A Comparative Study Between Male and Female Students’ Ability of English Speaking of

the First Year Students of Madrasah Aliyah

abstraks:
The title of this research is A Comparative Study Between Male and Female Students’ Ability of
English Speaking of the First Year Students of Madrasah Aliyah Hubbulwathan Duri.
This research consits of two variables: independent variable symbolized as “X” and depent
variable symbolized as “Y”. Independent variable “Y” is sex of the students, while dependent
variable “Y” is the students’ score in English speaking test.
The research was carried out of Madrasah Aliyah Hubbulwathan Duri that conducted in February
to the end of March 2008. The subject of this research is to find out the student’s ability in
speaking, while the object is to find out their differences in ability of speaking.
To collect the data of this study, the writer used speaking test. The writer interviewed the
respondents. Then the collected data were analysed by using serial correlation formula, as
follows:
And to know the level of the students’ ability in English speaking is classified into five
proficiencies category:
Proficiency Description 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pronunciation 0 1 2 2 3 4
Grammar 6 12 18 24 30 36
Vocabulary 4 8 12 16 20 24
Comprehension 4 8 12 15 19 23
Fluency 2 4 6 8 10 12
Keitges (1987)

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of The Problem
English is a compulsory subject in Indonesia which had been taught formally to Indonesian
students since they were in Junior High School. The English subject consists of four skills such
as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Speaking skill has become the first priority to be
taught between the four skills since communicative approach implementation has been
influential in foreign language learning. It is based on instruction goal of curriculum 2006 of
KTSP (Disdiknas 2006). English teachers should create active learning condition and develop
their technique to help learners communicate more effectively by considering suitable activities
for each group of learners. Brown and Yule (1983:103) say that one of the main aims of most
English teachers is to make their students able to communicate and convey information
effectively in spoken English. Besides, the teachers should create active learning condition and
develop their techniques. They should attend factor of sex differences of their students.
The sex differences’ factor can not be ignored in learning language, because it can effect the
students’ achievement and proficiency in learning. It is clear that the students may be grouped
into two different sexes, male and female (girl and boy). As the writer’s observation, when he
practiced teaching, he observed toward the students of the first year whom he taught. He found
that most of the female students like to study English. They are able to finish more quickly than
male students in making a short conversation. They also do better on the conversation in front of
the class. Besides, many linguists believe that there is a significant difference between the two
sex groups in the acquisition of the language. For example, Trudgill (1985:90-92 found that 60
percent of female use standard-high status speech forms while males use non standard, low-
status speech forms. In working class speech, female get 68 percent in over-reporting. Farhady
(1982) found that female students are significantly better than male students on a listening
comprehension test in the study of 800 university students who take a placement test. Women
are superior in verbal ability than men. One of the statement supporting this theory is women are
more likely to excel in verbal ability, but men, in mechanical ability (Papalia and Olds,
1985:263).
In addition, Papalia and Olds also say that from adolescence throughout adulthood, females out-
perform male in reading, speaking, spelling and grammar. They start to talk earlier and do better
on vocabulary.
However, in measuring speaking ability, it is highly probable that performance on this theory is
positively related to general ability to converse in a foreign language, although, as will be
explained directly, it is still lack very reliable criteria to measure out the differentiation. General
fluency, too, is fairly easy to assess, at least in gross terms. It usually takes only a few minutes of
listening to determine whether a foreign speaker is able to approximate the speed and ease with
which native speakers of the language typically produce their utterances. It is only when we
come to the crucial matter of pronunciation that we are confronted with a really serious problem
of evaluation.
The central reason is the lack of general agreement on what ‘good’ pronunciation of a second
language really means: is comprehensibility to be the sole basis of judgment, or must we demand
a high degree of both phonemic and allophonic accuracy? And can we be certain that two or
more native speakers will find the utterance of a foreign speaker equally comprehensible, or do
some listeners decode a foreign accent with greater facility than others? Until we can agree on
precisely how speech is to be judged and have determined that the judgments will have stability,
we cannot put much confidence in oral ratings (Harris, 1974: 83)
From the explanation above, the writer can make conclusion that the females are more consistent
in using sentences and variety of words than male. The problem can be seen from the symptoms
as follows:
1. Females usually do better in measuring verbal fluency than males.
2. Females are better in using sentences and a greater of words than male.
3. Females learn a little earlier than males to talk but clear in speaking.
Based on the background and the symptoms above, the writer is interested to conduct a research
about “ A Comparative Study Between Male and Female Students’ Ability of English Speaking
at the First Year Students of Madrasah Aliyah Hubbulwathan Duri.”
B. The Problem
1. Identification of the Problem
In classroom, most of the students do not use English as much as that suggested and required by
the curriculum or by their teachers. They only speak when they are asked by their teachers. A
statement to support this is, “One of the characteristics of this new method is an active student.
But it’s difficult to do it here,” said Muljanto, who is a staff lecturer at the IKIP Muhammadiyah
on a seminar about communicative language teaching in English for SMA (Hello, 1996:58). That
fact can be seen because the communication itself has to use different abilities of language as
series of speaking. They have also use language components. Harris (1974:81) states:
“Speaking is a complex skill requiring the simultaneous use of a number of different abilities
which after develop at different rates, either four of five components are generally recognizing in
a analyzing of speech process.”
At schools, generally, the students are taught in sex-mixed classroom. The male and the female
students study in the same class. However, there is no sex segregation in the treatment. There is
no special consideration of the sex backgrounds. There is no certain consideration whether the
text belongs to certain sex groups such as the character of one sex group in the text. Therefore,
being in the sex-mixed classroom causes different success in learning achievement of the sex
groups.
Gatra (1997:106) supposes that there is an inclination that females are more successful than
males. The learning of foreign language is not males’ world. The females have high motivation
than males. They are more cooperative than males while males are more competitive. However,
the females are not true yet given more favor in foreign language learning. According to Farhady
(1982), females have approximately 30-40 percent more lowly in IQ than males in England.
The above description will probably raise a question: is it true that women are superior to men?
If it is true, is the comparison significant or is it just a co-incident?
2. The Limitation of the Problem
The present study is limited to the ability of male and female students on speaking skill only.
The writer compares their ability in English speaking.
3. The Formulation of The Problem
The problem of this study is formulated as follows:
a. Is there a significant difference between male and female students’ ability in English
speaking?
b. How does the ability of speaking of female students differ from the male students?
C. The Objective and the Need of the Study
1. The Objective of the Study
a. To verify whether or not there is any difference in English speaking ability between male and
female students at the first year students of Madrasah Aliyah Hubbulwathan Duri.
b. To interpret English speaking ability of the two groups of the students at the first year of
Madrasah Aliyah Hubbulwathan Duri.
2. The Need of the Study
a. To give contribution in educational world, especially in teaching-learning process of English
at Senior High School.
b. To give contribution and information dealing with the research findings, particularly to
English teachers, so that better learning outcomes can possibly be achieved.
c. To give contribution to the teachers and curriculum designers to select the most appropriate
teaching strategy of speaking and method to certain categories of students in teaching English as
a foreign language.
d. To help the writer enlarge his knowledge in this topic.
D. The Definition of the Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation in reading this study, the definitions of
the terms are described as follows:
Speaking Ability: The capacity of a speaker to tell something well to other persons as his
listeners in speaking, thereby the listeners can catch or understand his message or what he say
and then give respond as a evident of the oral communication could run smoothly. The speaker
expresses his needs and communicates information at least in short bursts (Brown and Yule:
1983). Especially for the first year students, they are hoped to be able to express their ideas,
thoughts, opinions, and feelings in simple form in English speaking, to ask and answer question
about everything, to do short dialogue smoothly, and to explain about things, people or place,
and series of events simply.
Comparative Study: Explanation of similarities and differences, but comparative tends to
emphasize differences or contrast rather than similarities (Gay, LR, 1990:15).
E. Theoretical Framework and Operational Concept
1. The Nature of Speaking
The major goal of learning is to enable students to communicate with other people by using
English language being learned. The communication here means is to talk to others orally or in
the spoken form. So, what does speaking mean? It means a process using a language that is done
by speakers by combining both codes and messages. Chastain (1975:334) states:
“Speech combines both a code and a message. The code is composed of the sounds, vocabulary,
and structures of the language. These components are organized into appropriate combinations in
order to convey the speaker’s ideas and opinions.”
On the other hand, speaking is a productive skill. People make sentences to share their ideas and
opinions in social interaction. It is performed in face to face and occurs as parts of a dialogue or
other form of verbal exchange.
In speaking, mastering of a number of words, pronunciation and grammar are very important for
a speaker. The speaker can communicate with others if he/she has mastered them. Harris
(1974:108) states that speaking is a complex skill that needs different abilities which often
develop at different rates.
2. Speaking Ability
Speaking ability is the ability to communicate orally. It is not only to apply the grammatically
correct sentences, but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom. Canale
and Swain in Ommaggio (1986:3) state that the ability of communication is related to the rules
of language use and the rule of grammar.
Furthermore, Savignon (1983) in Ommaggio (1986:4-5) states that spoken language is an oral
phenomenon in communicative competence out of written language. Communicative
competence depends on the negotiation of meaning between two or more persons who share
some knowledge of language. In this sense, then, communicative competence can be said to be
an interpersonal rather than an intrapersonal trait.
As the writer mentioned previously, in foreign of target language teaching, the ability to speak is
the primary goal of learning a language. Finocchiaro and Bonomo (1973:11) explain that the
learners must do simultaneously the points below to reach the aim; to decide what they want to
say, to choose the pattern they are going to use, to select appropriate words, to use the correct
accent, and to say it in appropriate situation.
3. Factors Influencing Speaking Ability
In accordance with the factors that can influence speaking ability of the students, there are four
components of speech should be noted; pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and
comprehension.
According to Harris (1974:81) pronunciation includes vowels, consonants, stresses, and
intonation patterns.
In speaking, perfect pronunciation of all sounds is not necessary in order to communicate, but
lack of the ability may influence sounds of the words that utterance. If the students are having
difficulty with any given sound, the teacher should assist them by describing tongue and lip
movements (Chastain, 1975:338)
In accordance with the components of speaking, Chastain (1975:340) gives explanation that
vocabulary items are needed to talk. Vocabulary is normally studied in dialogue or conversation.
This way will help the students to be more active in communication.
Communication in speaking will run smoothly if its grammar can be understood. In order to be
understood, the students should organize the words in the sentences compactly and efficiently.
They should build grammatical sentences in order the listener can easily catch the meaning
carried in their utterances.
The next component of speaking is comprehension. It involves combining all of the speaking
skill. It is very complex skill. To get a message from the conversation, a speaker will do the
speaking skill (Chastain: 1975).
In the process of communication, there are some influencing aspects in speaking. According to
Rives and Temporally (1981:4) there are two aspects involved in speaking: skill getting and skill
using. The first includes the cognition (knowledge) of the language and its production; the
second is the comprehension of a message (reception) and the conveying personal meaning
(expression) in real communication.
Furthermore, Savignon (1983) in Ommaggio (1986:4) says that the aspects of speaking are the
language user’s knowledge of linguistic rules (usage) and his ability to use this knowledge in a
truly communication setting (use). She states these aspects as being linguistic and
communicative competence.
The sentences above focus factors influencing speaking ability on grammatical or structural
system and its use in real communication.
4. The Difference in Language Learning
The most obvious difference between males and females is biological difference. They are also
different in many other factors such as ability, interest and personality traits. Papalia and Olds
(1985) states that the most consistence differences between males and females occur
impersonality characteristic and emotional adjustment. Girls are more emotional than boys are
likely to be behavior problems, even as the preschool years, girls show more affection, and these
patterns persist into adulthood.
The different in ability is important to be examined especially in education field. There are some
differences in some specific abilities such as verbal abilities involving vocabulary and
mechanical abilities. As stated by Papalia and Olds, girls are generally superior in verbal items
involving vocabulary, memory, language manipulation and the like, while boys are superior in
performance items involving spatial relation, mechanical abilities and numerical manipulation.
The male and female students have different characteristics in language learning strategy. In
relation to this, Sunderland (1994:140) stated that learning strategies and style seem to be related
to sex differences. The characteristics of female and males in learning strategies are as below:
Global (Females) Analytic (Males)
Subjective Objective
Feeling Thinking
Field dependent Field independent
Right-brain dominant Left-brain dominant
Extroverted Introverted
Cooperative Competitive
Mary F. Belenky et al (1986) in Sunderland (1994:141) find that most women who were
interviewed about ‘ways of knowing’ prefer to be subjective, feeling oriented, global style rather
than an objective, thinking-oriented, analytic style. When learning a new language, males and
females take different ways. Males tend to favor objectivity. They have tendency to learn the
rules, facts, and logic of the language they are learning. Females, in learning a new language are
usually subjective. They put the priority in using their feeling, cultural sensitivity and empathy.
The relationship between field independence/dependence and language learning is not clear cut.
Oxford and Stansfield in Sunderland (1994:142) say that field-independent learners, often males,
may have an edge in non-analytic aspects of communicative such as sociolinguistic competence,
discourse competence and strategic competence.
Sunderland also points out that in learning process, girls and women are more come cooperative.
They usually work together in doing something. Boys and men are competitive, an attitude
which is suitable with learning technical fields.
5. The Difference in Using Language for Speaking
The differences in sex between men and women seem to be some differences in their learning
achievement. These differences can be seen from their ability in using language for
communication.
There are some differences between what girls do and what boys do to organize the components
of speaking in the communication. Myers (1987) says that not only girls are superior in verbal
ability, but also in the use of sentence and variety of words. The measure of verbal fluency, girls
usually do better than boys. Girls learn a little earlier than boys to talk, to use a greater variety of
words. They also speak more clearly, read earlier and consistently better than boys in test of
spelling and grammar.
There is a difference between the way a woman to articulate a word in English and the way of
men do. Sunderland (1994:34) says:
“Gender-linked phonetic varieties in English differences in pronunciation have revealed in
numerous studies. Peter Trudgill’s work (1975) has been particularly influential. His finding
indicated that for any given social class, if the variable of context is held constant, women are
consistently closer in their pronunciation to the prestige form than man.”
In addition, he states that the other differences between women and men is in conversational
style such as markers: yeah, uhhuh and mmm sounds, other markers of active listening such as
nodding, and learning forward, expressions like perhaps, supposed, modal auxiliary such as
could, might and so on, pauses between turns, interruption, overlap and repetition, tag questions,
and topic introduction and development.
Furthermore, Trudgill (1983:82) states that the differences involved the phonologically shape of
particular verb forms in the America Indian language Koasati, a language of the Muskogean
family, spoken in Louisiana.
Grammatical differences may also be involved. Sex variety in English has come from some of
the urban surveys carried out in Britain and America. It has been shown that, allowing for other
factors such as social class, ethnic group and age, women consistently use forms which more
closely approach those of the standard variety or the prestige accent than those used by men. In
other words, female speakers of English, like their Koasati counterparts, use linguistic forms that
are considered to be better than men forms (trudgill, 1985:85).
Trudgil adds that in different parts of the English-speaking world, female speakers have been
found to use form considered to be ‘better’ or more ‘correct’ then those used by men. It is caused
by those women, generally speaking, more status-conscious than men. For this reason, they will
be more sensitive to the social significance of social-class related linguistic variables such as
multiple negations. Secondly, it seems that working-class speech, as certain other aspects of
working-class culture has connotations of or associations with masculinity, which may lead men
to be more favorably disposed to non-standard linguistic forms than women.
There is a condition that ca be seen in our environment. Many women and girls make groups of
communication such as rumor overtime and everywhere. This facts support the women and girls
become more flexible in their pronunciation. As Trudgill says that:
“Men’s and women’s speech, as we have demonstrated, is not only different; women’s speech is
also (socially) better than men’s speech.”
6. Operational Concept
An operational concept is the main element to avoid misunderstanding in a scientific study,
because it is still operated in an abstract form of a researched planning that must be interpreted
into particular words in order to be easy to measure it empirically.
Because of the above reason that will be some expected factors to be operated, it becomes
indicators for being clear description. The indicators can be seen as follow:
a. Every males or females student master English speaking fluently.
b. Every males or females student is better in measuring verbal fluency.
c. Every males or females student master in using sentences and a greater of words to speak.
d. Every male and female students understand the pictures given correctly.
e. In understanding the picture, every males and females student is able to differentiate each
activity shown.