IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ABILTY IN PLACING ENGLISH WORD STRESS THROUGH HAND GESTURE TECHNIQUE

Abstract

This research was aimed at proving the use of hand gesture technique which can improve the students’ ability in placing English word stress. Quasi-experimental with pre-test post-test non-equivalent group design was applied in this research. The research samples were the students in class VIIIA as the experimental group and VIIIC as the control group. The researcher selected the sample by using convenience sampling technique. The techniques of data collection were structured observation which was administered eight times and test which was conducted twice, those were pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed statistically in order to know the significance of the achievement of the students in pre-test and post-test. By selecting the 0.05 level of significance and 37 as the degree of freedom (d.f. 20-1+19-1 = 37), the researcher computed the data and discovered that the observed t-value (9.02) was greater than the critical t-value (2.026). Due to this result, it has proved that the use of hand gesture technique can improve the students’ ability in placing English word stress.