THE APPLICATION OF THE SNOWBALL-THROWING TECHNIQUE IN IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILL AT MTS EL-BAS CIAMIS

This research aims to find out the improvement of students’ speaking ability in the application of snowball throwing technique and the factors that influence students in improving speaking ability. This study used classroom action research with two cycles and data analysis used by Miles and Huberman (2014). One cycle consisted of 4 meetings. Data were collected through tests and interviews. The research subjects were MTs S El-Bass students in grade 8 with a total of 22 learners. The results showed that 8 students or 36% of students scored above the MMC in speaking ability in cycle I reached the success criteria. While in cycle II most of them reached the success criteria. Teacher's activity in using snowball throwing technique to improve speaking skill in grade 8 was effective. Based on the observation in cycle I, students were enthusiastic in following the application of snowball throwing technique. While in cycle II students were more active and enthusiastic. This study identified three factors that inhibit students in speaking English as a foreign language, which are categorised into affective, cognitive, and performance conditions. Affective factors include shyness, lack of motivation, confidence, self-esteem, and self-awareness, while cognitive factors include grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and topic knowledge. Lastly is the performance condition. The students needed time to speak in English. Finally, teachers had also taken the results of this study into consideration when designing activities in the process of learning to speak English as a foreign language, which had helped students overcome their speaking problems.