JUWITA Pengarang Dr. Umar Fauzan, M.Pd. Dosen Pembimbing 1 Muhammad Azwar Amir Paramma, S.Pd., M.Pd. Dosen Pembimbing 2 Dr. Umar Fauzan, M.Pd. Penguji 1 Rostanti Toba, M.Pd. Ketua Penguji Muhammad Azwar Amir Paramma, S.Pd., M.Pd. Penguji 2

Juwita, 2024. The use of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) to Enhance Students Speaking Ability of VII Grade Students at SMP Negeri 8 Samarinda in The Academic Year 2023/2024 Undergraduate Thesis. Supervisor: (1) Dr. Umar Fauzan, M. Pd. (2) M. Azwar A Paramma M. Pd. Speaking is one of the most important, students can master speaking skills, become more confident in interacting with native speakers, understand and convey messages more clearly, and actively participate in language communication situations. This research is conducted to develop students’ speaking ability at VII grade students of SMPN 8 Samarinda through the task-based language teaching (TBLT) method. This research is related to the result of preliminary research showing that the students were still poor in English speaking skills. The research used a classroom action research design that was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle contains four steps: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The research subject was VII-b-grade students at SMP Negeri 8 Samarinda in the academic year 2023/2024. Data were collected in this research through observation, documentation, and test speaking to describe the progress of the action. The average score and percentage class were used as a representative central tendency for the improvement of the student’s ability in speaking. The findings of this study indicated that the implementation of the task-based language teaching method was successful since the criteria for success were achieved. The criterion was that 75% of students could pass the target score of ≥ 70 based on the KKM (Minimum Competency Criteria). Calculations between the total average scores of cycle I and cycle II showed significant improvement. In cycle I, students' speaking abilities were categorized as low, with an average score of 41.25 and only 37.5% of the class meeting the passing grade. In cycle II, the average score of students increased to 75, with percentage 78%. The classroom atmosphere also improved positively; Students are actively involved in the teaching and learning process as shown by the observation checklist, students pay attention, ask questions, answer questions, complete assignments, and are enthusiastic about the learning process.