Improving Students’ Speaking Skill by Using Information Gap Activities (A Classroom Action Research)

ABSTACT

Widyawati, Nining Retno. 2013. Improving Students’ Speaking Skill of Class Seven D of SMP N 5 PATI in the Academic Year 2013/2014 Using Information Gap Activities (A Classroom Action Research). Skripsi, Kudus. English Education Department, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Muria Kudus University. The advisors: (i) Drs. Suprihadi, M.Pd. (ii) Fitri Budi Suryani, S.S, M.Pd.

Keyword: improving, speaking skill, information gap activities

One of the fundamental competences of language is speaking. Someone is assumed master in learning a foreign language if he or she speaks the language fluently. There were some problems in teaching speaking in the classroom; those problems were found by the writer when doing an observation at seven D class of SMP N 5 PATI. Considering those problems, the writer is inspired to use Information Gap Activities as the teaching technique which is hoped to be able to improve students’ speaking skill.

This study was aimed at describing the implementation of information gap activities and describing whether or not information gap activities improve the students’ speaking ability. This research consisted of three cycles with each cycle consist of four elements; they are planning, acting, observing, and analysis and reflection. This study was implemented in SMP N 5 PATI at the seventh grade, using classroom action research. The writer took 30 students as the subject of the research.

In this research, the classroom action research (CAR) was done by the writer and the English teacher. The writer worked together collaboratively with the English teacher; the English teacher of SMP N 5 PATI taught English and the writer who took part in this research as collaborator to assist the implementation of gap information activities and to observe the outcomes. In this research, the writer collects the data using observation sheet to observe the students and teacher’s activities during the teaching learning process and achievement test to measure the students’ speaking ability. The form of the test is oral test.

The results of the study showed that information gap activities can improve the students’ speaking skill of class seven D of SMP N 5 PATI in the academic year 2013/2014. It was shown by the students’ improvement in each cycle. The speaking ability achievement in the first cycle was categorized sufficient, fair in the second cycle and good in the third cycle. The students’ average scores of speaking skill were 15.13 in the first cycle; 18.3 in the second cycle; and 21.8 in the third cycle.

Referring to this action research, the writer offers several suggestions. First, the writer suggests that the students should be more active, confident, and enjoyable to speak up in English. The students should motivate themselves and improve their speaking skill. Second, Gap Information Activities can be an alternative technique for the teacher in teaching speaking. And the third, for further writer this technique is available to be applied both for the students in junior high school level or the students in senior high school level.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the writer would like to discuss the Background of the Research, Statement of the Problem, Objective of the Research, Significance of the Research, Scope of the Research, and Operational Definition.

1.1  Background of the Research

One of the fundamental competences of language is speaking. Someone is assumed master in learning a foreign language if he or she speaks the language fluently. Speaking is one of the important and essential skills that must be trained to communicate orally. Using speaking we can convey our idea to communicate with other people. By speaking people are able to know what kinds of circumstances in the world. People who have ability in speaking will be better in sending and receiving information or message to another. Speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the uses of verbal and non verbal symbol in various contexts.(Chaney, 1998: 13 in Kayi 2006: 1 taken from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kayi-TeachingSpeaking.html). Ur (1991: 48) says that “speaking is the productive aural/ oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.” Linguistic expertise concerns with language structure and language content.

Teaching speaking is not like listening, reading, and writing. It needs habit formation because it is a real communication. Speaking is needed to perform as often as possible. It is not writing or reading but it must be practiced directly in full expression.

There were some problems in teaching speaking in the classroom; those problems were found by the writer when doing an observation at seven D class of SMP N 5 PATI. First, the students always did the mistake in grammar and pronunciation part. Mostly, they only spoke English. They did not focus on the sentence structure and accepted pronunciation. Second, the students were frightened of making mistake in speaking English. It meant that the students have restricted vocabulary. Third, the teacher teaches the students using the same method so it makes the students were bored during the teaching learning process. And the last, environmental and family factors also influence such as, they came from different family’s background which is not all their parents can speak English, and they only got English in school so that they had limited time to practice. Therefore, the process of improving students’ speaking ability were quiet difficult.

Considering the description above, the writer is inspired to use Information Gap Activities as the teaching technique which is hoped to be able to improve students’ speaking skill. Based on www.caslt.org/Print/gapp.htm, The Information Gap is a kind of structured output activities. These are like finishing a task by finding missing information, conveying telephone message, and expressing an opinion. It sets up doing on particular items of language. It is more like drills than real communication. Structured output activities direct the students to perform specific features of language and brief sentence, not in extended discourse. It can form an effective bridge between instructor modeling and communicative output because they are partially authentic and simulated. By Information Gap, the teacher is able to improve the student’s speaking ability because it is a fascinating technique to be relevant in classroom. The students become relaxed to address everything. The teacher only gives simple description about the activity and examines the vocabulary required for the activity. The students get chance to extend their speaking skill more generously.

The writer chooses information gap activities to improve students’ speaking skill because gap information activities can promote real communication and assist language acquisition. (www.caslt.org/Print/gapp.htm). Information gap activities can also emphasize vocabulary and kind of grammatical structures taught in the class. These types of activities are extremely effective in the L2 classroom. They give every student the opportunity to speak in the target language for an extended period of time and students naturally produce more speech than they would otherwise and in this activity the students must make what they are saying comprehensible to others. In addition, speaking with peers is less intimidating than presenting in front of the entire class and being evaluated. As a result, such a technique can improve students’ speaking ability. Another reason why the writer chooses this technique of teaching is the way to teach will be not monotone. This method is designed to create the students’ interest to learn with pleasant technique. The core of information gap method is corporation between groups and shared.

In teaching speaking, the teacher should be able to construct fascinating topic and apply proper method. This can stimulate them to speak more because speaking skill emphasizes students’ ability to speak as much as possible. Interesting topic can correlate to their environment and life. In addition teacher has to instruct them but teacher does not give correction to their speaking directly. It promotes them to be confident to open up their idea so that the students are not frightened of making mistake in speaking classroom. In teaching speaking, teacher also has to explain meaningfully. Based on the background, the writer is concerned to apply this technique so that the writer will conduct the research entitled “Improving Students’ Speaking Skill of Class Seven D Of SMP N 5 PATI in the Academic Year 2013/2014 Using Information Gap Activities (A Classroom Action Research).”

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