IMPROVING LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THE EIGHTH-GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP WIDYA SAKTI DENPASAR IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/2023 THROUGH THINK PAIR SHARE COMBINED WITH PODCAST

Listening comprehension is a fundamental aspect of the English language for communication. Preliminary research showed that most of the eighth-grade students of SMP Widya Sakti Denpasar in academic year 2022/2023 faced problems in listening comprehension especially identifying general information, specific information, textual meaning, and textual reference. Moreover, the research objective was to know whether or not listening comprehension of the eighth-grade students of SMP Widya Sakti Denpasar can be improved through think pair share combined with podcast. Thus, to achieve the objective, the researcher conducted classroom action research, which was done in two cycles. The research instruments, tests and questionnaire, were administered to collect the required data. The data were then analyzed by comparing the results of the pre-test and post-tests, which showed there were significant improvements in the subjects’ mean score from the pre-test to post-tests. As the supporting data, the questionnaire was also administered at the end of the last cycle and the results showed positive responses on the implementation of think pair share combined with podcast. Based on the results of the research instruments, it could be concluded that listening comprehension of the eighth-grade students of SMP Widya Sakti Denpasar in academic year 2022/2023 can be improved through the implementation of think pair share combined with podcast.