Introduction

One way to be able to communicate verbally is through practice; be it in or outside the

classroom. Choosing the right type of speaking practice is very important because different
approach produces different effect. Can the audiotaped dialogue journals be considered as one of
the activities for oral communication practice? Ho,Y.K, the author of the article entitled
Audiotaped dialogue journals: an alternative form of speaking believes that audiotaped
dialogue journal is another method for speaking practice outside the classroom which will affect
the students oral ability.
In this paper, I will discuss Ho Yen-Kuangs article on Audiotaped dialogue journals: an
alternative form of speaking practice. ELT journal 57/3 : 269-277. First, I will define the key
terms used in this study. Secondly, I will be summarizing Hos main points in this study and
present some critics. Lastly, I shall give my conclusion of this study.
Definition of key terms.
Audiotaped Dialogue Journal
Audiotaped dialogue journals is almost similar with written journal except that it is recorded in
the form of cassette tape and share about any topics. Maria Dantas (2003) points out that
audiotaped dialogue journal offers advantages to students English proficiency; oral language
practice outside the classroom.
Summary
The researcher identified that numbers of student in classroom and time frame are the factors
why speaking practice can only takes place in the classroom. In her study, the researcher is trying
to find out whether the audiotaped dialogue journal is a method that provide opportunities for the
students to practice their speaking skills outside the classroom. This study also reveals that the
subject has benefited from this study in terms of language and affective .The subject of this study
involved 26 intermediate level students from the Oral Communication Class at Tsing Hua
University, Taiwan. The data of this study were collected via one-to-one interviews, number of
journal entries and observation. The subjects of this study are required to write an entry a week
and self-record a dialogue journal for 3 minutes. The role of the teacher is to provide the subjects
with feedback on the students speech flow and manner, message and correct use of syntax,
morphology and lexical items.
Critiques
I agree that the process of preparing script before recording themselves allows the learner to get
some information about what they want to present in their journal entry. With the information,
they are able to use the language when recording the dialogue journal. In this study, Ho points
out that the students acquire information (input) when preparing the script for their dialogue
journal. The information that is obtained is then applied and produced (output) through their
dialogue journal. To support this idea, there is a considerable consensus has been identified.
Fahimeh Marefat and Elahe Moladoust (2011) reveals the technique made them at least think
about words.

The first shortcoming of this article that I have identified is that this method may not practical to
be implemented in the classroom with the growing number of students each year. This statement
is clearly supported by the Global Education Digest 2011, globally, secondary schools have
been accommodating almost one hundred million more students each decade, with the total
number growing by 60% between 1990 and 2009. The number of the subjects in this study can
be considered as small. Different outcomes will be achieved if this method is to be utilized in
classroom with large number of students. Due to the small numbers of students in class, I think
that the teacher is able to give feedbacks to students recorded journal entries. Teacher handling
classroom with large number of students may be able to listen to students recorded audio journal
entries but they may not be able to give feedback because providing feedback takes some time to
complete. Celce-Murcia, Marianne (1996) who conducted the study on teaching pronunciation,
agreed to this notion that responding to students audiotaped dialogue journal is time-consuming
for the teacher especially if class size is large.

The final shortcoming of this article is that this method does not prepare the subjects for a
spontaneity in the real oral communication world. Conversation does not involve writing the idea
in a piece of paper. A conversation takes place when one person sends a message and the other
person responds. According to the theory of communication, a conversation can only persist
when the sender and the receiver are at present. Therefore, I concluded that this method is partly
authentic and partly artificial. According to The National Capital Language Resource Center An
authentic oral communication activities allow the students to practice using all of the language
they know in situation that resemble real setting An authentic oral communication is vital for
the development of speaking skills. Lazarathon (2001) suggest that after the evaluation of
traditional method activity such audiotaped dialogue journal , great number of students are
unprepared for spontaneous interaction.
I also believe that face to face interaction has a greater effect compare to the audiotape dialogue
journal. A face to face interaction allows the students to understand facial expression and
gestures and respond appropriately.