Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 108 THE IMPACT OF SNAKE AND LADDER GAME TO THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS' ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AT SMAN 1 KOTA TIDORE Adi F. Mahmud1*, Muhammad Saleh Khaerullah, Jusmin HJ Wahid 1, 2,3 Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku Utara, Ternate, Indonesia adifadelmahmud@gmail.com ABSTRACT The study aims to obtain empirical data on the effectiveness of using the Snake and Ladder game in teaching English to second-grade students at SMAN 1 Kota Tidore. The study used quantitative approach with experimental and control classes. There were 60 participants involved, and it was administered over three treatments. During the treatments, classes were taught English with the same content in different ways; the experimental class was taught using the Snake and Ladder game, while the control class was taught using the conventional method. The instrument used in this study was an oral test with a speaking rubric. The results stated that the post-test mean score of the experimental class was 80.43, while the post-test mean score of the control class was 70.73. The result of statistical hypothesis testing by using an independent sample t-test found that at the degree of significance of 5% (α = 0.05), the t-value was 2.247 while the t-table was 2.001, or t-value > t- table. Therefore, H0 was rejected and Ha was accepted. Furthermore, Cohen's formulation was used for the effect size of the Snake and Ladder, and the result was 0.24. Therefore, it is concluded that teaching English using the Snake and Ladder game is effective in teaching English. Keywords: snake and Ladder Game, Improving, Speaking Skill INTRODUCTION Teaching English as a foreign language is a difficult challenge in developing countries such as Indonesia. Whereas English has been taught from high school up to university level (Akbari, 2015). The challenges appear in various ways in the classroom. A lack of effective teachers, teachers' motivation, a lack of proper teaching experience, and a lack of effective teachers are the main issues with teaching and learning English at the secondary level in the absence of ELT research and scientific teaching methodology (Hossain, 2018). Those challenges were also found in teaching English-speaking skills. Though speaking is one of the vital skills that should be mastered by EFL students, improving their speaking ability is one of the main concerns of the majority of language learners in both EFL and ESL contexts (Bahrani & Soltani, 2012). Speaking ability is very important in achieving language mastery; the better someone speaks, the more he or she can articulate ideas, influence people, and achieve success. http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 109 Speaking is the ability to fluently pronounce a language (Harmer, 2010). Teaching English- speaking skills is a very important part of English education. Unfortunately, the practice of English speaking at schools is alarming. The low level of English-speaking ability of students in schools and the fertile growth of English language courses are indicators. This happens because, first, English is treated the same as other knowledge-based subjects, such as geography, science, and history, at school. Whereas language is supposed to be a skill that is mastered through speaking practice. This equation is rooted in misleading practice, which views learning as preparing students for tests or exams. This is exacerbated by the design of the exam as a tool to assess the mastery of knowledge and facts among students. English is studied as a collection of factual information that must be absorbed by students. The subject is caught in the trap of requiring foreign languages to be studied in the same way as knowledge-based subjects. As a result, learning activities are dominated by instructions that ask students to memorize grammatical rules, definitions of phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and tenses. Another problem that becomes vital to influencing students' abilities and skills in speaking English is the teaching model, methods, strategies, and media. Learning continues to emphasize information memorization and is informative. It hinders the development of students' potential, including communication abilities (Mahmud et al., 2023). Moreover, the problem of teaching English to speakers of other languages in the twenty-first century The majority of issues about the instructional models, methods, strategies, techniques, and facilities provided by schools. These occurrences occur in countries where English is taught as a foreign or second language at schools. Therefore, teachers at high schools should implement accurate and appropriate methods in speaking classes. The Snake and Ladder Game is one of the solutions help teachers teach to improve students speaking skills. The Snake and Ladder game is played on a square board with numbered cells. The objective of the game is to reach the final cell, typically numbered 100, from the initial cell, typically numbered 1, by rolling a die and moving the commensurate number of cells. Recent studies related to the snake and ladder game proved that it enhanced young children's ability to recognize English vocabulary. The results indicated that the snake-and-ladder game media is effective in enhancing young children's ability to recognize English vocabulary (Khomsin & Rahimmatussalisa, 2021). The study demonstrates that playing snake and ladder helps children feel calm, cheerful, and enjoy themselves. Children can learn new words more quickly as a result of these emotions because they willingly give their full concentration to the game (Asadi & Suryana, 2020). The snake and ladder game is effective in improving students' tense understanding (Wardiningtyas, 2016). The preview studies focus mostly on implementing the Snake and Ladder game in teaching vocabulary and English grammar. Therefore, the snake and ladder game implemented in teaching speaking is one of the current issues of this study. It included five components that determine someone's speaking skill, namely: (1) Pronunciation, which is how words and sentences should be pronounced (2) Grammar, which is the rule of English speaking (3) Vocabulary, which means new words with several meanings contained in one word. (4) Fluency, which is the flow of someone's thought. (5) Comprehension, the http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 110 difference between this study and all the others mentioned is the fact that this study focuses on testing how effective Snake and Ladder is to teach English as a whole and proves this in different levels of students, places, and schools environments. This study attempts to point out the study with the question does snake and ladder game improve students' speaking skills to the second grade of SMA Negeri 1 Kota Tidore? METHODS Research Design The research design of this study is a quantitative approach with a quasi- experimental study. It was conducted at SMA Negeri 1 Kota Tidore and involved 60 students as samples for the study. The students are separated into experimental and control classes. Each class consisted of 30 students who were chosen by cluster random sampling. Data Collection Procedure The data for this study was collected through a speaking test. The researchers tested the speaking skills of each student before and after the experiment to see the change. The speaking tests were done twice: at the beginning of the study as a pre-test and at the end as a post-test. The pre-test was given to the experimental class and the control class before the study was conducted to measure students' speaking ability. After the pre-test, the experimental class was taught using the Snake and Ladder game, while the control class was taught using the conventional method. Both groups received the post-test to know the achievement in experimental and control classes. The researchers then evaluated the speaking tests using speaking rubrics. Furthermore, the researchers have divided the oral test scores into five criteria. To determine the assessment or score, which is the score of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Each criterion is rated on five scales based on Harris (Chaudhary, 2008). Table 1. Grading Speaking Table based on Harris (Chaudhary, 2008) No Criteria Rating Score Indicators 1 Pronunciation (100-90) Few traces of a foreign accent (90-80) Always intelligible, though one is conscious of a definite accent (80-70) Pronunciation problems necessitate concentrated listening and occasionally lead to misunderstanding (70-60) Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problems. Must frequently be asked to repeat (60-50) Pronunciation problems so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible 2 Grammar (100-90) Makes few noticeable errors (90-80) Occasionally makes grammatical and/or word-order errors which do not, however, obscure meaning http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 111 (80-70) Makes frequent errors of grammar and word order which occasionally obscure meaning (70-60) Grammar and word-order errors make comprehension difficult. Must often rephrase sentences and/or restrict himself to basic patterns (60-50) Errors in grammar and word order so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible 3 Vocabulary (100-90) The use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of a native speaker (90-80) Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and/or must rephrase ideas because of lexical inadequacies (80-70) Frequently uses the wrong words; conversation somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary (70-60) Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary make comprehension quite difficult (60-50) Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible 4 Fluency (100-90) Speech as fluent and effortless as that of a native speaker (90-80) Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by language problems (80-70) Speed and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problems (70-60) Usually hesitant; often forced into silence by language limitations (60-50) Speech is so halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible 5 Comprehension (100-90) Appears to understand everything without difficulty (90-80) Understands nearly everything at normal speed, although occasional repetition may be necessary (80-70) Understands most of what is said at slower-than- normal speed with repetitions (70-60) Has great difficulty following what is said. Can comprehend only "social conversation" spoken slowly and with frequent repetitions (60-50) Cannot be said to understand even simple conversational English Data Analysis The data gathered from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed through tests of normality, homogeneity, hypotheses, and finally the formulation of the effect size. The test of normality was done using IBM SPSS (Special Package for the Social Sciences) Statistics 22. The normality test was applied to the pre-test and post-test of both the experimental class and the control class using Kolmogorov-Swirnnov that exists in IBM SPPS. The purpose of the normality test is to determine whether the data collected was distributed http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 112 normally or not. The scores of the pre-test and post-test varied from the lowest to the highest. Next was conducting the homogeneity test. This test was done to ensure the equality of experimental and control class speaking skills. The homogeneity test was applied to the data from both classes. The feature used to test the homogeneity was One- Way ANOVA, which displays the result in Levene-Statistics. After testing the normality and homogeneity, researchers used the IBM SPSS Statistics 22 software to analyze the results of the pre-and post-tests in the experimental and control classes. To find out the difference between the samples that got different treatments, the experimental class, which was taught by using the Snake and Ladder game, and the control class, which was taught by the conventional method, the researchers use an independent-Samples T-Test to compare them. RESULTS Pre-Test and Post-Test Results The data accumulated from the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental class indicated that students’ achievements in the pre-test and post-test were different. The total score of the post-test is higher than the pre-test. Moreover, the mean score of the pre-test and post-test showed a difference. The results of the pre-test and post-test of the experimental class are shown below: Table 2. Pre-test and post-test of the experimental class Experimental Class Sample Pre-test (∑) posttest (∑) Gained Score Mean of pre- test Mean of pre- test 30 2019 2413 330 67.30 80.43 Table 2 indicated that students' abilities in experimental classes improved positively. Pretest results indicated that students were able to achieve a score of 2019 and a mean score of 67.30. Meanwhile, the post-test results showed students’ ability to achieve a score of 2413 with a mean score of 80.43. It was a different result between the pre-test and post- test obtained in the experimental class. However, the results of the pre-test and post-test in the control class showed different results in the experimental class. The pre-test of the control class described students achieving a total score and mean score higher than the post-test results. The results of the control class are preset as follows: Table 3. Pre-test and post-test of the control class Control Class Sample Pre-test (∑) posttest (∑) Gained Score Mean of pre- test Mean of pre- test 30 2122 2260 142 70.73 75.33 Students’ abilities in control class classes appeared to be such that pre-test results indicated that students were able to achieve a score of 2122 and a mean score of 70.73. http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 113 Meanwhile, the posttest results showed students’ ability to achieve a score of 2260 with a mean score of 75.33. It was a different result between the pretest and posttest obtained in the experimental class. However, the results of the pretest and posttest in the control class showed different results in the experimental class. The pretest of the control class described students achieving a total score and mean score higher than the posttest results. The results of the control class The Normality and Homogeneity of the Pre-Test The data accumulated from the pre-test and the post-test had undergone two different tests: the normality test with the Shapiro-Wilk test and the homogeneity test with Levene-Statistics. The normality test was used to check how normal the students' scores are distributed, while the homogeneity test shows the equality of the student's abilities. Below is the result of the Shapiro-Wilk Test, which showed the normality of the experimental and control class pre-tests: Table 4. Tests of Normality The significance or p-value of Shapiro-Wilk for both experimental and control classes is detailed above. To conclude that the data distribution is normal, both significances should be greater than 0.05 or p > 0.05. Since the significance of p-experiment = 0.718 and the significance of p-control = 0.218, the data distribution of experimental and control classes from the pre-test is normal. This is because 0.718 > 0.05 and 0.218 > 0.05. Therefore, we can continue to test the homogeneity of the pre-test. Table 5. Test of Homogeneity of Variances Score Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. .435 1 58 .512 The data above shows that the significance of homogeneity test results is 0.512, or p = 0.512. Since homogeneous data must have significance greater than 0.05 or p > 0.05, this means that the homogeneous test condition is fulfilled in the pre-test data. This is because 0.512 > 0.05. Therefore, the normality and homogeneity data conditions of the pre-test are fulfilled. Compare Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic Df Sig. Experimental class 100 .071 30 .200* .976 30 .718 Control class 100 .096 30 .200* .954 30 .218 *. This is a lower bound of the true significance. a. Lilliefors Significance Correction http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 114 The Normality and Homogeneity of Post-Test The result of the Shapiro-Wilk Test, which showed the normality of the experimental and control class post-tests, described the normality tests of the post-tests of the experiment and control class as normal. It indicated the following table: Table 6. Test of Normality Compare Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic Df Sig. Experimental class 100 .156 30 .061 .927 30 410 Control class 100 .102 30 .200* .948 30 .152 *. This is a lower bound of the true significance. a. Lilliefors Significance Correction The normality tests of the experiment and control class in the post-test found that the significance or p-value of Shapiro-Wilk of both experimental and control classes are detailed. To conclude that the data distribution is normal, both significances should be greater than 0.05 or p > 0.05. Since the significance of p-experiment = 0.410 and the significance of p-control = 0.152, the data distribution of experimental and control classes from the post-test is normal. This is because 0.410 > 0.05 and 0.152 > 0.05. Therefore, we can continue to test the homogeneity of the pre-test below: Table 7. Test of Homogeneity of Variances The data above pointed out that the significance of homogeneity test results is 0.274, or p = 0.274. Since homogeneous data must have significance greater than 0.05 or p > 0.05, this means that the homogeneous test condition is fulfilled in post-test data. This is because 0.274 > 0.05. Therefore, the normality and homogeneity data conditions of the pre-test are fulfilled. Testing of the Hypotheses After finishing the normality and homogeneity tests, the researchers started conducting the hypothesis test by using the Independent t-test from IBM SPSS Statistics 22. This was done to compare the means or averages of both the experimental and the control classes to figure out whether there was indeed a significant difference in the results of the experimental and control classes after the treatments were given. The results of the t-test of the experimental and control classes are presented as follows: Score Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 1.220 1 58 .274 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 115 Table 8. The T-Test Result of Post-Test Scores Group Statistic Class N Mean Std Deviation Std. Error Mean Score Experiment 30 80.43 7.637 1.394 Control 30 75.33 9.806 1.790 Table 9. Independent sample test Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances T-test for Equality of Means F Sig. T Df Sig. (2- taile d) Mean differ ence Std. error difference 95% Confidence Interval Difference Lower Upper Equal variances assumed 1.22 0 ,274 2.247 58 0,28 5.100 2.269 558 9.642 Equal variances not assumed 2.247 54.717 0,29 5.100 2.269 552 9.648 The above table is detailed to explain that the post-test mean score of the experimental class is 80.43, while the control class is 75.33. The t-test result in the table showed that the t-value was 2.247 with a Sig. (2-tailed) of 0.28. To know whether the Snake and Ladder game has a significant effect on students, the t-value is compared to the t-table. The t-table can be found by using the formula df = (n-1) + (n-1) which results in 58 and comparing it to the significance level of 0.05 in the t-table board, and it got 2.001. The result of the comparison has shown that t-value = 2.247 ≥ t-table = 2.001, which means that there is a significant effect of Snake and Ladder implementation on improving students’ speaking skills. DISCUSSION The effectiveness of EFL classroom activities requires appropriate methods to be implemented (Mahmud et al., 2022). The study aims to find out the impact of snake and ladder games on improving students’ speaking skills. The research conducted data analysis of the findings through several stages, including the analysis of pre-test and post-test results in the experimental class and control class, homogeneity analysis, normality in the experimental and control classes, and a t-test. Results of pre-test and post-test findings in the experimental class showed that there were differences in the results obtained by students in both the acquisition score and the mean value. Acquisition scores and average http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 116 values in the post-test are higher than in the pre-test. The same applies to the pre-test and post-test results in the control class. Acquisition and mean scores on the post-test are higher than the acquisition and averages on the pre-test. Tests of homogeneity and normality. The homogeneity test results in the experimental and control classes revealed that the values assigned to the experimental and control classes occur normally. The homogeneity test results in the experimental and control classes were also well met. Next, the test results for the experimental and control classes are compared using the t-test. This calculation shows that using the Snake and Ladder game as a method to teach English speaking skills is indeed effective. This is because not only the experimental class gained a higher mean score than the control class, but also because the mean score of the experimental class was originally way lower than the control class before the treatment. To help students develop communicative effectiveness in speaking, instructors can use activities that incorporate language input and communicative output (Bahrani & Soltani, 2012). To teach speaking holistically and thoroughly, it is beneficial for instructors to understand what speaking competence entails and how different aspects of speaking competence relate to one another. (Burns, 2012). Furthermore, the highest score gained by students in the experimental class was +26, while the highest score gained in the control class was +15. Moreover, as revealed by the result, it was obtained that the score of t-value = 2.247 is higher than t-table = 2.001 in the significant degree of 0.05. This means that the H0 (null Hypothesis) is rejected and the Ha (Alternate Hypothesis) is accepted. To strengthen this discovery, the researchers have done an independent sample t-test on the total gained score, and the result shows that the t-value = 4.439 of the gained score is higher than the t- table = 2.001. This means that the Snake and Ladder game has been proven empirically to increase students' speaking skills. Snake and ladder games have many benefits for improving speaking skills. Students can confidently speak in front of the class. The students dare to speak in front of the class because they view their classmates as a family (Ratih & Ningsih, 2017). Snake and Ladder is the appropriate game for instructing young learners to speak (Sofyan et al., 2019). A game of snakes and ladders is a suitable method for enhancing the students' communication abilities. In addition, the researcher discovered that almost all of the students gave positive responses, such as that they paid close attention to the learning process, was more active than before, the class made them joyful, and they enjoyed it (Taka, 2019). CONCLUSION A statistical analysis of the findings and discussion reveals that the Snake and Ladder game has a significant impact on students' speaking ability. The outcome of comparing the value of the t-value calculated using the statistical program and the t-table supports this conclusion. 5% is the degree of significance value of the t-table. This indicates that the H0 hypothesis which states that "the Snake and Ladder board game has no significant effect on the speaking ability of students," is rejected, and alternative hypothesis was accepted. Snake and Ladder game also pushing students’ enthusiasm in joining English speaking class http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 117 activities. It is an effective tool for teaching English. In addition, the significance level is low since d = 0.24, showed the difference between students’ learning English with and without the "snake and ladder" is considered. It is safe to assert that the Snake and Ladder game can be used to teach English speaking at SMAN 1 Tidore and others high school level. REFERENCES Akbari, Z. (2015). Current Challenges in Teaching/Learning English for EFL Learners: The Case of Junior High School and High School. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 394–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.524 Asadi, H., & Suryana, D. (2020). 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Efektivitas Media Permainan Ular Tangga untuk Meningkatkan Kemampuan Mengenal Kosakata Bahasa Inggris pada Anak Usia Dini. Jurnal Pendidikan Anak, 10(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.21831/jpa.v10i1.37872. Mahmud, A. F., Masimu, A. O., Umasugi, F., Muhammadiyah, U., & Utara, M. (2022). Silent Way Method : Improve Students ’ English Vocabulary at SMK Negeri 1 Kota Ternate. 2(2), 53–61. Mahmud, A. F., Umahuk, S., Fudji, S. R., Noh, S. A., Soleman, F., & Gafar, A. (2023). Building Students’ Communication Skills in Learning English through Lesson Study at Senior High School. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 11(1), 72. https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v11i1.6540. Ratih, F. T., & Ningsih, N. A. (2017). Using a board game "Snake and Lader" to teach speaking descriptive text to the eight grade students of SMPN 2 Wungu. English Teaching Journal : A Journal of English Literature, Language and Education, 5(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.25273/etj.v5i1.4726 Sofyan, R., Sinar, T. S., Tarigan, B., & Zein, T. T. (2019). Using a “Snake and Ladder” Game in Teaching Speaking To Young Learners. ABDIMAS TALENTA: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 Copyright © The Author(s) Vol.4, No. 3, July 2023 e-ISSN: 2723-4126 p-ISSN: 2776-8880 118 Masyarakat, 3(2), 226–231. https://doi.org/10.32734/abdimastalenta.v3i2.4121 Taka, S. D. (2019). Teaching Speaking By Using Snake and Ladder Board Game. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 7(2), 72–87. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v7i2.1021 Wardiningtyas. (2016). Technique To Improve Students ’ Simple Past Tense. http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689 http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689