This Research is aimed to: (1) give general description about the class situation when shadowing technique implemented in the classroom; (2) find out to what extent shadowing technique can improve the speaking skill of the eighth grade students of SMPN 1 Palakka.
The research was conducted at SMPN 1 Palakka, Bone, South Sulawesi SMK from January to February 2018. It was a classroom action research. The subject of this research were 20 students of the eighth grade A. The data of this research were obtained from interview, observation, questionnaire, test, and document analysis. In analyzing the qualitative data, the researcher conducted data condensation, data display, and data verification (drawing conclusion). For the quantitative data, the researcher conducted a pre-test and post-test in the form of performance tests. The result was analyzed using descriptive statistics.
The finding of this research shows that there is improvement of the class situation, as seen in: (1) the interaction among the teacher and students improved; (2)  the  mutual  respect  and  contribution  in  the  classroom  improved;  (3)  the students’ collaboration in the learning process improved; and (4) the classroom talk practiced by students also improved. Another finding is that the implementation of shadowing technique can improve the students’ speaking skill. This improvement involves the aspects of: (1) pronouncing English words correctly; (2) using grammatically correct forms in oral communication; (3) understanding spoken texts; (4) speaking fluently; and (5) using appropriate English words to express ideas in oral.
Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that shadowing technique is effective to improve the class situation and the students’ speaking skill for the eighth grade of SMPN 1 Palakka in the academic year of 2017/2018. In accordance with this research conclusion, it implies that this research result can be used by the English teacher in the teaching and learning process especially in teaching speaking and it is also suggested that the teacher is able to select a suitable teaching technique in the classroom.