Improving English speaking ability using the Team-Games-Tournament technique

This study aimed to study the application of the Team-Games-Tournament Technique for teaching speaking to Grade X students at SMAN 1 Suka Makmur, Aceh Besar. The research method used in this study was Classroom Action Research which is to improve the quality of the teaching performance and the learning processes of the students as well as to detect and solve problems found in the teaching-learning process. Two cycles were conducted for this research. The subjects of this study were the 24 students. These students were first given a pre-test and then a post-test at the end of each cycle. The pre-test and the post-tests were administered by asking the students to describe a picture. The data was processed manually. From the results obtained, only 12% (3 students) passed the KKM in the pre-test and 88% (21 students) did not pass. The passing percentage increased to 54% (13 students) after the 1st cycle whilst 46% (11 students) still did not pass the KKM. After the last cycle, the percentage that passed the KKM increased to 96% (23 students) and only 4% (1 student) did not pass. Thus the implementation of the TGT technique over two cycles was deemed highly successful, not only the Grade X students improved their speaking ability but also the teacher improved her ability to teach speaking English. Accordingly this study recommends that other teachers of speaking English EFL should also try using the TGT technique