Exploring Students’ English Speaking Learning Experiences in Learning English from Scratch: A Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

Speaking is the main language and the students need to master it because it can make the students can communicate easily. Most students in the English department try to employ different strategies to learn speaking skills. This research is aimed at revealing how learner experience, and engage with speaking, which includes the ups and downs of experiences of speaking, and their aspirations for the future direction of speaking skills. This research is using Qualitative approach and Narrative Inquiry as a research design to gain the data. The procedures represent clear and comprehensive stages in conducting a narrative inquiry, as follows: Identify a Phenomenon to Explore, Select an Informant, Collect the Stories, Retell the individual’s story, collaborate with the storyteller, Report findings of the participant’s experience, and validate the report’s accuracy. Researchers used interviews for oral narrative data using semi-structured interviews with narrative frames and an Interview guide. The result shows that the aspects relevant when learners find the experience of learning English: are English videos, imitating, writing sentences down first then reading them over and over, the English week program, supportive family, forced, and the environment at the campus. Several experiences have shaped the IRM concept of speaking English starting from kindergarten, elementary school, and high school, and an improvement in her speaking ability during her short English course in Pare. IRM's English speaking skills have improved since she took the English education program at the University, developed a learning strategy by repeating vocabulary spelling and practicing speaking himself to practice speaking skills. In addition, this study suggests: English should be introduced early, English lessons should be included in the curriculum in elementary schools, and informal education such as short courses turns out to have an important role in improving English skills. Based on this study, there are some suggestions: English should be introduced early, and children can be introduced from kindergarten; English lessons should be included in the curriculum in elementary schools; informal education, such as short courses turns out to have an important role in improving English skills; and there are several ways, might be used to improve speaking skills, namely: think in English, talk to yourself, on speaking ignore grammar, use apps, and find friends to practice with (friends who want to be invited to speak English, will help improve speaking skills). Keywords: Learning English, Speaking, Narrative Inquiry