A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON TEACHING SPEAKING AT THE EIGHTH GRADE FOR EXCELLENT PROGRAM OF MTS N 1 SURAKARTA A Descriptive Study On Teaching Speaking At The Eighth Grade For Excellent Program Of MTS N 1 Surakarta In 2013 / 2014 Academic Year.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON TEACHING SPEAKING AT THE EIGHTH
GRADE FOR EXCELLENT PROGRAM OF MTS N 1 SURAKARTA
IN 2013 / 2014 ACADEMIC YEAR

PUBLICATION ARTICLE
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for Gettng Bachelor Degree of Education
in English Department

by

ZULHIDA RAHMI
A 320100269

SCHOOL OF TEACHER AND TRAINING EDUCATION
MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA
2014

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON TEACHING SPEAKING AT THE EIGHTH
GRADE FOR EXCELLENT PROGRAM OF MTS N 1 SURAKARTA IN
2013 / 2014 ACADEMIC YEAR.

Zulhida Rahmi
A320100269
[email protected]
School of Teacher Training and Educatiom
Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta

ABSTRACT
This research aims at describing the implementation of teaching
speaking at the eight grade for excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta in
2013/2014 academic year, the methods used by the teacher, the techniques used
by the teacher, the problems faced by the teacher and the students, and the
strategies implemented by the teacher to overcome the problems. The object of
this study is the teaching speaking at the eighth grade for excellent program of
MTs N 1 Surakarta. The subject of this study is the teacher and the students at the
eighth grade for excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta. In analysing data the
writer applied descriptive qualitative research consisting of data reduction, data
display, and drawing conclusion. The result of the research shows that: 1) the
objectives of teaching speaking in excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta are to
build the students communicative competence in speaking English and the
students have to master all English language skill namely speaking, listening,

reading, and writing, 2) the methods used by the teacher in teaching speaking of
excellent program are Direct Method (DM), Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT), and Grammar Translation Method (GTM), 3) the techniques used by the
teacher in teaching speaking are cooperative learning and task-based learning. 4)
the problem faced by the teacher in teaching speaking are the teacher’s
difficulties to manage the students and the teacher’s difficulties to manage time in
teaching, 5) the problem faced by the students in teaching speaking are the
different capability to receive the material and the students’ low motivation in
learning speaking English, 6) the teacher strategies to solve the problems are the
teacher gives more motivation to the students, the teacher uses creative and
innovative material, the teacher uses some methods and techniques in his
teaching-learning process.

Keywords: teaching, speaking skill, method, problems faced in speaking class,
and strategies.

A. INTRODUCTION
Language is very important for human being in daily life. English
language is one of the most famous and spoken languages in the world. In
education world, speaking skill must be taught to the students. It can be an

investment for the students to enter the international world. The learners
should be capable of mastering four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing (Depdiknas, 2003: 6). Speaking is the crucial elements in
English language. Speaking skill is the art of communications and one of four
productive skill, that must be mastered in learning foreign language. Speaking
skill is needed by the students for communication in the target language.
According to Oxford Dictionary (2008, 426), speaking is the action of
conveying information or expressing one’s feelings in speech. Mastering the
art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second or
foreign language, and the success is measured in terms of the ability to carry
out a conversation in the language (Fauziati, 2010:15).
According to Chaney (1998:3), speaking is the process of building and
sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols in a
variety of contexts. There are components to master speaking skill, namely
pronounciation, grammar, vocabulary, and fluency. According to Nunan
(1991: 54-56), there are five principles of teaching speaking, as follows: be
aware of the differences between second language and foreign language
learning contexts, giving students to practice with both fluency and accuracy,
providing opportunities for students to talk by using group work or pair work,
and limiting teacher talk, planning speaking task that involve negotiation for

meaning, designing classroom activities that involve guidance and practice in
both transactional and interaction speaking.
Based on the previous explanation, it can be seen that speaking is
improtant thing in English language. Especially in excellent program or in
Indonesian it is called “Program Khusus or Program Unggulan”. They have
special competencies to learn more. It is important to the students in excellent
program to master speaking skill. It can build the students competencies in

the many aspect by using English language. So, they can to be students who
have high competencies. This study aims to describe the implementation of
teaching speaking in excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta in 2013/2014
academic year.
B. RESEARCH METHOD
This research is conducted in excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta
in 2013/2014 academic year. This school is located at Jl. MT. Haryono 24 D
Mangkubumen, Banjarsari, Surakarta. In this research the writer uses a
descriptive research. Descriptive method concerns with some natural realities
in which the data collected are classified, analyzed, and interpreted
(Surrakhmad, 1995: 139). Descriptive research is done to describe the natural
condition and to describe the events. The aim of descriptive research is to get

the information about the research itself and observes the relevant variables to
make the result easier to understand.
The subjects of this research are the teacher of special program and
students of the the eight grade of special program at MTs N 1 Surakarta in
2013/2014 academic year. The object of the research is teaching speaking at
the eight grade for special program at MTS N 1 Surakarta in 2013/2014
academic year. Data of this resecah are the implementation of teaching
speaking at special class, the problems faced by the teacher and students in
speaking, the strategy used by the teacher in teaching speaking, and the
method used by the teacher in teaching speaking. The instruments of this data
are the field note, interview script, and syllabus. The data are taken from the
result of teaching speaking in teaching-learning process. In this research, the
sources of data are event, informant, and document. In this research, the
writer uses three techniques in collecting data, there are observation,
interview, and document. The techniques for analyzing the data that are used
by the writer are, reducing the data, displaying the data, and drawing the
conclusion.

C. RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
1.


Description of the school
The writer conducts the research at MTs N 1 Surakarta. This school
is divided into three programs, fisrt, regular program, second, excellent
program, and, third Islamic Boarding School Program. This school is
located at Jl. MT. Haryono 24 D Mangkubumen, Banjarsari, Surakarta.
This school is categorized as SSN (Sekolah Standar Nasional). SSN is a
school that implements national curriculum based on Standar Nasional
Pendidikan (SNP).

2.

The Implementation of Teaching Speaking in Excellent Program
The main purpose of carrying excellent program is to improve the
students’ quality in academic aspect based on national education. The
objectives of teaching speaking in excellent program of MTs N 1
Surakarta are to build the students communicative competence in
speaking English and the students have to master all English language
skill namely speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
The material in teaching speaking should be appropriate with the

curriculum. There are several differences in materials at the excellent
program and regular program. Excellent Program has 8 hours for learning
English. There is 6 hours for the main English subject, that is focused on
national examination and 2 hours for English curriculum development
that is focused on speaking. In Excellent Program, the books used are
English in Focus for Grade VIII Junor High School published by CV.

Putra Nugraha wrriten by Artono Wardiman, Masduki B. Jahur, and M.
Sukirman Djusma and Lembar Kerja Siswa entitled Wajar publeshed by
CV. Graha Pustaka. The main book that is used has been completed
because the book is recomended by the goverment. The main book used
by the teacher is from Buku Sekolah Elektronik that is recomended by
Natioanl Education Department. The book used by the teacher and the
students are already appropriate with the curriculum namely School-

Level-based Curriculum or in Indonesian it is called Kurikulum Tingkat
Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP).

The goal of syllabus in MTs N 1 Surakarta is used to guide the
teacher in teaching-learning process. The syllabus that is used by the

teacher is based on School-based Curriculum. The syllabus made by the
teacher used in the excellent program is the same with regular program.
Both of them, made based on Curriculum Level-based Competences. The
difference between syllabus used by regular and excellent program is in
the teaching materials. The teaching material in excellent program is
more than in regular class. So, the teacher has to be more creative and
innovative to develop the material based on the students’ need and the
students’ competences.
3.

The Method Used by the Teacher in Teaching Speaaking
Based on the observation of teaching learning in the class from 4
until 30 November 2013, the writer found that the teaching-learning
process in the class runs well. The writer observes the class VIII PK 2
that consists of 23 students, they are 11 males and 12 females. The
classroom is large and the facilities in the class are complete. The
facilities are LCD, computer, speakers, white-board, and every student
brings their laptop. The condition of the class is condusive, so the teacher
can control the class.
Based on the observation, the writer concludes that the teacher uses

the method namely Direct Method (DM), Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT), and Grammar Translation Method (GTM). Direct
Method is the method that emphasized on oral communication without
translating to other languages. In this method, the spoken language is
primary and it is conducted in the target language. The goal of DM is
how the students can communicate in the target language. The material
that is used in this method based on the real situations. In teachinglearning process, pronunciation and vocabulary are more emphasized
than grammar. Direct Method was implemented by the teacher in the first

and second observation. The second method that is used by the teacher in
teaching speaking is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The
goal of this method is develop the students’ communicative competence.
The teacher helps the learners in any way that motivates them to work in
the target language. This method emphasized on pronunciation and
communication. The techniques of this method are using dialogue and
conversation. This method was implemented in third observation. In the
last meeting, the teacher used Grammar Translation Method. This
method emphasized on reading and translating.
4.


Problem Faced by the Teacher in Teaching Speaking
In teaching speaking, the teacher has problems when he teaches
speaking class. The problem is the teacher difficulties in managing class.
Most of the students have full time in their schedule. Most of the students
feel tired and bored when they got a lot of task or material. In this reason,
the teacher difficulties to raise up their ability to learn Englsih when they
feel tired. Sometimes, the students do not pay attention with the material
and they talk to each other. The other problem is the limited teacher time
in speaking class. The teacher has 2x40 minutes a week to teach
speaking. It means that the teacher just has one day for one meeting. It is
difficult to teach speaking more, because there is the main English
subject that has to teach for the students to prepare in national
examination. Most of the students more concentrate in English subject.

5.

Problem Faced by the Student in Learning Speaking
The students as the object in teaching-learning process have
difficulties when learn English language especially in speaking. The
difficulties are the different capabilities in receiving the material, the

students’ low motivation to teach English, the students have full time in
their subject, and the students’ difficulties in pronunciation and
vocabulary.

6.

The The Strategy to Solve the Problems Used by the Teacher
Based on the problems above, the teacher has some ways to solve
the problems. The ways are, the teacher gives the students motivation to
always keep their spirit, the teacher uses creative materials and uses
simple materials, and the teacher uses different methods or techniques.
The writer concludes that the three ways to solve the problems are effort
to of the teacher in teaching speaking.

7.

Discussion
Teaching speaking English has important process to learn it.
Learning Speaking English as the target language is important to the
students because the students get more knowledge. Teaching-learning
process are important role in the class, so the teacher has to create
something new to build the students skill and students knowledge. The
objective of teaching should be appropriate with the goal of education in
standard competences. Teaching is education activity. Teaching helps
someone how to do something and make them understand the new
knowledge. Achieving new knowledge is the goal of teaching.
The objective of language teaching is to develop the students
language competences in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The
learners should be capable of mastering four language skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing skill (Depdiknas, 2003: 6). The objective
of teaching language in excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta is to
develop the students communicative commpetence in speaking English
and mastering four language skill in academic competences.
The objective of teaching speaking for excellent program in MTs N
1 Surakarta is to build and develop the students’ skill in speaking, and
ability to make conversation in daily life, the writer concludes that the
objective teaching speaking for excellent program in MTs N 1 Surakarta
is appropriate to the goal of teaching speaking. The goal of teaching
speaking is to develop the students’ competencies in communicative
competence. Beside that, the students have ability to carry out a

conversation in the language skill. Mastering the art of speaking is the
single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language,
and the success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a
conversation in the language (Fauziati, 2010: 15).
The material is one of important parts in teaching, because the
material influences the interest of students motivation to learn the
subject. Excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta uses two guide books
which can help the students to understand the material. There are Lembar
Kerja Siswa (LKS) Wajar and English in Focuse for Grade VIII. Beside

that, the teacher uses other materials from other sources to develop the
material such as internet and other books that are appropriated to the
material. Sometimes, the teacher uses game to change the materials, so
the students can be more active and enjoy in the class. The material that
is used by the teacher supports the students to improve their ability to
speak in English language and to make the students more active in
speaking.
The writer concludes that the material that is used by the teacher is
appropriate with the ministry of education goverment that suggets to use
Buku Sekolah Elektronik (BSE) book and Lembar Kerja Siswa (LKS).

Beside that, the material used by the teacher are creative and innovative,
because the teacher should make the different material in every meeting.
The other hand, the curriculum in excellent program should be used by
teacher to develop the material based on standard competences.
The procedures in teaching speaking used by the teacher in
excellent class are divided into three parts. The first is pre-speaking,
whilst-speaking, and post-speaking. In pre-speaking, the teacher explains
the material that will be taught, in whilst-speaking the students practice
in speaking English, and post-speaking the teacher reviews the materials.
The next discussion is about method. Method is the procedure or
overall plan of presentation. Method is treated at the level of design in
which the roles of the teachers, learners, and instructional material are

specified (Fauziati, 2010: 15). Method is the parts of teaching learning
method. Method can help the teacher to teach English clearly by the one
step to another steps. They are a lot of methods that can be used by the
teacher to teach the material. In excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta
the teacher used three methods in teaching-learning process, namely
Direct Method (DM), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and
Grammar Translation Method (GTM). However, the writer concludes
that both of the method is effective method to teach speaking, not only in
speaking but also in grammar. The teacher uses different method in every
meeting, so the students feel enjoy and not bored to learn it. Beside that,
the teacher gives them motivation in learning English.
The next is technique. Tecnique is implementation which actually
takes place in a classroom. It is a particular trick, strategy, or contrivance
used to accomplish an immediate objective (Anthony (1965) in Fauziati,
2010: 17). The other words, teacnique is the classroom practice which is
done by the teacher when presenting the materials. In excellent program
of MTs N Surakarta 1, the techniques used by the teacher in teaching
speaking are games, conversation, discussing, dialogues, role-play,
movie and song. Those techniques are effective techniques to teach
speaking because the students are more active in class and they can
practice their ability when using English language. The teacher uses
many tecniques in his class, it makes the students feel excited to learn
and undesrtand the materials.
However, in teaching speaking, the teacher has problems when he
teaches speaking class. The problem is the teacher difficulties in
managing class. Most of the students have full time in their schedule.
Most of the students feel tired and bored when they got a lot of task or
material. In this reason, the teacher difficulties to raise up their ability to
learn Englsih when they feel tired. Sometimes, the students do not pay
attention with the material and they talk to each other. The other problem
is the limited teacher time in speaking class. The teacher has 2x40

minutes a week to teach speaking. It means that the teacher just has one
day for one meeting. It is difficult to teach speaking more, because there
is the main English subject that has to teach for the students to prepare in
national examination. Most of the students more concentrate in English
subject.
The students as the object in teaching-learning process have
difficulties when learn English language especially in speaking. The
difficulties are the different capabilities in receiving the material, the
students’ low motivation to teach English, the students have full time in
their subject, and the students’ difficulties in pronunciation and
vocabulary. Based on the problems above, the teacher has some ways to
solve the problems. The ways are, the teacher gives the students
motivation to always keep their spirit, the teacher uses creative materials
and uses simple materials, and the teacher uses different methods or
techniques.
The writer concludes that the three ways to solve the problems are
effort to of the teacher in teaching speaking. Beside that, the teacher uses
some media to make the class feel happy and fun. The facilities in
excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta support the teaching-learning
process such as LCD, AC, computer, speaker, white-board, ect. There are
six important parts in teaching learning process, namely material, media,
teacher, students, method, and evaluation. All those parts are appropriate
in teaching speaking learning process at excellent program of MTs N 1
Surakarta.
D. CONCLUSION
The writer presents the conlcusion of the study about teaching
speaking to the excellent program of MTs N 1 Surakarta in 2013/2014
academic year. The objectives of teaching speaking in excellent program of
MTs N 1 Surakarta are to build the students’ communicative competence in
speaking English and the students have to master all English language skill
namely speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The materials that are used

by the teacher to teach speaking in excellent program are English Work Book
entitled Wajar and English textbook entitled English in Focus for Grade VIII.
The teacher uses interesting methods. The methods used by the teacher in
teaching speaking of excellent program are Direct Method (DM),
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and Grammar Translation
Method (GTM). The teaching procedures used by the teacher in teaching
speaking are divided into three parts namely pre-speaking, whilst-speaking,
and post-speaking. In pre-speaking, the teacher explains the material, in
whilst-speaking, the teacher gives the main activity and the last in postspeaking, the teacher reviews the lesson. The teacher uses interesting
technique such as games, group work, discussion, dialogue, and presentation.
There are two problems faced by the teacher in teaching speaking of
excellent program at MTs N 1 Surakarta. The fisrt problem is the teacher
difficulties in managing the students. The second problem is the teacher has
limited time in teaching speaking. There are some problems faced by the
students in speaking language. The fisrt is the different capability to receive
the material. The second is the students’ low motivation in learning speaking
English. The last problems is the students have full time to learn many
subjects in the school. The teacher strategies to solve the problems are the
teacher gives more motivation to the students. The teacher uses creative and
innovative material, the teacher uses some methods and techniques in his
teaching-learning process.

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