OF UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA
A Skripsi
Submitted to the Faculty of Language Education in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Written by: Hanjaya Sukma Aji
20110540070
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION
UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA
STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES AND STRATEGIES TO REINFORCE THEIR SKILL IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT
AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA
A Skripsi
Submitted to the Faculty of Language Education in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Written by: Hanjaya Sukma Aji
20110540070
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION
UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this skripsi and that no part of
this skripsi has been published or submitted for publication.
I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my skripsi does not infringe
upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas,
techniques, quotation, or any other material from the work of other people included in my skripsi, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in
accordance with the standard referencing practices.
I declare that this is a true copy of my skripsi, including any final
revisions, as approved by my skripsi committee and the Faculty of Language Education, and that this skripsi has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or institution.
Acknowledgement
All praises belong to Allah SWT who always gives blessing to the
researcher so that this research can be completed and accomplished successfully.
This research entitled “Students’ Difficulties and Strategies to Reinforce Their
Skill in Writing Descriptive Text at English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta” is an undergraduate thesis that is a requirement to complete the study in Strata-One (S1) English Education Department of
Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta.
Hereby, as this research accomplished, the research would give his
appreciative gratitude for:
1. My beloved parents, Soewardjo and Tri Haningsih and also my brother Johan Satria Pamungkas who always remind and support me to finish this
research.
2. My awesome supervisor, Evi Puspitasari, S.Pd., M.Hum who always
patient in guiding and helping me to finish this research.
3. The examiners of my research, Ika Wahyuni Lestari, S.Pd., M.Hum and Fitria Rahmawati, S.Pd., M.Hum who also patient in guiding and helping
me to finish this research.
4. The Dean of Language Education Faculty, Gendroyono, M.Pd. who gives
support for his students.
6. Staffs at EED of UMY, Pak Wiji, Bu Icis, Pak Rahmat and Pak Wahono who always help and support me to finish this research.
7. Participants of this research who were conveniently to give a hand to me in order to carry out this research.
8. My beloved friends at EED of UMY: Kenang, Wahyu, Fajar, Oskar, Tiar, Aris, Zali, Fabyan, Sidik, Catur, Hafidz, Wanda, Hery, Seroja, Fendy, Rio, and also my awesome friends: Dwi Atmono, Gunawan, Alex, Pak Eko and
the others who cannot mentioned here. Thanks for your supports.
The researcher expects this research will have benefits for people who
concern on this case and everyone who need this study. The researcher realizes this research still far from perfection, therefore the researcher need suggestion or
recommendation for better research in the future.
Yogyakarta, August 27th 2016
Table of Contents
Title Page ...i
Approval Page ...ii
Author’s Declaration of Originality...iii
Acknowledgement ...iv
Abstract ...vi
Table of Contents ...vii
Chapter One ...1
Introduction ...1
Background of the study ...1
Identification and Limitation of the Problem ...3
Formulation of the Problem ...4
Purpose of the Study ...4
Significance of the Study ...4
Chapter Two...6
Literature Review...6
Writing Skill ...6
Descriptive Text ...8
Students’ Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Texts ...11
Strategies in Writing Descriptive Texts ...14
Review of Related Research ...18
Chapter Three...23
Methodology... 23
Research Design ...23
Research Participants ...24
Research Setting ...26
Research Instrument ...26
Data Collection Method ...27
Data Analysis ...28
Chapter four...31
Finding and Discussion...31
Students’ difficulties in writing descriptive texts at English Education Department of UMY ...31
Students’ strategies to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive texts at English Education Department of UMY ...41
Chapter five...49
Conclusion and Recommendation...49
Conclusion ...49
Recommendation ...51
References...53
Abstract
Descriptive text has been taught at English Education Department of Universitas
Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta in the beginning of semester, especially in Academic Reading and Writing subject. This study aims to investigate the difficulties faced
by students in writing descriptive and the strategies used by students to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive text. This study used descriptive qualitative research design to answer the research questions. In collecting the data, interviews
were conducted by the researcher. The participants of this study were six students taken from EED of UMY batch 2015. The participants had learned descriptive
text at EED of UMY, especially in Academic Reading and Writing subject. The result of this study shows that there researcher found nine difficulties in writing descriptive text that were supporting sentences, developing ideas, main idea, lack
of vocabulary, grammar, lack of sources, arrangement, coherent and cohesion and diction. The researcher also found from the participants that there were four
strategies in writing descriptive text that were mind mapping, analyzing examples of descriptive texts by looking the structures of the texts, observing objects or pictures and using songs’ lyrics.
Chapter One Introduction
This chapter presents introduction of the study. In the introduction, points such as background of the study, identification and limitation of the problems are
discussed. Formulation of the problem, purposes of the study and significances of the study are also elaborated in this chapter.
Background of the study
English has four basic skills that are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Those skills are categorized into two types that are receptive skill and
productive skill. Listening and reading are receptive skills. Meanwhile, speaking and writing are productive skills (Brown, 2000).
From those four basic skills, writing as a productive skill is the highest
level of language skill because it demands students to think and express their idea into a sentence. It is supported by Tangpermpoon (2008) who stated that when
compared with other skills, writing is the most difficult skill because it requires writers to have a great deal of lexical and syntactic knowledge as well as principles of organization in L2 to produce a good writing. Lei, Man, & Ting
(2014) highlighted the importance and complexity of writing on a hierarchy of language skill by saying that writing is a major class of discourses and evidences
that can give students insights into deeper learning and high-order skills such as critical thinking, argumentation and mastery of complex ideas.
In university level, students are required to have a good skill in writing. It
report, thesis, and other writing work. According to Faisal & Suwandita (2013), the students do not have many concepts to write something. It means that, when
doing some writing exercises, students need a long time to think of an idea to write.
A difficulty of thinking about an idea to write also happened when
students write descriptive texts. Descriptive text is a text that describes something in order the readers or listeners are able to understand and get the same sense as
what the writer experienced (Husna, Zainil, & Rozimela, 2013). It means that when students write a text such as essay or thesis, they have to describe the points
of their writing clearly to make their readers understand. A descriptive text is important since it can make the readers imagine a thing without see it. For example, when the readers read a description about a house, they can have
understood how that house looks like, the shape, colors and size. Clouse (2004, p. 143) stated the importance of descriptive texts as follows:
As social beings, we want to share our experience, so we write to others to describe things such as vacations, childhood homes, and people we
encounter. We even use description to persuade others to think or act in
particular ways: advertisers describe products to persuade us to buy them; travel agents describe locales to entice us to visit them; and real estate
agents describe properties to stimulate a desire to see them (p.143). At English Education Department of Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, students have learned different kinds of text types including
Education Department UMY, descriptive text is a challenging text. The researcher faced difficulties when he did not know how to develop the topic in good
sentences, including descriptive texts. Grammar and lack of vocabulary are also the factors why the researcher got stuck in writing a descriptive text. Some
students may face similar difficulties when they wrote a descriptive text. They got confused dealing with how to build their idea into their writing or what they should write although they knew the topic.
Teachers may give some examples of strategies and show the way how to use those strategies to help students improve their writing, especially writing a
descriptive text. However, students have to find the most suitable and comfortable strategies for themselves to increase their skill in writing a descriptive text. That
becomes an important reason why a study about students’ strategies to overcome
their difficulty in writing descriptive texts at English Education Department of UMY needs to be conducted.
Identification and Limitation of the Problem
Based on the researcher’s experience in the writing class at the first
semester, students of English Education Department of UMY learned about
descriptive text in Academic Reading and Writing subject. The researcher learned dealing with the definition, function, and how to write it. To write descriptive
texts, the teacher gave a material related to the generic structure and language features.
In fact, the students faced difficulties in writing descriptive texts such as
correctly, and grammar. This study was limited on students of English Education Department of UMY batch 2015 that had learned descriptive text in writing class.
The researcher was interested in investigating difficulties faced by students in writing descriptive text and finding out the strategies used by students to improve
their skill in writing descriptive text at English Education Department of UMY.
Formulation of the Problem
The research questions being investigated in this study are:
1. What are the difficulties faced by students at English Education Department of UMY in writing descriptive texts?
2. What are the strategies used by students at English Education Department of UMY to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive texts?
Purpose of the Study
This research is intended to find out:
1. The difficulties faced by students at English Education Department of UMY
in writing descriptive texts.
2. The strategies used by students at English Education Department of UMY to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive texts.
Significance of the Study
This research aims to give benefits specifically to the researcher, English
teachers and students.
The researcher. This research gives benefits to the researcher in understanding difficulties of writing descriptive texts and gives a reference of
Education Department UMY. The researcher as a future teacher will understand related to the difficulties in writing descriptive texts and the strategies that can be
used to overcome the difficulties in writing descriptive texts.
English teachers. The strategies are applicable for teachers as a solution
to overcome their students’ difficulties in writing descriptive texts. The students’
difficulties in writing descriptive texts are revealed through this study. The teachers also can motivate students to face the difficulties in writing descriptive
texts.
Chapter Two Literature Review
This chapter discusses some experts’ opinions related with the research.
Some other research results are also incorporated to support. For the beginning,
this research discusses the learning strategies, writing skill, descriptive text, and writing descriptive text. This chapter also presents related research and conceptual framework.
Writing Skill
Writing skill is one of four basic English skills. Nunan (2003) stated that
writing is the process of thinking to develop ideas, thinking about how to express into good writing, and arranging the ideas into sentences and paragraph clearly. In other way, writing is a kind of speaking to others on paper or on a computer
screen. It is in line with Meyers (2005) who stated that writing is also a process of discovering and organizing your ideas, putting them on a paper and reshaping and
revising them. It means that by writing, the writer will be able to express ideas into sentences for their readers. Siburian (2013) stated that writing is a very important capability for being owned by students, writing is also an excellent
communication tool. Through writing, each person is able to convey feelings, ideas, and announcements to others.
Students may think that writing is just a skill to put some words into some sentences. However, according to Hedge (2005), writing is more than producing accurate and complete sentences and phrases. So, it is not just putting some words
correctness of their writing. She also stated that writing is about guiding students to produce whole pieces of communication, to link and develop information,
ideas, or arguments for a particular reader or a group of readers.
Students as the writer have to know dealing with categories of writing
evaluation. Brown (2000), mention six components of writing that are Content, Organization, Discourse, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Mechanics.
The first component is content. Content of writing is related to the ideas,
illustrations, facts, and opinions. It means that students have to generate the idea and give some supporting details. Students may describe the topic, gives cause
and effect, and comparison and contrast. They also have to consider dealing with the consistency of their writing.
The second component is organization. Organization is related to the
effectiveness of introduction, logical sequence of ideas, conclusion, appropriate of length. The students need to write a good introduction to make their readers
interest. Sequencing of the ideas is also considered as important part of writing. It means that do not make the readers confused. At the end of writing, they may give conclusion to close their writing. The length of paragraph is also an important part
of writing, the readers may get bored if they read much sentences in one paragraph.
The forth component is syntax. Syntax is related to the rule of making sentences in order that the readers understand dealing with the written text.
According to Van Valin & LaPolla (1997), it refers to the branch of grammar dealing with the ways in which words, with or without appropriate inflections, are
arranged to show connections of meaning within the sentence.
The fifth component is vocabulary. The writer has to use an effective word when they write. They have to choose the most suitable word in their writing
(formal or informal).
The sixth component is mechanic. It is related to the spelling, punctuation,
citation of references, and neatness and appearance. In the mechanic category, the writer has to use a correct English writing. It means that they have to
demonstrating mastery of correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and
paragraphing.
Writing allows students to express something about themselves, explore
and explain ideas. Student can convey their ideas in their mind by organizing them into a good text so that the others know them and they can think critically (Sharples, 1999). As students, writing can express and identify who they are. The
use of words, manipulating sentences, organizing structure, grammar and vocabulary shows the level of students’ creativity, especially in writing skill.
Descriptive Text
Students have to know about the definition of descriptive text, the purpose, generic structure and language features used in writing descriptive text. Moreover,
text. After that, they can find the most suitable strategy in writing descriptive text for them.
Definition of descriptive text. To define what descriptive text is, Siburian (2013) stated a descriptive text is a piece of writing intended to convey meaning
to the reader through sensory details and it also provides images to the reader. Evawina (2010) is also defined the descriptive texts by saying that descriptive texts is a paragraph vividly portrays a person, place, or thing in such a way that
the reader can visualize the topic and enter into the writer’s experience. According
to Pardiyono (2007), description paragraph is a type of written text paragraph, in
which has the specific function to describe about an object (living or non-living things) and the purpose is giving description of the object to the reader clearly. To conclude, descriptive texts can be defined as a text that describes what something
is like. Descriptive text does not only describe a thing, but also a person, and a place.
Generic structure in descriptive text. Descriptive text has generic structure which is different from the other types of texts. There are two parts in the generic structure of descriptive text that are identification and description. The
identification part identifies a certain object to be described. This part mentions the name and common thing of the object. The descriptive part mentions the
characteristic of the object. Wardiman, Jahur, & Djusma (2008) stated that there are two parts of generic structures in descriptive text that are introduction and description. Introduction is the part of paragraph that introduces the character.
character. This indicates that a descriptive text has two elements. The first element is to identify phenomenon (identification) and another one (description) to portray
parts, qualities, or characteristics.
Example of descriptive text. The following text is the example of descriptive text about house taken from web site by English Indo (2015).
Figure 1
Language features of descriptive text. The language features of descriptive text are using simple present tense, using adjective and compound adjective and using attributive has and have. Hammond (1992) mentioned the
language features of descriptive texts that are using simple present tense, using My Small House
I live in a small house. It has five rooms: there are two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Indeed it is a small house; but I like living in here for wasting my spare time.
When the door is open, I can see the living room. It is so small with only three chairs and a table, nothing else. I prefer reading a novel in this room.
My bedroom is in the left side of the living room. In this room there is a night table next to the bed, a TV, a radio, and a computer. When being bored of reading, I usually play online games, chat with my friends via Facebook and so on.
Next to my bedroom is my mother's. I do not know what is inside because I never come in to see it. In the right side of the living room there is the kitchen. In the kitchen I have everything I need when I get hungry. It is very pleasure when my mother cooks, the smell fills my whole house.
I know it is a very small house; but it is the best place I have ever seen.
simple past tense if extinct, verbs being and having 'Relational Processes', using adjectives, using noun phrase, using action verbs, using adverbials, using
figurative language.
Functions and importance of descriptive text. Besides to describe something, descriptive texts have the other functions. According to White (1986), a descriptive text has three important functions that are to see, to explain, and to persuade. To see means to help the readers to see the objects, persons, and
sensations you present. It allows the reader to know about the object without see it directly. Different from to see, to explain means explain the readers dealing with a
subject. The writer can describe a house to explain the readers dealing with the shape, size, and color of the house. To persuade means the writer describes something to make readers interested. The writer can describes a book to catch
attention of the readers read or buy that book.
Based on explanation above, students who have a good skill in writing
descriptive text are able to explain the topic clearly and make their readers
interested in their writing. Descriptive texts demand students to write a structured text.
Students’ Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Texts
Writing for students in university level is important since there are some
assignments of writing such as essay and research paper. Students have to know that being a good writer is much needed. When students write an essay or research paper, they have to put words into a good sentence. They need to be good in
be written using formal language. Since writing skill is challenging, students have to practice well to achieve a better skill and be a good writer. Although it is
important, many students faced difficulties in writing. The students consider that writing is one of the most difficult language skills because they are demanded to
express their ideas in written English appropriately (Cahyono, 2010).
The difficulties of students in writing are also found in writing descriptive texts. Related to the diffculties in writing descritive texts, Siahaan (2013) stated
that students are still confused in identifying the structure of descriptive text and seemed to have less sense about English grammar and they still make a lot of
mistakes in the text they wrote. Nurgiyantoro (2001) also mentioned the problems faced by the students in learning writing descriptive texts those are organizing idea, lack of vocabulary and grammar accuracy. From those statements above, it
can be said that grammar, organizing idea and lack of vocabulary are factors influenced the students in writing descriptive texts. It also line with Husna, Zainil,
& Rozimela (2013) who stated that there are some difficulties that students face during writing the descriptive paragraph those are the problem in developing the ideas, the problem in organizing the ideas, grammar, lack of vocabulary, spelling,
punctuation and capitalization.
Related to the difficulties in developing ideas of writing descriptive texts,
students faced difficulty in making the main idea and supporting sentences. Husna, Zainil, & Rozimela (2013) added that some students wrote many main ideas in one paragraph and the idea of the paragraph was still ambiguous. The
paragraph. It supported by Smith & Morris (2004) who stated that the main idea of a passage is the core of the material, the particular point the author is trying to
convey. It means that by writing the main idea, the writer can share the point of a whole paragraph.
Moreover, supporting sentences are also an important as main idea. Since it explains the main idea, supporting sentences should be written clearly in order that the information of paragraph can be sent to the readers. According to Reid
(2000), a paragraph is complete when it has all the supporting sentences and it needs to fully explain the topic sentence. But the students cannot make the
supporting sentences well. It is line with Ramadani (2013) who stated that students just combined the sentences without considering the main idea and supporting details in writing descriptive texts.
The other difficulty faced by students in writing descriptive texts is coming from arrangement of the sentences or paragraph. It is line with Ramadani
(2013) who stated that in writing descriptive texts, students could not arrange the sentence well. Students have to know dealing with how to write a good paragraph. Beside the used of grammar, a paragraph can be said as a good paragraph if the
arrangement of sentences is correct. It supported by Ali (2014) by saying that writing is an activity that produces something from mind becomes meaningful a
text of the sentence.
To conclude, there are many difficulties can be found in writing
descriptive texts. Students who faced difficulties in writing descriptive texts will
the teacher gives students the assignment to write a descriptive text, they felt difficult to start writing because they lack in vocabulary mastery, so they need a
long time to explore their ideas. That is the reason why students need to overcome their difficulty in writing descriptive texts, so that they will not waste their time in
vain. Furthermore, the difficulties of writing that have been mention above are the common problem. Every student has different characteristics; it means that one student can have different problems with the other students.
Strategies in Writing Descriptive Texts
There are some examples of writing strategies that can be used in writing
descriptive texts that are Mind Mapping, TPS, FRESH, Guided Questions, TTW and Media Audio. Actually, those strategies have been used by other researchers in previous research. The first strategy is Mind Mapping. Mind Maps were
popularized by author and consultant, Tony Buzan in 1970. Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and
related ideas which radiate out from the center (Riswanto & Putra, 2012).
Actually, mind mapping is a strategy that can be used to write descriptive texts. It is supported by Purnomo (2014) by saying that mind mapping can be used to
explore almost any topics in writing and also used in every kind of writing such as narrative, descriptive, recount, persuasive, argumentative and essay.
The second strategy is Think Pair Share (TPS). According to Siburian (2013), Think Pair Share (TPS) is one of the Cooperative Learning strategies which poses a challenging or open-ended question and gives time for students to
member or neighbor sitting nearby and discuss their ideas about the question for several minutes. Cooperative Learning refers to a variety of teaching strategies in
which students work in small group to help one another learn academic content. In cooperative classrooms, students are expected to help each other to discuss and
argue with each other, so that the learning process can be improved not only individually but in groups or together (Slavin, 1995). In TPS, Think means one student think dealing with the topic or question given by the teacher. Pair means
one student join with the other student to make a small group and discuss their thoughts. Share means the students are presenting or share their ideas to the larger
groups in classroom, or they can share to all students of the class. Actually, TPS strategy is a strategy that can be used in writing descriptive texts. It was proven by Sumarsih & Sanjaya (2013) who conduct a research related to the use of TPS in
writing descriptive texts. The result of their research showed that the students were very interested on the TPS technique and they do not only improve their
achievement in writing descriptive text but also improve their teamwork,
responsibility and self-confidence. Sumarsih & Sanjaya was also added that there
is a significant improvement on the students’ achievement in writing descriptive
text by applying the application of Think Pair Share technique.
The third strategy named FRESH (Faisal & Suwandita, 2013). This
strategy used by Faisal and Suwandita to teach descriptive texts. FRESH is a strategy in which each of its letter has own meaning. “F” means “Fact”. “Fact” means the identification of the object or it can be called general description of the
“F”, “R” means “Reason” which means a supporting idea that strengthen the fact.
Then, there is “E” that means “Elaboration”. Elaboration means the explanation of
the reason. The writer should elaborate it in detail, so the readers can get clear
description of the object. Different from “E”, “SH” means “Shift”, which can also
mean conclusion. It is the conclusion of the information before. Faisal also stated that FRESH strategy has four advantages for students. First, the students can improve their descriptive writing skill because the material can be designed well.
Second, they can follow the lesson logically. Third, they can participate or interact actively. Fourth, the students can understand the material easily. In FRESH
strategy, the students will be able to determine what should be written first and next to get a fluent descriptive text easily. Students can also enrich their
vocabulary when they developing their ideas. Faisal & Suwandita also added that
the students’ competence in writing a descriptive paragraph will increase by
applying FRESH technique.
The fourth strategy can be used to write a descriptive text is Guided Questions. According to Nawawi (2011), Guided Questions is a method for
teaching English in which the teacher gives some questions to the students applied
to a topic in teaching writing. Guided Questions is one of strategies for writing that uses 5W+1H (What, Where, When, Why, Who, and How). Nawawi
conducted a research dealing with the impacts of using Guided Questions in writing descriptive texts. The result of his research showed that the used of guided questions in writing descriptive texts bring a good impact. It was proven by
creative in creating descriptive texts. It means that by using guided questions, students can improve their creativity in writing descriptive texts. It also means that
guided questions can be a strategy to write descriptive texts.
The fifth strategy is Think, Talk, and Write (TTW). Think-Talk-write
Strategy was introduced by Huinker and Laughlin. According to Maulidah, Musyarofah, & Aulia (2013), Think-Talk-Write (TTW) is a strategy that
facilitating the exercise of language both oral and written fluently. This strategy
based on the interpretation that learning is a social action. The word “Think”
means the students think about what they get after reading something. After that,
the word Talk means they share to the other students, they can make a group
discussion when they share their ideas. The last word, “Write” means the students
write their ideas after sharing session is done in a paper. Related to the use of
TTW in writing descriptive texts, Maulidah, Musyarofah, & Aulia (2013) added
that the use of TTW can minimize the students’ difficulties in creating descriptive
text and can help the teachers in teaching writing.
The last strategy is the use of Media Audio, especially the use of songs in writing descriptive texts. According to Saricoban & Metin (2000), music contains
authentic, informal language that is natural to the ear. Songs offer precious
resources that develop students’ abilities in listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Students can use song lyrics as a strategy to improve their skill in writing descriptive texts. They can apply what they have learned when listening or sing a song. The use of song in writing descriptive texts has been used by Ramdani
song can help students’ ability in writing descriptive text, in term of generating
idea, gaining vocabulary, and also motivate students
Mind Mapping, TPS, FRESH, Guided Questions, TTW, and Media Audio are the examples of strategies can be used by students to reinforce their skill in
writing descriptive texts. Actually, the using of strategy depends on students’
interest. They can use one of them if they think that strategy can increase their skill in writing descriptive text. Moreover, they may use another strategy if those
strategies above are not suitable with them or uncomfortable to use. Teachers as a facilitator can introduce the other strategies and help their students to use it.
Review of Related Research
The researcher found three studies related to students’ strategies to
reinforce their skill in writing descriptive texts.
The first study is from Nawawi (2011). The title of his study is “Improving
Student's Writing Skill of Descriptive Text through Guided Questions”. This
study took 43 (100%) students of VIII-8 grade class of SMP PGRI 1 Ciputat-Kota Tangerang Selatan as the sample. This research is aim to find out whether
teaching writing of descriptive texts using guided questions is effective to
improve students writing skill, to collect students’ perception and impression of
guided questions process, and to collect the progressive result of students’
participation in learning writing of descriptive texts. Moreover, this study used quantitative research and qualitative research. The instruments used in this study were the English test sheet, observation sheets, questionnaire sheets and interview.
using guided questions had improved. The result of posttest showed that there were 43 students (100%) who passed the KKM, there were also 100% of students
understand the material. They thought that guided questions made them easily in making descriptive paragraph. Besides, 88.37% of students thought that guided
questions made them more creative in creating descriptive text. Based on these findings, the researcher concludes that the application of guided questions can
improve students’ writing ability of grade VIII-8 of SMP PGRI 1 Ciputat-Kota
Tangerang Selatan.
The second study is from (Ali, 2014). The title of his study is “Improving
the Student Writing Skill on Descriptive Text by Using Think, Talk, Write (TTW)
at MTs N Tunggangri”. The subject of the research was the VII-I students of MTs
N Tunggangri kalidawir in the period 2014/2015 by 40 students with 18 boys and
22 girls. The aim of this research is for improving students’ skill in writing specifically in writing descriptive text. So researcher was hope this research can
truthful for improving students’ skill. The instruments of this research were
questionnaires, interview Guideline, Observation sheet, Test, and field Note. Based on the observation sheet from the analysis of the teaching and learning
process in writing descriptive text by using think talk write strategy, in cycle 1, it was found that most of the students still have low in writing descriptive text.
Although, some of them could get improvement in their score, but the criteria of success was not achieved yet. In conclusion, the implementation of the strategy in cycle 1 is still need to be revised. Based on the observation sheet from the analysis
write in cycle 2, it was found most of the student got improvement in writing descriptive, the students more active during teaching and learning process. The
differences between cycle one and cycle two was in dividing the groups. On the first cycle, the researcher used the group work that arranged from five until six
students. Whereas, on the second cycle the researcher used pairs work arranged from two students.
The third study is from Yeyen (2014). Her title is “Teaching Descriptive
Text Writing to Students by Using Clustering Technique”. The students involved
in the research were 70 students who were divided into two classes. The subjects
of the research were class XA-6 with 35 students as experimental class and XA-7 with 35 students as control class. This research aims to find out the effect of using clustering technique in writing descriptive texts. This research was using quasi
experimental method. The technique of collecting the data was by using tests (pre-test and post-(pre-test). The result of this study showed that there was a positive impact
of teaching writing of descriptive text using clustering technique. It can be seen from the mean score result of experimental class had impact or increased 14.40 point from the pre-test 59.60 to the post-test 74.00. Moreover, the mean score in
the control class had increased 8.73 point from pretest was 57.26 to post-test was 65.96
Although, there are some differences between the method, strategy used, and the results of those studies, all of them are helpful to be a guideline and consideration to help the researcher in conducting this research. Actually, this
find out the strategies used by students to overcome their difficulties. This study used qualitative research design to answer those research questions and used
interview to gain the data. The participants of this study are six students of English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta batch
2015. Next, the data from interviews were analyzed using three steps of Coding those are Open Coding, Axial Coding and Selective Coding.
Conceptual Framework
This study aimed at investigating the students’ strategies to reinforce their
writing skill in descriptive texts at EED UMY. It focused on the difficulties faced
by students and the strategies used to improve their writing skill, especially in writing descriptive texts which become the references to investigate the data in this study.
Firstly, this study tried to investigate the difficulties by students in writing descriptive texts. Based on the literature review, developing the ideas, the problem
in organizing the ideas, grammar, lack of vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and capitalization, main idea and supporting sentences and arranging sentences are the difficulties that faced by students in writing descriptive texts. Those difficulties
are affecting the result of their writing, especially writing descriptive texts. Students who faced one or more difficulties may get a lower grade.
Secondly, this study also tried to find out the strategies used by students in writing descriptive texts. Actually, students of EED UMY have learned
descriptive texts in writing class. It has been mentioned previously that Mind
example of strategy that can be used by students in writing descriptive texts. However, the way of using one strategy is different from the others. Students may
use the strategy given by the teachers or they can find another strategy that is suitable with them.
However, the discussions are not limited to those explanations above. Others evidences emerged from the interview sessions also will be discuss.
Writing Descriptive
Texts
Difficulties:
1. Developing the ideas
2. Organizing the ideas 3. Grammar 4. Lack of vocabulary
5. Spelling
6. Punctuation and capitalization 7. Main idea and supporting sentences
8. Arranging sentences
Strategies:
1. Mind Mapping2. TPS 3. FRESH 4. Guided Questions
5. TTW 6. Media Audio
Chapter Three Methodology
This chapter discusses the method used to gather data that complete this research included the description of the research design, research participants,
research setting, research instrument, data collection method, and data analysis.
Research Design
This study aims to find out the difficulties and the strategies used by
students to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive text at English Education Department UMY. It also investigates the experience of the students
when they learned to write descriptive texts. Based on those objectives above, the researcher used qualitative research design in this study since it encouraged participants to explain their experience. The used of qualitative research design is
supported by Maxwell (2005) by saying that qualitative research questions are suitable for answering questions dealing with: (a) the meaning attributed by
participants to situations, events, behaviors and activities; (b) the influence of
context on participants’ views, action and behaviors; and (c) the processes by
which actions, behaviors, situations and outcomes emerge.
Actually, this study used descriptive qualitative as a method. The researcher used this method to get the detail data related to the difficulties of
students in writing descriptive texts and the strategies used by students to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive texts. The researcher needed to show the data in a description, it means that the use of descriptive qualitative is a
summarization, in everyday terms, of specific events experienced by individuals or groups of individuals (Lambert, 2012).
Research Participants
The participants of this research were students of English Education
Department UMY batch 2015. The reason why the researcher chose batch 2015 was because they were the newest students at English Education Department of UMY. It means that batch 2015 had just learned descriptive texts in Academic
Reading and Writing subject compared to the previous batch who might have forgotten because the previous batch was not learn descriptive texts anymore. It
also made batch 2015 have bigger chance to remember what they have learned in writing descriptive texts.
The researcher took six respondents as the sample. In determining the
number of participants, the researcher used the opinion from Creswell (2012) who stated that one of the characteristics in qualitative research is small sample size
and there is no definite sample size. The researcher might study few individuals even single individual, because it was better to have few individuals to be studied, and it allowed the researcher to explore the information deeply. Based on the
explanation above, the researcher chooses six participants to be interviewed. The samples were taken using purposive sampling. The use of purposive
sampling technique was to determine the participants of this study. The consideration in selection of purposive sampling for this study was based on Creswell (2012) who stated that in purposive sampling, the researchers
phenomenon. Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2011) also stated that in purposive sampling, researcher is hand-pick the cases to be included in the sample. In this
way, they build up a sample that is satisfactory to their specific needs. The selection of six students of EED UMY as the participant was because they have
experience in joining writing class. Creswell (2012) stated that in qualitative research, the researcher can identify the participants and sites on purposive sampling based on people which can best help the researcher to understand the
central phenomenon.
There was one criterion in determining the participants. The criterion for
the participants was students who had a good grade in writing class. The
researcher used this criterion to get much information from participants’
experiences in writing class. So, by having those participants who met the criteria,
the researcher got information which was adequate enough to obtain the data. In choosing the participants, the researcher asked one teacher who taught descriptive
texts about which students who had a good grade in Academic Reaching and Writing. Then, the teacher showed the grade of all students at EED of UMY batch 2015. After that, the teacher told the researcher to choose ten students in every
class; it means that the researcher had 40 name of students since batch 2015 have four class. After that, the researcher chooses one participant started from class A
Research Setting
There were two kinds of research setting. The first kind was setting of
place which explained the place where the researcher conducted the study. The second kind was setting of time which explained when the researcher conducted
the study. This study was conducted at English Education Department UMY. The researcher chose this department since this department was where the researcher was studied. It also made researcher got easy to manage the place and time of
gathering data. English Education Department of UMY also provides materials related to descriptive texts in Academic Reading and Writing subject. The other
reason was the participants have been study descriptive texts in English Education Department of UMY and might cope with different strategies. To gain the data, the researcher conducted the interview on July 2016, start from 13 July until 15
July 2016.
Research Instrument
This study used interview as a data instrument to get the purpose of this study. The researcher used open-ended interview. According to Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2011), open-ended questions are flexible and allow the interviewer
to clear up any misunderstanding. The questions of the interview focused on difficulties of writing descriptive text and strategies used by students’ to overcome
their writing difficulties in descriptive texts. By interview, the researcher gained
information based on the participants’ experiences in writing descriptive text. The
to be used: verbal, non-verbal, spoken and heard (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011).
The interview used Indonesian language in order to made deeper understanding for both participants and researcher. The researcher and
participants used Indonesian language since it is the first language of the researcher and participants. It was easier than use second language when the researcher and the participants explored the information. The interview was
recorded using a voice recorder during the interview process and the recorded interview was transcribed in the original language.
Data Collection Method
To investigate the strategies used by students to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive text at English Education Department of UMY, the
researcher collected the data using interview.
The procedure of the data collection in this study was described in several
steps. Firstly, the researcher began the data collection method by preparing the interview guidelines to gain deeper data. Secondly, the researcher made an appointment to participants of this study, because the researcher needed to recruit
the participants, and then conducted the research by interviews. Participants of this study were recruited by direct invitation or phone invitation to be the
participant in this study. Next, the researcher provided an explanation about this study in the beginning of recruitment, so that participants had sufficient
information to make a decision whether they participated in this study or not.
agreement with the researcher about the schedule of interview. In order to ensure
anonymity, the researcher changed participants’ names into P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and
P6. The participants were informed that their identity will not be mentioned, so that they can give information related to the questions of interview freely and
honestly.
Dealing with the agreement of schedule, the researcher focused on time, place and facilities that were used in the interview process. The length of the
interview in this research was about 5-10 minutes for each participant. After the interview was done, the next step was analyzing the data. Firstly, the researcher
transcribed each interview which was conducted from each participant. According to Creswell (2012), transcription is the process of converting audiotape recording or field notes into text data. Words, phrases, and sentences spoken by participants
will be completely transcribed.
Data Analysis
After the data were collected, the researcher did member checking in order to prove the validity of interview. In member checking, the researcher asked the participants dealing with accuracy of the report. The researcher also asked
participants related to the answers from participants that still confusing or did not answer the research questions. After did member checking, the researcher got
more detailed data that enough to answer the research questions. After got the data from member checking, the researcher asked again related to the accuracy of the report to the participants. The participants did not give any comment in the data
According to Creswell (2012), member checking is process to check the accuracy of the account which the researcher asks one or more participants. Then, the result
of the interview was analyzed using Coding. The data of interview was analyzed using three steps of Coding that were open coding, axial coding, and selective
coding. According to Kerlinger (1970), coding is the translation of question responses and respondent information to specific categories for the purpose of analysis. Open coding can be performed on a line-by-line, phrase-by-phrase,
sentence-by-sentence, or paragraph-by-paragraph (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011). An axial coding refers to causal condition, a phenomenon, context,
intervening conditions, actions and interactions, consequences (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2011) stressed that axial coding connects related codes and subcategories into a larger category of common meaning that is
shared by group of codes in question. According to Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2011), selective coding identifies the core categories of text data, integrating
them to form a theory.
In open coding, the researcher chose the data line by line. The researcher chose the data to generate as many codes as possible that can be put in the axial
coding. In axial coding, the researcher made some categories in table and put the data from open coding that suitable with the categorizes. The data in axial coding
were separated in every participant. It means that one participant was analyzed in one table. In selective coding, the researcher chose the core data of each
Chapter Four Finding and Discussion
This chapter discusses the finding of this study based on the data that have been collected through interview. The data was obtained from six participants
who had been chosen and interviewed at English Education Department of UMY. There are two major findings revealed from this study based on the formulation of
the problem. Firstly, the finding reports the students’ difficulties in writing
descriptive texts at EED of UMY. Secondly, students’ strategies used to overcome
their difficulties in writing descriptive texts at EED of UMY.
Students’ Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Texts at English Education
Department of UMY
After collecting the data, the researcher found that there were nine major
difficulties faced by the students at EED of UMY. Indeed, according to Cahyono (2010), students faced some difficulties in writing descriptive texts. In this
section, the researcher will discuss those difficulties orderly followed by discussion with supporting statements from expert or others’ researchers.
Difficulty in Supporting Sentences. According to Rustipa (2016) supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, quotations, etc. Indeed,
according to Reid (2000), a paragraph is complete when it has all the supporting sentences and it needs to fully explain the topic sentence. It means that when students cannot make the supporting sentences, they did not write a complete
difficulties in writing descriptive texts, participants cannot make the supporting sentences. There are four participants who stated that they faced this difficulty
when they wrote descriptive texts that are P1, P3, P4 and P5. The statements below showed that participant one and participant three faced difficulty in making
supporting sentences: “For example we found main idea, but sometimes we
confused because we cannot write the supporting sentences. To show that is the
main idea” (P1.11).
Participant three was also stated that supporting sentences was the
difficulty in writing descriptive texts. It was proven by statement from participant
three by saying that, “Then, supporting sentences is also the difficulties” (P3.8)
Actually, students had known the topic sentence, but they did not know how to write the supporting sentence. This phenomenon was proven by students
who said that, “For example, I have a topic and I have to describe it. Sometimes I
faced difficulty to describe that idea” (P5.4).
From the findings of this research, the students at English Education Department of UMY faced difficuties in writing the supporting sentences in descriptive texts. Supporting sentences was considered as one of difficulties faced
by participants three in writing descriptive texts. Participant one and participant five also stated that they they did not know how to write supporting sentences
although they had the main idea. Those participants were get stuck when writing descriptive texts because of the difficulty in making supporting sentences.
(2013) stated that the students do not have many concepts to write something. This phenomenon had been found in this research, there are three participants who
stated that they faced difficulty in developing ideas when writing descriptive texts. This research found that developing ideas was difficult for those participants
although they know the objects that should be described. The first participant was participant one, it can be seen in the statement below:
“Ee…For example, we have an idea, but... For example, I want to write
about something, for example, animal, about lion, but we faced some
difficulties to... Where the ideas should be brought? That is it” (P1.9)
The second participant who stated that developing ideas is difficult was participant two. It can be seen in the statement from participant two who stated
that, “actually, because of writing is one of my weaknesses, it might be
developing ideas” (P2.5)
The third participant who faced similar difficulty was participant four.
Participant four cannot develop the ideas that makes the sentences become limited. It can be seen in the statement below:
“Sometimes we ee… stop, do not have any ideas. For example, we have to
describe ee… a fan for example, there is a difficulty if we cannot develop
the ideas, and it makes the sentences become limited” (P4.6)
For those statements above, the difficulty in developing ideas was one of
factors that affected the students’ writing, especially in writing descriptive texts.
The difficulty of developing ideas can be affected by some factors. Levine (1987)
difficulty of developing ideas. Levine added that an attention problem can manifest itself as difficulty getting started on writing assignments, easy
distractibility during writing tasks, mental fatigue or tiredness while writing, inconsistent legibility in writing, uneven writing tempo, many careless errors,
poorly planned papers and reports.
Difficulty in Writing Main Idea. The third difficulties in writing
descriptive texts was main idea. According to Smith and Morris (2004), the main
idea of a passage is the core of the material, the particular point the author is trying to convey. Related to the difficulty in making the main idea, this research
found that there are two participants stated that they cannot make the main idea in writing descriptive texts. The first participant was participant one, it can be seen in the statement below:
“For example I have an assignment to describe about tourism place, for
example, Temple. Sometimes I feel confuse to search what should be
described first, what will be the main idea of my descriptive texts” (P1.10) Another participant who faced similar difficulty was participant five. It can be seen in the statement below:
“Probably it was confused when I want to write an important sentences but
I wrote a bad sentences. So, after I read again, I did not know the main
idea of my description was about what. What is the main idea of my texts”
(P5.5)
From those statements above, it can be seen that those two participants
since the main idea is one of important part of the texts, including descriptive texts. Participant one stated that he knew the object that should be describe, but he
feel confused to write the main idea when writing descriptive texts. Participant five stated that he wrote a bad sentences and did not know the main idea of his
written texts although he already wrote a description about something.
Difficulty in Grammar. The fifth difficulty found in this research was grammar. This difficulty of grammar faced by participant one and participant
three in writing descriptive texts. It proven by statements from both participants below:
“In the beginning of the semester, usually the difficulty was about
grammar. Ee… differentiate the grammar, even sometimes grammar is still
difficult now” (P1.12)
“Yes, it might be still in the beginning of semester, grammar was also
difficult” (P2.8)
“Probably because it was in the beginning of the semester, grammar was
also difficult. Since grammar in English should be correct, that is the
point” (P3.5)
Grammar is considered as the difficulty in writing descriptive texts. It can be seen in the statements from participant one and participant three. It is line with
participant three stated that they faced difficulty in grammar at the beginning of the semester.
Difficulty in Sentence Arrangement. This research found that
arrangement was also one of students’ difficulties in writing descriptive texts at
EED of UMY. The difficulty of arrangement is related to arranging sentences and sequencing the sentences. Writing is an activity that produces something from mind become a meaningful text of the sentence. Students can make a good writing
by arranged sequence sentence (Ali, 2014). The difficulty of arrangement was expressed by participant two, participant three and participant four by saying:
“Arrange the sentences are confusing, to make it look stuctured, not
confusing, in order that the sentences are structured” (P2.12)
“Ee… It might be this… like what isit… arranging those sentences”
(P3.4)
“The other difficulty is arranging sentences, sometimes the sentences
sound like ee… how is it, and it doesn’t have a good arrangement. So, the
sentences are too short” (P4.8)
Another difficulty related to arrangement was choosing which sentence
that should be written first. It was proven by statements from participant two by
saying, “…or sequencing which sentences should I write first. That is my
problem” (P2.6). Another participant who said the same statement was participant
three by saying, “besides, it probably is sequencing the sentences. Which sentence
From the statements above, the researcher found that arranging good sentences was difficult for the participants. The difficulty in arrangement was
considered as a serious problem for those participants in writing descriptive texts. Participant two and participant three also faced difficulty in putting down the
sentences. Those participants did not know which sentences should be written first and next.
Lack of Vocabulary. This researh found that the fourth difficultiy in writing descriptive texts was lack of vocabulary. Lack of vocabulary was faced by participant six in writing descriptive texts. It proven by statement from participant
six who stated that, “Then, my vocabulary is limited.” (P6.6)
From the statement of participant six, it can be seen that vocabulary was the difficulty in writing descriptive texts. It is line with Wardani, Basri, & Waris
(2014) who mentioned the difficulty in writing descriptive texts by saying that
students’ problem is lack of vocabulary, it is difficult for them to build and
develop their ideas.
Lack of Sources. The sixth difficulty found in this research was lack of sources. Harvey (2008) stated the importance of sources by saying that a source
usually provides a paper that provides factual data to interpret and use as evidence or ideas about data to build upon or dissent form. From the statement above, it can
be said that the use of sources is an important thing as the tools to gain more ideas. It was proven by participant two by saying that:
“How it is, for example I want to write a descriptive text about Panda, it
foods. If I write it in a computer, it will not fully fill a sheet of paper. Sometimes I searched it in the internet about Panda, and I just found the
same explanation. (P2.7)
Another participant who lack of sources was participant three. This
participant also used internet as the source in writing descriptive texts and faced similar problem as participant two that is the contents in the internet are same. It can be seen in the statement below:
“I feel confused, what should I write again. Sometimes if I have an
assignment, my friends’ has a lot of words in, but mine is so little. So,
finally I open Google as the source to write descriptive texts about one object for example, but the contents are mostly same between one blog and
the other blogs.” (P3.6)
From those statements above, it can be concluded that participant two and participant three need more sources to gain more ideas in writing descriptive texts.
Participant two and participant three stated that they used internet as the source when they already had no ideas when they wrote descriptive texts. Those
participants were also stated that when they describe something, they cannot write
a various sentences since the data that they get from internet was similar. Difficulty in Coherent and Cohesion. Coherence means “to stick
together”. Indeed, a paragraph is coherent if parts of the paragraph are unified, i.e.
when all the supporting sentences relate to the topic sentence and the paragraph seems logical to the reader (Reid, 2000). Coherence and cohesion were the
participant four by saying that “The factors related to the use of coherence and cohesion. Connecting one sentence to the other sentences, one paragraph to the
other paragraph” (P4.15)
The last participant was participant six who did not know how to made a
good sentences or a paragraph. It can be seen in the statement by participant six
who stated that, “Ee.. For the other difficulties, what is it, probably the writing
itself, in making a good sentences or paragraph.” (P6.7)
Coherence and cohesion are the difficulties that faced by students’ in writing descriptive texts. It is line with Septiana (2011) who found the types of
error that occur in writing descriptive texts that are spelling errors and punctuation errors, lexical errors, grammar errors and discourse errors consist of coherence error and cohesion error. Based on statement from the participant, he faced
difficulty in making a good connection between sentences and paragraph in writing descriptive texts. Septiana added that the students arranged the sentences
into ineffective order, they does not give new information about their written but repeats the same information.
Difficulty in Diction. This researh found that one of the causal problems from being stuck in writing was the students did not know dealing with the
diction. This difficulty had been found from participant six who stated that she did
“It probably because of I am not good enough in choosing the words so I
think it is difficult to express it into sentences. It does not seem like a
sentence because of the sentences is too short” (P6.8)
From the statement above, the researcher found that participant six did not
well enough in making long sentences. Participant six faced the difficulty in the diction when writing descriptive texts. Participant six was also stated the causal factors that affected the diction. It can be seen in the statement below:
“I am not sure. If I had writing a sentence, sometimes I deleted again since
not sure if it was good or not” (P6.14)
“Because I did not know how to make a good paragraph, so I am not sure
to write it. So, it just endured in my mind” (P6.15).
The difficulty in writing descriptive texts can be affected by the diction,
especially in choosing the words. It was proven by Husna, Zainil, & Rozimela (2013) who stated that some students were still in doubt with choosing the correct
words while composing descriptive text.
To conclude, from those participants’ statements, this study found that the
students faced difficulties in writing descriptive texts. This study found nine
difficulties faced by students at English Education Department of UMY. It was proven by the data obtained, this study found that supporting sentences,
Students’ strategies to reinforce their skill in writing descriptive texts at EED
of UMY
This research found four strategies used by six participants to overcome their difficulties in writing descriptive texts at EED of UMY. The strategies that
were used by participants were mind mapping, analyzing examples, observing
pictures and using songs’ lyrics.
Using Mind mapping. Mind Maps were popularized by an author and consultant, Tony Buzan in 1970. Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate
out from the centre (Riswanto & Putra, 2012). This research found that mind mapping is one of strategy used by all participants. The first participant who used mind mapping strategy in writing descriptive texts is participant one. Participant
one stated, “How much is it? I thought…wait… I thought there was a strategy,
related to… what is it… Mapping, mapping. mind, mind mapping, right?” (P1.13)
The second participant also stated that the participant used Mind Mapping in writing descriptive texts. Participant two used Mind mapping because the participant has learned Mind Mapping in writing class. The second participant
stated, “Probably the teacher taught me to write the texts using... ee… Mind
mapping, I think that is the name” (P2.9)
The next participant who used mind mapping was the participant three and participant four. Participant three stated “Ee… This is what it is. Ee… Mind
Another participant who used similar strategy in writing descriptive texts is participant four. It can be seen in the statement below:
“Strategy? For the strategy itself, probably ee the teacher showed us for
example if we wanted to describe something we can write the points first,
dealing with what to be described. After that we develop into sentence
until become a paragraph” (P4.9)
When the researcher asked participant four related to the name of the
strategy, participant four stated “I think it is mind mapping, the teacher explain the
strategy clearly” (P4.10)
Another participant who used similar strategy as participant four is participant five. Participant five stated “I did not write a full paragraph but from the object that should be described, then points of the object, after that I write the
sentences” (P5.7)
The next participant who used mind mapping to overcome the difficulties
in writing descriptive texts was participant six. This participant stated, “after
observing the object, I write the points and develop it” (P6.8). Participant six
stated that the using points on the object that will be described was Mind
Mapping. The participant stated “I think it was called mind mapping.” (P6.12)
Participant five used brainstorming in writing descriptive texts to
overcome the difficulties in writing descriptive texts. According to Jarwan (2005), brainstorming means the use of brain to the active problem solving and the
brainstorming session aims to develop creative solutions to problems. This
