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improvements especially for the students’ speaking skills on the topics that were taught. It was conducted collaboratively with the English teacher, a collaborator
and the students of Busana Butik class at SMK N 1 Depok to improve the students’ speaking skills by formulating the problems in speaking, teaching and
learning process, planning, implementing the action, observing, and reflecting. Two important factors that could influence the criteria of success of the research
were discussion and collaboration among all of the research members. The action research was conducted through the process below.
Figure 1: Cyclical action research model based on Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 2010: 9
C. Setting of the Research
1. Place of the Research
This action research was carried out at SMK N 1 Depok that was located in Ring Road Utara, Maguwoharjo, Depok, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The school had
24 classrooms, a headmaster’s room, a teachers’ room and some supporting
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facilities, such as a computer laboratory, a library, a canteen, extracurricular rooms, toilets and a medical room. There were also nine English teachers there.
2. Schedule of the Research
The research was conducted on the first semester in the academic year of 20132014. It was from October to December 2013.
3. Learning Setting
The target of this study was the students of class Busana Butik at SMK N 1 Depok in the academic year of 20132014. There were 32 female students in class
Busana Butik. They were about 14 to 15 years old. Most of them came from middle to lower economical background.
Based on the observation and interviews, however, the speaking skills of the tenth grade students were still low. They could not communicate well in
classroom context because lack vocabulary mastery. The students are also afraid to make mistakes. Moreover, they rarely got speaking opportunity in the English
lessons.
D. Research Members
The participants of this research were the English teachers, the tenth grade students of SMK N 1 Depok and the researcher. The English teacher and the
researcher worked collaboratively to overcome some problems related to speaking teaching and learning activities and try to improve the students’ speaking skills.
They worked together in identifying the problems of the English teaching and learning process related to the teaching of speaking, collecting data, planning the
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solution, conducting the action in the class, evaluating and reflecting the use of action done.
E. Data Collection Techniques
In this research, the data were the qualitative ones that were supported by quantitative data. The qualitative data were obtained through observations and
interviews. The qualitative data were collected in the form of field notes and interview transcripts. The data were used to describe the action process, to know
respond or feedback of students directly, and the changes after the actions were conducted. The quantitative data were collected in the form of students’ score in
pre-test and post-test. The kinds of data, the research instruments and the data collection
techniques are presented in the table below.
Table 3: The Data Collection Techniques and Research Instruments No. Data Instruments
Collection Techniques
Application
1. Pre-test and
post-test Scores Speaking
rubric Pre-test and
post-test •
In pre-test and post- test
2. Field notes
Observation guide
Observation •
In reconnaissance •
In action and observation
3. Interview transcripts
Interview guide
Interview •
In reconnaissance •
In reflection
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1. Observation
According to Burns 1999: 80, observation is an essential thing of action research. It enables researchers to document and reflect systematically upon
classroom interactions and events. This gives a basis for examining underlying assumptions, sharing with others, and opening alternative viewpoints.
The observation was conducted to monitor the teaching learning process in Busana Butik class while the actions were implemented. With this technique, the
data were collected by observing the teaching learning process in the classroom. The observation sheet was used to help the researcher observing the process. The
observation was done for 70 minutes. During the observation, the collaborator was at the back of the classroom taking notes on the class activities in the teaching
and learning process. The results of the observations were recorded in the form of field notes.
2. Interview
Some advantages of carrying out interviews based on Koshy 2005: 93 are: First, interview transcripts provide powerful evidence for presenting the real
situation and making conclusion from those data. Second, interviews can give a relaxed context for exploration. Third, the interviewer can control the discussion
through a route with the certain aim. Fourth, group interviews save time and are realistic in classroom contexts. Fifth, interviews can provide unexpected but
useful perspectives.
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In this research, the researcher interviewed the students and the English teacher about the activities in the teaching and learning process before and after
the implementation. The researcher developed some open-ended questions as the guideline in the interview. It meant that the interviews were guided but the
researcher was allowed to ask further questions to get more data about the responses. The information was recorded into interview transcripts.
3. Pre-test and Post-test
The pre-test was conducted before the actions were implemented, while the post-test was done after the actions were carried out. The pre-test and the post-
test were in the form of performance tests. They were used to measure the students’ speaking skills on the topic taught. During the performance, the
researcher and the English teacher gave scores on their speaking ability. In assessing the students’ speaking, a rubric is taken from The English Language
Learners’ Knowledge Base namely Students Oral Language Observation Matrix in Linse, 2005: 149. The data of the pre-test were collected in the form of
students’ scores. The results of the post-test were calculated and compared with the result of the pre-test.
F. Data Analysis
In analyzing the qualitative data, the researcher used the processes of analysis proposed by Burns 1999: 157-160. The data analysis was done in some
stages described as follows.
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1. Assembling the Data
The first step was to bring together the data that had been collected over the period of the research, such as field notes and interview transcript. In this
stage, broad patterns were compared and contrasted to see what fit together. 2.
Coding the Data This process was to reduce the large amount of data that could be collected
to more manageable categories. The researcher scanned recorded data and developed categories of phenomena. These categories were called codes. They
enabled the researcher to manage data by labeling, storing, and retrieving it according to the codes.
3. Comparing the Data
After the data had been categorized, the researcher identified the relationships and connection between different sources of data. This stage aimed
at describing and displaying the data rather than to explain or interpret them. 4.
Building Meanings and Interpretations In this stage, the researcher interpreted the data based on the previous
stages to make some sense of the meaning of the data. 5.
Reporting the Outcomes The final stage of the data analysis was reporting the major process and
outcomes that were well supported by the data. The quantitative data in the form of students’ speaking scores were
analyzed by calculating the mean of each test. The means of the pre-test and the
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post-test were compared. The increase of the mean indicated that the students’ speaking skills were improved.
G. Validity and Reliability of the Data
