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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
This part discussed about research method that is divided into some sections. They are the design of the research, the subjects of the research, the
target community setting, the place and time of the research and the proceduressteps of the action research.
A. The Design of the Research
In the objective of this research, it is stated that this research aims at improving the speaking skills of the students through the
use of conversational assessment; hence this research is action research. It tries to find the problems during the English teaching
and learning process especially in teaching speaking and tries to find the solutions of the problems.
Figure 1. Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 2010
B. The Subjects of the Research
The subjects of this study were VII B students of SMP Muhammadiyah 2 Mlati. The choice of the class was based on the
information from the English teacher that Grade VII B students have difficulties in speaking in English. It happened because the
students were generally academically low and most of them were not acceptable in state school. Therefore, the ability of the students
to understand what their teacher teaches still needs to be improved.
C. The Target Community Setting
The setting of this research was SMP Muhammadiyah 2 Mlati that is located in Mlati, Sleman. This school has 10 classrooms, 1
teachers’ room, one room for the school principal’s office, laboratories for computer, one for the official administration. It
also has a basketball court, toilets, canteens, parking area, and a library. For the 357 students, 21 teachers and 5 staffs, these
facilities give them some contribution to the teaching and learning process.
In this school, English is taught in 4 x 35 minutes per week. Moreover, this school also has extracurricular activities such as
Hizbul Wathan, bands, reading the Qur’an, soccer and basketball. During the English classes, the students usually listen to the
teacher’s explanation, work on the exercise given, discuss the
answers, and so on. The materials given in the English classes are sometimes unrelated with the curriculum. For example, the
teachers gives the materials only reading and writing, the teacher used that skills because the semester examination just only tests
reading and writing skills.
D. The Place and Time of the Research
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