Improving the English Speaking Skill of Grade VIII-4Students of SMPNegeri 4 Palangka Raya at First Semester in Academic Year 2013/2014 through the Contextual Teaching and Learning Approach

This study aimed at improving the English speaking skill of grade VIII-4 students of SMP Negeri 4 Palangka Raya at the first semester of the academic year of 2013/2014 through the Contextual Teaching and Learning(CTL) approach which applied the seven main components of effective learning: constructivism, inquiry, questioning, learning community, modeling, reflection, and authentic assessment. This study was a classroom action research conducted in two cycles. The first cycle consisted of four meetings and the second cycle consisted of two meetings. The design used in this study was that of Kemmis and McTaggart model consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection. The actions in the classroom were to improve the English learning, especially in speaking skill using the CTL approach. The result showed that the application of the seven components of the CTL approach could improve the students’ speaking skill. Before the action, 4.50% students were in level I, 95.50% students in level II and no students in levels III, IV, and V. After the application of the seven components of the CTL approach, in first cycle, no student was in level I, 72.73% in level II, 27.27% students in level III, and no students in level IV and V. In the second cycle, no students in level I, 4.50% students were in level II, 86.40% in level III, 9.10 % in level IV, and no students in level V. The study concludes that the students' English speaking skill improves significantly through the application of the seven components of the CTL approach. The students are more interested and happy in speaking English in interesting and contextual situations. They are not shy anymore, more self-confident and not afraid of making false. They use less first language in communication not only with teachers but also with their friends. The CTL approach builds some students’ ideas to speak using simple English in their daily lives. They are more cooperative and have more opportunities to practice their speaking skill. They could speak English more easily through the teacher’s modeling. They could correct their speech from the teacher’s explanation