A Comparative Study on Speaking Skills Between The 2013 Curriculum and Merdeka Curriculum of The Eleventh Grade Students in SMAN 1 Malinau and SMAN 3 Malinau
This study aimed to determine the differences in students' speaking skills between the 2013 Curriculum and the Merdeka Curriculum among eleventh-grade students at SMAN 1 and SMAN 3 Malinau in the 2023/2024 academic year. A causal- comparative research design was employed with purposive sampling, involving students from SMAN 1 and 44 students from SMAN 3. Data were collected using the TOEIC Speaking Test and analyzed with SPSS version 26.0 through descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. As the data were not normally distributed, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (U = 647.500, Z =-1.404, p= 0.160). The effect size was small (r = 0.157), indicating a small practical difference. Although students under the 2013 Curriculum (SMAN 1) achieved slightly higher mean score (M = 69.72) than those under the Merdeka Curriculum (SMAN 3) (M = 56.14), the difference was not statistically significant. These findings indicated that, despite a slight tendency for higher achievement under the 2013 Curriculum, both curricula produce relatively similar outcomes in students' speaking skills.