THE USE OF SPEECH ACT METHOD TO IMPROVE ENGLISH

SPEAKING SKILL OF SECOND GRADE STUDENTS` AT MTs DARUL

HUSAINI

By

Mutammi Mul Ula

NIM: 180107036

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM

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 2022

A. Title

The use of speech act method to improve english speaking skill of

second grade students` at mts darul husaini

B. Background of research

Skills in speaking also affect the course of communication, without

speaking skills it can cause difficulties to understand the communication.

Speaking skills can be seen in linguistic and non-linguistic aspects, using

these aspects appropriately and correctly can make it easier for listeners

and speakers to understand a communication.

Many problems occur during communication, both from the point

of view of the speaker and listener. To avoid misunderstandings that can

cause unwanted problems, language and speaking skills are needed, or are

known as communicative abilities. The communicative ability is the

ability to speak or the ability to use the language according to the function

and situation as well as the norms of language use with the context of the

situation and social context.1 It is necessary aspects that can support

fluency when communication takes place which can be referred to as

speaking skills. Speakers need to pay attention to aspects such as voice

1
Rasmiayu Fendiansyah, 2016. “Analisis tindak Tutur Ilokusi dan Perlokusi Pada Guru Mata
Pelajaran Bahasa Indonesia Dalam Proses Belajar Mengajar Kelas X SMPN 5 Tanjungpinang”,
Artikel E-Journal , (Tanjungpinang: Universitas Maritim raja Ali Haji). https://docplayer.info.

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volume, intonation, facial movements and expressions, word structure, and

so on. If these aspects can be mastered by the speaker, then the

communication can take place as expected if the other person is also

mastering the skills in listening to the conversation. Speaking skills in

English are related to ways to communicate with foreigners who have no

basis in Indonesian. In learning a foreign language, it is normal if someone

often makes a mistake in saying, writing, or interpreting it in one process.

Some people are still lazy to learn English for various reasons, one

of which is because they do not realize or even know what the functions

and advantages of this language are. English has a very important role in

the life of everyone, from children to adults. The function of the English

language is very much, one of which is to broaden knowledge. English is

often used in the delivery of knowledge and information. So, the

Indonesian people will gain broader insight if they can speak English and

use it regularly to find information. The next function is to be able to

advance the nation, if the Indonesian people can speak English, they will

certainly be able to compete globally in various aspects of life. This

success will not only make the nation proud but also bring the country's

progress.

English does not have to be mastered by adults only. Starting from

elementary, middle, and high school, it is also necessary to master it. This

skill will help students to get good grades in English lessons. Being able to

speak English will also open up great opportunities for them to become

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outstanding students. Many English competitions are regularly held, for

example, debate and speech competitions. With good mastery of this

language, they can win the competition. Not only that, but this skill will

also make it easier for students to get scholarships so that they can

continue their studies at their country or abroad on condition that they will

be selected, they must attach documents such as TOEFL and IELTS, the

average value that must be achieved to pass the selection is above 550 for

TOEFL and above 6.5 for IELTS. With this average value, students have a

high probability of passing the scholarship selection.

To master English language, there are 4 skills must be train and

sharpen by students. Like other languages in general, the 4 skills in

English are Listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening is the first

skill in English that students must master. It is natural for us to listen first

and then start talking. Therefore, before moving on to the next skill,

students must practice listening skills first. Several ways that students can

do to practice listening skills are listening to recorded English speeches,

watching English videos, or listening to English songs. After mastering

listening, the next step is to try to practice speaking skills. Usually, if

students already understand what other people are saying in English, then

slowly they will also be able to speak in English. But it's not enough to just

practice listening, students also have to practice speaking skills. Improving

speaking skills can be done in various ways, which requires a lot of

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practice. The most common way for beginners is to repeat what other

people said in English.

Students must practice their reading skills. Why? Because most of

the information and knowledge is written in international languages such

as English. If they can't read, then they will be left out of information.

Reading is indeed quite important many techniques have been developed

to make reading more efficient, such as scanning, skipping, and skimming

techniques. All these techniques are intended so that readers can quickly

find the essence of the text. So, students can read and understand books.

The last skill is writing, this skill is the most difficult skill to master, that's

what most people say. Experts also argue that writing does require a

stronger brain than the other three skills. This may be because writing will

produce a product that can be read many times.

It was found at the beginning of the meeting with English teacher

at the second-grade MTs in English subject, that the speaking skills of

grade 2 students were still low. This is obtained through the results of data

collection that have been averaged together with the second grade English

teacher when the English lesson takes place, which has an average

speaking skill score of 39.84%, this includes the lack of aspects of

students' speaking skills both in linguistic and non-linguistic matters in

pronouncing English sentences properly and correctly.

This study adopts the speech act method with role-play techniques

which are applied during the teaching and learning process, especially in

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 learning to speak. This technique is included in drama activities which is a

good technique to master the language of students to improve English

speaking skills. Through this research, it is hoped that can contribute

theories of learning English as a foreign language which is part of

language learning and teaching, and can contribute knowledge for teachers

in improving the quality of teaching and learning, especially for language

teachers at MTs Darul Husaini.

C. The Statement of Problem

In this research, the problems to be study and solve are: How does

the speech act method can improve students' speaking skills of second

grade at MTs Darul Husaini?

D. Subject of Action

This Classroom Action Research (CAR) will be held at MTs NW

Darul Husaini which is located at Jl. Mujur, district. Central Praya. The

subject that will be made into the research class is class VIII, who acts as a

research collaborator, namely the English teacher at MTs NW Darul

Husaini. Currently, the total of students registered as students at MTs NW

Darul Husaini is 73 students, with details as follows: class VII has 27

students. Class VIII consists of 21 students. Class IX consists of 25

students. The subjects in this study were class VIII with 21 students,

consisting of 9 male students and 11 female students.

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 The reason why do researcher chose class VIII to be the research

subject was that based on the results of the pre-research observed by the

researcher in 2021, the researcher saw that students' understanding of

English and speaking skills were still low, which was seen when the

teacher asked students to read conversational texts in English. find it they

got difficult to speak. The low level of students' understanding of English

is also seen from the lack of student initiative to ask questions, and

students were not able and still shy to come forward just to introduce

themselves using English.

In addition, the lack of learning media used by teachers is one of

the factors causing the low level of students' understanding of English,

therefore researcher want to add variety in the use of interesting and

relevant learning media to the subject matter contained in the educational

curriculum. The use of these media is expected to trigger students' focus in

following the English learning process

E. Purpose of Research

The researcher determines a purpose of this research: to improve

students' speaking skills ability at second grade of MTs NW Darul Husaini

by using speech act method.

F. Significance of Research

The results of this study are expected to provide benefits, both

practically and theoretically.

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1. Theoretically

The results of the study to improve the English speaking skills of

class VIII MTs NW Darul Husaini students. Through the speech act

method, it is expected to be able to:

1. Can contribute to the development of the world of education,

especially in learning English (speaking).

2. Can be used as a comparison with similar research that has been

studied before,

3. Can be used as a reference for further research designs.

2. Practically

Practically, this research provides at least the following benefits:

a. For student

After following this series of research, students are

expected to be able to compose scripts for role-play activities in

class and be able to carry out role-play activities correctly.

Dialogue between students when doing role-play activities is

expected to encourage students' English speaking skills to

develop better and ultimately have a positive impact on student

learning outcomes. This research is expected to increase

knowledge and insight about the use of the speech act method

in learning, especially English subjects so that it can achieve

the expected results and can increase knowledge about learning

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 speaking skills. This research can also be used as a reference in

conducting further research.

b. For teacher

With the results of this study, teachers can improve: (1) Be

creative and be professional in carrying out the learning they

manage. (2) Can be used as input and improve understanding

for education practitioners, especially English language

educators by using the speech act method with the role play

technique to improve English speaking skills. (3) Can be used

as a supporting study material to reflect on various kinds of

better learning methods or techniques, especially to help

improve English language skills for students. (4) As

information material for English educators on the importance

of choosing learning models so that students are more

appreciative, thus the quality of learning and learning outcomes

are also expected to increase.

G. Review of Literature

The researcher provides some previous researches related to this

research, such as, research conducted by Ratna Sari,

Ratna Sari conducts about “Using Communicative Games in

Improving Students` Speaking Skills”. The research aimed to describe In

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the preliminary study, the mean score of students on speaking before the

research was 60.42. The class percentages which pass the minimum

criterion were 13.9%. It means there were only 5 students who could pass

the minimum score of 75. The mean score of post test 1 at the first circle

was 69.02. The class percentages were 41.7%. It means 15 students who

could pass the minimum score. The mean score in the post test 2 at the

second circle was 78.77. The class percentages were 83.33%. It means

there were 30 who passed the minimum score. The data showed that

communicative games used were success. In the preliminary study, the

mean score of students on speaking before the research was 60.42. The

class percentages which pass the minimum criterion were 13.9%. It means

there were only 5 students who could pass the minimum score of 75. The

mean score of post test 1 at the first circle was 69.02. The class

percentages were 41.7%. It means 15 students who could pass the

minimum score. The mean score in the post test 2 at the second circle was

78.77. The class percentages were 83.33%. It means there were 30 who

passed the minimum score. The data showed that communicative games

used were success.

The research above has similarity and difference with this research.

The similarity of them is both of them discuss improving speaking ability,

and both of them use classroom action research (CAR). The defference of

them is they use different technique. The research above uses

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communicative games to improve speaking skills while this research will

use speech act method to improve speaking skills.

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H. Research Method

1. Setting of research

a. Research sites

This research will be carry out at Madrasah Tsanawiah NW Darul

Husaini which is located in Kelebuh Village, Central Praya District,

Central Lombok Regency which is a Madrasa/School where students are

still lacking in English and there is a need for a new method that is

expected to be efficient to overcome this problem, so I researched so that

should be able to provide problem-solving.

b. Research time

This research start in April 2022 from the pre-survey stage until the

action research was carried out.

2. Object of Research

This study focuses on speech acts in learning English for MTs

students. Darul Husaini Sanggeng Kelebuh Village.

3. Planning of Action

In this study, we will provide an action using the speech act

learning method with the role play technique in English subjects with the

hope that this research will be a solution to increase interest and talent in

English, especially in speaking skills. In the research plan, activities

include:

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 a. Preparation for the implementation of CAR (Classroom Action

Research)

b. Participant preparation

1) Preparation of research scenario instruments

2) Prepare teaching aids or learning media used in research

c. Develop an action plan

The actions that will be given are in the form of applying the PQ4R

learning method (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review) with

the hope of increasing students' understanding ability with indicators of

understanding explaining, and providing examples.

4. Instruments of research

a. Observation

Observation activity is used to pay close attention to a research

object and record all conditions relevant to the research objective.

Observation is a systematic observation and recording of the elements that

appear in symptoms in the object of research.2 This recording is carried out

systematically according to the phenomena investigated. This observation

is carried out directly and carefully at the research location to determine

the conditions that occur in the study. This observation activity not only

takes notes but also makes considerations for later conducting multilevel-

scale research.

2
Afifudin dan Beni Ahmad Saebani, Metodologi penelitian Kualitatif, (Bandung: Pustaka Setia,
2012), hlm. 134.

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 b. Interview

The interview is one of the instruments that is carried out through a

dialogue between the interviewer and the interviewee to obtain

information. Interviews were conducted to obtain information directly by

asking questions to informants, this method aims to obtain information and

data about the object of research.3 The interview instrument can be in the

form of an interview guide. Interviews themselves can be done in two

ways, namely structured interviews, and unstructured interviews.

Structured interviews are used if the researcher already knows for sure

what information will be obtained. Therefore, the researcher provided in

advance the instrument in the form of written questions and alternative

answers. In addition, voice recorders, pictures, brochures, and other

materials can also be used as interview instruments. Meanwhile,

unstructured interviews can be conducted freely anywhere without using a

systematic and complete interview guide as in structured interviews. The

unstructured interview instrument can be in the form of an outline of

questions about a problem.

5. Taking action

Following the type of research chosen, namely CAR (Classroom

Action Research), then this study uses Kurt Lewin's research model, which

is in the form of a spiral from one cycle to the next. This research was

3
Nasution S, Metode Penelitian Naturalistik, (Bandung: PT Tarsito, 2003). Hlm. 69.

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carried out in two cycles, each cycle consisting of Planning, Action

Implementation, Observation, and Reflection activities. To clarify the

description of the actions in each cycle, the researcher describes two

cycles that will be carried out with the following activity plans:

CYCLE I

a. Planning Stage

At this planning stage, the researcher makes a lesson plan design and

prepares paper media containing topics or materials to be discussed and

markers needed in the implementation of learning, prepares instruments to

analyze data regarding the learning process in progress and the results of

actions, namely: Worksheets in the form of questions to interviews,

teacher, student observation sheets and assessment instruments.

b. Implementation Stage

At this implementation stage, the researchers carried out learning with

speaking skills in English to improve students' understanding using the

PQ4R (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review) method. The

activities carried out by the teacher in cycle I as follows:

A. Introduction

1) The teacher asks the students to be orderly by arranging student

seats

2) The teacher says hello

3) Teacher and students pray together

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4) The teacher asks the students health and takes their attendance

5) The teacher does apperception by linking the material to be studied

with the students' daily experiences.

6) The teacher conveys the learning objectives

b) Core Activities

1) Students are divided into 5 groups with 5 students in each group

2) Students listen to the teacher's explanation regarding the learning

material to be discussed

3) Each group receives reading materials and material sheets

4) Each group is asked to skim or fast to determine the main idea of

the reading (Preview)

5) Each student in the group is asked to ask several questions from the

main ideas found by using the words what, who, where, why, and how

(Question)

6) Each group re-reads and responds or answers the questions it has

previously made (Read)

7) Each group is asked not only to memorize the contents of the text

but also to understand the reading text (Reflect)

8) Students are asked to state important things from the text they have

read (Recite).

9) Students convey the essence of the text they read (Review)

10) The teacher reinforces the results of student discussions

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11) Students are allowed to ask questions about material that students

have not understood

c) Closing Activities

1) Students are given assignments as evaluation tests

2) Students and teachers conclude the material that has been studied

3) The teacher reminds students to study the next material

4) Teacher and students pray together

5) The teacher ends the lesson and close the class

c. Observation Stage

At this observation stage, the researcher made observations about

all the ongoing learning implementation processes to improve learning

with the PQ4R method in class VIII students of MTs Darul Husaini,

the observations made were as follows:

a) Observing the entire learning process by recording all problems or

deficiencies in learning English using the PQ4R method (Preview,

Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review)

b) Observing students in group discussion activities

d. Reflection Stage

At this stage, the researcher analyze the results of observations in

the first cycle. Researcher conduct an evaluation, to find out the

shortcomings in this cycle. The analysis is carried out to measure the

advantages and disadvantages that exist during the learning process. If

the results of the study are not in line with expectations, the next cycle

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will be carried out. The advantages that existed in the first cycle were

maintained and corrected all existing shortcomings so that the results

of this reflection analysis are determinant of the success of the learning

process using the PQ4R method (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect,

Recite, Review) on cultural diversity material.

CYCLE II

a. Planning

The researcher developed a lesson plan based on the results of

reflection in cycle I. However, in preparing the lesson plan (LP) for the

second cycle, the researcher paid attention to the shortcomings that

occurred in the improvement of the first cycle.

b. Implementation

The teacher or researcher carries out the learning process using

the PQ4R (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review) method

based on the reflection learning plan in cycle I.

c. Observation

Researchers observed learning activities using the PQ4R

(Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review) method as in cycle

I.

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 d. Reflection

Researchers reflect on learning activities in cycle II as in cycle

I and analyze those using the PQ4R method (Preview, Question, Read,

Reflect, Recite, and Review.

6. Observation (monitoring)

Observation includes the activity of loading attention to an

object by using all the senses. So observing can be done through:

• Vision

• Smell

• Hearing

• Touch and taste.

7. Data analysis and reflection

The data collected in each observation activity from the

implementation of the research cycle was analyzed descriptively by using the

percentage technique to see trends that occurred in learning activities. In the

data analysis activities, three types of data will be obtained, namely

qualitative, quantitative, and triangulation data. The following are the three

data:

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 a) Data that can be analyzed descriptively, for example in the form of a

list of learning outcomes obtained by students in the process of learning

English using the PQ4R method.

b) Qualitative data is data in the form of information in the form of

sentences that provide a description of reality or facts according to the data

obtained to know the results of observations made in each cycle of activities,

for example in this study is the activity of students during the learning process

using the PQ4R method.

c) Data Triangulation of credibility testing is defined as checking data

from various sources in various ways, and at various times. Thus there is a

triangulation of sources, triangulation of data collection techniques, and time.

The data included in the triangulation of data in this study include:

Triangulation techniques to test the credibility of the data is done by checking

the data to the same source with different techniques. For example, data is

obtained by interview, then checked by observation, documentation, or tests.

I. Schedule of Research

Month
NO Activity
1 2 3 4 5 6

1 Proposal preparation

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 2 Seminar proposal

3 Entering the field

4 Selection stage and

analysis

5 Make a draft report

6 Report draft discussion

7 Improvement

report

8 and so on

customized needs

References

Chakim, Muhammad Azizul. And Dibdyaningsih, Haris. 2019.An Analysis

of Teacher Speech Act in Giving Motivation for English Students.

Journal of English Language Teaching and Islamic Integration.

Holtgraves, Thomas. 2007. Second Language Learners and Speech Act

Comprehension. Language Learning ISSN 0023-8333.

Hidayatullah, Syarif. 2017. Using Communicative Games in Improving

students` Speaking Skills. English Language Teaching; Vol. 10.

Miculka , Jean. 2007. Speaking for Success, second edition. Ohio: South-

Western Educational Publishing.

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Searle, John. What is a Speech Act?. PRAGMATICS, DISCOURSE

ANALYSIS AND SOCIO LINGUISTICS.

Zhao, Yiyu. And Throssell, Paul. 2011. Speech Act Theory and Its

Application to EFL Teaching in China. The International Journal

Language Society and Culture URL.

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