By Muhammad Yazid Bastoni
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents about background
of the study, research problem,objective of research,significance of research,
scope and limitation of research and definition of key terms.
1.1 Background of the problem
Language
is a means of communication. People, all over the world, use the language to
convey their feelings, thought and ideas whether in spoken or in written forms.
Now days, learning English as a foreign language is very importance, since
English is the key to the international currencies of technology and commerce
(Hutchinson and waters, 1989:6 ) . The ability of English will help the people
to be easier and in better condition in their lives. And it shows that either
spoken or writing forms should be mastered.
For Indonesia English is a Foreign
language. Learning a foreign language is an integrated process tht the learner
should study the four basic skill: listening, speaking, reading.We use it to
understanding our world through listening and reading and to communicate our
feeling, need, and desires through speaking and writing. By having more
knowledge about language skill we have much better chance of understanding and
being understood and getting what we want and need from these around us.
Writing is one of four basic skills. It
is very important in teaching and learning English. Writing involves some
language components (spelling, grammar, vocabulary,and punctuation). This is in
line with what is stated by Braine and Claire May (1996: 60), writing clear
sentences requires you to learn the rules of English grammar and mechanics such
as the correct use of verbs and pronouns, as well as commas and other marks of
punctuation.There are various ways to organize the sentences in a piece of
writing. One of them is recount text. Recount text is the form of text that
aims at retelling events for the purpose of informing or entertaining. In the
recount text, the sentences are usually organized according to time order or
chronological order. One thing happens and then another thing happens, and the
events are told in the same order.
Based on my experiences, there are some
problems found in the field when giving writing materials to the students of
seven graduate in MTs Wahid Hasim Malang, especially the recount text. The
first problem is that the students’ writing is not comprehensible, because the
content of the composition is not relevant to the topic, the ideas are not
clearly stated, the ideas and sentences are not well organized. The second
problem is that there are many errors in vocabulary, grammar, and spelling.
Another problem is the students have
low motivation and are not interested in doing the task since the writing
activities are not interesting. Usually, the students are asked to write
sentences and paragraphs without being given some clue so that it is difficult
for them to express their ideas on a piece of paper.
Besides that, the students have
difficulty at telling their experience. This is because writing is difficult
for them since they have to master enough vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
In reference to the explanations above
and the strong desire of finding the solution of these problems, the writer has
motivation to do the research in improving the teaching of writing in real
class by using picture series as the instructional media. It is hoped that the
media improve the students’ ability in writing, especially recount text.
1.2 Research Problem
In this research, the researcher tries
to describe the students’ ability in writing the recount text through using
picture series. So, the problem is formulated as follows:
How can picture series to improve the
students’ ability in writing the recount text of seven graduate of Mts
Wahid Hasim academic ?
1.3 Objective of the study
Based on the problem formulation above,
the objective of the research is to find the appropriate way in using picture
series can improve the students’ ability in recount text at seven graduate of
Mts Wahid Hasim academic year 2011-2012.
1.4 Significances of the research
The study is expected to have both
academic and practical contributions.
A. Academically, to help
teacher/researcher to find out the alternative way of teaching writing,
especially recount and to produce the relevant and valid knowledge for their
class to improve their teaching.
B. practically, it can be used as a
model to improve the students’ ability in writing recount text, and it may
guide, help and encourage students to express their ideas, opinion, and thought
onto paper.
1.5 Scope and limitation of the research
The scope of the study is limited to
the teaching of English on the eighth grade students of Mts Wahid Hasim using
Picture series to improve their writing mastery. The subject of this study is 8
B that has problem in writing.
1.6 Significant of the study
The result of this study will make
students easier and confident to write English better by using Picture series
as a media.
1.
Using Picture series as a media can improve their motivation to write English
through pair work;
2.
To know about the creativity and activity of using Picture series as a
media improves their ability to write English. The result of this study is
expected to be useful information to: (a) increase the teachers’ knowledge of
English and share experiences in improving the students’ mastery to write
English by using Picture series as a media. (b) encourage the teachers’
colleagues in doing action research in improving their teaching as the
professional practices; (c) give any contribution to the general public
in increasing knowledge concerning about classroom action research and get any
reflection for being perfection.
1.7 Definition of key term
In order to avoid misunderstanding or
get the same perception of the terms used in the study, the following
definitions are given:
1.
Improve
The term improve in this study
is to increase the students’ score on reading comprehension. It means that the
score should be rise up than before the technique given.
2.
Writing Ability
The term refers to the understanding of
a text as proved by the ability to correctly choose the right alternative
provided for the answer of the question asked from the text, which is proved by
the scores.
3.
Picture series
Using Picture series is one of the
instructional media in the teaching and learning process to attract the
students’ attention and deliver information
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF
RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter covers teaching English in
junior high school, definition of writing, the role of writing mastery.
definition of teaching , classroom action research and previous study.
2.1 Teaching English in Junior
High School
In general, learner are said to be in a
golden period in acquiring language. They usually find it easy to master
pronunciation and accent language. English as a foreign language should be
taught to learner of
junior high school considering with their golden period. In this case,
learners can learn English by doing activities, making thing, demonstrating
role plays, also playing games (Ratri, 2003:6)
Teaching a foreign language to children
is different from teaching English for adolescent. Teaching a foreign language
for junior high school could be
interesting and easy since they
are
curious about new thing, while teaching a foreign language to adolescent could
be a bit more serious and theoretical.
Teaching English in junior high school also needs
skillful teacher who are willing to always improve their teaching skills as
they face complex problems with subtle attitude, unique characteristics, and
other things which are different from those characteristic of adolescent and
adult. The main problem that is faced
students is difficult to speak English in spontaneous face-to-face because they
are shy or unconfined and frequently, too, there is a worry about speaking
badly and personal information or opinion. Especially, teaching English in Mts Wahid
Hasyim Malang and how
to improve their mastery in English.
2.2 Definition of writing
Writing is a method of representing
language in visual or tactile form. Writing systems use sets of symbols to
represent the sounds of speech, and may also have symbols for such things as
punctuation and numerals.
The act or art of forming letters and
characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of
recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating
them to others by visible signs.
Writing most likely began as a
consequence of political expansion in ancient cultures, which needed reliable
means for transmitting information, maintaining financial accounts, keeping
historical records, and similar activities
All writing systems use visible signs
with the exception of the raised notation systems used by blind and visually
impaired people, such as Braille
and Moon. Hence the need to
include tactile signs in the above definition.
In A History of Writing, Steven
Roger Fischer argues that no one definition of writing can cover all the writing
systems that exist and have ever existed. Instead he states that a 'complete
writing' system should fulfill all the following criteria:
- it must have as its purpose communication;
- it must consist of artificial graphic marks on a durable or electronic surface;
- it must use marks that relate conventionally to articulate speech (the systematic arrangement of significant vocal sounds) or electronic programing in such a way that communication is achieved.
Writing systems are both functional,
providing a visual way to represent language, and also symbolic, in that they
represent cultures and peoples. In The writing systems of the world,
Florian Coulmas describes them as follows:
As the most visible items of a language,
scripts and orthographies are 'emotionally loaded', indicating as they do group
loyalties and identities. Rather than being mere instruments of a practical
nature, they are symbolic systems of great social significance which may,
moreover, have profound effect on the social structure of a speech community.
2.3 The Nature of Writing
According to J.D Angelo (1989:5),
writing is a form of thinking. It means that writing is an activity to express
ideas, issues, events, feeling or thinking to the others through written form.
Cohen and Reil in Kusumaningsih(2001:1) say that writing can be defined as
communicate act, a way of sharing observation, thought, or ideas with ourselves
and others. It is a tool of thinking. By writing we can tell about people, remember
the facts and ideas.
Based on the statement above, it can be
concluded that writing is expressing ideas, facts, feeling, experience, and
thought in written form.
In writing, the aspects include the use
of vocabulary, structure of the sentence, composition of the sentence,
spelling, and punctuation. These aspects are important to master in order to be
able to produce good writing.
Writing, one of the productive skills,
is considered difficult, especially writing in a foreign language. According to
Axelord and cooper in Ma’mun (2004:5), writing is a complex process and such
contains element of mastery and surprise. When students want to write something
they should have a lot of information, ideas, and thought in their mind so that
they will be able to express them into sentences, paragraphs, and an essay.
The writing ability is the main
activity of composition. The writing should be systematic and detail. A
knowledge or study about good writing or how to write composition is much
needed.
2.4 The Teaching of Writing for
Mts Students
According to English Syllabus of School
Unit Level Curriculum (KTSP), the teaching of writing for SMP students involves
the teaching of paragraphs or text. The texts advocated are: recount,
narrative, descriptive, procedure and report.
Recount text is a kind of text that is
usually found or presented in journals, diary, personal letter, biography,
travel report, police report, sport report, history, etc. The main elements of
recount are orientation, list of events, and reorientation. In the orientation
step the writer mentions people and things that are involved, time of the
event, the place, and the situation. In the list of events, the writer tells
the events happen chronologically. In the reorientation, the writer concludes
the story by giving comments.
Narrative text is a kind of text that
tells a story. It is developed in some steps: orientation, complication,
resolution, evaluation, and reorientation. In the step of orientation, the
writer tells the characters in the story, their names and the place they live,
their ages, their condition, and their willing. In the complication step, the
writer presents the unexpected event that happens to the characters. In the
resolution step, the writer tells how the complication is solved. In the
evaluation step, the writer invites the reader to think what meaning or values
that are taken from the story. In the reorientation step, the writer concludes
the story by giving comments.
Descriptive text is a kind of text to
describe something, people, or objects. Procedure text is a kind of text that
tells a procedure of making something. Meanwhile, report text is a kind of text
to report an event, things in the world, animals, and flora.
In this study, the focus is only to recount
text, since this kind of text becomes problems for the students and it needs to
be solved immediately. The strategy applied to improve the students ability in
writing recount text is pyramid planning strategy.
2.5 Pictures Series
Students can construct their knowledge
during learning recount text easily by using media. One of the media is picture
series which draws a story. This medium fulfills the principles of using media
issued by Nyoman S.Degeng (2001). Media which can be used to make the students
learn more easily and the teacher teaches easily is the main part of the
learning process. The media must be used in integrated way in teaching and
learning and not only as ice breaker of teaching and learning.
To understand the way of the picture series,
the students need to appreciate it in abstract way. In the same way, when they
express their ideas to construct the story in a good coherence as well as
unity, they have to think it in abstract way too. Both of them will be easier
for them in learning process if the teacher can use picture series. It can not
only help the students to get ideas more realistic in understanding the recount
text but also in constructing ideas to create it.
During the students are writing the
text, they can use top-down technique in predicting the content of the text
based on understanding of picture series (Brown, 2004:217). They can predict
the content of the text easily based on their understanding about the picture
series. The pictures give the schemata to the students to construct ideas from
their background knowledge and experience.
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