THE EFFECT OF APPLYING CLUSTERING TECHNIQUE
ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT
IN WRITING
ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION TEXT
A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By:
MISIDA NOVA SARI DEWI MARPAUNG
Registration Number 2103321023
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTEMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
DECLARATION
I have familiarized with the university’s policy on academic integrity. Except where appropriately acknowledged. This thesis is my own work, has been
expressed in my own words, and has not previously been submitted for
assessment. I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or
otherwise for plagiarism.
Medan, January 2015 The Researcher,
i
ABSTRACT
Marpaung, Misida Nova Sari Dewi. 2014. 2103321023. The Effect of Applying
Clustering Technique on Students’ Achievement in Writing Analytical Exposition Text.A Thesis.English Department.Faculty of Languages and
Arts.State University of Medan.
This study aims at investigaing the effect of applying clustering technique on students’ achievement in writing analytical exposition text. It was conducted by using experimental research design. The Population of this research was the eleventh (XI) grade students of SMAN 2Pematangsiantar. The number of the samples taken was two classes.The first class (XI PMIA 1) which consists of 30 students as the experimental group, while the second class (XI PMIA 2) which consists of 30 students as the control group. The experimental group was taught by using clustering technique. The instrument for collecting the data was writing test. To obtain the reliability of the test, the writer used the Pearsons’ Product Moment Formula, The resut of the study showed that the reliability of the test was 0,90. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula, the analysis showed that the score of students in the experimental group was higher than the score of students in the control group at the level of significance 0, 05 with the degree of freedom (df) 58; the t-observed is 4, 61 while the t-table is 2, 00. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and the hypothesis alternative (Ha) is accepted.
i
LIST OF APPENDICES ... viii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. The Background of Study ... 1
B. The Problem of Study ... 3
C. The Objective of Study ... 4
D. The Scope of Study ... 4
E. The Significance of Study ... 4
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 5
A. Theoretical Framework... 5
1. Writing ... 5
a. The Nature of Writing ... 5
b. Writing Process ... 7
c. Objectives of Writing ... 10
d. The Components of Writing ... 11
2. Analytical Exposition ... 11
a. Communicative Purpose of Analytical Exposition Text ... 12
b. Rhetorical Structure of Analytical Exposition Text ... 12
c. Grammatical Patterns ... 12
d. The Example of Analytical Exposition Text ... 13
3. Clustering Technique ... 14
a. The Nature of Clustering Technique ... 14
b. The Philosophy of Clustering Technique ... 15
c. The Steps of Clustering Technique ... 16
d. The Example of Clustering Technique ... 17
e. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Clustering Technique ... 18
f. The Differences between Clustering Technique, BrainstormingTechnique, and Mind Mapping Technique ... 19
B. Relevant Studies ... 20
C. Conceptual Framework ... 21
D. Hypothesis ... 23
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 24
A. Research Design ... 24
B. Population and Sample ... 25
ii
a. Teaching Presentation in the Experimental Group ... 27
b. Teaching Presentation in the Control Group ... 28
3. Post-Test ... 29
CHAPTER IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS ... 33
A. Data ... 33
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 39
A. Conclusion ... 39
B. Suggestion ... 39
REFERENCES ... 40
i
LIST OF TABLES
Pages
Table 1.1 The Eleventh Grade (XI) Students’ Score of Writing Test ... 2
Table 2.1 TheDifferences between Clustering Technique, Brainstorming Technique, and Mind Mapping Technique... 19
Table 3.1 Research Design ... 24
Table 3.2 Treatment for Experimental Group ... 27
Table 3.3 Treatment for Control Group ... 28
i
LIST OF FIGURES
Pages
Figure 2.1 The Writing Process Approach ... 8
Figure 2.2The Example of Analytical Exposition Text and Their Rhetorical
Structure ... 13
i
LIST OF APPENDICES
Pages
Appendix A. Pre - Test for Experimental and Control Group ... 42
Appendix B. Post - Test for Experimental and Control Group ... 43
Appendix C. The Tests Score of Experimental and Control Group ... 44
Appendix D. The Calculation of Reliability of the Test ... 46
Appendix E. The Calculation of Mean and Standard Deviation of Experimental and Control Group ... 49
Appendix F. The Calculation of T-test ... 52
Appendix G. T-table Distribution ... 53
Appendix H. Lesson Plans ... 54
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.The Background of the Study
English is one of the formal subjects that is included in the curriculum. It
has been taught from the primary up to university level.The Department of
National Education has made English as a compulsory subject and positioned it as
the first foreign language to be taught in school based on the curriculum. In order
to be able to communicate in English, students are expected to master the four
english skills, they are the mastery of the receptive skills (reading and listening)
and the mastery of the productive skills (speaking and writing). One of the
language skills that will be focused in this study is the writing skill.
Writing is a process of discovery and organizingthe ideas, developing the
ideas, conveying them into paper, reshaping and revising them (Coffin et al,
2003:34). It means the students should be able to express their idea that they
discovered into paper in a text form that will be clear to a reader.Furthermore,
writing is a skill to express the ideas in an effective and organized way. Writing is
a skill that can be acquired through practice. It is also state by Grenville (2001:vi)
thatno one’s born knowing how to write – but it is a skill that most people can
learn, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Actually, most of the students
find some difficulties in learning writing. They think that writing text is a difficult
task to do. This assumption is wrong because writing is an activity that has a lot of
2
Based on the researcher’s experiences during the time spent in the Field
Practice Experience (Praktek Pengalaman Lapangan : PPL) at the State Senior
High School (Sekolah Menengah Atas: SMAN) 2 Pematang Siantar, many
students had difficulties in writing. They did not give much attention and
enthusiasm on writing task because they do not have an appropriate direct means
in getting in touch with the ideas. The researcher found the data of the XI grade
students’ writing test in the first semester at 2013/2014 academic year from the
English teacher. The teacher said that many students get the score below Minimal
Completeness Criteria (Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal) of English lesson for Senior
High School. The score of writing test from the students can be seen in table 1.1.
Table 1.1 The Eleventh Grade (XI) Students’ Score of Writing Test
Class Semesters Score Students Percentage
XI-PIA-1 1st Semester
The Minimal Completeness Criteria (KKM) applied for the eleventh grade
(XI) by school is 75. From the data above, it can be fulfilled that the students’
ability in writing in that class is still low. It can be seen from the number of
students where 30 of 84 students from two classes have score under the Minimal
Completeness Criteria. Theunderlying problem is the productivity of a student,
not the lack of the ideas but the lack of direct means of getting in touch with the
3
develop and proceed the ideas into a writing product is a problem. In order to help
the students engage with the ideas, a good strategy, method, or technique should
be used.
Clustering is one of the effective techniques that is useful to help the
students to get in touch with the ideas. Rico (2000:38) states that clustering
technique is a direct means that can be used to generate ideas for writing of any
form : essays, poems, short stories, business reports, songlyrics, even novels. It
means the students will be helped to develop and proceed their ideas easily since
the reasons why the students are difficult to write are that they lack of direct
means to develop and proceed the ideas. He also state that clustering is a very
effective technique in writing because it seems to be a reflection of the way design
mind naturally works – that is, it clusters for patterns meaningful to it all the time
as it scans its universe (Rico 2000:28). It means clustering is a good way to make
students have the patterns of ideas meaningfully.
Thus, in order to make students write easily, the researcher is very
interested in conducting a study on students’ achievement in writing analytical
exposition text by applying clustering technique.
B.The Problem of the Study
Based on the background of the study, the research problem of this study is
formulated as the following: “Is there any significant effect of using clustering
4
C. The Objective of the Study
Clustering is a direct means in getting in touch with the ideas. It is an
effective technique to make students develop and proceed their ideas easily and
meaningfully. By using this technique, students become creative to think and
write naturally. Related to the problem of the study, the objective of this study is
to discover whether there is a significant effect of applying clustering technique
on students’ achievement in writing analytical exposition text.
D.The Scope of the Study
Based on the background above, this study will be limited to the
effectiveness using Clustering Technique in teaching writing on grade XI at
SMAN 2 Pematang Siantar.
E. The Significance of the Study
As this study concerns with the use of clustering technique to affect the
students’ achievement in writing, the findings of this study are expected to be
useful as,
1. Theoretically for the teachers to improve the quality of students’ writing and
for the researchers to use this study as reference for next researches.
2. Practically to improve the students’ writing skill and widen their horizon
39
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
The mean of control and experimental group in the post-test score are 67, 93
and 78, 96. The number of the students for each groups is 30. It means that the
mean score of experimental group is higher than those of control group.
The result of calculation t-test shows that the score of t-observe (4, 61) < the
score of t-table (2, 000). It means that the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and the
alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted. So, from the calculation of the data, it can
be concluded that clustering technique significantly affects the students’
achievement in writing analytical exposition text.
B. Suggestions
As the result of the study, it is suggested that:
1. The English teachers should apply clustering technique in improving
students’ ability in writing analytical exposition text by emphasizing the
exercises to enable students to have meaningful ideas to write.
2. The students should use clustering technique because this technique allows
students to explore their mind to generate ideas which are reflected to get
meaningful ideas in order to improve their ability in writing.
3. Since this study is only focused on students’ achievement in writing
analytical exposition text, it is suggested for other researcher to apply
40
REFERENCES
Arikunto, S. 2010. ProsedurPenelitian (EdisiRevisi). Jakarta: RinekaCipta.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C. & Sorensen, C. 2010. Introduction to Research in Education (8th edition). Canada: Cengage Learning.
Best, J. W. & Kahn, J. V. 2006.Research in Education (10th edition). New York: Pearson Education Inc.
Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. The Principle of Languange Learning and Teaching. San Fransisco: Longman.
Brown, H. D. 2001. Teaching by Principles an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Second Edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc.
Buzan, Tony. 1984. Use Your Head. London:Guild Publishing
Coffin, Caroline., Curry, Mary Jane., Goodman, Sharon., Hewings, Ann., Lillis, Theresia M., & Swann, Joan. . 2003. Teaching Academic Writing A Tolkit for Higher Education. London:Routledge
Grenville, Kate. 2001. Writing from Start to Finish A Six-Step Guide. Australia:Allen & Unwin.
Harmer, Jeremy. 2004. How to Teach Writing. London: Pearson Education.
Harmer, Jeremy. 2003. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York: Longman.
Heaton, J. B. 1990. Writing English Language Tests. New York: Longman.
Javed, Muhammad., Juan, Wu Xiao., & Nazli, Saima. 2007. A Study of Students’
Assessment in Writing Skills of the English Language. International Journal of Instruction. Vol.6, No.2 (129-144).
Liao, Ming-Tzu and Wong, Chia-Tzu. 2007.Effects of Dialogue Journals on L2
Students’ Writing Fluency, Reflections, Anxiety, and Motivation.
Reflections on English Language Teaching. Vol.9, No.2 (139-170).
41
McDonald, Christina R., McDonald, Robert L. 2002. Teaching Writing. United States of America: The Board of Trustees.
Oshima, A and Ann. H. 1998. Wriitng Academic English. New York:Addison Wesle Longman.
Pardiyono.2007. PastiBisa! Teaching Genre-Based Writing: MetodeMengajar Writing Berbasis Genre SecaraEfektif. Yogyakarta: AndiPress.
Rico, Gabriele. 2000. Writing the Natural Way. New York:Pinguin Putnam Inc.
Salam, Abd. 2011. Using Clustering technique to Improve Students’ Writing of Recount Text. Unpublished Thesis. Department of English Education. Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.
Shin, Sarah J. 2006. Learning to Teach Writing through Tutoring and Journal Writing. Teachers and Teaching. Vol.12, No.3 (325-345).
Styati, Erlik Widiyani. 2010. The Effectiveness of Clustering Technique to Teach
Writing Skill Viewed from Students’ Linguistic Intelligence.Unpublished
Thesis. English Education Department.Sebelas Maret University Surakarta.
Tangpermpoon, Thanatkun. 2008.Integrated Approaches to Improve Students Writing Skills for English Major Students .ABAC Journal.Vol.28, No.2 (1-9).
Villalon, J., & Calvo, R. A. 2011. Concept Maps as Cognitive Visualizations of Writing Assignments. Educational Technology& Society. Vol.14, No.3 (16-27).
Wong, Bernice Y.L. 2004. Learning about Learning Disabilities. California:Elsevier Academic Press