Setting and the Time of the Research Subject of the Research The Method of the Research

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Setting and the Time of the Research

1. The Place of the Research The research is conducted in SMP N 14 Surakarta located at JL. Prof. WZ. Yohanes 54, Purwodiningratan, Jebres, Surakarta. The school is located in a strategic place and easy to reach since it is located on a highway. 2. The Time of the Research The research was conducted for 8 months from January 2010 to August 2010 by exploiting the use of TGT as a teaching technique. This research includes pre-research, action, and activities after the action. It is arranged as follows: Table 3.1. The Schedule of the Research No. Activity Time of Research 1. Pre-research interview, observation January 2010 2. Preparation of thesis proposal February-July 2010 3. Preparation of try out and pre-test July 2010 4. Pre-test August 2010 5. Action August 2010 6. Post-test August 2010 7. Analyzing the result September 2010 commit to user

B. Subject of the Research

The subject of the research is the students of the class VIII “A” students of SMP N 14 Surakarta. The class consists of 36 students 15 boys and 21 girls.

C. The Method of the Research

The research method used in this study is Classroom Action Research used to improve students’ speaking skill by using Teams Games Tournaments TGT. Wiersma 2000: 11 states that action research is a research usually conducted by teachers, administrators, or other educational professionals for solving a specific problem or for providing information for decision making at the local level. The research is designed to overcome real problems, which are not confined to a particular methodology or paradigm with effective ways. In this study, the classroom action research is conducted to solve the problem that occurs in teaching English during the teaching and learning process in the classroom. The purpose of the research is to improve the students’ speaking skills and to give the best solution for the problem that occurs during the teaching and learning process in the eighth “A” grade of SMP N 14 Surakarta. This class action is carried out by the teacher herself as the researcher. The practical action the study use is the technique using Teams Games Tournaments TGT. Somekh in Burns 1999: 33 adds that in broad terms action research can be seen as a research methodology which includes the following features: 1. The research is focused on a social situation. 2. In the situation participants collaborate with each other and with outsiders to decide upon a research focus and collect and analyze data. commit to user 3. The process of data collection and analysis leads to the construction of theories and knowledge. 4. The theories and knowledge are tested by feeding them back into changes in practice. 5. To evaluate these changes, further data is collected and analyzed, leading to refinement of the theories and knowledge which are in their turn tested in practice, and so on and so forth. 6. At some point, through publication, these theories and knowledge are opened up to wider scrutiny and made available for others to use as applicable to their situation. This interrupts the cyclical process of research and action, but is useful in bringing the research to a point of resolution, if only temporarily. The characteristics of action research can be identified as follows: 1. Action research is carried out by practitioners. 2. Action research is contextual, based on problems within a specific situation. 3. Action research is evaluative and reflective process that aims to bring about change and improvement in practice. 4. Action research is participatory that provides collaborative investigation by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers. 5. Action research is developed through a self reflective spiral; a spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning. Based on the characteristics of action research above, this research was appropriately conducted as classroom action research in order to bring about commit to user social and educational change and improvement in speaking and students’ behavior. The model of action research in this study consists of four steps developed by Hopkins 1993:48. The four steps are planning, action, observation, and reflection. Figure 3.2. Action Research Spiral Plan Reflective Action Observation Revised Plan Revised Plan Action Observation Action Observation Revised Plan Reflective Reflective commit to user Kurt Lewin in Arikunto 2006: 92 says that action research is a series of steps in a cycle form. This cycle form has one stage in each step. These are: planning, acting, observing and reflecting. Figure 3.3 The basic mode l of action research according to Kurt Lewin in Arikunto 2002: 84 While Mills 2000: 6 defines action research as follows: Any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researcher, principals, school counselors, or other stakeholders in the teaching learning environment, to gather information about the ways that their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn. This information is gathered with the goals of gaining insight, developing reflective practice, effective positive changes in the school environment and on educational practices in general, and improving student outcomes and the lives of those involved. Little 2001 defines action research as a process to identify and solve classroom instructional concerns within teacher’s own classrooms. McKay in Rochsantiningsih 2007 declares action research is an effective strategy for engaging educators in the change process. Educators involved in action research think about a specific group in a particular setting with the main goal of finding better ways to do their job. From the definition above, it can be summarized that action research is a systematic study of efforts to overcome education problems or to change things commit to user related to educational problems for improvement. It is done by practitioners or teacher, or collaboration of teachers and researchers by means of their own practical action and their own reflection upon the effect to those actions.

D. The Procedures of Action Research