THE BUZZ-GROUP DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE IMPLEMENTED IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN XI-IPS CLASS AT SMAN 1 AMBUNTEN SUMENEP

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

This chapter covers the background of study, the statement of problem, the
purpose of study, the significance of study, the scope and limitation, and the
definition of key terms.
1.1 Background of Study
As a worldwide language, English is very useful for people in this digital era.
As stated by Amorim (2013, p.110), people in different first language interact
with each other using English as the international means of communication.
Nowadays, people use English almost in all aspects of their lives. For example,
they use it in doing businesses, working with sophisticated technology, sharing
their cultures, delivering knowledge, making some friends, among others. It
makes sense that many people need English in order to understand, connect, and
communicate with each other to do their activities.
In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language from kindergarten until
university. This is well known by Teaching English as a Foreign Language or
TEFL for its short form. TEFL refers to learners where English is not their mother
tounge (Rohmah 2012, p.1).
In learning English, students should be introduced to its components and
skills. According to Rohmah (2012, p.3-4), the language skills are speaking,

writing, reading, and listening; while the components of language are
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, stress, intonation, and rhythm. Furthermore,

1

she also suggests that none of them can be separated in studying English because
they are related to each other.
Mostly, people consider that speaking skill becomes the proof whether
someone succesfully learns English or not. Bailey & Savage in Lazaraton (2001,
p.103) states that “Speaking in a second or foreign language has often been
viewed as the most demanding of the four skills”. In other words, speaking needs
more energy and attention to be mastered by learners to determine their success in
learning a language including English.
At this point, an English teacher has a big role and obligation to help students
to gain good skill in speaking. To increase the speaking skill, the teacher could
use many ways to make it successful. Those ways will be various when the
teacher implements mode, approach, strategy, method, and technique. Then, to
choose the most appropriate one for their context, the teacher should be selective
and should consider about the students’ needs and characteristics.
Some teachers may employ the same method but not the same techniques

(Uno 2011, p.2). Iskandarwassid & Sunendar (2013, p.66) claim that to attain the
goals of teaching-learning process, a teacher’s ability to choose the right
technique in teaching will become its determinant. They also add that each
technique contains its advantages and disadvantages. Thus, some considerations
in applying one or more technique(s) should be taken carefully by all teachers.
In addition, for speaking, a teacher also should select the appropriate
technique in teaching that skill. There are some techniques in teaching oral skill
such as role-play, discussion, describing picture, etc. From those techniques,

2

discussion may be the frequent technique used by teachers. This is in line with
Lazaraton’s statement (2001, p.106) that “Discussions are probably the most
commonly used activity in the oral skills class”. Yet, each teacher will use
different kinds of discussion such as whole group, buzz-group, panel, fish bowl,
etc. That is because they should adjust the exact technique toward their mastery,
purposes, reasons, and other conditions.
Some studies use the buzz-group to be investigated concerning its function in
speaking activity to facilitate students to speak in a discussion. Buzz-group is a
small group discussion done by dividing students into groups of three to five

persons (Sanjaya in Sya’roni 2008, p.13). Based on Exley & Dennick (2004,
p.60), a buzz-group term is derived from the noise level bursting over the
classroom while students of two to three are requested to talk with their group
about a topic/problem for a short time. Moreover, this small group allows every
student to be active to engage in a discussion (Galanes et al 2004, p.403). Hence,
this buzz-group discussion technique could be reasonable to be used in teaching
foreign language especially for speaking skill where students may interact by
using English directly.
Some researchers had examined the buzz-group discussion on their theses. For
instance, Ariyani (2014) employed the buzz-group discussion to improve students’
speaking skill at SMK NU Ma’arif Kudus. She found that the buzz-group is an
effective way in teaching oral skill and this technique could ascend students’
speaking skill, produce their ideas easily, show their enthusiasm, and enjoy them
in class. Afterwards, the finding of Sengbounthanh’s research (2011) asserts that

3

the buzz-group discussion combining pictures can favorably promote students’
speaking, motivation, vocabulary, and grammar. These empirical works
strengthens that the buzz-group discussion can be useful in raising oral ability.

Realizing these positive impacts of the buzz-group discussion technique in
building up students’ speaking ability, the writer is interested to observe an
English teacher who uses that technique in XI-IPS class at SMAN 1 Ambunten
located in Ambunten sub-district of Sumenep regency, Madura Island. This high
school is quite popular in Ambunten because it is the only state senior high school
for other sub-districts surrounding Ambunten such as Rubaru, Pasongsongan, and
Dasuk. Other state senior high schools could only be reached by public
transportation in more or less one hour from Ambunten. The other reason for
making this phenomenon eligible to be examined that is because many people
consider social science class like XI-IPS to be less active in learning including
learning English. Maryani & Syamsudin (2009, p.1) also agree that many people
assume that social science’s students look more relax in studying and are often
regarded as the second class after natural science students. Hence, the writer is
curious how the teacher manages the buzz-group discussion to be run well and
make the students active in the class. Therefore, this present study aims to
investigate the implementation of the buzz-group discussion technique and to look
for its advantages and disadvantages for the students in the real classroom
situation and activities of XI-IPS class of SMAN 1 Ambunten.

4

1.2 Statement of Problem
The writer of this study has two research problems:
1.

How does the teacher implement the buzz-group discussion technique in
teaching speaking skill in XI-IPS class at SMAN 1 Ambunten Sumenep?

2.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of the
buzz-group discussion technique in teaching speaking skill for the students of
XI-IPS class at SMAN 1 Ambunten Sumenep?

1.3 Purpose of Study
Based on the research problems, these following statements are the aims of
this investigation:
1.

To describe how the teacher implement the buzz-group discussion technique

in teaching speaking skill in XI-IPS class at SMAN 1 Ambunten Sumenep.

2.

To find out the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of the
buzz-group discussion technique in teaching speaking skill for the students of
XI-IPS class at SMAN 1 Ambunten Sumenep.

1.4 Significance of Study
Conducting this research is expected to give some significant contributions to
the readers and the next researchers. First, the readers can enrich their knowledge
especially how to apply the buzz-group discussion technique in teaching Englishspeaking skill. In addition, they are expected to get some experiences about the
advantages and disadvantages of its implementation in the obvious situation
especially for students in the senior high school. Second, the next researchers are
able to use it as a reference to the same investigations’ topic.

5

1.5 Scope and Limitation
At this point, the study’s scope is focused on the buzz-group discussion

technique in teaching speaking conducted by the English teacher at SMAN 1
Ambunten and its advantages and disadvantages for the students. As the
research’s limitation, the researcher just examines XI-IPS 1 class that is one of
XI-IPS classes where the teacher implements the technique.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
According to the research title, some key terms of this study are explained
here.
1. Buzz-Groups are small groups formed from a large group consisting four to
five persons (Hasibuan & Moedjiono 2012, p.20).
2. Discussion is an aimed and organized activity to exchange ideas (Mafrukhi et
al 2010, p.17)
3. Technique is a systematic way in doing something (KBBI in Iskandarwassid &
Sunendar 2013, p.66).
4. Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of
verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney in
Susanti 2007, p.6).
5. Skill is “an ability to do an activity or job well” (Cambridge Dictionary 2008).

6

THE BUZZ-GROUP DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE IMPLEMENTED IN
TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN XI-IPS CLASS
AT SMAN 1 AMBUNTEN SUMENEP

THESIS

by:
ISTAZULUL RISKY
201110100311303

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
2015

THE BUZZ-GROUP DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE IMPLEMENTED IN
TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN XI-IPS CLASS
AT SMAN 1 AMBUNTEN SUMENEP

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve
Sarjana Degree in English Education

by:
ISTAZULUL RISKY
201110100311303

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
2015

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

MOTTO:

“Yakinlah ada sesuatu yang menantimu
selepas banyak kesabaran (yang kau jalani)
yang akan membuatmu terpana hingga
kau lupa betapa pedihnya rasa sakit”

#Ali Bin Abi Thalib

DEDICATION
My Special Dedication is for:

My Beloved and Superb Father Moch. Jahja
My Dearest and Patient Mother Siti Hanifah
My Brilliant Brothers Lukmanul Hadi & Semedhi Erawan
My Awesome Sister Novita Enggah Triani
My Best Friends

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillahirrabbil’alamin

wassolatu

wassalamu’ala

sayyidina

muhammadin wa’ ala alihi wa sohbihi ajma’in. Thankfully, the writer has
completed her thesis successfully. Firstly, she would like to deliver her best
gratitude to Allah SWT for giving His miracle, guidance, and blessing to the writer
in finishing her thesis in time; unforgettable, praises are also offered to the greatest
prophet Muhammad SAW for bright up our life by bringing us into Islam.
Second, uncountable gratitude is presented for her advisors Mrs. Rina
Wahyu Setyaningrum, S.Pd., M.Ed. and Mrs. Nina Inayati, M.Ed. who always
guide, support, and give their worthy advices to the writer during the writing
process. Moreover, a big thank is also extended to every lecturer of English
Department of UMM for all useful knowledge during the lecturing time at the
college. Third, the writer also would like to thank very much for her big family and
relatives who continually motivate and provide their love, spirit, prayers, care,
encouragement, and everything endlessly. Furthermore, she is so grateful for all
best friends and her special classmates of F class (2011) for their infinite support
and prayers. In brief, that is all to represent the writer’s sincere happiness and
thankfulness for finishing her final work as an undergraduate.
Malang, September 02, 2015
The Writer,

Istazulul Risky

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ............................................................................................... i
LEGALIZATION

................................................................................... ii

ORIGINALITY DECLARATION ........................................................... iii
MOTTO AND DEDICATION

........................................................... iv

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS

....................................................................... vii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study

....................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of Problem

....................................................................... 5

1.3 Purpose of Study ................................................................................... 5
1.4 Significance of Study

....................................................................... 5

1.5 Scope and Limitation

....................................................................... 6

1.6 Definition of Key Terms ....................................................................... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 The Nature of Speaking ....................................................................... 7
2.1.1 The Definition of Speaking

............................................... 7

2.1.2 The Elements of Speaking ........................................................... 7
2.2 Teaching Speaking

....................................................................... 10

2.3 The Technique in Teaching Speaking

............................................... 11

2.4 The Discussion Technique

........................................................... 13

2.4.1 Kinds of Discussion

........................................................... 13

2.5 The Buzz-Group Discussion Technique ............................................... 15
2.5.1 The Roles of Buzz-Group Participants

................................... 16

2.5.2 The Procedures of Buzz-Group Discussion Technique

........... 18

2.5.3 The Advantages & Disadvantages of Buzz-Group Discussion
Technique .................................................................................. 19
2.5.3.1 The Advantages of Buzz-Group Discussion
Technique ...................................................................... 19
2.5.3.2 The Disadvantages of Buzz-Group Discussion
Technique ...................................................................... 19
2.5.4 The Objectives of Buzz-Group Discussion Technique

.......... 20

2.5.5 The Principles for Effective Buzz-Group Discussion
Technique .................................................................................. 20
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD
3.1 Research Design .................................................................................. 22
3.2 Subject of Study .................................................................................. 23
3.3 Data Collection .................................................................................. 23
3.3.1 Research Instrument

.......................................................... 24

3.3.1.1 Observation

.......................................................... 24

3.3.1.2 Interview

.......................................................... 26

3.3.1.3 Document Analysis

.............................................. 27

3.3.2 Procedure of Data Collection

.............................................. 28

3.4 Data Analysis

.................................................................................. 29

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Research Findings

...................................................................... 30

4.1.1 The Implementation of Buzz-Group Discussion Technique
in Teaching Speaking Used by the English Teacher

.......... 30

4.1.2 The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Implementation of
Buzz-Group Discussion Technique in Teaching Speaking
Used by the English Teacher

.............................................. 32

4.1.2.1 The Advantages of the Implementation of Buzz-Group
Discussion Technique in Teaching Speaking Used by
the English Teacher

.............................................. 32

4.1.2.2 The Disadvantages of the Implementation of Buzz-Group
Discussion Technique in Teaching Speaking Used by
the English Teacher
4.2 Discussions

.............................................. 33

.................................................................................. 33

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions

.................................................................................. 37

5.2 Suggestions

.................................................................................. 38

5.2.1 For the English Teacher
5.2.2 For the Readers

.......................................................... 38

...................................................................... 38

5.2.3 For the Next Researchers .......................................................... 38
REFERENCES

.................................................................................. 40

APPENDIX I THE RESULT OF CHECKLIST ................................. 44
APPENDIX II THE RESULT OF FIELD NOTES

..................... 45

APPENDIX III THE RESULT OF INTERVIEW

..................... 47

APPENDIX IV LESSON PLAN

......................................................... 54

APPENDIX V DOCUMENTATION

............................................. 61

APPENDIX VI LETTER OF AUTHENTICATION

..................... 71

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