IMPROVING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PARTICIPATION BY APPLYING THE GROUP INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUE

The objective of this research was to know how Group Investigation technique
could improve students’ speaking participation. The subject of this research was XI
IPS 1 students of SMAN 1 Talang Empat Bengkulu Tengah that consisted of 39
students. This research was a Classroom Action Research (CAR) that was conducted
in three cycles. Each cycle consisted of four stages, namely planning, action,
observation, and reflection. The data was taken from observation sheet, checklist, and
video recording. In this research the students’ speaking participation were divided into
three categories; they were Active, Active Enough, and Not Active. The result of this
research shows that teaching speaking through Group Investigation technique could
improve students’ speaking participation. In cycle 1, the percentages of students’
participation consisted of 53.84% (21 students) as Active, 17.94% (7 students) as
Active Enough, and 28.20% (11 students) as Not Active. In cycle 2 the percentages of
students’ participation consisted of 64.10% (25 students) as Active, 12.82% (5
students) as Active Enough, and 23.07% (9 students) as Not Active. While in cycle 3,
the percentages of students’ participation consisted of 76.92% (30 students) as Active,
7.69% (3 students) as Active Enough, and 15.38% (6 students) as Not Active. The
students also showed positive response. They looked enthusiastic, got actively that
could be drawn was confident to speak. The conclusion of this research that teaching
speaking through Group Investigation technique stimulates the students to speak and
could increase the students’ speaking participation. Overall, Group Investigation
technique could be applied in teaching and learning process especially in speaking
participation.