Focus Group Discussion in Enhancing Students’ Speaking Skill at SMAN 5 Barru

Abstract

This research was conducted due to low speaking ability in English among students at SMAN 5 Barru. The researcher aimed to investigate the use of the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) method to improve students' fluency and vocabulary at SMAN 5 Barru. This study used a pre-experimental quantitative design, where the FGD method was used to help improve students’ speaking skills. The research procedure included a pre-test, treatment (FGD sessions), and a post-test. The sample in this study was the students of class XI MIA 1, selected from three classes as the population. A purposive sampling technique was used to choose the sample. The instrument used to collect data was a speaking test. The same speaking test was used in both the pre-test and post-test. Based on the results, the average pre-test score for fluency was 4.00, which increased to 53.85 in the post-test. The vocabulary score also improved from 35.38 in the pre-test to 61.54 in the post-test. These results show an improvement in both fluency and vocabulary after using the Focus Group Discussion method. Therefore, it can be concluded that the FGD method helped improve students’ speaking skills at SMAN 5 Barru.