Improving Students’ Speaking Skills through Communicative Activities of Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 2 Sewon in the Academic Year of 2015/2016

Abstract

The objective of this research was to improve students’ speaking skills through communicative activities of grade VIII students of SMP Negeri 2 Sewon in the academic year 2015/2016. This research was action research conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four meetings. The actions were carried out from 12^th April to 18^th May 2016. The research subjects were 26 students of grade VIII of SMP Negeri 2 Sewon. The steps in this research were reconnaissance, planning, action and observation, and reflection. The data were qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative data were obtained from interviews with the students and the English teacher, and observations. The data were in the forms of interview transcripts and field notes. The quantitative data were collected from pre- and post-test. The qualitative data were analyzed through four steps: 1) data collection, 2) data reduction, 3) data display, and 4) conclusion drawing and verification. The quantitative data were analyzed through comparing the means of scores from the tests to see the improvement. The research validity was achieved by implementing democratic, outcome, process, catalytic, and dialogic validity. To gain trustworthiness, the researcher used some triangulation techniques. They were time, investigator, and theoretical triangulation. The actions implemented in this research were using communicative activities, giving feedback to and appreciation for students’ performance, conducting reading aloud, conducting acting from a script, and conducting drilling pronunciation through fun activities. The results of this research showed that there were some improvements of students’ speaking skills. Speaking skills could be taught equally in the classrooms. The speaking activities in the classroom became varied. The students gained more confidence to speak as their fluency improved as well as their vocabulary. They were motivated and willing to participate in the activities and also to work in pairs and groups.