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learning more effective than is usually possible without it Hayes, 1963: 1. Meanwhile, Lado states the language laboratory is a special room for practice with
sound equipment 1964: 174. He also explains what constitutes a language lab is a special room with necessary equipment set aside for practice by the students. A
classroom can become a lab after class hours, or the lab can be used as a classroom by the teacher, but the distinctive characteristic is the separate room
where the students may practice the language. As mentioned above, the typical language laboratory contains electronic
and mechanical equipment. Based on the definition, Hayes 1963: 1 classified the language laboratory into two groups according to the way they fit into the school’s
plan of operation. They are class systems and library systems. In class systems the laboratory is scheduled by classes. Meanwhile the library system is conceived as
comparable to library work where students attending at their own convenience, or scheduled at times unrelated to their language class meetings.
b. Advantages Using the Language Laboratory
The existence of language laboratory brings some benefits. Hayes 1963: 16-17 proposed some advantages of using language laboratory, they are: first, in
a language laboratory all students present can practice aloud simultaneously, yet individually. Secondly the teacher is free to focus his attention on the individual
student’s performance without interrupting the work of the group. Third, certain language laboratory facilities can provide for differences in learning rates. Fourth,
the language laboratory provides authentic, consistent, untiring models of speech for imitation and drill. Next, recordings provide many native voices. Without such
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variety it is common for students to be able to understand only the teacher. Sixth, some teachers, for reasons beyond their control, do not themselves have sufficient
preparation in understanding and speaking the foreign language. The laboratory provides these teachers with an opportunity to improve their own proficiency.
Seventh, the language laboratory makes it possible to divide a class into teacher directed and machine-directed groups. Finally, certain language-laboratory
facilities can enhance the student’s potential for evaluating his own performance. Based on some advantages above, it could be inferred that there is a scope
of language laboratory. Lado 1963: 175 states the scope of the language laboratory consist two parts. Firstly, the language laboratory can provide good
models of the speech of the target language for imitation and manipulation by the student. Secondly, the language laboratory permits audio-lingual practice outside
of class.
5. Communicative Approach
This study requires communicative approach. This approach is selected because it is appropriate for teaching at elementary school level as stated in the
scope of English subject in Elementary School 2006 Standard and Basic Competence for Elementary School Level. Some theories related to the
communicative approach are clarified below:
a. Communicative Tasks
Nunan 1989: 10 considers the communicative task as a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating,
