The Effectiveness of Ice-Breaker Activity to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill of The Third Semester Students of English Department Students of FKIP UKI Toraja

Abstract

This research was aimed at investigating the effectiveness of Ice-Breaker
Activity in improving students’ Speaking skill and the students’ perceptions
towards the use of Ice-Breaker activity in improving speaking skill of the
third semester students of English Department of FKIP UKI Toraja.
A quasi experimental design was employed with one class of the third
semester students of English Department of FKIP UKI Toraja. Samples
were selected by using cluster sampling method. The data were obtained
through oral test and a questionnaire. The Speaking assessment was
covering pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency and self-confidence.
The findings were analyzed statistically using independent t-test
procedure.
The findings showed that the value of t-test in experimental class was higher
than the value of t-table(value of t 3.57 > value of t table 2.021).
Furthermore, the students‘ perception towards Ice-Breaker Activity was
95.2% students agreed that this technique could help them to increse their
Speaking skill.
The statistical computation showed that Ice-Breaker Activity was not
effective in improving the students’ Speaking skill but the students have
positive perception towards the use of Ice-Breaker Activity in improving
their speaking skill. Designing the learning purpose appropriately which
considers students’ needs and language level may ease lecturer to use
the the Ice-Breaker Activity in improving students’ Speaking skill. The
lecturer may try to take advantage of Ice-Breaker Activity to be
utilized in their classroom activities to conduct an effective and
interesting learning atmosphere in the classroom.