195

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH THE USE OF

ROLE PLAYS IN GRADE EIGHT OF SMPN 4 BANGUNTAPAN, BANTUL
IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2017/2018

Ririen Rizki Putri, Siti Mahripah

English Language Education Department, Faculty of Language and Arts
Yogyakarta State University
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The objective of this research was to improve Grade VIII students’ speaking ability by
using Role Playing technique in SMPN 4 Banguntapan, Bantul.
It was an action research study which consisted of two cycles. The researcher worked
collaboratively with the English teacher, the students, and the collaborators. The subjects of the
research were students of VIII C of SMPN 4 Banguntapan in the academic year of 2017/2018.
The data were in the forms of qualitative and quantitative ones. The qualitative data were
collected by observing the teaching and learning process, and interviewing the students, the
teacher and the collaborators. The data were in the forms of field notes, interview transcripts,
photographs, and videos. Meanwhile, the quantitative data were collected through assessing the
students’ speaking performance. The data were in the form of students’ speaking scores. They
were analyzed descriptively. The procedure of the research consisted of reconnaissance,
planning, acting, and reflecting.
The results of this research showed that the use of Role Playing technique was successful
to improve the students’ speaking ability. Based on the qualitative data, the use of classroom
English helped the students to be more familiar with English. The role play performances also
helped them enrich their vocabulary knowledge and build their accuracy. Furthermore, Role Play
technique was successful to encourage them to practice speaking. Meanwhile, the use of various
media could attract their attention to get engaged towards the teaching learning process. Based
on the quantitative data, the students’ mean scores for the speaking skill improved significantly
from 61 in the pre-test (with SD 1,4) to 75 in the posttest (with SD 5,4) which showed Role Play
technique gave a significant improvement in students’ speaking performance.

Keywords: Role playing technique, speaking ability.

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MENINGKATKAN KETERAMPILAN KETERAMPILAN SISWA

MELALUI PENGGUNAAN PERAN ROLE DI KELAS DELAPAN SMPN 4
BANGUNTAPAN, BANTUL DI TAHUN AKADEMIK 2017/2018

Ririen Rizki Putri, Siti Mahripah

Departemen Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta
[email protected]

ABSTRAK

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berbicara siswa kelas
VIII dengan menggunakan teknik Role Playing di SMPN 4 Banguntapan, Bantul.Itu adalah
penelitian penelitian tindakan yang terdiri dari dua siklus. Peneliti bekerja sama dengan guru
bahasa Inggris, siswa, dan kolaborator. Subyek penelitian adalah siswa kelas VIII C SMPN 4
Banguntapan pada tahun akademik 2017/2018. Data berupa data kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Data
kualitatif dikumpulkan dengan mengamati proses belajar mengajar, dan mewawancarai siswa,
guru dan kolaborator. Data berupa catatan lapangan, wawancara transkrip, foto, dan video.
Sementara itu, data kuantitatif dikumpulkan melalui penilaian kinerja berbicara siswa. Data
berupa skor berbicara siswa. Mereka dianalisis secara deskriptif. Prosedur penelitian terdiri
dari pengintaian, perencanaan, akting, dan refleksi.
Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan teknik Role Playing berhasil
meningkatkan kemampuan berbicara siswa. Berdasarkan data kualitatif, penggunaan bahasa
Inggris kelas membantu siswa untuk lebih akrab dengan bahasa Inggris. Pertunjukan bermain
peran juga membantu mereka memperkaya pengetahuan kosakata mereka dan membangun
keakuratannya. Selanjutnya, teknik Role Play berhasil mendorong mereka untuk berlatih
berbicara. Sementara itu, penggunaan berbagai media dapat menarik perhatian mereka untuk
terlibat dalam proses belajar mengajar. Berdasarkan data kuantitatif, nilai rata-rata siswa
untuk keterampilan berbicara meningkat secara signifikan dari 61 dalam pre-test (dengan SD
1,4) menjadi 75 dalam posttest (dengan SD 5,4) yang menunjukkan teknik Role Play memberikan
peningkatan yang signifikan dalam kinerja berbicara siswa.

Kata Kunci: Teknik bermain peran, kemampuan berbicara.

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INTRODUCTION skills. Those aspects include

pronunciation, stress pattern, idioms and
As we know, language has several collocations.
functions in our daily life. These functions Despite the fact that English
include interaction and communication. becomes a compulsory subject at schools,
Interaction is an action or arrangement that starting from junior high schools, many
involves two or more people. Interaction believe that in average, the Indonesian
occurs when they want to exchange students’ English speaking skill is still low.
interests, feelings, thoughts, opinions or This can be seen from their performance
information with a series of codes. The when they are asked to speak in English. In
codes include signals, symbols, and sounds the long run, this low ability has contributed
which can be understood by other people. to the low competitiveness of Indonesians,
Interaction cannot occur if there is no particularly when they have to deal with
communication among people. In fact, people from overseas. This lend a serious
communication is a complex process of problem to the Indonesia’s education
interaction between two or more people. In institutions as to know how to improve the
most occasions people communicate with students’ speaking skills.
others to achieve certain goals. The goals Some studies had shown that
can be varied such as for seeking students’ low speaking skills were due to
information, for obtaining knowledge, for some reasons. Most of the contributing
survival, for socializing and so on. As stated factors laid on the inappropriate teaching
above, communication is a human activity and learning methods the students
which is done every day to socialize with experienced during their school time. Most
others. Communication can be done through of them had little time to practice speaking
written and spoken channels. Yet, people in English. On top of that, they were not
commonly use spoken channel as this is trained and acknowledged well of the micro
mostly considered the practical one. skills of speaking, particularly pronunciation
Being used as the main tool in which eventually cause the students’
communication, speaking commonly inadequate speaking ability. Considering
becomes the focus in language learning, those above mentioned constraints that
including in English learning. However, students’ face in learning speaking, the
most learners, particularly English as researcher tried to find solutions to
Foreign Language (EFL) learners find that it overcome them. Therefore, the researcher
is quite hard to master speaking skills. Many conducted a research on improving speaking
believe that some aspects have contributed skills.
to students’ constraints in learning speaking

LITERATURE REVIEW Role play is method acting out

particular ways of behaving or pretending to
Speaking is not simply expressing be other people who deal with new
something orally. However, the students situations. In this case, Ladousse (1995:5)
need to acquire some speaking aspects to argues that when students assume a “Role”,
have a good speaking skill. As proposed by they play a part (either their own or
Brown (2001: 168), those aspects are somebody else) in specific situation. “Play”
pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, and means that is taken on in a safe environment
accuracy.
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in which students are joyful playful as activity that is fantasy role play activity.
possible. Those are fictitious, imaginary and possible
According to Brown (2004:174), even absurd, such as an astronaut in the
“role play is a popular pedagogical activity moon.
in communicative language-teaching It has been mentioned before that
classes”. It makes the students free to be role play activities to promote speaking.
someone based on their creativity linguistic Through role play activities the students
input. In line with Brown, Nunan (2003:57) learn how to express ideas, opinions, or
also states that role play activities are feelings to others by using or sound of
important in the teaching of speaking articulation.
because they give the students an Role play activities can improve the
opportunity to practice communicating in learners speaking skill in any situation and
the different social contexts and target help the learners to interact. According to
language. Nunan (2003:57), role play activities are
To strengthen the arguments, also excellent activity for speaking in the
Thornbury (2005:96) states, “That speaking relatively safe environment of classroom. In
activities involving role play activities, in role play activities, the students are given
which learners take an imaginative leap out particular roles in the target language before
the confines of the classroom, provide a they do in real environment. Several reasons
useful spring broad for real-life language for role play activities in teaching speaking
use” Through role play, the teacher can quoted from Ladousse (1995: 6) as follows.
encourage their students to experiment and Ladoussse asserts that there are many
innovate with the language, based on their situations can be brought into the classroom
imagination and creativity. It makes the and the teachers can train students to speak
joyful atmosphere to them for speaking in any situations through role play activities
without fear of embarrassment when they based on the students’ competence in
make mistake. This will improve their self- languages and communication in social
esteem to speak English. According to relationships. But the role play activities
Ladousse (1989:13), there are several types should appropriate with the students’
of role play activities. The first is a role play language teaching syllabuses. The next is
activity which is in the real situation need of role play activities can increase the students’
the students’ lives like involves such roles as confidence. The last is role play activities
students and teacher practice in the class. are fun activities. From the explanation
The second is a role play activity which is in above, role play have many reasons to be
some various situations that happen in the used in the speaking teaching learning
daily life but the students may or may not activity.
have direct experience, such as a student In addition, Van Ments (1983) in
which gives information to tourist about the Graves (2008:7) identifies three general
direction of place. Then, the type of a role advantages to role-playing activities: they
play activity that the students never are positive and safe in dealing with
experienced themselves before, but it is easy attitudes and feelings, they provide a safe
to play because the teacher give many venue for expressing personal and
indirect examples to give additional sometimes unpopular attitudes and opinions,
information about it like another example of and role play is highly motivating as the
a manager of a tourism agent who gives majority of students enjoy these types of
explanation to tourists. The last is a role play
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activities and become more inspired The researcher validated the data
learners. collection in this research in order to ensure
In conclusion, role play is an research findings. In this study, the
important activity in the communicative researcher uses four of the five types of
approach because role play activities give validity suggested by Anderson et al.,
the students a lot of opportunity to (1994). They are democratic, outcome,
communicate in different social contexts process, and dialog validity. To enhance the
which can develop the students’ fluency in trustworthiness of the data and to reduce
the target language, promotes the students to subjectivity in analyzing the data, the
interact with others in the classroom, and researcher will use triangulation techniques
increase motivation and makes the teaching- (Burns, 1999). The aim of the triangulation
learning process more enjoyable. A role play is gather multiple perspectives on the
is a flexible learning activity which has a situation being studied. For this purpose, the
wide scope for variation and imagination. writer conducts time, space, investigator,
and theoretical triangulations (Burns, 1999:
RESEARCH METHOD 163). Time triangulation, the researcher
monitors the periods of time in collecting
This research was an action research data in six meetings. In this process, the
(AR). This research was conducted on researcher notes-down the developments of
March- May 2018 in the second semester of the changes of the processes over the
SMP Negeri 4 Banguntapan. The subjects of research period of time. Then, for space
this research were 28 students of VIII C at triangulation, the researcher checks the data
SMP Negeri 4 Banguntapan. The procedure which were collected across different groups
of the research adopted the cyclical model of respondents. This process is intended to
proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart in avoid the limitation of the study conducted
Burns (2010). Each cycle of this action concerning differences among and within
research consisted of four stages namely groups. For investigator triangulation, the
planning, action, and observation as well as researcher involves more than one observer
reflection. In addition to these stages, this in the same research setting to avoid based
research also applied the stage of interpretation. The last, for theoretical
reconnaissance prior to the implementation triangulation, the researcher conducts data
of the cyclical model. The data in this analysis through more than one perspective.
research were consisted of qualitative data For example, in the present student, the
and quantitative data. The qualitative data researcher uses both qualitative and
were the data gathered through observation quantitative data analysis techniques.
and interview with the students and the
English teacher of SMP Negeri 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS
Banguntapan. They were in the forms of
field notes, interview transcripts, and To test whether there was the
photographs. Meanwhile, quantitative data improvement before and after the
of this research were obtained from the tests implementation of the actions. The
conducted. researcher conducted two kinds of test called
pre-test and post-test of speaking skill. In
N Min. Max. Sum Mean this part, the researcher showed the result of
PRE-TEST 28 50 85 1725 61.61 pre-test and posttest mean scores. Those
POST- TEST 28 0 95 2100 75.00 scores were displayed in table 6.
STUDENTS 28
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The descriptive statistics above implementation of the actions. It implies that

showed the difference between the result of the activities mentioned were suitable to
pre-test and post-test. In the pre-test, the support the implementation of the Role
minimum score was 50 and the maximum Playing to improve the students’ speaking
score was 85. Meanwhile, in the post-test, ability. Vocabulary practice and
the minimum score was 0 and the maximum pronunciation drilling in teaching and
score was 95.The scores were gotten from learning process helped the students to speak
28 students. Furthermore, the mean scores English fluently. The use of interesting and
were improved 61, 61 in the pre-test to 75, various media attracted the students to enjoy
00 in the post-test. the teaching and learning process.
Based on the result of data analysis,
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