THE USE OF WHATSAPP TO REDUCE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY IN A BLENDED LEARNING ACTIVITY (A Case Study at the Tenth Grade of a Vocational School in Wanareja)

Abstract

This study investigated the use of WhatsApp to reduce students’ speaking anxiety in a blended learning activity. This case study were conducted to the students at the tenth grade of a Vocational School in Wanareja. The aims were to figure out the extent of the use of WhatsApp reduces students’ speaking anxiety in blended learning activity and to analyze the features of WhatsApp that can reduce students’ speaking anxiety during blended learning activity. Based on the purposive sampling technique, the writer selected the English teacher and the students at class X Agribisnis Pertanian dan Holtikultura that consisted of 24 students as participants of this study. The data collected through the questionnaire, the interview, and the observation. There were four techniques used by the writer to analyze the data from research instruments, namely the frequency table, content analysis, coding, and triangulation analysis. The findings showed that the use of WhatsApp reduced students’ speaking anxiety in blended learning activity because of some considerations based on the students and the teacher’s perceptions. The findings also showed that six kinds of WhatsApp features were used by the teacher during the implementation of blended learning activity. Those WhatsApp features were WhatsApp group, photos, chat, WhatsApp document, voice messaging, and video. The conclusions indicated that the students perceived positively on the use of WhatsApp reduced their speaking anxiety in blended learning activity. The conclusions also indicated that six kinds of WhatsApp features were used by the teacher during the implementation of blended learning activity.