In today’s global world, the importance of English can not be denied and ignored since

English is the most common language spoken everwhere. With the help of developing
technology, English has been playing a major role in many sectors including medicine,
engineering, and education, which, in my opinion, is the most important arena where English is
needed.

However people who live in the world of communication. According to the Oxford
Dictionary of Current English (Moore, 1997), communication is defined as, “The activity or
process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information”. The significance of
communication can be found within the context of a human existing as a social being. As a
human being manages his or her life in the course of the interaction between other members of
the entire society, communication is inevitable. Communication occurs through the medium of a
language and it is presented in two different forms which are written and spoken (Brown & Yule,
1983: 1-10). The importance of spoken performance of a language is becoming more prominent
over the written performance capability. It is because the ability to speak a language reflects a
person’s personality, self image, knowledge of the world, ability to reason, skill to express
thoughts in real-time (Luoma, 2004: ix). These days, due to the global trend of
internationalisation, the ability to communicate in English is needed as an essential skill.
Whenever the international exchange happens, the use of spoken English entails. However, it is
not always an easy task for people who use English as a second language to be able to speak to
the level of a native speaker. They have to perfectly understand the sound system of English,
have almost instant access to proper vocabulary and be able to place words together intelligibly
without hesitation. Moreover, they also have to perceive what is being said to them and need to
be able to respond appropriately to acquire amiable relations or to accomplish their
communicative goals (Luoma, 2004: ix). Therefore, non-native English speakers encounter these
barriers and they are subject to make mistakes often. In relation to this matter, this essay argues
that there are socio-cultural factors as well as linguistic factors that affect non-native speakers’
communication in English. It provides analysis of several different situations when the use of
spoken English has generated miscommunication problems in regards to author’s personal
experience. Based upon the analysis of different situations, this essay also explores the reason for
the miscommunication in relation to the difficulties in learning to speak English as a second
language.

Since English is a foreign language in our country, most students especially senior high
school students are not familiar with it (Hetrakul, 1995). Kavin Hetrakul also said that they use
English more frequent only inside the class and less frequent outside the class. Whereas,
students’ have limited time to learn English in class, and they still do not have enough
encouragement to practice English outside the class in order to get familiar with English. This
case brings a problem that make senior high school students have difficulties to communicate in
English. This article will analyze the causes that make the students difficult to communicate in
English and suggest some solutions that can overcome the difficulties.

There are a number of elements that facilitate or impede successful spoken

communication. They can be divided in two types in general. One is linguistic factor and the
other is socio-cultural factor. The first type commonly refers to the elements of English as a
language itself, which include the grammar, vocabulary, and sound systems (Robinett, 1978: 3-
140). The latter part, which is cultural aspects, includes history and worldview (ideology),
socialisation, non-verbal communication, and social organisation (Scollon & Scollon, 1995). In
addition, according to Barraja-Rohan (2003: 101-15), it is argued that a number of socio-cultural
elements such as verbosity (including overlaps and silence), approaches to interpersonal
relationships (including proxemics, greetings, compliments and self-deprecation and small talk),
and politeness (including directness and indirectness) may affect communication. In short, fluent
English speaking becomes possible when the speaker is completely aware of not only the
linguistic aspect of the language, but also the social and cultural context that the language is
used. Thus, most of the ESL learners, who are not accustomed to English-speaking environment,
are frequently challenged with English communication. Now I,m agree about many Malaysians
have difficulty communicating in English in the workplace ,especially when it comes to business
related matters.
 There are many reasons why Malaysian have problem when have to speak English in
workplace.The first reason isThey feel silly speaking a language in which they know they are
making mistakes.It is artificial to communicate with their classmates in a foreign language.When
they want to say something important to each other, they do so spontaneously in their mother
tongue.They do not have the English to express the concepts that the teacher wants them to
express.They do not understand the point of speaking English all the time in class.It is very tiring
to concentrate on producing a foreign language especially when your level is low.The topic /
activity that they are supposed to be talking about in English is boring, so they talk about
something else in their mother tongue.

Second,good english skills are vital to succeeding in life, in terms of education, career,
and personal relationships. This means that many people want to improve their English, but it
can be hard to know how to go about it. There are three main areas that have to be worked on:
pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

The final thing to really work on is grammar, and spelling and punctuation with it.
Reading will help a great deal in this respect, as you can learn from seeing it used properly.
There are also plenty of websites and books available to help with grammar and punctuation if
you’re unsure of how to use something. Improving your grammar is so important because
spellcheckers still aren’t advanced enough to pick up most errors, or even incorrectly tell us to
change something. Pronunciation and vocabulary must be improved though too, as all are
equally important and all affect your grasp of the English language.

In reasons again when we study in university we become studentThe environment here

means the people outside the class. Those people may just want to show off when they speak
English for daily conversation. The response that the students get makes them loose their self-
confidence to improve their speaking. Since the students do not want to be rejected by the people
around them, so they use their native language in daily conversation. That makes the students
unable to communicate in English fluently outside the class.

The problem with grammar. English always deals with reference of time while Indonesian does
not have one. Moreover, there are singular and plural forms that the students have to distinguish
and still many forms that have to be learned. Most students are very easy to get confused with
English grammar, while grammar is very needed to form a right sentence. If the students do not
have grammar mastery, of course they will not be able to produce sentences that grammatically
right. Realizing that the grammar students have is very weak, so they feel embarrassed when
they want to produce English sentences orally.

Now, English is an international language. Even technology and working world use
English. It is believed that the students want to be the winner in working world competition that
is getting tight day by day. One of the conditions that the students must require is having ability
to speak English fluently. This skill will be their plus point in facing the working world. From
now on, the students have to try hard to overcome their difficulties to speak English
fluently.Furthemore we must learn how to speake English when we study.

There are two ways to encourage students to overcome their problem. The first one is a
way for the teacher to do. It is considered necessary for the teacher to force the students only to
speak English during the class. The teacher may fine the students every time they speak their
native language. The teacher himself must be able to convince his students to be brave to speak
English, does not matter if they have very bad grammar. Just say whatever the students want to
say. And the teacher must convince his students that making errors is a normal thing in learning.
This way will raise students’ confidence to try to speak English. It will be better if the teacher
does not give correction every time his students make errors, but he should give feedback and
give explanation for every error after the students finish their speech.

However every problem can be solved, likewise the problem to speak English fluently
that senior high school students have. Even though the problem seems as students’ problem, but
in fact teachers also play an important role in solving this problem. Students’ difficulties to
communicate in English must be solved as soon as possible considering their needs in facing the
working world. In conclusion, by forcing the students only to speak English during the class and
having conversation club will solve their difficulties to speak English.

However the solution is for the students themselves. They can have an English conversation
club that consists of their own classmates. They can share and talk about anything in English
during that time. In this club, they can learn together. Students can correct each other without
feeling embarrassed. English will become students’ routine by doing that activity (Hetrakul,
1995).

Reflecting on my personal experience, there were many occasions that caused

embarrassment and puzzlement from imperfect command of English. First of all, there were
numerous cases generated from insufficient knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation. For example, there was a problematic situation when I first travelled the United
States several years ago. During the conversation with the Immigration Office personnel to check
the visa, he questioned the purpose of the visit. He was asking, “Are you here for a holiday?” I
answered, “No. I came here to travel for a month.” Mistakenly, I perceived the meaning of the
question as if I would stay in that country only for a short period of weekend or a national
holiday. This happened from the misunderstanding of the exact meaning that the word has. There
are a few more instances that occurred in the same vein. It was when I travelled in San Francisco.
I was walking down the street carrying a bag from shopping. I happened to meet a person and we
had a small conversation. He asked me what I bought from shopping and I answered that I
purchased “a muffler”. He asked me again, so I showed him what I had bought to prove. Then he
said that was a scarf and explained that people prefer to use “a scarf” to “a muffler”. Another
case happened from the error in grammar. One day, I had a dinner with an American friend and
we had a walk, having a conversation. He asked me what I felt like to do later. I answered, “I’m
boring. I want to have a drink at the bar.” At that moment, I should have said, “I’m bored.”
instead of “I’m boring.” to express dullness that I had.
 In my conclusion english is the most commonly used language among foreign language
speakers. Throughout the world, when people with different languages come together they
commonly use English to communicate.

Getting the pronunciation right is something that many international people worry about,
but that people born in English-speaking countries often forget about, but it is equally important
for all. After all, pronouncing the words you use correctly makes you look far more intelligent.
The first step to improving pronunciation is often to slow down your speech a little and think a
bit more carefully. Pay attention to consonants, particularly at the end of words (as these are
often missed off in speech), and make sure sounds like “sh” and “th” come out properly. A good
way to improve pronunciation is often to watch English movies in which people are speaking
properly and way to improve your English is to widen your vocabulary. One good way to do this
is to learn a new word (or a few) every day, and make an effort to use them and Reading is also
important in learning new words, as is looking up words you don’t know in a dictionary so that
you will be able to use them yourself. Making sure that you fully understand the meaning is
really important, though, because it is no good using new words if you don’t use them in the
correct place.Because of this, just knowing a dictionary definition may not be enough; you will
need to know in what contexts the new word can be used or you could say something that makes
no sense. The same applies to colloquial phrases, which many people use incorrectly after
hearing them one time (perhaps used by a friend in the wrong context). Understanding the
register is very important too, as you don’t want to use slang in a formal context, or alienate
people in social situations with overly complex words that only serve to make you look arrogant.
REFERENCES

<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view

https://www.workplacefairness.org/language-discrimination

http://www.ovient.com/resources/managing

https://www.researchgate.net

http://www.questjournals.org/