CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study.

Look at the developing science and technology, language has an important rule for human
life, by using language the people will express their ideas, emotiosan, and desires, and it is used as
a medium to interact with one another, to fulfil their daily need. English has been the most
important language in international communication. The people all over the world speak the
language when they meet one another in every international meeting, workshop, or conference.
All countries in the world have set the language as one of the compulsory subject studied at school.
English has many functions, one of them as stated in the 2004 curriculum that English is
means for the students to develop science, technology, culture and art, and the final objective of
teaching and learning process is the students are expected to master the four skills of language:
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Teaching and learning will be success if they are
supported by some factors such as the method that is used in teaching English, completeness of
teaching facilitation, interesting media, and condition of school environment. Indonesia as one of
the developing countries has also set its educational curriculum to include English as a foreign
language which is studied from junior high school up to the university level. Being successful
students are not easy, this fact can be seen mostly at eight grader of MTs NW Majidi, although
they have been studying English for more than a year, but they are still unable to use English in
interacting with their teacher in the classroom.
Speaking is important for them to practice their capability and their understanding, how to
send idea, and how to spell word well; in this case the students’ motivation and interest are very
needed to make the process of their understanding more easily. Because of the material of English
subject is very variety, so the teachers are obligated to choose the suitable approach, strategy, and
method in order to achieve the teaching purposes easily, and the media will make the students to
be more motivated to study. The teacher who is able to present the material easily will be students’
idol. The teacher can use some methods in teaching learning process to help the students’
understanding about the material that is explained. In applying method, the teachers have to
prepare many things like; teaching material, classroom management, and many other aspects
because using inappropriate technique can make the students get difficulties in understanding the
teacher’s explanation and it means that the teacher may be failed in teaching them.
To make the students have strong interest in teaching and learning process especially in
learning speaking, the teacher should take the best approach, method, and strategies. Then, the
teacher can use media in teaching of English language, method are used to help the students for
speaking to make interaction between the teacher and students. Furthermore, the teacher has to
prepare the interested aids before teaching learning process done. In this case, the researcher used
board game as method in teaching learning processes.

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The teacher can use board game as method in teaching and learning processes. According to
(Hornby; 1995, p. 486) game is an activity that you do to have some fun. Board game can be
defined as something or an instrument that is used to attract students’ motivation to follow the
teaching and learning process because board game can make the students more focus in learning,
because they do not feel that they are forced to learn. They also enable learners to acquire new
experiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson. Board
game can be method that will give many advantages for teacher and the students either.
Method must be able to increase the students’ motivation in learning English, especially in
speaking English. And, method has to be able to manipulate, see able, listenable, and readable. At
last the teacher hopes that method can motivate his students to speak English to communicate their
need especially in the classroom and in their daily need in general. Board game as a method of
intertwinement can build up the students’ motivation and reinforce any language skill as speaking
and listening. The students playing board game in the classroom only for language learning and
help them to increase their speaking skill which they can apply it outside of the classroom.
Communication is one of the implementation of language function in society as a means
of carrying out the affairs. Students are not easy to speak English fluently if they only study at
school generally, they will get it in real life listening to the native speaker. But, if the school has
certain rule and has good condition of school environment, so the students can speak English as
well. Speaking is one of four language skills, which is basic function of language as
communication instrument. Students who study at the school which use certain language will be a
good speaker, different from students who study at the other school. They will get difficulties in
using English to speak each other; it is caused by condition of school environment and media that
is used in teaching them.

B. Focus of the Study

Based on the background of the study above, this study is limited to find out the increasing
of students’ speaking ability through board game. The subject of the study is the eighth graders of
MTs NW Majidi in the school year 2012/2013.
C. Statement of the Problem
Based on the background above, the problem can be formulated as follows: “How can
board game increase the students’ speaking ability at the eighth graders of MTs NW Majidi in the
school year 2012/2013?’’
D. Purpose of the Study
This study is aimed at finding out the role of board game in increasing students’speaking ability
for the eighth graders of MTs NW Majidi in the school year 2012/2013.

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E. Significances of the Study
The results of this study are expected to give both theoretical and practical benefits as
follows:
1. Theoretically
The result of this study is expected to find out strategy of increasing students’ speaking
ability through board game.

2. Practically
a. Teacher
1) Teacher can use the material easier and she/he will have a new method to teach
speaking by using board game.
2) The teacher can make this method to be an interesting method in other the students
easy to understand in learning english speaking.
b. Students
1) The students will be easy to understand about how to say something.
2) It will improve the student’s ability in speaking.
c. Researcher
1) Can use the result of this study to be reference.
2) Can search the same variable.