A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Master Degree in English Education
By
EFRITA MARTHALENA BR. SARAGIH SUMBAYAK 1204683
ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM
SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
School in Kabanjahe, Karo Regency, North Sumatra)
Oleh
Efrita Marthalena Br. Saragih Sumbayak
S.Pd STKIP RIAMA Medan, 2004
Sebuah Tesis yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Magister Pendidikan (M.Pd.) pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Efrita Marthalena Br. Saragih Sumbayak Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Juni 2014
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
Tesis ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1Background of the Study 1
1.2Purpose of the Study 4
1.3 Research Questions 4
1.4 Scope of the Thesis 5
1.5 Significance of the Study 5
1.6 Definition of the Key Terms 6
1.7 Organization of the Thesis 7
1.8 Conclusion 7
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1 Genre-Based Approach 8
2.1.1 Definition of Genre 9
2.1.2 Basic Principles of GBA 10
2.1.3 Curriculum Cycle of GBA 11
2.2 Teaching Writing 14
2.3 Genre Based Approach to Teaching Writing 15
2.4 Types of Texts in Junior High School 20
2.4.1 An Overview of Descriptive Text 21
2.4.2 Social Function of Descriptive Text 21
2.4.3 Schematic Structure of Descriptive Text 21
2.5.2.1 Affective (Emotional) Component 24
2.5.2.2 Behavioral Component 25
2.5.2.3 Cognitive Component 26
2.6 Previous Study 26
2.7 Conclusion 28
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD 29
3.1Research Design 39
3.2Research Site and Participants 33
3.3 Data Collection 33
3.3.1 Classroom Observation 35
3.3.2. Students’ Writing Tests 36
3.3.3. Samples of Students’ Texts 36
3.3.4. Questionnaire 37
3.3.5. Focus Group Interview 39
3.4 Data Analysis 40
3.4.1 Data from Classroom Observation 40
3.4.2 Data from Students’ Writing Tests 41
3.4.3 Data from Samples of Students’ Texts 42
3.4.4 Data from Questionnaire 42
3.4.5 Data from Focus Group Interview 43
3.5 Criteria of Success 43
3.7 Conclusion 44
CHAPTER IV: TEACHING PROGRAM 45
4.1 Problems of Teaching Writing in the Research Site 45
4.2 Solutions to the Problems 46
CHAPTER V: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 54
5.1 Preliminary Phase of the Teaching Program 54
5.1.1 Analysis of Students’ Test Scores 55
5.1.2 Analysis of Students’ Texts in Pre-Test 56
5.1.2.1 Low Achiever (Group 1) 57
5.1.2.2 Middle Achiever (Group 2) 58
5.1.2.3 High Achiever (Group 3) 60
5.1.3 Reflection of Preliminary Phase 61
5.2 Implementation of the GBA: First Cycle 62
5.2.1 Planning 62
5.2.2 Action and Observation 64
5.2.2.1 Meeting 1: Building Knowledge 64
5.2.2.2 Meeting 2: Building Knowledge 66
5.2.2.3 Meeting 3: MoT 67
5.2.2.4 Meeting 4: JCoT 69
5.2.2.5 Meeting 5: ICoT 71
5.2.2.6 Meeting 6: ICoT 72
5.2.3 Analysis of Students’ Test Scores 72
5.2.4 Analysis of Students’ Texts in Post-Test 1 76
5.2.4.1 Low Achiever (Group 1) 76
5.2.4.2 Middle Achiever (Group 2) 77
5.2.4.3 High Achiever (Group 3) 79
5.2.5 Reflection 80
5.3 Implementation of the GBA: Second Cycle 82
5.3.1 Re-Planning 82
5.3.2 Action and Observation 83
5.3.2.1 Meeting 7: Building Knowledge 83
5.3.2.6 Meeting 12: ICoT 87
5.3.3 Analysis of Students’ Test Scores 88
5.3.4 Analysis of Students’ Texts in Post-Test 2 91
5.3.4.1 Low Achiever (Group 1) 91
5.3.4.2 Middle Achiever (Group 2) 93
5.3.4.3 High Achiever (Group 3) 94
5.3.5 Reflection 96
5.4 Post-Action Phase 97
5.4.1 Questionnaire Analysis 97
5.4.1.1 Affective Component of Attitude 99
5.4.1.2 Behavioral Component of Attitude 100
5.4.1.3 Cognitive Component of Attitude 100
5.4.2 Focus Group Interview Analysis 101
5.4.2.1 Implementation of GBA in the Teaching Descriptive
Text Writing 102
5.4.2.2 Students’ Attitude towards the Implementation of GBA 104
5.5 Discussion 104
5.5.1 Research Problem 1: Improvement of students’ ability of writing
descriptive text through GBA 105
5.5.2 Research Problem 2: Students’ attitudes towards the implementation
of the GBA in teaching descriptive text writing 108
5.6 Conclusion 111
CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 112
6.1 Conclusions 112
6.2 Limitation of the Study 113
APPENDIXES 3 Observation Checklists 145
APPENDIXES 4 Rubric 148
APPENDIXES 5 Results of the Writing Tests 151
APPENDIXES 6 Map of Questionnaire 154
Table 3.2 Data Sources 34
Table 3.3 Map of the Statements in the Questionnaire 37
Table 3.4 Data and Analysis Approaches 40
Table 4.1 Activities in the Implementation of GBA through CAR 52
Table 4.2 Research Schedule 53
Table 5.1 Activities in Preliminary Phase of the Teaching Program 54
Table 5.2. Descriptive Statistics of Pre-Test 56
Table 5.3 Analysis of Text 1 Written by Low Achiever 58
Table 5.4 Analysis of Text 1 Written by Middle Achiever 58
Table 5.5 Analysis of Text 1 Written by High Achiever 60
Table 5.6 Activities in the First Cycle 63
Table 5.7 Descriptive Statistics of Post-Test 1 73
Table 5.8 Paired Samples Statistics of Pre-Test and Post-Test 1 75
Table 5.9 Paired Samples Correlation of Pre-Test and Post-Test 1 75
Table 5.10 Paired Samples Test of Pre-Test and Post-Test 1 75
Table 5.11 Analysis of Text 2 Written by Low Achiever 76
Table 5.12 Analysis of Text 2 Written by Middle Achiever 78
Table 5.13 Analysis of Text 2 Written by High Achiever 79
Table 5.14 Activities in the Second Cycle 82
Table 5.15 Descriptive Statistics of Post-Test 2 88
Table 5.16 Paired Samples Statistics of Post-Test 1 and Post-Test 2 90
Table 5.17 Paired Samples Correlations of Post-Test 1 and Post-Test 2 90
Table 5.18 Paired Samples Test of Post-Test 1 and Post-Test 2 90
Table 5.19 Analysis of Text 3 Written by Low Achiever 91
Table 5.20 Analysis of Text 3 Written by Middle Achiever 93
Table 5.21 Analysis of Text 3 Written by High Achiever 94
Table 5.22 The Results of the Five-Point Likert-Scale Questionnaire 98
Figure 2.2 Tri Componential View on Attitudes 24
Figure 3.1 Balanced Model of Action Research Design 31
Figure 3.2 Action Research Cycle 32
Figure 4.1 Cycles and Stages of Learning 47
Figure 5.1 Improvement of Mean Score of Students’ Texts in First Cycle 74
Figure 5.2 Improvement of Mean Score of Students’ Texts in Second Cycle 89
Figure 5.3 Improvement of Mean Scores of Students’ Texts 107
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the Genre-Based Approach (GBA) can help improve students’ ability in writing descriptive texts of a class VII in a state junior high school in Kabanjahe, Karo Regency, North Sumatra. Moreover, the study also aims to explore the students’ attitudes towards the implementation of GBA in teaching descriptive text writing. The research was designed as a Classroom Action Research carried out in two cycles for twelve meetings. It was conducted through the first semester of 2013/2014 education year. In practice, this CAR employed a mixed method approach where data were gathered using quantitative and qualitative method. The qualitative data were collected through classroom observations, samples of students’ texts and a focus group interview whereas the quantitative data were gathered from students’ writing tests and a questionnaire. The analysis of the data was split into two phases: the analysis during data collection (on-going analysis) and the analysis after data collection. In the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis and linguistic analysis were employed. Meanwhile, in the analysis of quantitative data, statistical analysis by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 20.0 was employed. The findings obtained from classroom observations, students’
writing tests, students’ text analyses and a focus group interview prove that GBA can help improve students’ ability in writing descriptive texts as reflected in
students’ writing achievement. Furthermore, the findings from the questionnaire and the focus group interview indicate that the students have positive attitude towards the implementation of the GBA in the teaching of descriptive text writing since most of the students give positive responses and comments after the GBA was implemented in teaching and learning writing. This result is supported by the findings from the classroom observations showing that the students were more active in doing their writing assignments and engage in teaching and learning process. Thus, it is recommended that further study of the GBA should be conducted in various contexts and levels to examine the effectiveness of this approach in helping students enhance their writing skills and other skills.
This chapter discusses the main issues involving the background of the
study, the purpose of the study, the research question, the scope of the study, the
significance of the study, the definition of key terms, and the organization of the
thesis.
1.1 Background of the Study
Writing is one of the four language skills which students must acquire in
order to be able to demonstrate competence in the use of English language. It also
plays an important role in communication. By means of writing, students are able
to explore thoughts and ideas, and make them noticeable and concrete, encourage
thinking and learning, motivate communication and make thought available for
reflection (Elashri, 2013). However, writing skill is difficult not only to master but
also to teach. It is considered as the most difficult skill because it requires the
application of the knowledge of the other three skills. Moreover, this skill is
deemed to be the most difficult skill to accomplish for most students, whether
they are first or second language speakers of English (Richards, 1990; Williams,
2005).
Furthermore, the teaching of writing has always been a challenge to
teachers, because it is possibly the hardest skill to teach effectively and the one
probably most neglected in ESL/EFL classrooms that are not exclusively
dedicated to writing (Brown, 2001). According to Alwasilah (2011), there is a
tendency among the English teachers in Indonesia to neglect teaching writing. In
addition, the teaching of English writing in Indonesia needs improvement for two
reasons, the lack of time and the lack of practice in writing a complete coherent
text in various genres as it is said by Emilia (2005). teaching writing is
challenging. After doing a short observation and unstructured interview, the
researcher identified the problems mentioned above in the school where the
express their idea through writing. Most of the students did not enjoy writing and
had a lack of confidence in writing on their own. As a result, most students were
still unable to communicate with others through written language.
Understandably, it was reasonable that the students in this school found it difficult
to communicate in English through written language. They did not know how
doing free writing, and they even did not possess the strategies for composing
texts independently. Many of them organized their ideas in Indonesian, and then
translated them into English when they write. This led to the weak structural
organization and improper use of language. It was also perceived that many of the
students in that school relied on teacher centred learning and lack of confidence in
their own skills.
English teachers in this school neglected teaching writing. They had
provided students with less opportunity to practice writing skill. In other words,
the teachers had concentrated more on teaching of other skills, like reading,
speaking, listening, and language components, such as vocabulary and grammar.
The teachers are still dominant in the classroom and they tended to use a
traditional approach, especially in teaching and learning writing. Most teachers
still prefer using the translation method and the students do not actively engage in
class and do not have much opportunity to practise this skill. The teacher asked
the students to read a text, translate the text by using a dictionary, and rewrite the
translation. The students were not asked to practice their writing ability.
Furthermore, the teacher never makes a variation in teaching and learning process.
This situation made the students’ motivation and attitude in writing decrease. Indeed, in order to overcome these difficulties, teachers should adopt an
effective approach to teach writing that provides useful supports for students to
learn writing. This becomes important because teaching students with appropriate
approach is related to the success of students themselves. To solve the
aforementioned problems, the researcher suggests one way to address this
situation is to adopt a Genre-Based Approach to the teaching of writing in the
This approach has already been adopted in some English curriculum used in
Indonesia, namely 2004 and 2006 curriculum (Emilia et al., 2008) and even in the
last curriculum, 2013 curriculum. The adoption of Genre-Based Approach
(henceforth mentioned as GBA) in English curriculum for junior high schools in
Indonesia was a way to overcome the difficulties in teaching and learning writing
(Permendiknas No. 22, 2006; Emilia et al., 2008). By adopting this approach, it is
hoped that the difficulties encountered by the teacher and the students in teaching
and learning writing can be partly solved.
GBA has considered an effective approach in teaching writing (Emilia,
2005, 2010, 2012; Emilia et al., 2008). GBA is effective for some reasons. First,
in GBA, students are given more freedom to write about their real life. As a result,
the products they produce should be more meaningful and communicative.
Second, this method does not emphasize the rhetorical conventions of English
texts. It is selected as language seen in context and presented to the students as
part of a complete text and not as unrelated sentences. The approach offers a
teaching methodology enabling teachers to present explicit instruction with
respect to its forms and functions in highly systematic and logical ways (Feez and
Joyce, 1998; Hyland, 2007; Emilia, 2010), which are factors that the researcher
believes would assist students with the cognitive organisation of information.
Although this approach has been adopted in English curriculum in
Indonesia, in practice, the implementation of this approach in the research site had
not been maximized especially in the research site because the English teachers
did not understand how to implement this approach properly. Even, some of the
English teachers in the school did not know or hear what the GBA is. Realizing
these facts, the teaching of English writing in the research site needed
improvement for three reasons, insufficient time for the teaching and learning
writing, lack of practice in writing a complete coherent text in various genres and
the fact that the teaching of writing still follows the “traditional one-off writing
task” (Gibbons, 2002: 67).
A number of research studies related to the implementation of GBA in
reasons (Emilia, et al., 2008; Tuan, 2011; Ahn, 2012; Pribady, 2012; Elashri,
2013). Most of the studies found that the GBA is helpful and effective in
improving student writing. However, very few studies discuss the practical details
of how this approach can be introduced by teachers in a low learning achievement
EFL context, especially in Indonesia. Moreover, it is recommended by Emilia et
al. (2008) in their research review to identify the effectiveness of the GBA and the
challenge in its application in the schools with lower learning achievements.
Additionally, there are still few studies discussing about students’ attitude towards the implementation of the GBA in teaching writing, especially in Indonesia.
Due to the above reasons, the present research was conducted in a state
junior high school (SMP) in Kabanjahe, Karo Regency, North Sumatra. It is a
school in a suburban area with limited facilities and lower learning achievements.
This study intended to investigate the implementation of Genre-Based Approach
to teaching writing skill, especially descriptive text and to find out the students’ attitude towards the implementation of GBA in the teaching of writing.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
This study was aimed to investigate whether the GBA can help improve
students’ ability in writing descriptive text. Moreover, the study also intended to
explore the students’ attitudes towards the implementation of the GBA in the teaching of descriptive text writing.
1.3 Research Question
With regard to the background and the purposes of the study above, by
implementing the principles of Classroom Action Research (CAR), these two
research questions were addressed:
1. Can the GBA help improve students’ ability in writing descriptive text?
1.4 Scope of the Study
This research was limited to investigating the teaching of writing skill by
implementing the GBA and the students’ attitude towards the implementation of the GBA in the teaching of writing in the research site, a State Junior High School
in Kabanjahe, Karo Regency, North Sumatra. This research focused on the
teaching writing of descriptive text and planned activities that were linked around
some particular topics.
Since a descriptive text is one of the text types taught in the seventh grade,
this research was conducted in a class of seventh grade at the school. To solve the
problems arising in this study, a procedural framework was developed by the
researcher based on concepts related to Classroom Action Research. Classroom
Action Research is a “self-reflective, critical and systematic approach to explore a
teacher’s own teaching context” (Burns, 2010: 2). In this kind of research, a problematic situation which is worth investigating is identified and certain actions
are taken to “intervene in a deliberate way in the problematic situation in order to
bring about changes, and even better, improvements in practice” (Burns, 2010: 2).
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is significant for several reasons. Theoretically, this study will
provide a reference in the study of teaching and learning writing based on the
Genre-Based Approach at Junior High School level in Indonesia, especially in low
learning achievement context. Furthermore, this study will become preliminary
inputs for the readers or other researchers to further studies in similar areas of
research with different interests. The finding of this study will also be useful for
other researchers to conduct similar research in order to obtain deeper and better
results.
Practically, this study provided general guidance for improving the practice
of teaching writing descriptive text and as a guide for teachers in selecting,
designing, and using appropriate methods in teaching English writing. The result
of this study might also give input on the implementation of GBA in teaching
orderly and to reflect their own practices and to develop their ability in teaching
English skills, especially writing. Moreover, teachers may put their capacities into
practice and gain experience to facilitate and guide their students in learning to
write by using the GBA.
Professionally, pertaining to the present English curriculum used in
Indonesia, the results of this study are hopefully beneficial for students and
teachers, especially in teaching and learning writing. The results of this study are
important for English teachers in junior high school in Indonesia to enable them to
implement the GBA in their classroom. It is also hoped that this study will
enlighten and inspire other English teachers to explore Classroom Action
Research as a powerful tool for professional development. Classroom Action
Research is not an additional burden of what we do as teachers. It is fundamental
and the core of accomplished teaching.
1.6 Definition of the Key Terms
Several key terms are used in explaining, discussing and reporting the
results of this study. There are four key terms used in this thesis, i.e. Genre Based
Approach, Descriptive Text, Attitude, and Classroom Action Research.
Genre Based Approach is “the way to language and literacy education that combines an understanding of genre and genre teaching together in the writing
class” (Hammond and Derewianka, 2001).
Descriptive Text is a text about a particular person, thing, or place (Martin, 1985
cited in Emilia, 2010; Gerot and Wignell, 1995).
Attitude is “a predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner
with respect to a given attitude object” (Oskamp and Schultz, 2005: 9).
Classroom Action Research is “simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve the rationality and justice on their
own practices, their understanding of those practices and the situations in which
the practices are carried out” (Carr and Kemmis in Nunan and Bailey, 2009: 226-227). In this study, Classroom Action Research is defined as a process of
implementing GBA that is undertaken in a systematic way by a teacher-researcher
who want to better understand her own work.
1.7 Organization of the Thesis
This thesis organized into six chapters. Chapter I is an introduction. This
chapter elaborates background of the study included the background of the study,
the identification of the problem, the purpose of the study, the research questions,
the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the definition of key terms,
and the organization of the thesis. Chapter II discusses some theoretical concepts
and some findings underlying this study. This chapter presents some concepts
relating to Genre-Based Approach, teaching writing, an overview of descriptive
text, and concept of attitude. Chapter III describes the methodology that was used
to conduct this research. It outlines the research methods including research
design, research site, participants, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter IV
discusses the problems of teaching and learning writing in the research site, the
solutions to overcome the problems based on the theory of the GBA, the design of
the teaching program and the research schedule. Chapter V presents the
implementation of the GBA, the findings and the discussions of research
problems. Chapter VI, finally, summarizes the findings and the discussion,
specifies how the findings answer the research questions, points out the main
limitations of the study and provides recommendations for further research.
1.8 Conclusion
This chapter has presented the introduction of the whole study which
includes the background of the study, the purpose of the study, the research
questions, the scope of the study, and the significance of the study, and the
definitions of key terms. The following chapter will present the theoretical
This chapter discusses the components of research method of the present
study including the research design, the research site, the participants, the data
collection, the data analysis, the criteria of success and the research schedule.
3.1 Research Design
This study was designed as a Classroom Action Research (henceforth
mentioned as CAR). CAR as an integral part of Action Research, deals with
educational research as a social practice. Action Research has been defined by
Carr and Kemmis (in Nunan and Bailey, 2009: 226-227) as:
a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve the rationality and justice on their own practices, their understanding of those practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out.
Meanwhile, CAR is defined as an inquiry which is conducted systematically
to inform practice in a particular situation. Through CAR, teachers discover best
practices in their own classroom situation. Thus, teachers will make decision
about teaching based on empirical evidence (Mettetal, 2003). A very specific
characteristics of CAR is that it is conducted in the classroom and the focus of the
study is the interaction between the researcher and the participants. The researcher
involves as much as possible in the process and experience of the participants.
In this study, CAR is defined as a process of investigating problems about
teaching and learning descriptive text writing by implementing GBA that is
undertaken in a systematic way by a teacher-researcher who want to better
understand her own work. The teacher-researcher conducted a research study to
help her improve her teaching practice and the learning of her students.
In practice, this CAR employed a mixed method research design. According
to Lim (2007), a mixed methods research design is most applicable in action
and qualitative data in a single study (Creswell, 2005). The collection of
quantitative data is critical to this study because it is a part of the triangulation.
The quantitative data helped determine the impact of the effectiveness of the GBA
in the teaching of writing and in students’ writing achievements. The collection
and analysis of the data were done separately and the findings were then
combined.
Cohen et al. (2007) say that the CAR takes place when a single teacher
works with his/her own class as he/she feels the need to improve his/her teaching
and learning experiences. This study also took advantage of the AR format which
allowed the researcher to take his/her role as a teacher in the classroom (Mills,
2007), enact a specific teaching methodology, and directly observe the effects of
the teaching methodology on student attitudes towards the teaching program. The
researcher was the teacher who directly taught the students and collaborated with
the students and the classroom teacher as the observer. By doing it
collaboratively, it was hoped that this can bring benefits to the teacher–researcher,
classroom teacher and the students by providing them with new understandings
that could help change the status quo from both a teaching and a learning
perspective (Creswell, 2002). The design of the AR implemented in this study is
Figure 3.1. Balanced Model of Action Research Design Adopted from Lim (2007: 9)
The CAR was conducted in two cycles (see Nunan and Bailey, 2009: 227)
each of which consisting of four-stage method in action research as proposed by
Kemmis and McTaggart (1988), i.e. planning (developing a plan of action or
Identifying
Identifying a research problem
Sensitising
Understanding the problem through literature review and/or analysis of collected data (both quantitative and qualitative)
Strategising
Developing an action plan
Implementing
Carrying out the action plan
Validating
Investigating if the action plan has been successful in solving the research problem through analysis of collected data (both
quantitative and qualitative)
Reporting
intervention), action (putting the intervention in place), observation (documenting
and recording the effects of the intervention), and reflection(evaluating the
observations and using them as the basis for further action). The cycle is dynamic
in that these four stages are interlinked and iterative, so that the research typically
results in a spiral of cycles. The cycles are described in Figure 3.2 below.
Figure 3.2. Action Research Cycle Adopted from ProDAIT (2011)
In the planning stage, the lesson plans, the research instruments, and the
criteria of success were prepared by the researcher and the classroom teacher.
There were 12 lesson plans prepared, six for each cycle. The instruments used in
the teaching program were texts, realia, pictures, observation notes, and
observation checklists. In the action stage the researcher conducted what had been
designed in the lesson plans. In the observation stage, the researcher and the
observer observe the teaching and learning process during the action stage. In the
reflection stage, the researcher decided whether or not the results of the each cycle
Furthermore, this study also implemented two research phases in action
research–the pre-action phase and the post-action phase (see Lim, 2007: 8).
Overall, there were three phases in this study, the pre-action phase (preliminary
phase, the action phase, and the post-action phase. The implementation of these
three phases will be presented in Chapter V.
3.2 Research Site and Participants
The study was undertaken in a seventh grade classroom at a State Junior
High School in Kabanjahe. It is located in a small town in Karo Regency, North
Sumatra. This school has 15 classes which consist of five clasess of seventh
grade, five classes of eighth grade, and five classes of ninth grade. For this study,
the researcher chose Class VII 1 which the classroom teacher voluntarily
participated in this research as an observer.
There were several reasons for choosing this school as a site for this study.
First, implementing the Genre Based Approach was considered as a new thing in
this school. Second, the researcher had an easy access to this school since the
researcher is one of the English teachers at that school for more than 8 years.
Third, by having this access, it is hoped that the feasibility of this research was
increased (Emilia, 2005; Emilia et al., 2008).
The main participants of this research were the researcher as a participant-
observer, a classroom teacher as the observer and a class of 28 students in Class
VII 1, aged between 12 and 15, 13 boys and 15 girls. For the , nine students from
the class representing low, mid, and high achievers were selected and their texts
were analyzed. The three categories were identified by the teacher-researcher and
another after the students wrote their texts in writing pre-test.
3.3 Data Collection
The techniques of collecting data in this research were focused on the
purpose of the research. To fulfill the purpose of this study, the researcher used
both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The collection of both
Triangulation was used in the study in order to avoid information bias during the
research. Typically in action research, a wide variety of data were collected during
the study in order to achieve triangulation, which is highly recommended while
carrying out this type of research (Nunan, 1994; Cohen and Manion, 1994; Burns,
1999). The use of different data sources helps the researcher to “validate and crosscheck findings” (Patton, 1990: 244).
Overall, there were five sources of data in this CAR, three qualitative and
two quantitative. Qualitative data were collected through classroom observation,
samples of students’ texts and focus group interview. The quantitative data were gathered from students’ writing tests and questionnaire. In this way, data were triangulated to ensure validity. Different sources gathered different types of
information as shown in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2.
Table 3.1 Research Questions and Data Collecting Techniques
3. 3.1 Classroom Observation
Regarding the research questions, classroom observation was the main data
source in this study. It plays an important role in AR (Koshy, 2005; Burns, 2010).
The classroom observation was chosen as it allows information to be recorded as
it occurs in a particular setting and enables the actual behaviour of the teachers
and the students. Mills (2007) asserts that “observation is considered a valid and true representation of the action”. Observation can be an effective means of identifying and reflecting on the classroom since it can take a number of forms.
The classroom observations were carried out in this present research with
the objectives to identify how GBA is implemented in the teaching and learning
process. Apart from that, it also provided an insight on knowing how the students
react or behave, specifically their attitude towards the implementation of GBA in
teaching writing performed by the teacher. The classroom observations in this
study comprised twelve observations over four weeks. The classroom
observations were done in the second week of November to mid-December 2013.
Each observation lasted for 80 minutes (2 x 40 minutes).
The data from the classroom observations were collected by using
observation notes and observation checklists by looking at the implementation of GBA in teaching and learning writing process and students’ attitude towards the implementation of the GBA. The researcher made the observation notes as soon
as after each session of the observations finished when the memory of the
observations was still fresh as proposed by van Lier (1988). While the observation
checklists were filled in by the classroom teacher as the observer who observed
the teacher-researcher activities during the implementation of GBA in the
teaching process.
In conducting the observation, a video camera was used to gain a record of
the teaching and learning process. The reason for this activity was to avoid
reactivity. Reactivity is when the participants do not behave normally because of
the presence of the researcher (Alwasilah, 2009). The video camera was also used
to capture the pictures of the physical environment of the classroom. One of the
afterwards by watching the video, without the disruptions of the classroom or time
constraints. All activities in the classroom observations were discussed in detail in
Chapter V.
3.3.2 Students’ Writing Tests
Quantitative data of this study were obtained by looking at the results of
pre-test, post-test of first cycle (post-test 1) and post-test of second cycle (post-test
2) conducted in the classroom. The pre-test was designed to collect the data about
students’ baseline status of writing achievements while the two post-tests were
planned to explore the impact of the implementation of GBA on the students’
writing achievements, which were given at the end of each cycle.
The test required the students to produce a piece of descriptive text writing
about a topic. The scoring of the test is based on a analytic scoring rubric adapted
from Widodo (2006). According to Hyland (2003), rubric is a form of
commentary usually used on the final product as an assessment. One of the
advantages of using rubric is that they indicate more explicitely what aspects of
the assignment are being assessed. The scoring rubric was developed based on the
need of scoring descriptive text writing. The consideration of using scoring rubric
for writing test is because it provides simple and clear criteria of each aspect.
3.3.3 Samples of Students’ Texts
The samples of students’ texts were one of qualitative data collection techniques used in this study. This technique was done by choosing nine students’
descriptive texts from twenty eight texts collected from pre-test, post-test cycle 1,
and post- test cycle 2. These nine students represented different levels of achievement: low, middle, and high. The samples of students’ texts provided evidence of the types of writing produced in the observed meetings, the level of
competence demonstrated and the type of assessment teacher used to grade the
3.3.4 Questionnaire
At the end of the teaching program, an attitude questionnaire was administered to 28 students who enrolled in the class. The purpose of the students’ questionnaire was to elicit each individual student’s attitude towards the implementation of GBA in teaching descriptive text writing. The questionnaire
was originally generated in English but translated into Indonesian at the time of
administration in order to prevent a language barrier of the students. Responses
were given in a five point Likert scale format ranging from strongly disagree (1)
to strongly agree (5) to examine the students’ attitudes. The questionnaire was
anonymous.
On the whole, there were 25 items concerning language attitudes in terms of
affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of attitude (Oskamp and Schultz,
2005). The questionnaire was divided into three themes. The first themes of the
questionnaire was used to find out the students' attitude towards writing. The
second theme was conducted to notice students’ attitude toward teaching writing.
Finally, the last theme was used to explore students’attitude towards the
implementation of the GBA in the teaching descriptive text writing based on the
stages of the GBA. The map of the statements in the questionnaire is displayed in
Table 3.3 below.
Table 3.3 Map of the Statements in the Questionnaire
Aspects Themes Statement
Numbers
1. Affective 1.1 Writing 1
1.2 Teaching Writing 2
1.3 Implementation of GBA in teaching writing
1.3.1 Building Knowledge 3, 4
1.3.2 MoT 5, 6
1.3.3 JCoT 7
1.3.4 ICoT 8, 9
2. Behavioral 1.1 Writing 10
1.2 Teaching Writing 11
1.3 Implementation of GBA in teaching writing
1.3.1 Building Knowledge 12
1.3.2 MoT 13, 14
1.3.4 ICoT 16
3. Cognitive 1.1 Writing 17
1.2 Teaching Writing 18
1.3 Implementation of GBA in teaching writing
1.3.1 Building Knowledge 19
1.3.2 MoT 20
1.3.3 JCoT 21, 22, 23
1.3.4 ICoT 24, 25
As described in Table 3.3, all the statements in the questionnaire divided
into three sections based on the aspects of the attitude: affective, behavioral, and
cognitive. First, the statements of the affective aspect related to like and dislike of
the object, for example: I like writing various types of texts (Statement 1); I like
learning learning descriptive text writing (Statement 2); I am happy when the
descriptive text I wrote is evaluated/corrected by the teacher or friend (Statement
9).
Second, behavioral statements connected with how the students behaved
when they experience the emotions they feel towards the object are marked. This
aspect is marked by statements like Writing is a very important way for me to
express my feeling (Statement 10); My English teacher always teaches us how to
write descriptive text (Statement 11); Writing a descriptive text individually grows
my self confidence (Statement 16).
Finally, cognitive statements which related to the belief that has led to the
underlying reason for the emotion towards the object or event can be seen in the
statements such as I understand how to arrange a good descriptive text after I had learnt and analyzed others’ texts (Statement 20); I understand that writing a text should be done in several stages and need several times of revision (Statement
22); After learning descriptive text writing by using texts and writing activities in
this research, I think writing is important for me to be learned (Statement 24).
The complete map of the statements in the questionnaire and the form of the
3.3.5 Focus Group Interview
The last source of the data in this study was interview. Interview is as a set
of questions directly pointed to participants to get the required information
(Alwasilah, 2009). According to Mills (2007), the interview is a useful tool to
collect data about the participants from their perspective. The interview is also
said as a classic way in research to conduct a conversation that explores the focus
area (Burns, 2004).
In this research, the researcher used a focus group interview. The main
purpose of conducting focus group interview is to gather responses which are
richer and more informative than questionnaire data (Koshy, 2005). It was
employed to elaborate those data from classroom observation and questionnaire.
This is because when a researcher conducts an interview, the researcher will have
a chance to paraphrase the questions that might be not comprehensible. Moreover,
a researcher is able to propose follow-up questions.
In conducting the focus group interview, the researcher used guided or
semi-structured interview as suggested by Burns (2004). Regarding this, Merriam
(1998) says that the use of semi-structured interview is more flexible since it has a
big possibility to get deep information by using less structured questions. The
guided or semi structured interview was conducted by the researcher at the end of
the study. Ten semi-structured questions designed to evaluate the implementation of GBA in teaching writing and students’ attitudes toward the implementation of GBA to the teaching descriptive text writing. The interview questions were
somewhat similar to the questions in the questionnaire in terms of the topics, i.e.
writing, teaching writing and implementation of GBA.
The interview with the students lasted 20 minutes. In this case, nine students
were selected for the focus group interview based on their writing results, three
high achievers, three middle achievers, and three low achievers. They were
interviewed together. This was done to reduce students’ nervousness and to promote the students’ expression (Alwasilah, 2002). The interview was conducted in Indonesian language to allow participants express their ideas in a more
agreement of the students to avoid the loss of the data and enable the researcher to
transcribe it later. Tape-recording also makes it possible for the researcher to give
full attention to the context of the interview (Koshy, 2005). Thus, it was enabled
the researcher to analyze the data in depth (Silverman, 2005).
3.4 Data Analysis
Data analysis in this study was conducted during (on-going) and after the
teaching program of the study. The on-going data analysis and interpretation were based on data mainly from observation notes, observation checklists, students’ writing tests and samples of students’ texts. After the completion of classroom observations, the data collected from questionnaire and focus group interview
were analyzed. The analysis of the above data were drawn on three major
approaches: content analysis, statistical analysis and linguistic analysis. The
analysis of each data source will be presented in a form of descriptive explanation
in Chapter V. The procedure of each data analysis is discussed below.
Table 3.4 Data and Analysis Approaches
Data Analysis Approaches
Classroom Observations Focus Group Interview
Content Analysis
Students’ Writing Tests Questionnaires
Statistical Analysis
Sample of Students’ Texts Linguistic Analysis
3.4.1 Data from Classroom Observation
In analyzing the data from the classroom observation, the researcher
conducted it based on observation notes, observer checklists and video records.
The data were analyzed based on content analysis. Based on the research
problems, there are two central themes analyzed in this study. The first theme is
the implementation of the GBA in the teaching of writing and the second theme is
the students’ attitude towards the implementation of the GBA in the teaching of
writing. In addition, the analysis was also based on the theory and principles of
In analyzing the data from the classroom observations, the following
activities were carried out. First, the observation notes from each meeting were
coded and categorized based on the themes. Second, the observation checklists
from each meeting were summarized. Third, the both the researcher and the
observer watched the video records for several times. It was aimed at getting more
information and clear picture to complete the data from the observation notes and
the observation checklists.
3.4.2 Data from Students’ Writing Tests
The results of the three writing tests were marked tests by the researcher
herself and another rater by using a rubric adopted from Widodo (2006). The
results of the tests are displayed in Appendix 6. The students’ writings were rated
in terms of their content, organization, language use, mechanic and style by the
researcher and another rater. The writing pretest and post-test scores were then
analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows
version 20.0. The SPSS was used to analyze the data quantitatively. Then, the data
collected from tests in two different sections were analyzed by paired t-test.
A paired samples t-test is a test that is useful when two interval/ratio
variables from the same people (student) in a sample are measured exactly in the
same way. A paired samples t-test can be used to compare the scores on the two
variables. The most common use of this test is for pre- and post-test scores for a
sample when they are exposed to some intervention in between the pre- and
post-tests. The reason a paired samples t-test is used instead of an independent samples
t-test is because the scores are for the same people, which suggests there is an
underlying relationship between the scores.
The scores were compared to find out whether there were significant
improvement or not. In the statistical analysis used in the research, the level of
significance was accepted to be 0.05. The descriptive statistic and the paired
sample t-tests of all the students’ writing tests will be presented and discussed in
The paired-samples t test (sometimes referred to as the correlated-samples t
test or matched-samples t test) is similar to the independent-samples test in that
both procedures involve comparing two samples of observations, and determining
whether or not the mean of one sample significantly differs from the mean of
another (O'Rourke et al., 2005). With the independent-samples procedure, the
mean scores are completely independent (i.e., an observation in one sample is not
related to any observation in the other)
3.4.3 Data from Sample of Students’ Texts
The analysis of students’ descriptive texts was conducted in three steps. First, the texts were analyzed of the schematic structure. Second, the texts were
analyzed of linguistic features. Finally, the texts were analyzed whether it have
reached the social purpose of descriptive text. The students’ names were removed
before scanning the texts. The scanned texts were displayed in Appendix 3. The
analysis of the samples of students’ texts was presented in Chapter V. Thus, the
work on genre analysis is to identify how text type (schematic/rhetorical structures
of texts) and its linguistic features used to realize the communicative purpose of
that genre.
3.4.4 Data from Questionnaire
The main aim of administering the questionnaire was to obtain students’
attitude towards the implementation of GBA in teaching descriptive writing. The
data from the questionnaire were examined using quantitative analysis technique,
specifically statistical analysis. The responses given by the respondents were
counted for frequency per question items and converted into percentages. The
responses were then summarized. All analyzed responses were then used for reporting the students’ attitude and for providing support to the research findings. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS Program aiming to answer
the research questions quantitatively. The students’ responses to the
questionnaires were coded and keyed into the SPSS program 20.0 for statistical
calculated. In the statistical analysis used in the research, the level of significance
was accepted to be 0.05.
3.4.5 Data from Focus Group Interview
The data from focus group interview were focused on content analysis. The
data from focus group interview were transcribed and categorized and then
interpreted to answer the research questions. During the transcription stage, students’ names were replaced with a pseudonym (Silverman, 1993). The next step, the transcripts were given back to the participants to confirm that it was
reflected exactly what the students said and meant. Furthermore, the students’
responses for each question were translated from Indonesian to English and then
the data were analysed to identify recurring themes.
The transcripts were then condensed into briefer statements in which the
main sense of what is said paraphrase into a few words (Kvale, 1996). Finally the
data were coded and categorized by using thematic data analysis. In this sense, the researcher categorized students’ comments into problems that had become the focus of the study, i.e. the implementation of GBA in teaching descriptive writing and students’ attitude towards the implementation.
3.5 Criteria of Success
The treatments of this research were terminated when these criteria of
success were achieved. The criteria of success in this study were:
The mean score of students’ writing texts reach 70 as the Minimum Mastery Criterion (Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimum) score in this school.
There are significant improvements in students’ writing achievements in each cycle which is measured statistically.
There are improvements in students’ writing texts based on the analysis of schematic structure and linguistic features of the texts in each cycle.
3.6 Conclusion
This chapter has provided of the methodology used in this study. This
included the research design, the research site, the participants, the criteria of
success, the data collection and the data analysis. The next chapter will concern
This chapter presents the review on how the GBA implemented in the
research site context and the findings of the study resulted in three phase of the
CAR. Then, the analysis and interpretation of data in relation to the overarching
research problems posed in this study are presented as a discussion in last section.
5.1 Preliminary Phase of the Teaching Program
As was asserted in Chapter III, there are three phases that should be
conducted in doing the CAR, i.e. pre-action phase, action phase, and post-action
phase (see Lim, 2007). Considering this, the researcher decided to conduct a
pre-action phase (preliminary phase) by doing observation and preparation in relation
to the implementation of GBA before the study was conducted in the research site.
The activities are as follows:
Table 5.1 Activities in Preliminary Phase of the Teaching Program
Day/Date Activities
Monday/
11 November 2013
Meeting the Headmaster to ask for
permission and give the research letter to the Headmaster conducted. This activity was done because the researcher did not teach in the class. Thursday/
14 November 2013
Observing the teaching and learning process before the research conducted.
Communicating with the teacher and discuss about the research, the material and how it
Before the students were taught the writing skill developed through GBA,
the students were given a writing pre-test (Appendix 5). This pre-test was aimed
to find out the students‟ levels in writing achievement. The students were given 40 minutes to do the writing pre-test with “my classroom” as the theme. After the
pre-test results were submitted, the researcher and another rater scored the texts
based on the rubric adopted from Widodo (2006). The results of the evaluation are
displayed in Appendix 5.
Afterwards, the students were informed and given a general explanation
about the research. It was necessary to explain about the research since the
researcher was not their regular classroom teacher. The researcher also carried out
a discussion with the classroom teacher about the research, the theme and how the
research will be conducted. This information was important to be given since
“what is to be learned should be made clear to the students” (Feez, 2002; Cope and Kalantzis, 1993).
5.1.1 Analysis of Students’ Test Scores
This section discusses the result of students‟ test scores in the pre-test. Based on the statistical analysis by using Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 20.0., the descriptive statistic of the pre-test
Table 5.2 Descriptive Statistics of Pre-Test
Pre-Test
N Valid 28
Missing 0
Mean 22,5893
Std. Error of
Mean 3,14703
Median 20,6250
Mode 6,25
Std. Deviation 16,65252
Range 56,25
Minimum 5,00
Maximum 61,25
Sum 632,50
The result of the pre-test shows that the mean score of the pre-test is 22.59
(SD 16.65). Generally, students‟ scores on the pre-test are found relatively low.
The maximum score is 61.25 and the minimum score is 5.00. This result confirms
that the problems encountered in the initial observation proved true. Most students
did not have sufficient ability to write. Therefore, an appropriate approach, such
as GBA is needed to improve their writing skills. In other words, the
implementation of GBA in the teaching of writing in this study was expected to
overcome this problem. The scores of students‟ writing test were expected to
improve after the GBA was applied in the teaching of descriptive text writing.
5.1.2 Analysis of Students’ Texts in Pre-Test
This section presents the analysis and interpretation of three samples of
students‟ texts from three categorises: high achievers, middle achievers, and low achievers. From each category, one student‟s text is analyzed and interpreted as a
representation of the categories. The analysis is focused on exploring the
function of the text as proposed by Gerot and Wignell (1995), Derewianka (2004),
and Knapp and Watkin (2005).
In terms of schematic structure, a descriptive text , as have been explained
in Chapter II, should consist of two main elements, i.e. identification and
description. Furthermore, the linguistic features which are typically used in the
descriptive texts, i.e. present tense, action verb, linking verb, etc (Derewianka,
1990; Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Knapp and Watkin, 2005). The social function of
discussion text is to give information about a particular person, place or thing
(Derewianka, 1990; Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Knapp and Watkin, 2005).
The analysis of the three student‟ texts gained through the pre-test are
displayed in the following sub-sections. Pseudonyms are assigned to protect the
identity of the students. Yogi represents low achievers, Fira represents middle
achievers and Nadia represents high achievers. The results of the analysis are
closely described below.
5.1.2.1 Low Achiever (Group 1)
The first text to be anlyzed is Yogi‟s text gained through the pre-test as the representative of low achievers (Group 1). The text, as can be seen in Table 5.3,
was written in one paragraph. This suggests that the writer at this stage did not yet
meet the schematic structure of a descriptive text which should have the
Identification and Description (Derewianka, 1990; Gerot and Wignell, 1995;
Knapp and Watkin, 2005). In his text, Yogi did not include the Identification. He
only included the description. Additionally, the text that Yogi produced during the
pre-test was minimal and commented only on the things in the clasroom. It
suggests that the student tried to describe the things in the classroom but he was
not able to describe them in a complete sentence. It may be that, the writer has
limited understanding of writing and its purpose, as John (2002) reports. Similar
Table 5.3 Analysis of Text 1 Written by Low Achiever
Schematic Structure
My Classroom Linguistic Features
Identification
Description My class is floor, door, wall, book, frame, vase, window, table, pail, eraser, blackboard, chalk, bench, pencil, ruler, waste basket, calender, lamp, days, week, ordinal number, picture, bag, student.
Specific participant: my class
Linking verb: is
In terms of linguistic features, Yogi shows his struggle to write a successful
descriptive text as he made grammatical mistake (My class is floor, door, wall
…) and misspell word (calender) in the text. In addition, this text has not achieved the social function of the descriptive text that is to describe the classroom to the
readers. Indeed, Yogi has shown his understanding of descriptive text since he
wrote the words “ My class …” and the things in the classroom that actually he
can used to describe his classroom.
Overall, the pre-test results of Group 1 writers did not acquire the necessary
knowledge of the genre to describe the classroom. Some of the students in this
category could not even write complete sentences in English. Furthermore, the
results of the analysis above suggest that the students in this group really needed
scaffolding from the teacher in terms of grammar and control of the schematic
structure of a Descriptive text. For this reason, in the action phase, writing should
be taught as a process (Gibbons, 2002). The students should be given time to
revise, to edit and to proofread their writing (Gibbons, 2002) .
5.1.2.2 Middle Achiever (Group 2)
The second text to be anlyzed is Fira‟s text as the representative of middle
achievers (Group 2). The text that Fira produced during the pre-test is better than
Table 5.4 Analysis of Text 1 Written by Middle Achiever
Schematic Structure
My Classroom Linguistic Features
Identification It is class seven-one.
in the class room has blackboard, a chair, a door, a vase, a lamp, a table, a celender, a window, a broom. my class room the is flower teacher in the my school the are
Although Fira wrote her text in one paragraph, it has shown the schematic
structure of a descriptive text. Fira started to introduce her class by identifying it
in the first sentence of the paragraph (It is class seven-one). In the next sentences,
she described about the things found in her class, the teacher, and her friends.
These sentences consider as Description of the text (Derewianka, 1990; Gerot and
Wignell, 1995; Knapp and Watkin, 2005).
In terms of linguistic features, this text has applied some linguistic features
of descriptive text, such as the use of specific participant (class seven-one) and
linking verbs: is, are, has, and have. On the other hand, Fira shows her immaturity
in English grammar, spelling and punctuation as she still made some mistakes, for
examples: in the class room has blackboard, a chair, a door,…; my class room
the is flower teacher in the my school the are kind time teach, etc.
As the social purpose of such genre is to give information about a particular
person, place or thing (Derewianka, 1990; Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Knapp and
Watkin, 2005), the student seemed to have some effort to improve her writing
since writing can not be done „at one sitting” (Gibbons, 2002: 67).
To sum, the students in Group 2 presented lists of facts about the classroom
in vague order as illustrated above. The writing characteristics of Group 2
suggests that they have little knowledge about descriptive text. The writers in this
5.1.2.3 High Achiever (Group 3)
The discussion and analysis presented in Table 5.5 below are taken from
Nadia‟s text as the representative of a high achiever.
Table 5.5 Analysis of Text 1 Written by High Achiever
Schematic Structure My Classroom Linguistic Features Identification This is a class seven-one.
In the class seven-one there is a door, window, blackboard, chair, table, picture. State my classroom very calm, colour a wall my class is with, colour a door is blue.
descriptive text (Derewianka, 1990; Gerot and Wignell, 1995; Knapp and Watkin,
2005). This text suggests that the students at this level had a good control of the
schematic structure of a descriptive text which should have Identification and
Description. The introduction begins with a general statement, “This is a class
seven-one” and was continued by descriptions of the things in the classroom.
Nadia shows her capacity in applying the linguistic features of descriptive
text, such as: specific participant (class seven-one), present tense (study, enter),
linking verbs (is, have), adjectives (calm, blue, good). However, in terms of
English grammar, Nadia still made some mistakes. For example: State my
classroom very calm, colour a wall my class is with, colour a door is blue.
A clear social purpose of the text is identified in the writing: describing the
classroom, what class was described and the things found in the classroom. The
included more information about the class. These characteristics suggest that
Nadia already had an understanding of some of the features of the genre before
the GBA was implemented.
In conclusion, the writing characteristics of the students in Group 3 show
that they have enough knowledge about descriptive text. However, the writers in
this category still need help in creating a successful descriptive text.
5.1.3 Reflection of Preliminary Phase
From the results obtained in this phase, the researcher and the classroom
teacher made a reflection. According to Somekh (1995), the most important
element in action research is reflection; it lies at the core of action research.
Reflection in action research is “the moment where the research participants
examine and construct, evaluate and reconstruct their concerns” (Grundy, 1986:
28). Reflection includes the pre‐emptive discussion of the teacher and the
observer to identify a shared concern or problem. In this reflective stage, the
teacher and the observer decided what the outcomes tell them and try to see new
or revised issues for further investigation in the next cycle of action research
(Mills, 2007; Burns, 2010).
The results of the reflection of this phase would be used in planning the
action phase. First, it was realized that the results of the pre-test of students‟
writing test were extremely low. As shown in Table 5.2, the mean score of the
pre-test is 22.59. The maximum score is 61.25 and the minimum score is 5.00.
This indicates that the students‟ achievements in writing need to be improved.
Thenceforth, it is found from the analysis of students‟ texts that more than
half of the students were considered as very poor writers. Although they had
learnt lots of English words and phrases, they were not able to use them to make a
correct sentence or a complete English sentence. A lot of students still made basic
grammaticl mistakes in their text which suggests their need for more scaffolding
in terms of grammar. The following are the typical of the students‟ mistakes found
in their pre-test results: