Pengaruh Metode Storytelling Berbantuan Boneka Tangan Terhadap Kemampuan Berbicara Kelas A2 di TK Kartika IX-35 Jember

Abstract

This study was motivated by the low speaking ability of children aged 4–5 years at TK Kartika IX-35 Jember. Speaking ability is an important aspect of early childhood language development because it supports children’s communication skills, social interaction, and school readiness. However, many children still experience difficulties in expressing ideas, speaking fluently, and pronouncing words clearly due to limited language stimulation and less interactive learning methods. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the effect of storytelling using hand puppet media on the speaking ability of children in class A2 at TK Kartika IX-35 Jember. This study employed a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design using a non-equivalent control group design. The subjects of this study were 37 children aged 4–5 years divided into two groups: class A2 as the experimental group and class A1 as the control group. The experimental group received storytelling activities assisted by hand puppets for four meetings, while the control group received conventional learning activities. Data were collected through pretest and posttest observations based on three indicators of speaking ability: speaking fluency, articulation or pronunciation clarity, and vocabulary mastery. The data were analyzed using homogeneity tests, normality tests, and an Independent Sample T-Test with SPSS version 25.0. The results showed that the data were homogeneous and normally distributed. The hypothesis testing revealed a significance value (2-tailed) of 0.000 < 0.05, indicating that storytelling assisted by hand puppets had a significant effect on children’s speaking ability. In addition, the posttest mean score of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. The findings indicate that storytelling with hand puppet media can improve children’s speaking fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and confidence in communication. Thus, storytelling assisted by hand puppets can be used as an effective learning method to stimulate early childhood speaking development.