ISSN 2541-3775 Vol.3 No.1 Januari – Juni 2018/7 THE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY IN EXPRESSING GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION Rahmat Huda Dosen Bahasa Inggris Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu pendidikan Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli Selatan Padangsidimpuan ABSTRACT In Indonesia, English as foreign language or second language use by most of people and English is a second language that should be mastered by language learners. In teaching English, four-language skills such as; listening, speaking, reading, and writing should be taught integrated to the language learners. Speaking is primary of language skill. The good teacher is able to find techniques in teaching and learning process. One of technique which is used in teaching speaking ability is expressing gratitude and appreciation This study was descriptive research. The target population of this study was all of the first grade of SMK Negeri 1 Padangsidimpuan. The number of population was 400 students. The researcher took 40 students as sample. To collect the data, the researcher used speaking test. The speaking test was used to measure the students’ speaking ability and their score was analyzed by using descriptive statistic. The result of analysis indicated that the speaking skill of students was 44,45 with standard deviation (SD) was 6,32. The highest students’ score on speaking test was 76 and the lowest score was 23. It means that students’ speaking ability at the first grade of SMK Negeri 1 Padangsidimpuan was at level 2. Keywords; appreciation, gratitude, speaking abilityINTRODUCTION Language is system of sound symbol used by humans to communicate. Finnochiaro and Brumfit in Richard and Rodger (1995:65) said that language means as communication. It has an important rule for human life, by using language the people will express their ideas, emotion, and desires, and it is used as a medium in interacts between one another to fulfill their daily need. Language can be applied in many aspects, such as: education, society, politics, economics, and culture. One of the ways in communication is through speaking. It is very important to master speaking well. To master speaking ability, students must be trained to use English in communication orally. The frequency in using the language will determine the success in speaking ability. Without implementing the experience of learning the language in the real life, it is difficult for the students to master speaking ability. Hence, speaking competence can be accomplished by practicing it orally. In many countries in the world, English have set the language as one of the compulsory subject studied at school. In Indonesia, English is taught at SMP (Junior High School), SMA (Senior High School), SMK (Vocational High School), in University, many courses and it has also been