IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL USING CUE CARDS FOR GRADE VIII STUDENTS OF SMPN 1 PIYUNGAN

Abstract

The aim of this study was to improve the students’ speaking skill using cue cards for grade VIII students of SMPN 1 Piyungan. This study was classified into classroom action research which was conducted in two cycles with two meetings in each cycle. The main subjects of this study were 27 students of class VIII F at SMPN 1 Piyungan. The data were qualitative and quantitative in nature. The qualitative data were collected through observing the teaching and learning process, having interviews with the students, the English teacher, and the research collaborator, and distributing open-ended questionnaires to the students. The quantitative data were collected through assessing the students’ speaking performances by using an assessment rubric. The qualitative data were analyzed by assembling the data, coding the data, comparing the data, building interpretations, and reporting the outcomes. There were several validity principles applied in this research. They were democratic validity, outcome validity, process validity, catalytic validity, and dialogic validity. Furthermore, to test the trustworthiness of the data, these three triangulation principles were implemented: time triangulation, investigator triangulation, and theoritical triangulation. The result of this study showed that the use of cue cards media successfully improved the students’ speaking skill. The qualitative improvement could be seen from the students’ performance in using situational cue cards. The cue cards stimulated the students to speak English. The students’ motivation in learning English also improved. The qualitative findings were supported by the quantitative data results. The results of the students’ speaking scores proved that the students’ speaking skills improved. The students’ mean scores improved from 41.12 in the pre-test to 81.58 in the post-test.

Kata kunci: speaking skills, improving, cue cardsz