63 to assess the students’ performance as well. By having the rubric and another
rater, it could be seen that the quantitative data were reliable.
J. Procedure of the Research
The research used the procedure of action research proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart with some modification. The procedure was as follows.
1. Reconnaissance
Before carrying out the first cycle, an observation was done in several meetings in the reconnaissance step to find out what problems
existed in the English teaching and learning process in the research setting. In this step, I entered the English classes handled by the teacher, observed
the whole process and took notes of the occurring problems. This kind of observation was done in three meetings to see the reoccurring problems.
To support my observation result, questionnaires were distributed to the students and interviews with them as well as the English teacher were
done. Besides, to obtain the quantitative data of the students’ speaking skill
before the research was carried out, I assessed the students’ speaking
performance in their English class handled by the teacher. 2.
Planning After doing the reconnaissance step, some plans were constructed by
considering the observation result. The constructed plans were ensured to be feasible and suitable to be implemented in the field. In having this step,
I worked collaboratively with my collaborators. The main planned action
64 was improving the students’ speaking skill by using information-gap
activities. In each cycle, it was planned to be several supporting actions that will be elaborated later in chapter four in the point of planning in each
cycle. 3.
Action and Observation of the Action Action and the observation of the action were done in the same time.
The separation of the term here was to make it clearer that the actions were implemented and at the same time, the observation of the implementation
was carried out. In order to focus, I asked my collaborators to video tape the process of the research implementation, filled in the observation
checklist, take pictures, and take notes. The videos, pictures, observation checklists, and notes were then used in the discussion after the class to
identify the success and hindrances in the research implementation as well as to discuss how to improve the situation.
4. Reflection
Based on the research action and observation result, a reflection was done. It was carried out by interviewing the students who experienced the
learning process, and my collaborators who observed the research implementation. This step answered whether or not the actions were
successful in the attempt to improve the students’ speaking skill. The
successful action were carried out again in the next cycle. Meanwhile, the unsuccessful ones were improved and revised in order to meet the
objective of the research.
65
CHAPTER IV THE RESEARCH PROCESS, FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS
