IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ WRITING CAPABILITY USING PICTURE IN SMP NEGERI 2 BARON
(A Classroom Action Research in SMPN 2 Baron in 2007/2008Academic Year)
THESIS
By
M.M.IKHWAN
S 890707011
Submitted to Graduate School Sebelas Maret University
As a partial Fulfillment for Getting Graduate Degree in English Education
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
2008
ABSTRACT
M.M.IKWAN. Improving the Students’ Writing Capability Using Picture in SMP Negeri 2 Baron: A Classroom Action Research in SMP Negeri 2 Baron in 2007/2008Academic Year. Thesis, Surakarta, English Education Department, Graduate Program, Sebelas Maret University, 2009
The objective of the research is to examine whether or not picture can improve the students’ writing capability in descriptive text. Beside that, the research is also designed to study how the picture media as a technique should be used to improve the students writing capability in descriptive text.
The research was carried out at Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP) Negeri 2 Baron, Nganjuk, East Java, from October 2008 to February 2009 (employing A Collaborative Action Research). The subjects of the research are thirty three students of Class IX SMP Negeri 2 Baron, Nganjuk, consisting of nineteen girl students and thirteen boy students. The data were obtained from several techniques including test, collaborative observation, interview, questionnaires, and document analysis. To analyze quantitative data the researcher applied a descriptive statistics, comprising the following the dimensions: highest and lowest score, and means. To analyze the qualitative data, the researcher applied constant comparative method by Glaser and Strauss.
The finding reveal that the program of improving the students’ writing capability using picture is successful viewed from some dimensions. First, pictures can develop the student’s writing capability in descriptive text very effectively, their writing descriptive are better than before, especially in exploring the ideas, using organization, word choice, and vocabulary. In addition, their written of descriptive text are improved in language elements, especially in using grammar, punctuation and spelling. The second, motivation, and interest of the students are higher when joining in every discussion of task in English Class. They are very happy, enthusiastic and more active and creative in making the outline, finishing tasks, and writing draft. Besides that, activities using picture make their relationship improve, especially in developing group-work studying with their friends in teaching learning process.
The research findings of this study imply that picture is very important. Therefore, it is recommended that (1) the teacher should be more creative, active and innovative and use some variety of the pictures and get them from the some sources in teaching learning process; (2) English teachers and the school institution facilitate to establish the English Writing Corner or English Wall Magazine with its programs to continue the improvement of the study and express their capability in writing texts occasionally; and (3) the government facilitates to establish the English Writing Contest, which encourage and stimulate the students to express their experiences and knowledge in writing competition which can be held for the students in level regency periodically.
Chapter 1
Introduction
- The general objective of teaching English in Indonesia based on the competence based curriculum 2004 is to develop students’ communicative competence of the four language skills or aspects of teaching and learning; listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Depdiknas 2005: 171).
- The purpose language in Junior High school is to achieve the functional level.
a. They can develop the competence in communicating orally and written to resolve daily problems.
b. They have a consciousness of the importance and essential of English in global era
- They can develop their comprehension about language and culture.
3. The basic competence of writing should be mastered by the students in junior high school is expressing the meaning by using the steps of rhetorical development accurately in written texts in form of narrative, recount, and simple descriptive.
4. The result of mastering writing skills is the students are able to write about their activity in school and their environment, write the simple functional sentences, write messages, shorts and simple announcements, and greeting cards, produce texts of narrative, recounts, and descriptive (Depdiknas 2006: 215, 218).
The other of mastering of writing skill is to help learners of English improving their writing of letters, stories, and other texts.
5. Writing is one part of four skills, which have to be mastered by the students, and they can express their ideas in writing activity.
6. Most of students have poor in writing’s capability. It can be seen from the students’ writing test (students who got average score of the test were 57. The students who got score was 65, only 14 students or 0.41, they were well classified. The rest or 0.59 of them were classified failed).
7. There are some problems encountered. They lack of understanding grammar, write unorganized writing, lack of vocabulary, miss of the contents, make errors in spelling and punctuation usage.
8. There were some indicators of the problem. The students were difficult in writing paragraph, in determining of punctuation, in determining of grammar, and in recalling the vocabulary. They need long time to write a paragraph.
9. There were some causes of the problems. They lack of vocabulary, the teachers didn’t give the outlines, there were no media to guide and motivate the students in writing, and most of the students have no dictionary.
10. Picture is one of the solutions to overcome the problems.
Why is the picture?
1. pictures are not just an aspect of method but through their representation of the places, objects, and people.
2. Pictures are an essential part of the overall experiences that we must help our students to cope with.
3. pictures can be used by teachers and students whatever their emphasis of the syllabus they are following
4. pictures make a particularly powerful contribution to both the content and the process of language learning
5. Pictures contribute to interest and motivation, a sense of the context of the language, and a specific reference point or stimulus.
6. Pictures could be an appropriate instructional media because pictures could be as function as an outlining device combining the design of grid contras or comparison tables
7. Full color pictures could be useful to motivate students’ interest in teaching learning process of writing descriptive text material.
8. Based on the picture, the students can write a descriptive text and find their idea for learning activities by observing them.
Hopefully,
9. Picture can help the students to have rich base experiences and stimulus responses for the development of writing.
a. in recalling the vocabulary that they can express their idea or opinions to write a sentence or a paragraph easily.
b. in practicing grammatical structure so that they can write coherent, contextual, and acceptable sentences.
10. picture is easy to prepare and organize, interesting, meaningful, and authentic.
11. using picture, they can write and organize the sentences into well paragraph, as product of writing ability by following the activity process: pre writing, planning, and drafting.
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description
a. Writing Competence
Writing Competence is a competent which mastered by the students to express their ideas, experiences, knowledge, and feelings in texts. The texts cover of characteristics of a good writing. The characteristics of a good writing include some components of language elements, namely: contents, organization, words choice, grammar, punctuation and spelling, (Peha 2003: 01).
b. Picture
Picture is a shape or set of shapes and lines drawn, painted, or printed on paper, canvas, or some other flat surface, especially shapes that represent a recognizable form or object, which the students can observe them in some of points view and write them in a text. (Encarta® 2008 ).
B. Rationale
q Picture has a semantic point of view
- The teacher distributed some pictures of animals or plants.
- Asked the students to observe the pictures
- Asked them to discus and find the vocabulary based on the pictures
- Asked them to write their result on the table which had be given before
- Asked the students to find the meaning of the result and write them on the right of the words on the table.
- The result of these, the students could write coherent, contextual, and acceptable sentences.
q Picture has a syntactic point of view
- The teacher distributed some pictures of animals or plants
- Asked the students to observe the pictures
- Asked them to discus, find the verbs based on the pictures and write the result on the table
- Asked them to write simple sentences by their own words base on the verbs which has been found on the right of the verbs on the table
5. Essentially, the activity helped the students to write grammatically sentences, use spelling, and use punctuation correctly.
q Picture has a pragmatic point of view
1. The teacher distributed of the outline table which would be completed by the students based on the picture
2. The outline table covered of generic structure of descriptive text
3. The generic structure of descriptive text covered of general information of animals or plants, their characteristics, their capability and function
4. Essentially, the activity guided the students to write sentences into paragraph based on the process of writing; planning, drafting, editing, and going to public
.C. Action Hypothesis
Based on the rationale and exploration of the theories, it can be formulated that teaching English using picture can improve the students’ writing capability in descriptive text
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Setting of the Study
B. Subject of the Study
C. Research Method
D. Procedure of the Research
E. Data Collection Technique
F. Data Analysis Technique
A. Setting of the Study
- The setting of the study is at SMP Negeri 2 Baron that is located at Mabung Village, Kec, Baron, Kabupaten Nganjuk, Tlp. (0358) 7605659. SMP Negeri 2 Baron was built in 1997.
- The school has 11 classes. Four parallel classes are for seventh grade students. Other, four parallel classes are for eighth grade students. Another, three parallel classes are for nine grade students
- SMPN 2 Baron is far from public communication services and the surrounding environment is farming field community.
B. Subject of the Study
- The subjects of the study were the students of class IX B, SMP Negeri 2 Baron, of the first semester in academic year of 2008/2009.
- Most of them were from the lowest social status and low education parents.
- They had low motivation to study English
- They considered of English is one difficult subject among the other subjects to study and no function in their day’s life.
- Their parents were just a worker in the field of farming not the owner, so they did not enough money to continue their children studying in the next level.
C. Research Method
- CAR (Classroom Action Research (CAR) was a method of finding out what works best in a class in order to improve student learning
- (Kemmiss and Taggart 1988) in Hopkins (1993: 48) says that five steps in the modeling method of the research namely: (1) planning; (2) acting; (3) observing; (4) reflecting; and (5) revising of planning.
- Reasons why the researcher used classroom action research in the study. The reasons why the researcher used classroom action research in the study. They were:
- finding the solution of the problems finding in preliminary research significantly
- changing the practice in teaching learning in the classroom
- improving the students’ writing descriptive text through picture
D. Procedure of the Research
- Preliminary Observation
- Reconnaissance
- Problem Formulation
- Planning
- Implementing the plan
- Observing
- Reflecting
E. Data Collection Technique
- Qualitative Data
- Observation
- Interview and Questionnaire
- Document Analyses
- Quantitative data
- Pre-Test
- Post-test
F. Data Analysis Technique
- Quantitative Data
- descriptive statistics for language elements achievements
- Scoring rubric for individual achievements
- Using Inter Rater.
- Qualitative Data
- Constant Comparative Method by Glaser and Strauss (1980: 105). CCM covered:
- comparing incidents applicable to each category
- integrating categories and their properties
- delimiting the theory
- writing the theory
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDING
A. The Result of Using Pictures in Teaching and Learning, there were:
- improving of the student’s writing capability
- improving of the student’s vocabulary
- improving of language elements (grammar punctuation, and spelling)
- improving of motivation and interest
- improving of the student’s ability in constructing descriptive text
- improving of exploring their idea
- improving the student’s relationships by developing in cooperative studying with their friends in teaching learning process
B. The strengths of the strategy
Implementing pictures in teaching and learning was able :
- to develop the students’ competence in writing text, especially in writing description text
- to improve their knowledge and information about the real objects that they never saw anymore or the real objects that they never more understood about them.
- to make the students were happier in joining the English classroom using the pictures
- to make they were more active and creative in teaching learning using the color pictures
- to help the students could develop in cooperative studying with their friends using several pictures
- to build the teacher or collaborator’s awareness that there are many media and ways can be used in teaching learning English
C. The Weaknesses of Using Picture in Teaching Learning
- some of the students still had low motivation in joining their group, so the group could not work optimally and finish their work on time
- The students were still low in mastering of grammar, that they were difficult to write the sentences or paragraph in good condition
- They had a still lack of using punctuation and spelling, so their final drafting needed more review to make them neatly to read.
- not all the words in English could not be represented by using pictures
q Because not all the words in English could not be represented by using pictures, then, how picture should be used in teaching learning to improve the students’ writing descriptive text?
1. pictures would have advantages and comfortable if the picture were applied in group activities; therefore, the students should be set in groups,
2. use various and color pictures that the students increased their motivation and focused in topic of the lessons;
3. Implementing the pictures should be supported by reading texts, which related with the pictures, therefore, the students could explore their knowledge about the objects in the picture;
4. Some pictures criteria should be considered if they were applied, they should be easy to prepare, easy to organize, interesting, meaningful and authentic, and sufficient amount of language.
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDING
- Using picture in teaching learning activity is a good way to improve the student’s writing capability especially in descriptive text, which the students can express their ideas, experiences, knowledge, and feelings in texts. The texts cover of characteristics of a good writing.
- The characteristics of a good writing are not only some components of language elements, namely: contents, organization, words choice, grammar, punctuation and spelling but also effective writing which covers: a clearly defined purpose, it make a clear point, it supports that point with the specific information, the information is clearly connected and arranged, the words are appropriate, and the sentences are clear, concise, emphatic, and correct (Peha 2003: 01).
- Picture can improve their motivation for the students to study hard ,more attention in this lesson and cooperative studying with friends in the learning process, especially in the genre based approach including BKOF, MOT, JCOT, and ICOT, (Wright 1989:17)
CHAPTER VI
A. Conclusion
- First, pictures can develop the student's writing very effectively, in stages of BKOF, MOT,JCOT, and ICOT.
- Second, picture can improve the language elements of writing significantly as part of the students writing which the student’s final draft is better than before
- Finally, picture can improve their motivation for them to study hard, improve them in cooperate studying with friends and give more attention in learning process
B. Implication and Recommendation
The research findings of this study imply that picture was very important, therefore, it was recommended:
1. The teacher should more creative, active and innovative and use several variety of the pictures and get them from the some sources in teaching learning process,
2. English teachers and the school institution facilitated to establish the English Writing Corner or English Wall Magazine with its programs to continue the improvement of the study and express their capability in writing texts periodically,
3. The government facilitated to establish the English Writing Contest, which encouraged and stimulated the students to express their experiences and knowledge in writing competition which could be held periodically for the students in level regency.
