Improving Sundanese Public Speech Skills Through the Demonstration Method in Fifth-Grade Elementary School Students

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the demonstration method in improving Sundanese public speech (biantara) skills among fifth-grade students at an elementary school in Sukabumi, West Java, where baseline mastery of this competency was the lowest among all assessed Sundanese language skills. A Classroom Action Research design following a two-cycle, four-stage model of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting was used with 25 fifth-grade participants selected purposively based on their pre-cycle performance. Data were collected through a biantara performance rubric assessing five dimensions, pronunciation and intonation, fluency, vocabulary and speech-level register, self-confidence, and presentational attitude, supplemented by observation sheets, and analysed descriptively alongside a qualitative reduction, display, and conclusion-drawing procedure. The class mean score rose from 70 at baseline to 76 after the first cycle and 84 after the second, while mastery increased from 40% to 68% and finally 88%, surpassing the predetermined 80% success criterion. All five performance dimensions reached or exceeded 80% competency by the end of the second cycle, with the largest gains in speaking fluency and presentational attitude, and the smallest in vocabulary and register. A small number of students remained below the mastery threshold. These findings indicate that the demonstration method, particularly when strengthened with audio-visual media and structured practice in the second cycle, is an effective and culturally grounded instructional strategy for developing regional-language oral competence at the elementary level.