IMPROVING THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS� ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY THROUGH STORYTELLING

Abstract

The purposes of this research are to find out; 1) how to improve English speaking ability of the tenth grade students at Harapan-I Medan through the application of storytelling method, and 2) how the students� responses to storytelling as a learning method. This research was a Classroom Action Research applying Kemmis McTaggart Model. �The research was done in two cycles in which each cycle consists of four stages: plans, actions, observations, and reflections. The subjects in this research were students of Grade X-6 of Senior High School Harapan-I Medan. The object of this study was the application of the Storytelling method to improve the students� English speaking ability. Based on the results of the research, it was found that the percentage of completeness from pre-action, Cycle-I, and Cycle-II increased at Senior High School Harapan-I Medan. The percentage of student�s completeness in pre-action was 27%, in the Cycle-I was 47%, and in the Cycle-II was 70%. There was a significant increase (43%) from pre-action, cycle-I, and cycle-II. In addition, students� enthusiasm, courage, and activity have also increased. Thus, it can be concluded that storytelling method has improved the speaking ability of the tenth grade students of Senior High School Harapan-I Medan and increased their response, enthusiasm, courage, and activity to speak English.Keywords: speaking ability; English; storytelling; folklore; classroom action research.