The Implementation of English Conversation Club as an Extracurricular Activity at SMP Negeri 18 Malang

This study was conducted to describe the implementation of English Conversation Club (ECC) as an Extracurricular Activity at SMP Negeri 18 Malang. There were five sub objectives included in this study, namely to describe the purpose of conducting ECC, the facilities, media and materials used in ECC, the teaching and learning process conducted by the instructor of ECC, the students’ opinions about ECC, the teachers’ opinions about ECC. The subjects were the headmaster of SMPN 18 Malang, the ECC instructor, the English teachers, and the VII and VIII grade students following the ECC program.This study employed a descriptive-qualitative design. The headmaster and instructor interview guides, field notes, the teachers’ and the students’ questionnaires were the instruments used to collect the data needed. By employing all of the instruments, the relevant data were collected. The data were then classified by using the concept of coding categories into five sub objectives as mentioned above. The findings of this study were as follows. The purposes of conducting the ECC were to establish more opportunities to speak English in daily and natural contexts with comfortable environment and to indirectly prepare the students to be ready to compete in speaking. These purposes were supported by the implementation of name five games, classroom and pairs discussion, whispering games, story completion, storytelling, conversation, and role-play as the classroom activities conducted in the ECC. The facilities provided by the school were considered sufficient, which was reflected in the existence of the language laboratory. In addition, the program was supported by the use of media such as scrabble, story books, hands puppet, flash card and thematic pictures. The analysis on the materials showed the appropriateness to the objectives of the School-based curriculum that is to use English in simple daily life contexts. The learning processes conducted by the instructor were classified as good ones, since the learning processes generated relaxing, yet responsible, activities that focused on the development of self-esteem, self confidence, as well as self motivation. The next findings refer to the students’ and the teachers’ opinions about the ECC, whose results were both positive. The students considered the ECC as an important extracurricular program to be followed and to be improved. The ECC program gave positive effect on their speaking skill, which can be seen through the questionnaires. The program, as the students said, was considered to be an appropriate medium for them to speak English freely. Regarding with that, the teachers agreed that ECC should be conducted throughout the school years to help students achieve betterment in speaking English. However, the implementation of the ECC was considered less maximum, the ECC still needed improvement. Some suggestions are given for the improvement of the ECC program. It is better if the school establishes other programs to motivate the students in improving their speaking abilities, for example English day or kinds of English competitions more often to increase students’ motivation in using and learning English. It is also recommended that the English teacher willing to adopt and modify the kinds of classroom activities, media, and materials for the regular class in order to create a comfortable learning environment as the ECC conducted. Concerning to the use of facilities, media and materials, the instructor should improve her skills in operating digital equipments, should be more selective in choosing the media, and should choose more attractive, challenging and fun activities both indoor and outdoor . The last suggestion is given to other researchers. It is desiderate for them to conduct other studies to investigate other elements in the conversation club apart from the five elements above or take one of the five elements above and conduct an in-depth investigation about it