THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY OF CLASS VII A OF SMP MA’ARIF TERPADU MUNTILAN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013

This study is action research that aims to describe the types of language games and their implementation to improve the students’ speaking ability at grade VIIA of SMP Ma’arif Terpadu Muntilan in the academic year of 2012/2013. The research was carried out at the first semester from October 1st To November 1st 2013. The research members consisted of the researcher, the principal, the English teacher, and the students of grade VIIA. The steps were: reconnaissance, planning, action and observation, and reflection. The research was conducted in two cycles. The data of this study were qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative data were obtained by observing the teaching and learning process during the implementation of the actions and interviewing the students and the collaborator about the implemented actions. The qualitative data were in the form of questionnaire, field notes and interview transcripts. Meanwhile, the quantitative data were gained by assessing the students’ speaking performances through the pre-test and post-test. Therefore, the quantitative data were in the form of students’ speaking scores in the pre-test and post-test. The results of Cycle I showed that the implementation of language games (you know me they know you game and name the ball game) and other accompanying actions (applying listening activity before the students were asked to speak) were successful in improving the students’ reading comprehension. However, language games which were implemented through whole class game activity were not successful because there were some students who were not actively engaged in the tasks/activities. Therefore, the researcher improved that action by giving each student a different responsibility to finish the task. Meanwhile, it was shown in Cycle II that the implementation of language games (pass the ball game and the last game) and other accompanying actions (adapting games to students need and appliying listening speaking activity before the students were asked to speak) were successful in improving the students’ speaking ability. From the two cycles, the implementations of language games were obviously effective to improve the students’ speaking ability. The improvement covers; (1) the students were more motivated and more interested in getting involved in English lesson, (2) the students’ fluency, pronunciation, accuracy and vocabulary were increasing, (3) it was easier for the students to perform speaking by using language games. The findings were supported by the means of the students’ speaking scores which had improved from 5.64 in the pre-test to 7.35 in the post-test