The Influence of Desk-Mate Interaction Activities on Students' Behavioral Engagement in English Speaking Activities at MTs YMPI Rappang
Keywords:
desk-mate interaction, behavioral engagement, English speaking activities, peer interaction, speaking engagementAbstract
Active participation is essential in English speaking instruction because students need repeated opportunities to use the target language, respond to others, and persist in communicative tasks. This study investigated the influence of structured desk-mate interaction activities on the behavioral engagement of eighth-grade students at MTs YMPI Rappang. A quantitative pre-experimental approach with a one-group pre-test and post-test design was employed. The participants were 20 eighth-grade students selected through total sampling. Behavioral engagement was measured using a 10-item five-point Likert questionnaire covering active participation, cooperation, attention, responsiveness, and persistence. The treatment was conducted in one classroom meeting through dialogue practice, pair discussion, question-and-answer activities, and a cooperative speaking task on daily activities. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test. The mean score increased from 41.10 in the pre-test to 42.05 in the post-test, a descriptive gain of 0.95 points, while the standard deviation decreased from 6.223 to 3.734. Nevertheless, the paired-samples t-test yielded t = -0.959, df = 19, and p = 0.350, which was higher than 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis was retained. The findings indicate a positive descriptive tendency, but the short desk-mate interaction treatment did not produce a statistically significant improvement in students' behavioral engagement. Longer and repeated implementation, potentially combined with other collaborative speaking strategies, is recommended for further investigation.
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