Improving students' writing ability through clustering technique (A classroom action research in the second year of SMP al-hasra Bojongsari- Depok)

(1)

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING

ABILITY

THROUGH CLUSTERING TECHNIQUE

(A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok)

By:

Tita Nurul Fajriyani

106014000442

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHE

RS’ TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

i

ABSTRACT

Fajriyani, Tita Nurul, 2011. Improving Students’ Writing Ability through

Clustering Technique (A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok), Skripsi, English Education Department, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.

Advisor: Dr. Fahriany, M.Pd

Key words: Students’ Writing Ability, Clustering Technique

This study was carried out to improve the students’ writing ability through Clustering Technique in the second year of SMP Al-Hasra academic year 2010-2011. The subjects of this study were consisted of 31 students.

The method used in this study was Classroom Action Research (CAR). The classroom action research design applied in this study was a collaborative classroom action research. It meant that the writer collaborated with the English teacher of SMP Al-Hasra as an observer and collaborator. This study was conducted following Kurt Lewin model with the following procedures of the action research: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The study was carried out in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of two meetings. The data were gathered in this study through interview, field notes, questionnaire, and test.

(6)

ii

Fajriyani, Tita Nurul, 2011. Improving Students’ Writing Ability through

Clustering Technique (A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok), Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Pembimbing: Dr. Fahriyani, M.Pd

Key Words: Kemampuan Menulis Siswa, Teknik Clustering

Penelitian ini dilaksanakan untuk memperbaiki kemampuan menulis siswa dengan menggunakan Teknik Clustering di kelas (8-3) SMP Al-Hasra tahun ajaran 2010/2011. Subyek penelitian ini berjumlah 31 siswa.

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas (PTK). Desain penelitian tindakan kelas yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu penelitian tindakan kelas kolaboratif. Penulis bekerjasama dengan guru bahasa Inggris dari SMP Al-Hasra sebagai pengamat dan kolaborator. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan mengikuti model Kurt Lewin dengan prosedur penelitian tindakan yaitu perencanaan, pelaksanaan, pengamatan, dan refleksi. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan dalam dua siklus. Setiap siklus terdiri dari dua kali pertemuan. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan instrument: wawancara, catatan lapangan, angket, dan tes.

(7)

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Praised be to Allah, Lord of the world, who has given the writer His Mercies, Blesses and permission to accomplish this “Skripsi”. Peace and salutation be upon to the prophet Muhammad, his family, his companion, and his followers.

The great expression of her gratitude is addressed to her beloved parents (Bpk. H. Deny Sumitra and Ibu Hj. Siti Nursyamsiah), her beloved parents in law (Bpk. Drs. H. Abd. Razak Bachtiar, SH, MH and Ibu Hj. Neneng Mus’idah), her beloved husband, Faisal Luthfi, SE,Ak, her sister, Irma Rahmawati, SE, her brother Rahadian Habiby, SEI for their love, kindness, and support that makes the writer motivated in completing this “Skripsi” which will be presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training in a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of S.Pd in English Language Education.

Then, the writer would like to express her great appreciation to Dr. Fahriany, M.Pd, her advisor, for her valuable guidance, motivation, and advice throughout the “Skripsi” writing process.

The writer would also like to express her gratitude to:

1. Prof. Dr. Dede Rosyada, M.A. as the Dean of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.

2. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd, as the head of English Education Department. 3. Neneng Sunengsih, M.Pd, as the Secretary of English Education

Department.

(8)

iv

6. Hartika Herdiningtyas, S.Pd as the English Teacher of SMP Al-Hasra who has given guiding, advice, and support during conducting the research.

7. All friends in English Department 2006 especially in C-class and her close friends, Ridhatul Dewifartina, Rosdiana, and Nia Mariana for sharing, helps, cheerfulness, and support.

The writer realizes that this “Skripsi” is far from being perfect. Therefore, the writer expects some suggestions and critiques for this “Skripsi”. At last, the writer hopes that this “Skripsi” will give adventages for all.

Jakarta, April 2011

(9)

v

LIST OF FIGURE

Page

Figure 2.1 Example of Clustering Technique ... 15

Figure 3.1 Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Design ... 19

Figure 3.2 Researchers’ Design ... 20

(14)

x

Page

Appendix 1 Interview for the English Teacher in the Preliminary Study ... 47

Appendix 2 The result of Interview in the Preliminary Study ... 48

Appendix 3 Interview for the English Teacher in the last Classroom Action Research ... 51

Appendix 4 The result of interview after Classroom Action Research ... 52

Appendix 5 Questionnaire for students in the Preliminary Study ... 56

Appendix 6 The result of Questionnaire in the Preliminary Study ... 57

Appendix 7 Questionnaire for students in the Last Classroom Action Research ... 58

Appendix 8 The result of Questionnaire for students in the Last Classroom Action Research ... 59

Appendix 9 Students’ Writing Scores in the Preliminary Study ... 60

Appendix 10 The Sample of Students’ Writing Paragraph in the Preliminary Study ... 62

Appendix 11 The Students’ Writing Score in the First Cycle ... 63

Appendix 12 The Sample of Students’ Writing Paragraph in the First Cycle .. 65

Appendix 13 The Students’ Writing Score in the Second Cycle ... 66

Appendix 14 The Sample of Students’ Writing Paragraph in the Second Cycle ... 68

Appendix 15 Field Notes in the First Cycle ... 69

Appendix 16 Field Notes in the Second Cycle ... 71

Appendix 17 Lesson Plan of the First Cycle ... 73

(15)

1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Language is an important tool to communicate. To communicate means to understand, to express many ideas, and also to develop culture between speakers and listeners or writers and readers. Language is more than just communication tool; it is the primary method by which we do things together by share meaning of common ground. People need to communicate in doing daily activities and making an interaction to other people in their life. One of the popular languages used is English.

(16)

not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.1

Studying English as a foreign language is gradually getting more

English is one of a compulsory subject in Indonesia.3 One of the aims of teaching English is developing the ability to communicate. The ability involves the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The writer is mainly focused on writing skill, because writing is considered the most difficult and complicated language skill to be learned. Writing needs hard thinking to produce idea, words, sentences, paragraph, and composition.

Writing is one of the important skills to be mastered by the students. They use it to communicate to each other, as means of ideas and emotional expression, because when they write their ideas and emotion creatively, they are communicating on paper in their very best way and purposes.

Based on Competency Standard- Standar Kompetensi (SK) and Basic Competency- Kompetensi Dasar (KD), the second year students are expected to be able to express meaningful ideas in term of functional text and simple

Depdiknas, Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional, No 22 tentang Kerangka Dasar dan Struktur Kurikulum Bahasa Inggris SMP dan MTS, (Jakarta: 2003), p. 11.

3

Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan RI, Keputusan Menteri: No. 096/U/1967 tentang Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris di Indonesia

4

(17)

3

text types, usually known as genres, which are closely related to the purpose of each type. There must be a convergence between English teaching and learning. Therefore, efforts to develop students writing skills in English, is not only one of the important objectives of English teaching, but also to adapt to the needs of examination.

Based on the writer’s experience, the most difficult skill to be learned is writing. The writer has observed during Praktik Profesi Keguruan Terpadu

(PPKT) activity at SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok, there are some difficulties faced by students of 8-3 class at the first semester 2010/2011 academic year in writing class, there are: first is they do not have idea to write. Second, they still confused in organizing the writing. Third, they often do some mistakes with the lack of knowledge in vocabularies.

These problems can be influenced by some factors. The writer assumed based on the writer’s experience during during Praktik Profesi Keguruan Terpadu (PPKT) activity, these problems appear caused by method or technique in teaching writing, because some teachers taught writing just gave explanation and exercises. It makes students less comprehended, less interest in writing, and makes students bored. These problems are important to be solved, therefore students get more comprehension in material of writing, students think that writing is an interesting skill, and can continue English material in the next semester.

To help students’ solved these problems, it needs another technique more interesting in teaching writing. There are a lot of techniques in teaching writing. The writer would like to propose a technique which is “Clustering Technique”.

Clustering is uncensored brainstorming combined with doodling.5 Clustering produces an overview of a subject, suggests specific topics, and

5

(18)

yields related details.6 Based on definition above, the writer summarize that clustering is making visual map to produce a topic related to each other. Clustering technique will stimulus students’ ideas, also they can make a good paragraph in every types of writing.

Based on the problems discussed previously, the writer takes a title of this “Skripsi” “Improving Student’s writing Ability through Clustering

Technique” (A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of SMP

Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok). B. Objectives of the Study

According to background of the study above, the objectives of the study are as follow: to improve student’s writing ability through clustering technique and to know how clustering can improve student’s writing ability.

C. The Limitation and Formulation of the Problem 1. The Limitation of the Problem

To make it deeper the problems will be limited in the implementation of using clustering technique in teaching writing through Clustering technique in the second year of 8-3 class of SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok, and the student’s improvement in learning writing through clustering technique.

2. The Formulation of the Problem

In line with the background of the study, the writer formulates the research question as follows: “Can clustering technique improve student’s writing ability in second year of 8-3 class of SMP Al-Hasra Bojongsari-Depok?”

6

(19)

5

D. Significance of the Study

The results of this study are expected to provide useful information for: First, for students, will give an input to the students, so they can improve their writing ability. Second, for English Teachers, it gives the alternative solution in teaching writing skill. Third, for institution of SMP Al-Hasra, it can be beneficial regarding to improve the education quality.

E. Organization of the Writing

This “Skripsi” consists of five chapters. Beginning from Chapter One is about Introduction of the problem which consists of background of the study, scope and limitation of the problem, method of the study, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and the organization of writing.

Chapter two is about Theoretical Framework which consists of three subs; the first is writing, consist of the definition of writing, the writing process, kinds of writing, and purposes of writing. The second is clustering technique; consist of definition of clustering, definition of technique, and the application of technique. The third is relevant previous study.

Chapter three is about Research Methodology which consists of research design, place and time of the research, research instrument, data and sources of data, technique of collecting data, and technique of data analysis.

Chapter four is about Research Findings which consists of description of data, analysis of data, and interpretation of data.

(20)

6

CHAPTER II

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Writing

1. The General Concept of Writing

Writing is one of the most significant cultural accomplishments of human being. It allows us to record and convey information and stories beyond the immediate moment.1 Writing allows us to communicate at a distance, either at a distant place or at distant time.

There are a lot of definitions stated by experts; Raymond states one of them, he defined that writing is more than a medium of communication.2 It means that writing is not just the way to communicate to each other but also as means of ideas and emotional expression. Writing makes word permanent, and thus expands the collective memory of human

1

Henry Rogers. Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing: 2005), p. 1

2

(21)

7

beings from the relatively small store that we can remember and pass on orally to the infinite capacity of a modern library.3

Writing is also a way of finding out what people know and what people need to learn.4 Spoken words disappear as soon as they are spoken, but writing freezes their thoughts, makes them visible and permanent so people can examine and test their quality.5 It can be seen that writing is a way of remembering because it makes word permanent and writing also is a good way to communicate because when writing, the writer really thinks about what he or she want to be communicated by writing it. That is a way of keeping themselves honest because writing is a way of arguing with them.6

Writing is a process of discovering and shaping meaning.7 Experienced writers rarely gather and understand immediately all the information they need.8 From the definitions above, writing needs a process which must be surpassed by the writer. And writing is tools of human beings to share information or stories to others because someone can read it by several times.

Writing is not only just talking about the post, but also the process of writing that would make a lot of writing that makes people interested. The essential writing will need a long process from the planning, drafting, writing, and revising.9 This process can be done by anyone, especially students. The stages of writing process is to help students in learning writing, so if they have already followed the writing process they will be able to acquire this skill easily and be able to make a good writing.

(22)

2. The Purposes of Writing

When someone writes something, he or she has purposes for writing. Each writer has his own purpose, in accordance with the text of which was planning to write. In addition, based on Competency Standard-

Standar Kompetensi (SK) and Basic Competency- Kompetensi Dasar persuade, and writing to amuse others.11 First, writing to inform purposed to educate the readers about a topic of which we have some knowledge.12 Writing that provides interesting details and facts to hold an audience’s attention. It means that writers share interest knowledge to readers knows. Second, writing to explain is to describe the topic which was not clearly becomes more understandable, by using examples or other facts.13 In other words, a writer takes what is unclear and makes it clear. Then, writing to persuade is more demanding and more ambitious than many other types of writing.14 It means that writers convince the readers to accept the ideas. The last, writing to amuse other means someone who uses language and established forms well to express his or her point of view.15 It is writing to entertain and give the reader something to enjoy.

10

Depdiknas, Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan(School Based Curriculum) Standar Isi Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris SMP dan MTS , (Jakarta: 2006)

11George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources: A Guide for ESL Students, (California: Mayfield, 1996), p. 141.

12 George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources…, p. 141

13George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources…, p. 141

14George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources…, p. 141

(23)

9

When people are going to write may think that the purpose of writing a paper is to complete the assignment or to get a good grade.16 However, these purposes don’t tell someone what to do in their paper. They might try asking themselves brief questions to increase the flow of purposes: What do I want to tell the readers? Why am I writing this? What do I hope to accomplish? Who will read this?17

3. The Process of Writing

Writing process is learning how to write by writing. This current emphasis in writing instruction focuses on the process of creating writing rather than the end product. The basic premise of process writing is that all children, regardless of age, can write. The initial focus is on creating quality content and learning the genres of writing. Langan stated that writing is a process that involves the following steps:

1. Discovering a point-often through prewriting

2. Developing solid support for the point-often through more prewriting

3. Organizing the supporting material and writing it out in a first draft

4. Revising and then editing carefully to ensure an effective, error-free paper.

Learning this sequence will give you confidence when the time comes to write. You will know that you can use prewriting as a way to think on paper and to gradually discover just what ideas you want to develop. You will understand that there are four clear-cut goals-unity, support, organization, and error-free sentences to aim for in your writing. You will realize that you can use revision to rework a paper until it is a strong and effective piece of writing. And you will be able to edit a paper so that your sentences are clear and error-free.18

16

George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources: A Guide for ESL Students, (California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996), p.23.

17

George Braine and Claire May, Writing from Sources: A Guide for ESL Students…,

p.23.

18

(24)

Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process, is a time of discover you unearth ideas.19 In other words, prewriting is any activity designed to help students generate or organize their ideas before writing. The prewriting methods discussed thus far are designed to get you started: to generate ideas, to recall facts and anecdotes, to realize patterns.20 However, these activities are preliminary before write a draft; need to establish a structure for an essay. It also help writer to generate ideas and allows the writer to see the connections among those ideas. Second step is drafting. Drafting is making draft of the goal to state main idea clearly and develop the content with plenty of specific details.21 In addition, an essay gets stronger as the drafting process continues. As the essay evolves and develops, the writer also gets more and more invested in the process and its outcome.22 No one is able to write a perfect first draft, even people who tend to write very strong first draft essays realize the need for revision and redrafting. Then, revising is rewriting a paper, building upon what has already been done, in order to make it stronger.23 The last step is editing. Editing is the stage where the students are engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare the final draft for evaluation by checking a paper for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling.24

4. The Problems of Writing

Writing is not easy. An experienced writer will often labor over a single paragraph for more than an hour-not counting the thought and

19

Betty Mattix Dietsch, Reasoning & Writing Well, (Ohio: McGraw Hill, 2003), p.25.

20

Donald Pharr and Santi Buscemi, Writing Today: contexts and options for the real world-Brief Edition, (New York, McGraw Hill companies, Inc, 2005), p.40.

21

Donald Pharr and Santi Buscemi, Writing Today…, p. 43.

22

Donald Pharr and Santi Buscemi, Writing Today…, p. 43.

23

John Langan, English Skill: Eight Edition…, p.29.

(25)

11

research that went on before the actual writing.25 Therefore, many problems faced by teachers and students.

The first problem is “the less proficient writer” problem.26

Less proficient writers jump the process of writing by skip the prewriting strategies to generate ideas. Students might take much time to write down their ideas. The suggestion for this problem is teacher should teach less proficient writers the writing process. Teachers also need to give full attention to them, to show them how to plan a piece of writing through prewriting activities.27 The second problem is “I can’t write English” problem.28 Students usually give up toward writing and believe that they cannot write. The solution is teachers should apply the writing process to the students. Teachers can lead students through prewriting, drafting, and revising activities. By doing this, students can see that writing is indeed a process of development that takes time and effort.29 The last problem is “teacher response” problem. Writing teachers often spend many hours reading and marking students’ papers.30

The suggestion for this problem is teachers can work with students on developing their written work through student-to-student conferences.31

B. Clustering Technique 1. Definition of Technique

The term technique is commonly used in teaching learning process.32 It is often misunderstood with two others term, they are approach and method. Therefore, it is important to give clear description of those terms to avoid misunderstanding.

25

James C Raymond. Writing is Unnatural Act. (New York: The Murray Printing Company: 1980), p. 7.

26

Jerry G. Gebhard, Teaching English as a Foreign or second Language (2nd Edition),

(United State of America: The University of Michigan, 2006), p. 223.

27

Jerry G. Gebhard, Teaching English as a Foreign or second Language …, p. 224.

28

29

30

31

Jerry G. Gebhard, Teaching English as a Foreign or second Language (2ndEdition)…,

p. 226

32

(26)

There are three levels of conceptualization and organization; approach, method, and technique.33 An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning.34 It can be seen that an approach is the basic concept behind the method of representing teaching and learning of language with certain theoretical. While method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language materials, no part of which contradicts, and all of which is based upon the selected approach.35 It means that method is a procedure or steps and the way that will be used by teachers in the achievement of learning objectives. Technique is method of doing something expertly or needs skill.36 In addition, a technique is implementation that which actually takes place in a classroom.37 Referring to the idea above, clustering is one of techniques in teaching writing because it is a teacher’s strategy which is applied in the classroom.

2. The Definition of Clustering Technique

When people are going to write rely heavily to find out what they know about a topic. The first stage of writing process is prewriting. Prewriting can helps to generate a topic. One of strategies which can be used in teaching writing in the classroom is clustering technique.

33

Jack C. Richards and Theodore S.Rodgers, Approaches and methods in Language Teaching…, p. 15

34

Jack C. Richards and Theodore S.Rodgers, Approaches and methods in Language Teaching …, p. 15

35

Jack C. Richards and Theodore S.Rodgers, Approaches and methods in Language Teaching …, p. 15

36

A. S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Current English, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 425

37

(27)

13

Cooper and Axelrod viewed that clustering is an invention activity which reveals possible relations among facts and ideas.38 It means that clustering is a creative activity, because when creating a clustering people tries to find things related to the topic. Clustering requires a brief period of initial planning.39 Based on that definition, clustering is activity before writing a text by making a note in advance about the ideas that are owned and relevance of the fact that the text will be written.

Clustering is another effective method you could use to narrow a subject. To cluster, write the subject in the middle of a blank sheet of paper and draw a circle around it.40 Because through clustering technique, a writer could be easily to give an idea of what will be written especially helpful for visual learners. In a cluster diagram the central events or components of an essay are presented visually, more detailed events branch off the main events to provide a visual overview of the entire.

As Langan said that clustering also known as diagramming or mapping, is another strategy that can be used to generate material for a paper.41 This method is helpful for people to think in a visual way.42 In addition clustering is another strategy that can be used to generate material for a paper.

Clustering is uncensored brainstorming combined with doodling.43 Clustering produces an overview of a subject, suggests specific topics, and yields related details.44 The writer summarizes that clustering is making a visual map or new associations that allows thinking more creatively and to

38

Charles R. Cooper., and Rise B. Axelrod, Guide To Writing, (New York: St. Martin’s Inc, 1985), p. 461.

39

Charles R. Cooper., and Rise B. Axelrod, Guide To Writing…, p. 461.

40

George Braine., and Claire May, Writing from Sources, (Mountain view: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996), p. 21.

41

John Langan, English Skills Seventh Edition, (New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2001), p. 22.

42

John Langan, English Skills Seventh Edition …, p. 22.

43

Betty Mattix Dietsch. Reasoning & WritingWell. (Ohio: McGraw-Hill., 2003), p. 26.

44

(28)

begin without clear ideas. Clustering can be useful for any kind of writing. Writers use it in the early stages of planning an essay in order to find subtopic in a topic of to organize information. They may try and discard several clusters before finding one that is promising. Writers also use clustering to plan brief sections of an essay as they are drafting.

3. The Step of Using Clustering

Clustering can be useful for any kind of writing. Writers use it in the early stages of planning an essay in order to find subtopics in a topic or to organize information. They may try and discard several clusters before finding one that is promising. Clustering works as follows:

1. In a word or phrase, write your topic in the center of a piece of paper. Circle it.

2. Also in a word or phrase, write down the main parts or central ideas of your topic. Circle these, and connect them to the topic in the center.

3. The next step is to generate facts, details, examples, or ideas related in any way to these main parts of the topic. Cluster these around the main parts.45

45

(29)

15

Figure 2.1

Example of Clustering Technique46

4. Teaching Writing Using Clustering Technique

The followings are steps in teaching writing using clustering technique:

Step 1: Introduce the concept of clustering technique to students. Tell them that clustering technique would help them in generate ideas when they started to write.

46

Rise B. Axelord and Charles Cooper, Guide to Writing…, p. 462. TOPIC

Sub Topic

Example

Detail

Example Example

Fact

Detail Fact

Example Example

(30)

Step 2: Leading students to generate ideas in form clustering technique on the whiteboard as a model. Put the topic in the center by using box or other shapes to make it more interesting, and put keywords related to the topic by using lines or arrows. Students don’t have to worry in generating ideas; it is free for them to organize their ideas as long as related to the topic given.

Step 3: Ask students to write the first draft based on the design of clustering technique samples that have been made on the whiteboard to know that students have easy when started to write by using clustering technique.

(31)

17

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. The Design of The Study

The design used in this study is Classroom Action Research (CAR). Action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counselors, or other stakeholders in the teaching/learning environment to gather information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn.1 It means that CAR is aimed to overcome problems in teaching-learning process in order to improve educational practice.

According to Kember who stated that action research has several major characteristics; (1) action research is concerned with social practice which it involves direct interaction of teacher and group of students (2) action research is aimed towards improvement (3) action research is a cyclical process which involves some phases of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting (4) action research is pursued by systematic inquiry (5) action

1

(32)

research is participative.2 From those statements, Classroom Action Research is a problem-based research which its aims are to solve the problems that arise in the class and to make an improvement in teaching learning activity through cyclical process which involves some phases of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. In addition, action research is portrayed as a cyclical process involving steps of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, it is normal for a project to go through two or more cycles in an iterative process.3

The research design of CAR in this study is a collaborative classroom action research. It means the researcher collaborates with the English teacher of SMP Al-Hasra. In carried out the study, the researcher’s role is as an English teacher who teachs writing through clustering technique to the students. While, the real English teacher’s role is as an observer, who is observe teaching learning activities during the writing learning process. The real English teacher not only as an observer but also as an collaborator who help the researcher designing lesson plan, giving assessment, and analyzed data.

B. Setting and Subject of the Study

This study is conducted at SMP Al-Hasra. The school is located at Jl. Raya Ciputat Parung No. 24 Bojongsari, district of Depok – Jawa Barat Province. This school is chosen as the field of the study based on the writer has teaching learning experience during teaching practice- Praktek Profesi Keguruaan Terpadu (PPKT) for 4 months, therefore she knows the condition of this school, and she can identify the problems faced by students in learning writing. After identifying the problems, she suggests to apply suitable technique to improve students’ ability in writing for better quality of the school as well qualified students. The writer selects the second year of

2

David Kember, Action Learning and Action Research, (London: Kogan Page Ltd, 2000), pp. 24-28

3

(33)

19

8-3 Class which consists of 31 students in the 2010-2011 academic years as the subjects of the study.

C. The Procedure of the Study

The writer uses the classroom action research procedure based on Kurt Lewin’s design. It consists of two cycle in which each cycle contains four phases; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.

CYCLE 1

CYCLE 2

Figure 3.1

Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Design4

4

Wijaya Kusumah dan Dedi Dwitagama, Mengenal Penelitian Tindakan Kelas, (Jakarta: PT. Indeks, 2009), p. 44.

Acting

Planning

Acting

Observing

Reflecting

Planning

(34)

The Classroom Action Research using Lewin’s design consists of four phases; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting within one cycle.5 If the first cycle finished but still found any problem, it is necessary to continue to the second cycle with the same concept of the first cycle. Those are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. In addition, before entering the cycle of classroom action research, the writer conducts the preliminary study. According to Mills preliminary information gathering is taking time to reflect on your own beliefs and to understand the nature and context of your general idea.6 It is aimed to gain data about problems faced by teacher and students in teaching-learning activities and needed to be solved. The researcher observed the class; it was conducted on October 10-11, 2010 to the students in second year of 8-3 Class. Beside, the researcher conducted interview to the English teacher in terms of the techniques and activities employed in teaching writing and giving questionnaire to the students in terms of learning English.

Continue to the next page

5

Wijaya Kusumah dan Dedi Dwitagama, Mengenal Penelitian Tindakan Kelas…, p. 44.

6

Geoffrey E. Mills, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher. (2nd ed), (New Jersey: Merril Prentice Hall, 2003), p. 26.

Preliminary Study

Interviewing the English teacher, giving questionnaire and pretest to the students, in the second year of SMP Al-Hasra.

Planning

1. Designing lesson plan. 2. Preparing the model of Clustering technique 3. Preparing the materials and

media.

4. Setting the criteria of success.

Acting

1. Analyzing the collected data 2. There must be more efforts to

improve students’ writing ability through Clustering Technique 3. Continue to the next cycle

(35)

21

Figure 3.2:

Researchers’ Design

The Classroom Action Research Procedure Adapted from Kurt Lewin

After the preliminary study was conducted, the researcher begins the research covering some phases: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. 1. Planning Phase

In this phase, the writer and the collaborator make some planning based on the finding of preliminary study. The following activities in this action planning are designing lesson plan, preparing the model of Clustering technique, preparing materials and media, and determining criteria of success.

The organized planning will be formed into lesson planning based on the current used syllabus. Lesson plan provide the teacher with the guideline of teaching and learning activities. It mentions the following items: specific instructional objectives, the instructional materials and media, procedure of presentation, and procedure of assessment.

Then, preparing the model of Clustering Technique; the writer and collaborator are using shapes and branches as a model of clustering

2. Preparing the model of Clustering technique

3. Preparing the materials and media.

Reflecting

1. Analyzing the collected data 2. Every action in cycle 2 was

accomplished well.

3. The Classroom Action Research is success and the cycle is stopped.

(36)

technique. It is an activity to generate the ideas on the shapes. It is conducted by students based on the topic given to them and then they put their ideas into Clustering Technique. The students write the topic in the center of a piece of paper, also write down the main parts or central ideas of topic, next step is to generate facts, details, examples, or ideas related in any way to these main parts of the topic.

Next step is preparation of materials and media. Based on results teacher interviewed before classroom action research and the current used syllabus, the writer used recount text as material. Including personal recount, and procedural recount, taken from English text books for the eighth grade students of junior high school, English on Sky written by the English Team, published in 2004 by Erlangga, and English in Focus

written by Artono Wardiman dkk, published in 2008 by Pusat Perbukuan DEPDIKNAS. The media that used in the action are several pictures of foods and drinks, the colored marker for making Clustering Technique.

The last step is the writer and the teacher discussed to determine the criteria of the action success. The criteria of success are emphasized on the process and the product of teaching-learning activities. This study is called successful if (1) 75% of students achieve the score equal or greater than 70 as the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal

(KKM) or above. If the study hasn’t meets the criteria, it’s called not successful and need improvement to meet the targets.

2. Acting Phase

(37)

23

Table 3.1:

The Schedule of the Classroom Action Research

Meetings Date Theme/Sub Theme

Preliminary study October, 11th 2010 _{My Experience}

Cycle 1 1 November, 2 used in collecting the data, and the technique for data collection. So, this phase discusses about the process of recording and gathering all relevant data occurred during the implementation of the action. The writer uses field note or unstructured observation sheet as a guideline while observing.

4. Reflecting Phase

Reflecting phase is aimed to reflect the data that have been collected to determine whether the action is successful or not. It is necessary for evaluation to hold next cycle needs to be accomplished. This phase carried out collaboratively with the teacher to discuss some problems in the classroom that occurred during action phase.

D. The Technique of Collecting Data

(38)

students’ final writing as a pre-test and post-test. The completely explanation as follows:

1. Interview

Interview is particularly useful for getting data behind the English teacher’s experiences before classroom action research. It used to know students’ difficulties in writing ability, and the technique used by teacher when writing activity. The interview also will be carried out after classroom action research to know the teacher’s response toward the idea of Clustering technique.

2. Field Notes

The writer and observer used field notes to record activities during the teaching and learning of writing through Clustering technique in the classroom. Including description of classroom atmosphere, students’ attitude, and teacher’s creativity in presenting the material of writing. 3. Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a form containing a set of questions. It used to get information from students before and after classroom action research. The writer applied 5 questions in order to get data about students’ liking for learning English particularly in writing skill and the technique used by the teacher in teaching writing.

4. Test

The test used in this study is pre-test and post-test. Pre-test is done before implementing Clustering technique. Meanwhile, post-test is implemented after using Clustering technique. The test is used to measure students’ writing ability and to know the effectiveness of clustering technique to improve students’ writing ability.

E. The Technique of Data Analysis

(39)

25

vocabulary, language use, and mechanics.7 The writer uses analytical scoring rubric to analyze the data related to the students’ paragraph writing test of writing ability. The analytical scoring rubric using as follows:

Table 3.2:

Analytical scoring rubric adapted from Weigle

Components

of Writing Scores Indicators

Content

4 3 2 1

Relevant to the topic and easy to understand rather relevant to the topic and easy to understand relevant to the topic but is not quite easy to understand quite relevant to the topic but is not quite easy to understand

most of the sentences are related to the main idea some sentences are related to the main idea few sentences related to the main idea the sentences are unrelated to each other

Vocabulary

a few errors in choice of words, spelling and punctuation some errors in choice of words, spelling and punctuation occasional errors in choice of words, spelling and punctuation

frequent errors in choice of words, spelling and punctuation

(40)

To get the mean of students’ writing score uses the formula:8

Mx : Mean

X : Individual score N : Number of students

To get the class percentage which passes the minimum mastery criteria- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 (seventy), the writer uses the formula:9

P : the class percentage F : total percentage score N : number of students

In analyzing students’ scores of writing from pre-test up to post-test score in cycle 1 and cycle 2, the writer uses formula:10

P : Percentage of Students’ Improvement y : Pre- test Result

y1 : Post-test 1

8

Anas Sudijono, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, (Jakarta: RajaGrafindo Persada, 2008), p. 81.

9

Anas Sudijono, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan…, p. 43.

10

David E. Meltzer, The Relationship between Mathematics Preparation and Conceptual Learning Gains in Physics: A Possible Hidden Variable in Diagnostic Pretest Scores, (Iowa: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2008), p. 3.

(41)

27

P : Percentage of Students’ Improvement y : Pre- test Result

y2 : Post-test 2

The data gathering through field notes and interview is analyzed by presenting the description of the result of field notes and interview. Questionnaire is analyzed in the form of percentage and presented by the description of the result of questionnaire.

y2 - y

P = ─── X 100%

(42)

28

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS

A. The Description of Data

1. Findings of The Preliminary Study a. The Result of Pre-Interview

In pre-interview, the writer used unstructured interview in conducting preliminary study. It was held on Monday, October 11th 2010 started at 10.00 A.M. and finished at 10.40 A.M. The writer asked to the teacher some questions which divided into three categories. They are the general condition in English class especially in writing class, the difficulty faced by students in writing ability, and the strategy used by the teacher to solve students’ difficulties in writing ability.

(43)

29

English lesson. Moreover, the teacher stated that most of them were hardly to pass the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal(KKM). (See item numbers 1, 2 and 3 of interview)

Second category discussed about the students’ difficulties in writing ability. The teacher told that writing skill was one of the most difficult faced by students in learning English. The teacher mentioned the difficulties for some students 8-3 class in writing skill because students are confused on generating ideas, organizing into paragraph, and less vocabulary. Consequently, they are lazy to do the task of writing and lack of their score in passing the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM). (See item numbers 4 and 5 of interview)

The third category is related to the teacher’s strategy in teaching writing previously to solve the students’ difficulties in writing ability. It was found that the teacher often took picture in teaching writing and story telling. Up to now; the teacher had been looking for an alternative way to teach writing and to engage students actively in teaching learning process. At last, the writer proposed to implement Clustering technique; it might be able to improve students’ writing ability. (See item numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of interview)

The conclusion of the interview in term of the students’ difficulties in writing was the students’ of 8-3 class still have difficulties in writing in term of generating ideas, and organizing ideas into paragraph. (The detail result of pre-interview can be seen in appendix on page 48).

b. The Result of Pre-Questionnaire

(44)

on Monday, October 11th 2010. The description of the pre questionnaire as follow:

1. The students’ response toward the English lesson.

The result showed that 56.25% of the students like English lesson, 25.00% of the students felt fair to the English lesson and 18.75% of the students did not like English lesson. It can be concluded that most of the students of 8-3 class like English lesson. indicated that most of the students of 8-3 class should be given the innovation in studying in order to change their feeling become interest in English skill.

3. The most difficult skill in English lesson.

65.63% of the students assumed that writing was the most difficult skill. Meanwhile, 6.25% of the students consider that writing was not difficult skill. It meant that most of the students of 8-3 class still got difficulties in writing skill.

4. The students’ response toward the difficulty in writing.

The result showed that 31.25% of the students felt can be overcome the difficulty, 25.00% of the students felt fair to the difficulties in writing, and 43.75% of the students was not overcome the difficulties. It was indicate that some students of 8-3 class still got difficulties in writing skill.

5. The teacher’s style when teaching writing.

(45)

31

that some students of 8-3 class needed the innovation to develop teaching learning strategy. (The detail result of questionnaire can be seen in appendix on page 59).

c. The Result of Pre-Test

The pretest had done before the Classroom Action Research (CAR). It was conducted on Monday, October 11th 2010. The students assigned to write recount text in a single paragraph. To get the result of pretest, firstly, the writer calculated the mean score:

n Mastery Criterion criteria - Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 in 75% of 31 students, the writer use the formula:

%

(46)

2. Findings of The First Cycle had made before or not. And the writer also prepared the post test 1 to collect the data; to know whether there are some students’ improvement scores from pretest to posttest.

b. Acting

Action of the first cycle was done on November 2nd, and 3rd 2010. The writer implemented the teaching learning process based on the lesson plan had been made. In the first meeting,the teacher started to convey what materials that would like to be learned by students and explain the concept of Clustering Technique, she began class presentation. The writer taught recount text through Clustering Technique and asked the students to make clustering technique of personal recount text based on the topic given and collected it. In the second meeting, the students were asked to edit their draft, and collect the final draft. The final draft was the data for the posttest 1.

c. Observing

(47)

33

teacher gave a task. Then, they gave up and lazy if they didn’t find some words what they are going to write. The teacher had taught in line with the lesson plan had been made, but she didn’t give clear explanation of the material using clustering technique. Next, she didn’t explain the material with louder voice, it could be seen the situation of the classroom was noisy. (see appendix on page 69 for detail result)

In the second action of the first cycle, the students seemed more focus and so motivated to make clustering technique. Then, the teacher could intensive guide to students in made clustering technique. After teaching learning process finished, in this observing phase was also carried out the posttest 1 exactly on the second action of the first cycle to measure students’ writing ability of personal recount text that had been studied. Based on the result of the posttest 1, the data showed that the mean score of pretest was 55.85. There were 3 students who passed the Minimum Mastery Criterion – Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 (seventy). Meanwhile the other 28 students did not pass that criterion.

d. Reflecting

(48)

writing ability through Clustering Technique. It needed to be improved again in the next cycle.

3. Findings of The second Cycle a. Planning

The planning phase of the second cycle was implemented into a lesson plan. In this case, the writer modified the previous lesson plan based on the result of reflecting phase in the first cycle. The lesson plan which was used still related to Clustering technique in learning writing. There were not significant differences with the previous lesson plan. The material still related to recount text but it is focus on procedural recount text (the lesson plan can be seen in appendix on page 69). However, there were some modifications in the second cycle; that was the teacher needed to give interesting explanation by using picture related to the topic to the students in class presentation and asked students to bring dictionary. Beside of that, the writer still also prepared field notes to note the classroom activities, and also prepared the posttest 2 to collect the data.

b. Acting

The action of the second cycle was done on November 15th, and 22th 2010. In the first meeting, the writer introduce a new topic about foods and drinks by using Clustering technique and asked the students to make Clustering technique facilitated by the dictionary based on their favorite foods and drinks and collected it. In the second meeting, the students were asked to edit their draft, read their final draft, and collect the final draft. The final draft was the data for the posttest 2.

c. Observing

(49)

35

field notes that the students who were able to focus and to pay attention on the teacher explanation and when they followed the writing lesson, they enjoyed doing exercises. Then, most of them were enthusiastic to choose their favorite food and drink and made clustering technique based on the topic given by the teacher. Related to the teacher’s performance, she looked masters the technique and the material she gives. She checked the students’ work by walking to their table and giving comments. Then, her voice more loudly, it could be seen students could understand easily because the teacher’s explanation was not so low. Automatically, it led a good feedback from students’ response in conveying their ideas and students were helped by the teacher to comprehend the text. Next, students did not give up when they found unfamiliar words because they could look up in their dictionary as suggested their teacher. In the second action of cycle two, the teacher was held on post-test 2 regarding students’ writing ability of procedural recount text (see appendix on page 81). Based on the result of the post-test 2, the mean score of the class in writing test gained 73.19 in which there were 27 students who passed the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM)

70 (seventy).

d. Reflecting

(50)

(KKM). Therefore, the writer and the teacher decided to stop the Classroom Action Research (CAR) because it had already succeeded.

According to the result of the evaluation between the writer and the teacher, it could be assumed that the implementing of Classroom Action Research in improving students’ writing ability through Clustering Technique was appropriate with the planning that had been discussed by the writer and the teacher previously. In this case, every action was planned as good as possible so that the writing activities could be accomplished well.

4. Findings After Implementing The Action

The findings after implementing the action consisted of two parts. Those were the result of post interview and the result of post-test. For further descriptions as following:

a. The Result of Post-Interview

After implementing Clustering Technique, the researcher carried out the unstructured interview with the teacher. It was conducted on Tuesday, 23rd November 2010. It started at 10.15 A.M and finished at 10.45 A.M. First criterion talked about the general condition in writing class during implementing the action. It was found that the students’ condition were better rather than before carrying out the Classroom Action Research (CAR). In this sense, they looked enthusiast in making Clustering Technique and they felt easier to write their draft (see items number 1 and 2 of interview on page 85).

(51)

37

students to bring dictionary (see items number 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of interview on page 85).

The last criterion is about the opinion of Clustering Technique strategy. The teacher said that Clustering Technique was a good strategy in teaching writing. It might be able to improve the students’ writing; it could be an alternative strategy and could motivate the English teacher to use it (see items number 3, 9 and 10 of interview on page 85).

b. The Result of Post-Questionnaire

The questionnaire was given to the students in the second year of 8-3 class on Tuesday, November 23rd 2010. This questionnaire has five questions. The following was the description of the result of post questionnaire.

1. The students’ response toward teaching learning writing through Clustering Technique

The result of the questionnaire showed that 59.38% of the students like using Clustering Technique, 34.37% of the students felt fair using Clustering technique, and 6.25% did not like using Clustering Technique. It indicated that most of students like to learn writing through Clustering Technique.

2. Clustering Technique help the students to be more creative in finding the idea

It showed that 71.88% of the students felt helpful in learning writing by using Clustering Technique, and 28.12% of the students felt fair about it. This meant almost of the students agree that Clustering Technique could help them more creative in finding the idea.

3. The students’ response toward learning writing

(52)

indicated that the students feeling toward learning writing was better.

4. The students’ responses about teaching writing through Clustering Technique

The result was 65.63% of the students assumed that writing through Clustering Technique were easy, and 21.87% of the students felt fair about it. It indicated that Clustering Technique was easy and interesting to be applied in writing class.

5. Teacher’s style during teaching writing through Clustering Technique

The result showed that 75.00% of the students were interested in the teacher style during the action, 18.75% of the students felt fair about it, and 6.25% of the students were not interested in teacher style during the action. It indicated that the teacher had done the action well (the detail result of post-questionnaire can be seen in appendix on page 84).

c. The Result of Post-Test

The result of posttest 1 showed that the mean score of the class derived 66.13 in which there were 12 students who passed the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 (seventy). The following were the detail results of students’ writing in the first cycle:

(53)

39

Criterion criteria - Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 (seventy), the writer use the formula:

% There were only twelve students or 38.7% of the students who got the score above the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) meanwhile the other 19 students were below that criterion.

There was a slight improvement of students’ mean score from the students’ writing on the preliminary study to the students’ writing on the first cycle. The improvement percentage derived from the formula:

% improvement (the detail of all students’ scores in the first cycle can be seen in appendix on page 65).

The following were the detail results of students’ writing in the first cycle:

(54)

n

Then, The calculation of class percentage about the students who passed the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal

(KKM):

(55)

41

Table 4.1

The Students’ Writing Score of Pretest, Posttest 1, Posttest 2

No Name Score

Pre-test Post-test 1 Post-test 2

1 S1 56.25 62.5 75*

(56)

B. The Interpretation of Data

The students’ improvement in the writing ability from the preliminary study to the second cycle was recapped in Figure below:

Figure 4.1

Students’ Improvement in Writing Score

In the preliminary study, the mean score of students on writing test before carrying out Classroom Action Research (CAR) is 55.85. It is the students’ writing score before they use Clustering Technique. Meanwhile, the class percentages which pass the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) are 9.7%. It means that there are only three students who are able to pass the Minimum Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) 70 (seventy) and there are 28 students are out of the target.

Furthermore, the mean score in the post-test of cycle 1 is 66.13. It means that there is some students’ score improvement from the previous test that is 18.4%. Meanwhile, the class percentages which pass the Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) in post-test 1 are 38.7%. It shows there are 12 students who pass the Mastery Criterion-

Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal(KKM) and there are 19 students whose score still under Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM). However, it is still needed more improvement because it could not achieve

(57)

43

the criterion of success classroom action research (CAR), that is 75% from the class percentage. That is why the writer and the teacher continue to the second cycle.

Next, the mean score in the post-test of the second cycle is 73.19. It shows the students’ improvement score 7.06 (73.19 – 66.13) from the post-test 1 (66.13) or 31.05% students’ improvement in the score percentage from the preliminary study. Meanwhile, the class percentages which pass the Mastery Criterion- Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) are 87.1%. It means there are 27 students whose score pass the Mastery Criterion-

(58)

44

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A.Conclusion

(59)

45

45 B.Suggestion

(60)

46

Arikunto, Suharsimi, Penelitian Tindakan Kelas, Jakarta: Bumi Aksara, 2009 Axelord, Rise B and Charles R. Cooper, The St. Martin’sGuide to Writing, New

York: St.Martin’s Press, 1985

Braine, George and Claire May, Writing from Sources: A Guide for ESL Students, California: Mayfield, 1996

Brown, H. Douglas, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (2nd edition), New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2001

Depdiknas, Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (School Based Curriculum). Jakarta: 2006

Depdiknas, Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional, No. 22 Tahun 2006 tentang kerangka dasar dan struktur kurikulum SMP/MTs. Jakarta: 2006

Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan RI, Keputusan Menteri: No. 096/U/1967 tentang Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris di Indonesia

Dietsch, Betty Mattix, Reasoning and Writing Well, New York: MacGraw Hill, 2003

Ewald, Helen Rothschild, Writing As Process: Invention and Convention, London: Charles E. Merril Publishing, 1983

Gebhard, Jerry G, Teaching English as a Foreign or second Language (2nd Edition), United state of America: The University of Michigan, 2006 Hornby, A. S., Oxford advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Currant English, New

York: Oxford University Press, 1995

Kember, David, Action Learning and Action Research, London: Kogan Page Limited, 2000

Kunandar, Langkah Mudah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (Sebagai Pengembangan Profesi Guru), Jakarta: Rajagrafindo Persada, 2008

(61)

47

Langan, John, College Writing Skills, New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2003

Langan, John, English Skills Seventh Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001 Langan, John, English Skills Eighth Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006 Meltzer, David E., The Relationship between Mathematics Preparation and

Conceptual Learning Gains in Physics: A Possible Hidden Variable in Diagnostic Pretest Scores, Iowa: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2008

Mills, Geoffrey E., Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher. (2nd ed), New Jersey: Merril Prentice Hall, 2003

Nunan, David, Language Teaching Methodology, New York: Prentice Hall, 1991

Nunan, David, and Kathleen M Bailey, Exploring Second Language Classroom Research, Boston: Heinle, 2009

Pharr, Donald & Santi Buscemi, Writing today, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005 Raymond James C., Writing (Is Unnatural Act), New York: Harper & Row, 1980 Richards, Jack C. and Willy A. Renandya, Methodology in Language Teaching

(An Anthology of Current Practice), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002

Rogers, Henry, Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005

Sudijono, Anas, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada, 2008

Tribble, Christopher, Writing, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996

Weigle, Sara Cushing, Assessing Writing, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002

(62)

Improving students' writing ability through clustering technique (A classroom action research in the second year of SMP al-hasra Bojongsari- Depok)