skills. Th en, the changes related to the improvement of students‘ speaking skills
through communicative activities were monitored in every cycle.
2. Investigator Triangulation
Investigator triangulation involved more than one observer in the same research setting to avoid observer bias and provide checks on the reliability of the
observations. The data were related to the teaching and learning processes especially the implementation of communicative activities to improve students‘
speaking skills. In this case, the collaborator and I collected the same data about teaching and
learning processes related to the way he presented the materials, students‘ attitudes in the class, class atmosphere, etc. The results were recorded into field
notes. Then the collaborator and I crosschecked the data to see the fitness of the data.
E. Research Procedure
This action was conducted in two cycles depending on the students‘ improvements in speaking skills. There was procedure that must be fulfilled for
each cycle. This research used the procedures modified from Burns 1999:33 in Madya 2009:67. This procedure was described as follows:
1. Determining the Thematic Concern Reconnaissance
In this procedure, I identified the problems based on the observation and interviews. I then described the problems and discussed with all research
participants to choose the problems that needed to be overcome.
To find out the situation of the teaching and learning processes in Grade VIII of SMP N 8 Yogyakarta, I did reconnaissance step through observation and
interviews. The classroom observation was conducted on VIII.II class on Friday, September 20 2013. I also interviewed the students of VIII.II and also the English
teacher. I also held a discussion with the research participants related to the existing problems.
Based on the observation and interviews, the research participants identified the existing problems which were necessary to be solved collaboratively. The
research participants then determined the feasible problems to be solved.
2. Planning
After doing the observation in the reconnaissance step, I made some plans to choose the actions that are feasible to be implemented in the field. They are the
course grid and lesson plans. In planning the actions, I worked together with the English teachers of grade VIII.2 SMPN 8 Yogyakarta. The aim of the actions is to
increase the students‘ speaking ability. The action plan is using communicative activities.
3. Action and Observation
In this step, the actions that have been developed and approved together that already implemented in the classroom. There are two cycles and every cycle have
three meetings. The teacher implemented the actions while the researcher is observing and taking notes concerning the students‘ reactions and behaviors
during the activities. The language functions taught in each cycle were based on
the standard competence and basic competence. The schedules of the actions were presented in the following table.
Table 3.1. Schedules of the Actions No.
Cycle Day, Date Time
Language functions 1.
I Wednesday, October
2, 2013 07.15
–08.35 Asking for, giving, and refusing goodsservices at
school 2.
I Friday, October 4,
2013 07.15
–08.35 Asking for, giving, and refusing goodsservices at
home 3.
I Wednesday,
October 9, 2013 07.15
–08.35 Asking for, giving, and refusing goodsservices at the
restaurant 4
II Friday, October 16,
2013 07.15
–08.35 Inviting someone, accepting, and refusing an invitation to
formal occasions 5.
II Wednesday,
November 18, 2013
07.15 –08.35 Inviting someone, accepting,
and refusing an invitation to informal occasions at home
6. II
Friday, November 23, 2013
07.15 –08.35 Inviting someone, accepting,
and refusing an invitation to events in extracurricular
activities
In this action research study, I took the role as the English teacher to implement the actions. I worked collaboratively with the research participants to observe and
record the actions during the teaching and learning processes focused on the students‘ speaking skills. In this case, the collaborators observed the teaching and
learning processes related to my way in presenting materials, students‘ attitudes in the class, class atmosphere, etc.
F. Reflection
