This study attempts to investigate the methodology that is used in teaching english, especially for speaking skill. the study is intended to know whether the students who are taught speaking by using communicative approach get better result than those who are taught speaking by using traditional approach. this study was conducted at smp inshafuddin banda aceh by using experimental design. the population was the second grade students. there were only two classes in this grade where the writer took the whole population as the sample. to collect the data, the test was given; pre test and post test. furthermore, the collected data were analyzed by using t- score. the findings show that communicative approach gave the solution to students' problem. the problem was not only come from the students but also from the teacher. communicative approach motivated the students in learning english by making them more interested