Journal of English Language Teaching Volume 7 No. 1 Journal of English Language Teaching ISSN 2302-3198 Published by English Language Teaching Study Program of FBS Universitas Negeri Padang available at http://ejournal.unp.ac.id/index.php/jelt © FBS Universitas Negeri Padang USING PAIR WORK TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING SPEAKING AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Wuri Yulitrinisya 1 and Don Narius 2 English Department Faculty of Languages and Arts State University of Padang email: wuriyulitrinisya@ymail.com Abstract Many people may find some difficulties to share their ideas or opinion through oral language. Even though they have something to speak, they do not know how to express it. They also have problems related to lack of participation and low motivation in speaking. Therefore, a teacher should select the best technique that can encourage students and increase their motivation to speak. The teacher can use “Pair Work” to teach English speaking. This technique demands students to be active to speak based on the material has been given. Through this technique, students should practice to speak in order to give agreeing and disagreeing opinion. By apliying this technique in speaking class, it will make the class fun and interesting. The objective of this paper is to explain how to use pair work technique in teaching speaking to junior high school students. Key words: Pair Work, Speaking, Junior High School A. INTRODUCTION There are four basic skills that one should master by students in learning English. Speaking is one of the foremost skills to be mastered as one of ways to express ideas and feeling, to communicate and share information, and to build social relationship. Leong & Ahmadi (2017) argue that speaking is the the most important skills for the effectiveness of communication. It means that without any speech, communication will not exist. Based on the Curriculum of 2013, teaching and learning English is started at level of Junior high school students. The primary purpose of teaching English for Junior high school students based on the curriculum is achieving communicative competence. Therefore Junior high school students are expected to be able to speak and communicate in English in daily life both in speaking and writing form. Harmer (2007) explains that Junior high school students are those teenagers from the ages of about 12 to 17. They are early adolescents who are in physically and mentally transition from children to young adult. Those teenagers have great capacity for thinking about abstract things and great 1 English ELTSP of English Department of FBS Universitas Negeri Padang graduated on March 2018 2 Lecturer of English Department of FBS Universitas Negeri Padang