The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 1200 Copyright © 2022 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 10, Number 2, December 2022 pp. 1200 - 1207 The Efficacy of Using Round Robin Technique in Teaching Speaking to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students Yanpitherszon Liunokas yanpiters69@gmail.com Nusa Cendana University, Kupang NTT Received: 2022-10-20 Accepted: 2022-12-20 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v10i2.3353 Abstract This research aims at finding out the efficacy of using round robin technique in teaching speaking especially to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. The main question of this research: Is the use of round robin technique effective in teaching speaking to Indonesian EFL students? The research can be an addition to the persisting teaching speaking in English. The research was conducted in August 2022. This research was conducted at First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. The population of this research was First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang in the 2021/2022 academic year. The number population is 160 in four classes. The research used a pre-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design. The pre-test was given to find out the basic ability of the students in mastering speaking and the post-test given to find out the students’ improvement in mastering speaking after giving the treatment by using round robin technique. The findings show that using round robin technique is effective in teaching speaking to Indonesian EFL students. It is supported by the result of the significance test through SPSS 20 program that the P was 0.00. Therefore, it is recommended to use the round robin technique in developing students’ speaking of Indonesian EFL students. Keywords: Indonesian EFL students; round robin technique; teaching speaking http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1201 Introduction Based on the preliminary study that was conducted by the researchers with the first semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang., it is found that the students faced some same problems in mastery speaking skill. The students were informally interviewed and the result showed that a majority of the students spoke English in hesitation, use incorrect pronunciation, grammar mistakes, lack of vocabulary and nothing to say in the classroom. To solve the problems above, there are some techniques in teaching English speaking, and one of those techniques is the Round Robin Technique. Round Robin is a technique created by Dr. Spencer Kagan in 1994. He explains briefly about the definition of Round Robin Technique as follows “…students in small groups taking turn contributing. The same structure worked well to equalize participation in cooperative learning teams. If students in small groups discuss a topic with no interaction rules, in an unstructured way, often one or two students dominate the interaction. If students are told they must take turns as they speak, more equal participation is ensured” (Kagan, 2003). The researchers decided to solve the aforementioned problems by implementing Round Robin Technique as part of cooperative language learning to improve students’ speaking skill at First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. The researchers believed that the Round Robin Technique could be appropriate to be applied in teaching-learning English, especially for speaking. Henceforth, the research questions proposed in this study is: 1. Can the use of Round Robin Technique improve students’ speaking skill? 2. Can the use of Round Robin Technique improve students’ ability in understanding the speaking aspects of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension? Accordingly, the researchers formulated the hypotheses: Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): There is any significant improvement on students’ speaking ability after Round Robin Technique applied. While the Null Hypothesis (Ho): There is no significant improvement on students’ speaking ability after Round Robin Technique applied. The result of this study is expected to positively contribute to the teaching and learning of the English language, particularly for teachers teaching English speaking to EFL learners. To use various teaching techniques is important to maintain students’ interest in classroom learning, and this study focus on the Round Robin Technique. One of the skills in English subject is speaking. Speaking is an essential proficiency used to practice English for communicative purposes. Supporting Brown (2004), states that speaking is an interactive process that involves producing and receiving to process of the information to construct meaning. Moreover, Halimah (2018, p. 206) infers that “speaking is an ability used by a person as a tool to express, share and communicate one’s ideas, opinions, desires, or feelings to another depending on the context, the participants, the experience, the environment, and the purpose”. It means that speaking is one of the ways to Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Robin Technique in Teaching Speaking to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 1202 exchange information between two or more people in gaining newly constructed meaning. The learners are also expected to be able to communicate and to produce their idea with their way of using the speaking skill. Moreover, according to Zhang (2009) speaking skill is the most difficult skill to be mastered for the majority of English learners, and the learners are still incompetent in communicating orally in English (Al Hosni, 2014). Thus, many difficulties occur in the process of mastering speaking skill. Several factors make it difficult for learners to be master in speaking skill, according to Ur (1996), students face several problems that make them difficult to speak English properly such as inhibition, nothing to say, low or uneven participation, and mother- tongue use. Inhibition means that the students are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism, or simply shy. The second factor is nothing to say, which means that students have no motive to express themselves. The third factor is low or uneven participation; only one participant can talk at a time because of large classes and the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all. Then, the last one is mother-tongue use which means the learners who share the same mother tongue tend to use it because it is easier and because learners feel less exposed if they are speaking their mother tongue. These all factors come into one problem, this problem from the teaching process which also affects the effectiveness of teaching strategy which means the Curriculum 2013 is unfulfilled. Following the problems mentioned before, Round Robin Technique can be used by the researchers to solve the problems of these students in speaking skills. According to Barkley et al. (2005), Round Robin Technique is a technique supporting students to elaborate, explain, evaluate, and question the ideas in which the group members take turns in responding to the question with a word, phrase, or a short answer. Olsen and Kagan (1992) explain that Round Robin Technique is the way students sit in group table discussion (Round Table), explore and respond to the topic by using the oral skill (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Thus, the Round Robin Technique can improve students speaking skill significantly since it allows students to speak during the discussion. Method In this research, the researcher applied a pre-experimental method. Pre- experimental design used pre-test and post-test where pre-test was held before treatment and post-test after treatment. The design of the research is as follow: O1 X O2 Where: O1 = pre-test X = treatment O2 = post-test (Best 1997:103) The population of this research was the First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang.. In determining the sample of this research. The researcher took 24 students as sample of this research. The writer used speaking test to measure the students’ ability in mastering speaking skills. Before and after giving treatment. IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1203 The data was collected by using the procedure below: 1. Giving Pre-test Firstly, the researcher introduced himself to the students and explained purpose of her coming in their class. The researcher gave pre-test to the students to measure the speaking skill of the students before giving treatment. 2. Giving Treatment In this part, the Round Robin Technique was applied and the third researcher did it twice. In the steps of Round Robin Technique, first, the third researcher taught and explained to the students on the topic of “Holiday Experience”. After the students have understood the materials, she divided the students into groups. Each group consisted of 7-8 students and each member has a number. During the discussion, the third researcher controlled each group and make sure all of the students worked in their group by using their member number. Later, she called the number, and each member who had the number in the group must speak and explain what they know about the topic and her/ his experience on it. After that, the students had to compose a text and she asked one of the students to represent his/her group. He or she came in front of the class and conveyed the result of discussion from his/her group. Lastly, the teacher asked the students from other groups to comment on his/her performance In the third meeting, the third researcher taught and explained to students as done in the first treatment. In this meeting, she also taught similarly as in the previous meeting; asked students to work in groups and discussed with each other to create a narration or story on the topic “Experience at campus”. 3. Giving Post-test The students were given the same activity in the pre-test after the treatment. The researcher gave reading test and asked the students to answer. It aimed at finding out the students’ability in speaking skill after giving treatment. In analyzing data, the researcher giving score to the students based on the result of their speaking test in pretest and posttest. The last step of the data analysis was the hypothesis testing. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t- test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Results From the result data analysis, shows that the mean score of the student’s Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Robin Technique in Teaching Speaking to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 1204 pretest was 45 and the mean score of posttests was 75 It means that using cup stacking game in teaching can enhance the students’ achievement especially for the students’ speaking skill. From the statistical analysis, the researcher concludes that there is a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ reading ability through cup stacking game as a way to deliver learning speaking. Round Robin Technique is effective in enhancing the students’ speaking ability. Based on the describing above, the researcher concludes that one of important point that teacher should accommodate he/she should give full the attention especially in speaking skill. Therefore, in teaching speaking, one of technique that the lecturer/teacher may use this Round Robin Technique in teaching, especially in some speaking skills. After calculating the result of the students’ pretest, the mean score and standard deviation of both groups are presented in following table: Pretest Posttest Mean 58 87 Standard dev. 8.30 10.49 Max 62 95 Min 21 56 The data shows the mean score of the student’s pretest was 45 and the mean score of posttests was 75. Standard deviation of pretest was 8.22 and the standard deviation of posttest was 11.27. It means that using subtitled video in teaching speaking through cup stacking game can enhance the students’ achievement in speaking. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t-test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Assuming that the level of significance (𝛼) = 0.05, the only thing which is needed; the degree of freedom (df) = N – 1, where N = 25, then the t-test is 10.81 P is 0.00 From the analysis, the researcher concluded that there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ speaking ability through cup stacking game as a way to deliver learning process. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05) with degree of freedom (df)= N- 1, where (N) = 25, df = 24. The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it indicated that the alternative hypothesis (H1) was accepted and the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected. It means that using subtitled video is effective in enhancing the students’ speaking ability. Discussion This study aimed to examine whether the use of Round Robin Technique can improve second-grade students’ speaking ability at SMPN 17 Banda Aceh. In relation to this matter, this section discusses the results of the data. The results showed that the high score from in pretest is 62 and the low score is 27. It means IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1205 that the ability of students’ speaking skill was still low before the Round Robin Technique implemented to the students in the class. However, after having implemented the Round Robin Technique, there was a significant improvement in the students’ ability in speaking skill through the aspects of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension. Based on the result of data, it revealed that the high score in the pretest is 72 and the posttest is 95. It can be concluded that there is an improvement on the students’ overall speaking ability after treatments were given. Nevertheless, some disadvantages of the Round Robin Technique were also observed in the classroom. This technique had made a couple of students to face difficulty in answering some questions or statements, and this was due to the fact that they did not have something to contribute in the group discussions. Meanwhile, the students who were active and had more ability than others could talk more. Again, passive students who did not have something to contribute experienced difficulties. Another shortcoming from this technique was that it required a lot of time because all students were expected to be able to learn to express their opinions and sometimes the teacher had to rush them in talking so that everyone had a chance to talk in class. These drawbacks were also presented in the work of Baary (2018). Despite the disadvantages of the Round Robin Technique, the results of the tests revealed that this experiment was a success. Several factors that made the Round Robin Technique a success in this research. First, the technique is as one of the cooperative learning techniques that made the students comfortable to share ideas and opinion with their peers in class. The teacher had to move around a lot in class to monitor students who needed encouragement and help in speaking. Second, each student had time to speak up and express their argument. The teacher had to manage the time beforehand so that all students had the opportunity to speak. Therefore, all students had the chance to practice their speaking in class. Similarly, Sulaiman (2015) also had implemented the Round Robin Technique to junior high school students at Gobah, Kampar Regency, Riau, Indonesia. The results also showed that the students’ speaking skill of the school had been improved after Round Robin was implemented. This technique had provided the students with the opportunity to analyze ideas and solve problems together by using their oral skill. Another research by Itsnaini (2011) also revealed that teaching speaking by using the Round Robin Technique can improve students’ speaking skills in junior high school in Semarang. Therefore, Round Robin Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Robin Technique in Teaching Speaking to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 1206 Technique can solve the students’ speaking difficulties as the advantage of applying this technique is to help students to improve speaking aspects like vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, comprehension, and fluency. Conclusion The researcher concludes that the use of Round Robin Technique is effective in developing students’ competence in mastering speaking skill at the the First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. It was proven by there was a significant difference between the students’ mean score of pretest and posttest. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05). The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it indicated that there is significant differences between the result of pre-test and post-test after giving treatment in improving students’ competence in mastering reading through using cup stacking game in online learning to the the First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. References Al Hosni, S. (2014). Speaking difficulties encountered by young EFL learner. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 2(6), 22- 30. Ary, D., Jacobs, L., Sorensen, C., & Razavieh, A. (2010). Introduction to researching education (8th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Baary, H. J. F. (2018). The use of Round Robin Technique and Gallery Walk to improve students’ speaking skills (A classroom action research at the third grade of MTS Miftahul Ulum Ngemplak Mranggen Demak in the Academic Year 2018/2019). (Barchelor), Institut Agama Islam Negeri Salatiga, Salatiga. Barkley, E. 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