THE USE OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL

Abstract

This research aimed at finding out the improvement of the students’ speaking ability in term of fluency at SMK Ahlu Suffah Muhammadiyah Bantaeng through of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) technique.The research used a Classroom Action Research (CAR) as a research design. The subejcts of this research were the students of SMA Ahlu Suffah Muhammadiyah Bantaeng.This research carried out in X A class of SMK Ahlu Suffah Muhammadiyah Bantaeng as a sample, which consisted of 19 students. The researcher chose the sample used Purposive Sampling.The researcher findings indicated that using Focus Group Discussion as a strategy in teaching speaking in term of fluency can improve the students speaking skill. It can be seen from the result of the test in the end of cycle I and cycle II. The students’ mean score in cycle I is 58 and improved in the cycle II with the mean score 69.21. Moreover, FGD could help the students more confident in speaking activity. During teaching and learning process using FGD, students shown that they were more active and enthusiastic in learning English. Besides, they paid attention more when the researcher explained about the material FGD.