Thus, giving students vocabulary
journal task should be vital. At last, practicing a correct pronunciation is unquestionably urgent.
Learning Listening
Listening skill is indispensable as it trains students to get insights and information
(Wallace 2004). The insights and information about the target languages and all its’ features
could help the students secure more knowledge about the language they are studying. In addition
to that, some learners claim that listening helps them in speaking. By listening to native speakers’
speech, for example, the motivated learners can help themselves to speak the way natives do.
However, the eager learners can sometimes be discouraged. This is the case in some
learners I interview. For some reasons they cannot listen well. One of these reasons is that they
find hard time in deciding what to listen because somehow an object to listen can be either too
hard or too easy for their level. Some others show how discouraged they are when native
speakers start to speak uncontrollably fast. The learners start to feel that catching up is a mission
impossible. In such a case, teacher should start playing his or her role.
Teacher should be able to give the learners motivation to learn listening. In his book
Teaching Listening, Steven Brown (2006) shows the importance of motivation. He expresses
how teaching listening is so challenging and that “listening another language is hard job”. The
teacher should also be able to capitalize on the knowledge and interests the students already
posses. Giving the students guidance on what to listen based on their level can also be so helpful.
The teachers should let the learners advanced through their levels. Similar to teaching speaking,
teaching listening should also include cultural learning. Being able to listen every word in target
language can surprisingly be discouraging because somehow the learners are unable to infer any
information out of what they have listened.
Learning Writing
Writing is the final product of several separate acts that are hugely challenging to learn
simultaneously (Wallace 2004). These acts include note-taking, making drafts, editing, etc.
writing in its relation to language learning is very essential in helping the learners to acquire
grammar knowledge more comprehensively. They apply all the grammar knowledge they have
secured and in such way the teachers have chance to assess the learners in their language use.

The problems in writing could be the most complex among the other skills. Most learners
admit that writing is the hardest activity to do in learning English. Beside motivation and self
confidence, their lack of knowledge in writing is the dominant factor behind their failure to
compose a good writing. Teachers’ role here might be questionable. The teachers should engage
their full power to give the best of knowledge about writing to the learners. From many
interviews, many learners point their fingers to the teachers and say that there is not sufficient
information shared by the teachers about writing. Starting writing is also a most common
problem. Some say that getting the idea is hard. Some others cannot put their idea into words on
papers. Above all, the techniques of writing are the hardest. They cannot differentiate between
essays, journals, ordinary articles, paper, etc.

The teachers should have been able to prevent these problems from happening.
Encouraging learners from the first time is the first step. I personally believe that encouraging
learners to read literatures is a good way to produce good writers. As pointed out by Wallace that
“To become better writers, students may need to read good—even great—literature, that can
serve as a model for their own efforts” (Wallace 2006). Among all the solutions, giving out all
the techniques of writing, explaining them and conduct regular writing practice is the best way
out.

Learning Reading

“Reading is about understanding written text” (pang, 2003). Many interviewee I have
expressed how reading can open their thought to ‘new world’. They understand other person’s
thought, and most importantly in language learning is understanding the native speakers’
thought. In addition, reading helps the learners to get grammar knowledge.

In my observation to some classmates and some other language learners, reading is not so
popular. Despite the teachers have struggled very hard to encourage them to read, they are not
motivated at all. They are just too busy with other fun stuffs that reading is considered to be a
great burden. The learners’ are also discouraged by the fact that texts they are about to read are
too hard. Some learners are not employed with adequate knowledge about English that they feel
reading an English material is useless. The insufficient vocabulary knowledge also contributes to
their reluctance to read. It is clear that self-motivation is what has missed. Reading can also be
hard because the learners are trying to interpret the writer’s message including the background
culture in which the writer composed his idea. This means that the readers should have enough
background knowledge of what is being read. In cross cultural reading activity, this problem can
become bigger.

The teachers should be able to identify the students’ weaknesses. I believe that each
individual have different ability in perceiving written materials. Thus, putting them in to levels
that suit their ability should have been a must in our educational system because to be honest
sometimes certain learners do not deserve a high level while some others do. Other factors
behind the failure of reading should be highlighted. Building up vocabularies knowledge is one
good example. In reading classrooms, the teachers should employ activities full of reading. The
teachers can start with easy type of readings and develop over time with the harder ones
depending on the progress of the students. I think it is better than just putting as many reading
theories in to learners’ mind.

Learning Grammar

All of the four basic skills discussed previously would be nothing without the
understanding of grammar. Grammar refers to set of rules that regulate the use of a language.
Every language has grammar and without knowledge about other language’s grammar, one can
never use the target language. Grammar instructions are also helpful for communicative
purposes. That means the learners are required to connect their grammatical knowledge with real
life communication skills.

However, that is not the case in the real life. Only few of the language learners are really
intense in learning grammar. Some learners have been discouraged by their thought that grammar
is scary. Some others are not discouraged but worse they don’t even pay attention. The
complexity of grammatical rules should have motivated the learners to learn more not to do the
other way round. The learners who are advanced in grammatical knowledge also pose a threat of
being not able to use their knowledge in their real life communicative encounters. It is true that
one’s mastery of English is not measured by how much he or she knows the language but how
well he or she can use it.

The following ideas1 is worth considered in teaching grammar. I choose the three because
they are representative enough for the problems encountered by most learners in Indonesia (in
Faculty of Letters, Jember University in particular).
• Teach the grammar point in the target language or the students' first language or both.
The goal is to facilitate understanding.
Because some students cannot follow the class when everything is presented in target
language, a little bit Indonesian should overcome the problem.
• Limit the time you devote to grammar explanations to 10 minutes, especially for lower
level students whose ability to sustain attention can be limited.
In addition to that, the early learners are on a stage where they need to build their
confidence and that becomes the main focus.
• Present grammar points in written and oral ways to address the needs of students with
different learning styles.
Out of those three technical approaches on teaching grammar, teacher’s ability to create a
good environment for the students to learn is the main point. The learners need to calm down and
not to feel burdened by the complexity of grammatical explanations.
To sum up, problems in learning a language needs a lot of work mainly from both the teacher
or language instructors and the learners themselves. The teachers should be able to focus on
psychological barriers and technical problems students encounter. Applying good teaching

1
Taken from http://www.nclrc.org/essentials
methods and approaches are requisite. The teachers should be able to create a good atmosphere
in the learning environment. The students should help the teachers in return. The students should
at least try to motivate themselves and try to learn even without being told to do so. I believe if
everybody do this, language learning will be a lot easier and less stressful.
REFFERENCES
Wallace, Trudy. Teaching speaking, listening and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004
Buck, Gary. Assessing Listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001
Brown, Steven. Teaching Listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006
Pang, Elizabeth. Teaching Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003
http://www.nclrc.org