General Concept of Fishbowl

General Concept of Fishbowl

Serba Serbi Pendidikan -- In this study, the writer uses one of teaching technique to teach speaking skill. The technique is fishbowl. By using fishbowl students hoped get something new and different from what they usually got in their class.

a)    Definition of Fishbowl

A fishbowl is one specific technique which helps children learn how to work with a partner in a small group. Fishbowl is communicative game as teaching technique. Fishbowl is a form of dialog that can be used when discussion topics within large group. Fishbowl is a discussion technique where an inner group of students discuss a topic, while the rest of students observe the discussion. Fishbowl can help the students to focus in group discussion. Although this technique spend much time, but is the best method to combine between large group and small group. So it can be concluded that fishbowl is a suitable technique to teach speaking by a groups. This technique can make the students more interest and more enjoyable. The fishbowl process engages participants in active listening, active communication and increased understanding of a variety of viewpoints. It is method for respectful and equal communication.

b)    The kinds of Fishbowl

There are many kinds of fishbowl as follow:

a.    Fishbowl conversation

Fishbowl conversation is a form of dialogue that can be used when discussing topics within large group. The advantage of fishbowl conversation is that it allows the entire group to participate in a conversation.

b.    Fishbowl discussion

Is a technique where an inner group of students discuss a topic while the rest of the students observe the discussion. From the explanation above, there are many kinds of fishbowl technique. But the writers choose the fishbowl conversation, because the writers think that fishbowl conversation is suitable for a large group and there is not distinction between the speakers and the audience.

In a fishbowl conversation, there are two kinds of fishbowl. They are; open fishbowl and closed fishbowl. In an open fishbowl, any member of the audience can at any time, occupy the empty chair and join the fishbowl. When this happens, an existing member of the fishbowl must voluntarily leave the fishbowl and free chair. In a closed fishbowl, all chairs are filled. The initial participants speak for some time. When time runs out, they leave the fishbowl and a new group from the audience enters the fishbowl.

According to Brown, there are two major approaches characteristic “current’’ teaching of conversation, an indirect approach in which learners are more less set loose to engage in interaction, and a direct approach that ‘’involves’’ planning a conversation program around the specific, micro skill, strategies, and processes that are involved influent conversation. The indirect approach implies that one does not actually teach conversation, but rather than students acquire conversational competence, peripherally, by engaging in meaningful task. A direct approached explicitly call students’ attention to conversational rules, conventions, and strategies.

Brown offered there are features of conversation that can receive specific focus in classroom instruction, they are how to use conversation for both transactional and interactional purposes, how to produce both short and long turns in conversation, strategies for managing turn-taking in conversation, how to initiate and respond to talk on broad range of topics, how to use both a casual style of speaking and a neutral or more formal style, how to use conversation in different social setting, how to maintain fluency in conversation, how to produce talk in a conversational mode, how to use conversational fillers and small talk, and how to use conversational routines.

Based on the explanation above, we know that many ways to make a good conversation. If we want to make a conversation we must decide the situation it is formal situation or informal situation. When we make conversation informal situation we do not needs the rules of conversation. But when we use fishbowl conversation in the school, it is includes formal situation. So, we must use some rules of conversation.

c)    Fishbowl Technique to Teach Speaking

There are many of the classroom speaking activities which are currently is use fall at or near the communicative end of the communication continuum. One of the classroom speaking activities is fishbowl technique. This technique is makes the learners more enjoyable and give motivation for learners.

Fishbowl is wonderful way to facilitate small or intensive conversation within a large group that is share equally among all participants. Both speaking and listening roles are emphasized. The fishbowl process engages participants in active listening, active communication and increased understanding of a variety of viewpoints. It is a method for respectful points.

If we want to use of fishbowl technique to teach speaking, there are many steps as follow:

a.    Material

Applying this technique, there are materials are need, such as: flash cards, picture, piece of paper, and colour paper.

b.    Preparation

1.    Prepare several pictures and cut colour paper and distribute for the students.

2.    After the students get a one piece of paper, ask for each student who gets a specific colour to make a circle.

3.    Give the each student a piece of paper, to make a note belongs to apply this technique.

c.    Process

Before practicing this technique, the teacher must remember some points, they are; the teacher gives instructions clearly, showing the first student what to practice this technique.

The process of playing the fishbowl technique is described as follows:

1)    Arrange the classroom seats in concentric circle

2)    The inner circle is the fish in the fishbowl get to communicate, the outside circle rep

3)    Once conversation s

4)    The teacher as volunteer in inner circles. Then

5)    If the students in inner circles cannot answer question from volunteer, they should be back in outer circles.

6)    At all times, one of the participants already in the fishbowl will to relinquish/her seat, and take a seat in the outside circle of observation.

7)    The action stops in the fishbowl until time is up.

d.    Evaluation

The third stage in teaching act is evaluation. Here, the teacher attempts to gather information that can be used to determine whether the teaching has been successful. Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards. Evaluation often used to characteristic and apprise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprise and other human services.

In this technique, the procedures of evaluation are:

1)    The volunteer ask question for each student in inner circle.

2)    The teacher evaluates the students who is can’t answer question from volunteer. The students can answer many questions from volunteer is a get good mark.

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