THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) APPROACH IN DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY (An Experimental Study of Second Grade Students at SMA Kartika Siliwangi I Bandung)

CLT involves interaction and communication as the ultimate function of language (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Due to the statement, this research was conducted to measure the effectiveness of CLT approach in enhancing students’ speaking ability in SMA Kartika Siliwangi I, Bandung especially in class XI-1. In conducting this research, experimental method was utilized. It was chosen since this research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CLT used in developing students’ speaking ability. There were two groups observed. Those were experimental group which was given CLT approach and control group which was not given special treatment. Furthermore, the data was gained through pre test, post test, and questionnaire. The pre test and post test was calculated using SPSS 15.0 while the descriptive analysis was employed to interpret the questionnaire. After the treatment accomplished, it was found that there was a significant difference between the mean of pre test and post test (p < 0.05 in which p = 0.000). This means that there was improvement of students’ speaking ability. In addition, the students enjoyed the learning process since they could express their mind and they were encouraged to speak English. As the conclusion, it is suggested for all English teachers to employ this approach. In order to have an effective activity in applying this approach, the teachers need to comprehend the approach and manage the time since it takes energy and time