Improving Students' Speaking Ability Through Debate Technique

: The purpose of conducting this research is to improve students' speaking ability in giving opinion and responding to another's opinion through debate. The methodology of this research is a classroom action research which consisted of 3 cycles. The subject of this research was the eighth grade students of SMPN 7 Sungai Raya, B class which consists of 26 students. To collect the data, the researcher used observation checklist and field notes. Through observation checklist the researcher observed students' activity in the classroom and by using field notes the researcher reflected the problem found. Based on the research findings, debate technique which was applied to the subjects of research showed the improvement of students' speaking ability. Based on the result of the researcher's observation using observation checklist and form of field notes, it can be seen that students' speaking ability in giving opinion and responding to another's opinion have been improved. The percentage of students' activity in the classroom when debate, in the first cycle was 57%, in the second cycle was 67% and the third cycle was 76%. It indicated that debate technique had improved students' speaking ability in giving opinion and responding to another's opinion