THE USE OF PICTURE SERIES TO HELP THE STUDENTS OF XB OF SMA N 10 YOGYAKARTA 2010/2011 ACADEMIC YEAR WRITE A RECOUNT TEXT:
CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Dwi Yulianto Nugroho
Student Number: 071214138
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS AND TRAINING EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2011
THE USE OF PICTURE SERIES TO HELP THE STUDENTS OF XB OF SMA N 10 YOGYAKARTA 2010/2011 ACADEMIC YEAR WRITE A RECOUNT TEXT:
CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Dwi Yulianto Nugroho
Student Number: 071214138
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS AND TRAINING EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2011
I DO NOT CHOOSE TO BE A COMMON MAN
Dean Alfange
I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon.
I seek opportunity, not security. I do not wish to be kept citizen,
Humble and deluded by having the State to look after me. I want to take the calculated risk,
To dream and to build, To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole,
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence The thrill of fulfillment instead of a stale utopia.
I will not trade my freedom for beneficence, Nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations, And to face the world boldly,
And to say: “This I have done!”
And this is what it means to be a MAN
This thesis is dedicated to my great parents,
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, May 12, 2011 The Writer
Dwi Yulianto Nugroho 071214138
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama : Dwi Yulianto Nugroho
Nomor Mahasiswa : 071214138
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE USE OF PICTURE SERIES TO HELP
THE STUDENTS OF XB OF SMA N 10 YOGYAKARTA 2010/2011 ACADEMIC YEAR WRITE A RECOUNT TEXT:
CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pertanyaan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 12 Mei 2011 Yang menyatakan
ABSTRACT
Nugroho, Dwi Yulianto. 2011. The Use of Picture Series to Help the Students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta 2010/2011 Academic Year Write a Recount Text: Classroom Action Research. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Mastering English is very important to help us communicate with other people from various countries which use English. The fact that mastering English is very important, the government of Indonesia implement genre-based approach in teaching English. In this approach, the students need to learn English through different types of texts. Recount is one of the compulsory texts that should be learnt by the students of senior high school. Recount should be learnt in four language skills and writing is one of them. Unfortunately, many students consider writing as the most difficult skill to learn. Based on the preliminary study conducted by the researcher, the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta experienced difficulties in writing a recount text. Besides, the result of the students’ recount text was still unsatisfying.
This research is intended to overcome the problem faced by the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. The use of picture series was taken up as the solution considering that picture series provided advantages in teaching writing. The researcher formulated one question to be answered in this research. The question is to what extent does picture series help the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text?
This research is based on Classroom Action Research (CAR) which aimed to help the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text using picture series. The participants of this research were 34 students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta 2010/2011 academic year. There were two cycles of this research. The first cycle was conducted in one meeting. Meanwhile, the second cycle was conducted in two meetings. By using five research instruments which were observation, field notes, questionnaire, interview, and students’ drafts; the researcher gathered and then analyzed the data of this research.
The results of data gathered showed that the use of picture series helped the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakartawrite a recount text. It could be seen from the number of the students who failed to pass the passing grade in preliminary (23 students), cycle one (17 students), and cycle two (8 students). The students could find the ideas quickly, develop the ideas, and then make good organization of a recount text. The use of picture series could also increase the students’ vocabulary. It also helped the students become more creative while they were writing a recount text. Besides, the use of picture series could motivate the students to write a recount text.
ABSTRAK
Nugroho, Dwi Yulianto. 2011. The Use of Picture Series to Help the Students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta 2010/2011 Academic Year Write a Recount Text: Classroom Action Research. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Menguasai bahasa Inggris sangatlah penting guna membantu kita untuk berkomunikasi dengan orang lain yang berasal dari berbagai Negara yang menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Kenyataan bahwa menguasai bahasa Inggris itu penting, pemerintah Indonesia menerapkan model pendekatan berbasis genre
dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris. Dalam model pendekatan tersebut, siswa belajar bahasa Inggris melalui bermacam-macam jenis teks. Recount adalah salah satu jenis teks yang dipelajari oleh siswa SMA. Recount dipelajari melalui keempat ketrampilan berbahasa dan menulis merupakan salah satu dari ketrampilan tersebut. Akan tetapi, banyak siswa yang menganggap bahwa menulis adalah ketrampilan yang paling susah dipelajari. Berdasarkan studi awal yang dilakukan peneliti, siswa di kelas XB SMA N 10 Yogyakarta mengalami kesulitan dalam menulis karangan berbentuk recount. Selain itu, hasil karangan recount siswa masih belum memuaskan.
Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk mengatasi masalah yang dihadapi oleh siswa kelas XB SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. Penggunaan gambar seri dipilih sebagai solusi mengingat bahwa gambar seri memberi manfaat dalam pengajaran menulis. Peneliti merumuskan sebuah masalah untuk dipecahkan dalam penelitian ini. Rumusan masalah tersebut adalah sejauh mana penggunaan gambar seri dapat membantu siswa kelas XB SMA N 10 Yogyakarta dalam menulis sebuah karangan berbentuk recount.
Penelitian ini merupakan Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) yang bertujuan untuk membantu siswa kelas XB SMA N 10 Yogyakarta dalam menulis sebuah karangan berbentuk recount menggunakan gambar seri. Responden dalam penelitian ini berjumlah 34 siswa dari kelas XB SMA N 10 Yogyakarta tahun ajaran 2010/2011. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua siklus. Siklus yang pertama dilaksanakan dalam satu kali pertemuan sedangkan siklus yang kedua dilaksanakan dalam dua kali pertemuan. Dengan menggunakan lima buah alat penelitian yaitu lembar observasi, catatan lapangan, kuesioner, panduan wawancara dan tulisan siswa; peneliti mengumpulkan dan menganalisa data penelitian ini.
Selain itu, penggunaan gambar seri dapat memotivasi siswa untuk menulis sebuah karangan berbentuk recount.
Setelah mengetahui bahwa penggunaan gambar seri dapat membantu siswa menulis karangan berbentuk recount, peneliti memberi saran kepada guru-guru bahasa Inggris untuk menggunakan gambar seri saat mengajar tentang recount. Selain itu, para guru bahasa Inggris dapat menggunakan gambar seri yang berwarna.
Kata kunci: penelitian tindakan kelas, menulis, recount, gambar seri
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to address my gratitude to Jesus Christ for His love, grace, and guidance during my whole life, especially the time when I had to struggle to plan, conduct, and finally report this research. Secondly, my gratitude goes to my hands, my eyes, my brain, my nose, my ears, my lung, my feet, and
the whole parts of my body that have cooperated and synergized very well during my life.
I would also thank my supervisor, Ag.Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. for his very valuable time, guidance, suggestions, motivation, and jokes during the process of doing this research and writing this thesis. I am also greatly indebted to
Widya Astuti, S.Pd. who has permitted me to conduct a research in her classroom. I would also like to thank for her time, guidance and suggestions. I also thank Drs.Timbul Mulyana, M.Pd., the principal of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta, who has permitted me to conduct a research in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. The next thankfulness goes to the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta 2010/2011 Academic Year for being very friendly and cooperative.
I would also like to address my thankfulness to ELESP grant evaluators who have given me opportunity and fund to conduct this research and learn many things from the whole process. I am proud and happy to be one of the lucky winners of the hibah kompetisi internal. I have done my very best as my thankfulness to be chosen as the winner.
My greatest gratitude goes to my beloved family. I thank my great parents, Bapak Surahmat and Ibu Sulasmi for their sincere love, patience, and advices. I am very grateful to have my parents. I also thank my sister, Mbak Ningsih, and also my brothers, Mas Woto and Dik Aji for their jokes, care, and love. I also thank my lovely nephew, Lano for his smile and ompol so that I never got stress when I was at home. I am very happy to have my family.
I owe a great debt to all PBI lecturers and all mybeloved teachers in
when I was doing my Program Pengalaman Lapangan in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. I address my special thankfulness to my great lecturer, Yuseva Ariyani Iswandari, S.Pd., M.Ed. who has given me a precious chance to read her book and also has given feedback and comments on this research. I also thank for her motivation given to me to enjoy the process of doing a research. I also thank
Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd. who has shared her positive-thoughts that can inspire me to always do my very best. I am very happy to have and meet all of my teachers in my life.
I also would like to thank PBI secretariat staff, Mbak Tari and Mbak Dhanniek, Tata Usaha staff in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta and also all librarians in Sanata Dharma University who have given their very best services. I am amazed of their high spirit to assist everyone who needs their help. I also thank my friend Antonia Rahayu Rosaria Wibowo, for her help become the observer and also for her support, patience, positive-thoughts, and encouragement to graduate as quickly as possible. I also thank for her suggestions and comments towards this research. I thank Mbak Maria Susana Widyaningsih, S.Pd. for her help to become the observer of my research and also for her sharing about classroom action research. I also thank Mbak Maria Heni “Sarce” Krisnasari, S.Pd. who has become a very great senior in PBI.
I would also like to thank my great friends in PBI, especially Desta, Bretya,Yusak, Susan, and Achie who have become my best friends during my study in PBI. I thank all my friends in PBI, especially 2007ers in class C, and also in Sanata Dharma University whose name I could not mention one by one. I am very happy and lucky to meet and have all of my great friends in PBI Sanata Dharma University.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ……….. i
APPROVAL PAGES ………. ii
DEDICATION PAGE ……… iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………... v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPERLUAN AKADEMIS ………..……….... vi
ABSTRACT... vii
ABSTRAK ……….…... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… x
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… xii
LIST OF TABLES ……….. xiv
LIST OF FIGURES ……… xv
LIST OF APPENDICES ………. xvi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ………... 1
B. Problem Formulation ………. 4
C. Limitation of the Study ………... 5
D. Objective of the Study ……… 5
E. Benefits of the Study ...………... 5
F. Definition of Terms ……… 6
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ……….. 9
1. Writing Skill ……….. ………... a. The Nature of Writing ………. b. Teaching Writing ……… 2. Recount ………. a. Definition of Recount ……….
b. Communicative Purpose of Recount ……….. c. Types of Recount ……… d. Generic Structure of Recount ………. e. Grammatical Features of Recount ……….. 3. Picture Series ……… a. The Nature of Picture Series ………... b. The Advantages of Using Picture Series in Writing 4. Classroom Action Research ………..
a. Definition of Classroom Action Research ………. b. Aims of Classroom Action Research……….. c. Characteristics of Classroom Action Research ….. d. Model of Classroom Action Research ………
15 B. Theoretical Framework ………... 22 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ……… B. Research Setting and Participants ……… C. Research Instruments ……….. D. Data Gathering Technique .………. E. Data Analysis Technique ……… F. Research Procedure ……… CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSSIONS
A. The Role of Picture Series ……….. B. Research Process ………
24 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Table 4.1. The Students’ Improvement Taken from Their Writing Drafts (individually) ……… 34 Table 4.2. The Students’ Improvement Taken from Their Writing Drafts (in groups) ……… 37
LIST OF FIGURES
Figures Page Figure 2.1. Stages of the teaching/learning cycle ………... 12 Figure.2.2. Kemmis and McTaggart’s Model of Classroom Action
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
Appendix 1. Covering Letter for the Head of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta …….. 76
Appendix 2. Covering Letter for the Governor of DIY ………... 78
Appendix 3. Permission Letter from the Governor of DIY………... 80
Appendix 4. Permission Letter from the Mayor of Yogyakarta ………….... 82
Appendix 5. Research Official Statement from SMA N 10 Yogyakarta …... 84
Appendix 6. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle One ………….. 86
Appendix 7. Field Notes of Cycle One ……….. 98
Appendix 8. Observation Sheet of Cycle One ………... 103
Appendix 9. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle Two ………….. 108
Appendix 10. Field Notes of Cycle Two ……… 120
Appendix 11. Observation Sheet of Cycle Two ………. 126
Appendix 12. Questionnaire ……… 133
Appendix 13. The Raw Data of Questionnaire ……… 137
Appendix 14. Interview Guide ……….... 142
Appendix 15. Interview Transcripts ……….... 144
Appendix 16. Sample of the Students’ Drafts Written in Preliminary Study .. 154
Appendix 17. Sample of the Students’ Drafts Written in Cycle One………… 157
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the researcher would like to present the background of the study, the limitation of the study, the problem formulation, the objective of the study, the benefits of the study, and definition of terms.
A.Background of the Study
English is well-known as a global language used by people to communicate with other people around the world. If someone does not know English, he will get difficulties in having communication with other people that use English. Therefore, mastering English language is very important.
The fact that mastering English is very important becomes the background for the government of Indonesia to put English in the formal education curriculum. The government of Indonesia has put English as a compulsory subject since the fourth grade of elementary school. It is expected that every student will be able to master English so the student does not find any obstacles dealing with language when the student is having communication with other people from around the world.
texts both in junior and senior high school levels. In the curriculum, senior high school students are obliged to learn English through different texts which have different function based on social context. Therefore, the syllabus used in the learning and teaching activities is text-based syllabus. The genre-based approach is one example of approaches used in text-based syllabus (Feez, 1998). Some texts to be taught in senior high schools are recount, narrative, procedure, descriptive, news item, report, analytical exposition, spoof, hortatory exposition, explanation, discussion, and review (BSNP, 2006).
whether their writing is good or not. It can be the obstacle for the students to improve their writing skills.
The students in XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta also considered writing as the most difficult skill to learn. The researcher asked the students to write down their simple opinion towards writing on the back side of their drafts while the researcher taught the students. From the data, there were more than 50% students who stated that writing is difficult. They found a lot of difficulties in writing. Based on the researcher’s observation, the students had problem in writing a recount text. They needed much time to start writing because they did not have any idea to write and they had very limited English vocabulary. Besides, the result of the students’ recount texts was not really satisfying. Their ideas were not organized well. They also made mistakes mostly on the use of past tense, minimum requirements, and even some of them did not write proper recount text based on the generic structure of a recount text. It was so ironic since recount is one of the texts that have more value in the context of schooling (Gerot and Wignell, 1994) as cited by Mulya (2007: 17). Feez (1998) adds that recount is classified as the simplest story text.
The reasons motivated the researcher to conduct a classroom action research to help the students write a recount text. Besides, the researcher, who considers that writing is not really difficult, wants to help the students in that class write a recount text so that they will not think that writing is difficult anymore.
were chosen because they have many advantages. Using what appears in the pictures, the students can get ideas and opportunity to write in a connected way (Kreidle, 1968). It will help the students write a text without spending much time only to find ideas. Well-chosen picture series also give motivation to the students in learning situation, especially in learning how to write (Kieffer and Cochran, 1985). Besides, picture series provide material that offers guidance on vocabulary, sentence structure, and organization yet lets the students write about new subject matter (Raimes, 1983).
Some previous research dealing with the use of picture series in teaching writing showed good results. One of them was done by Setiawaty in 2003. Setiawaty used the picture series to help her students write a narrative text. Based on Setiawaty’s research, the use of picture series helped her students write a narrative text. Understanding the advantages provided by picture series and also the problems in writing a recount text faced by the students, the use of picture series can be a good solution in the form instruction media for the students in this research in writing a recount text.
B.Problem Formulation
In this research, the researcher addresses one question as follows:
C.Limitation of the Study
The researcher limits the research on its participants and also its purpose. The participants of the research were 34 students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. The purpose of the research is to overcome the problem faced by the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta in writing a recount text. The use of picture series is offered as the solution to overcome the problem. Therefore, the researcher limits this research into a study of writing a recount text using picture series for the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta.
D.Objective of the Study
The objective of this research is to overcome the problem in writing a recount text faced by the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta. The solution is taken by using picture series when the students write recount text. The aim of this implementation is to figure out to what extent the use of picture series helps the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text.
E.Benefits of the Study
There are several benefits which can be obtained from this research. This research is expected to give valuable contribution for the people as follows:
1. The Students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta
get ideas, organize ideas in a good sequence, and use correct grammar. Besides, it is also expected that they will be more creative to find ideas based on the pictures. Finally, the students are expected to love writing.
2. The Researcher
By conducting the research, the researcher is expected to be able to answer the problem formulated in this research. Besides, he is also expected to be more creative in using media while teaching.
3. The English Teachers in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta
This research is also expected for the English teachers in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta to have good instruction media which is picture series to teach writing a recount text. Furthermore, the teachers in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta can help their students write a recount text.
4. The Other Researchers
The other researchers in the same topic may use the results of this research as their research background or reference for the sake of better improvement of a problem.
F. Definition of Terms
There are some terms used in this research that should be defined to avoid misunderstanding in meaning. They are:
1. Classroom Action Research
strategies, and record their work in a form that is understandable by other teachers. Carr and Kemmis (1986), as cited by Burns (1999: 30), add that action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry done by participants whose aim is to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out. In this research, the classroom action research is a research to overcome a problem after doing some action and reflection.
2. Writing
Harmer (1991) argues that writing is a productive skill which requires students to produce or make a written form of language. It means that the students will produce something that can be read as the expression of their thought. In this research, the participants will produce recount texts which are written based on picture series.
3. Picture
According to Heinich (1982), pictures are photographic, representative of people, places, and things are available in most subject areas and levels from kindergarten to adults.
4. Picture Series
the text stage and use picture series which consist of eight pictures for the independent construction of the text stage.
5. Recount
The Board of Studies New South Wales (1994), as cited by Mulya (2007: 3), explains that recount means a series of events that is written or spoken in the time order in which it occurs and it has specific generic structure and grammatical features to differ recount from other texts. In this study, recount refers to written text. According to Doyle, Christine, and Lawrence (2004), there are three types of recount text. They are personal, factual, and historical recount. This research would like to focus on personal and factual recount. In personal recount, the writer is personally involved. Meanwhile, factual recount is that a recount text which records the circumstances of a particular event in which the speaker or writer might or might not have been involved. Here, the circumstances of an event are taken from the picture series. The students can write either personal or factual recount.
6. XB Students in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher presents a discussion on some theories which become the bases of this research. The purpose of this chapter is to get understanding to answer the question of this research. This chapter is divided into two major parts. In the first major part, the researcher presents the theoretical description. Meanwhile, the second major part is about the theoretical framework.
A. Theoretical Description
In the theoretical description, the researcher discusses the theories related to this research. The theories are Writing Skill, Recount, Picture Series, and Classroom Action Research.
1. Writing Skill
This part discusses two things related to this research. They are the nature of writing and teaching writing. The nature of writing part presents the characteristics of writing. Meanwhile, teaching writing part elaborates the reasons why we teach writing and genre-based approach as one approach used in teaching writing.
a. The Nature of Writing
form of language. It means that the students actively produce written form of language which can be read.
Many experts explain the nature of writing by comparing it with speaking skill. Both writing and speaking are productive skills which produce something rather than receiving something as listening and reading. Widdowson (1978: 57) argues “the same thing that speaking and writing are said to be active, or productive skills whereas listening and reading are said to be passive or receptive skills”.
Meanwhile, writing is different from speaking. Writing is a much slower process than either speaking or reading (Bismoko, 1976). Raimes provides some differences between writing and speaking. They are:
1. Speech is universal; everyone acquires a native language in the first few years of life. Not everyone learns to read and write.
2. The spoken language has dialect variations. The written language generally demands standard forms of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.
3. Speakers use their voices (pitch, stress, and rhythm) and bodies (gestures and facial expressions) to help convey their ideas. Writers have to rely on the words on the page to express their meaning.
4. Speakers use pauses and intonation. Writers use punctuation. 5. Speakers pronounce. Writers spell.
6. Speaking is usually spontaneous and unplanned. Most writing takes time and it is planned. We can go back and change what we have written.
7. A speaker speaks to a listener who is right there, nodding or frowning, interrupting or questioning. For the writer, the reader’s response is either delayed or nonexistent. The writer has only that one chance to convey information and be interesting and accurate enough to hold the reader’s attention.
b. Teaching Writing
In order to help students master in one language, teacher should teach them four language skills, including writing. The reason why teacher should teach writing is led by the advantages of writing itself. According to Pereira (1991) writing has moved up in the scale of classroom priorities, partly because it provides the following advantages:
1)Writing and thinking are closely connected. The process of writing enables students to explore a topic fully.
2)Writing helps students to discover what they want to say. The writing process is creative. The students sit down to write with a definite idea in mind, but as they write, new ideas develop.
3)Writing reinforces grammar, idioms, and vocabularies that students have been working with in class.
4)When writing, students become involved with the language, with themselves, and with their audience.
5)Students have the opportunity to be adventurous with the language, to take risks, to go beyond what has been taught.
Writing a form of language motivates students to think by exploring a topic, develop it, and compose it in a good organization. Teacher should help the students master language so that the student can produce a good writing.
genre-based approach. Hyland (2003) argues that teachers need to look beyond subject content, composing processes and textual forms to see writing as attempts to communicate with readers if they take a genre orientation to writing instruction. It means that this approach values the communicative purpose of the text. In other word, the focus of this approach is the text type.
Genre-based approach has an advantage for students to develop their writing skill. Richards & Willy A. Renandya (2002, p.104) state that
A genre-based approach provides students with ample opportunities to become aware of the different purposes of written communication and the different ways information is organized in written texts.
Teaching using genre-based approach has several stages to do in one cycle. Hyland (2003) argues that the cycle can help the teacher teach writing because the cycle suggests how the teacher of writing can sequence tasks to achieve particular purposes at different stages of learning. Feez (1998) explains five main stages in writing as showed in the following figure.
a. Stage 1. Building the Context.
This stage is sometimes also called building the knowledge of the field. In this stage, the students are introduced to the context of culture, context of situation, and the social purpose of the authentic model of text-type being studied (Feez, 1998).
b. Stage 2. Modeling and Deconstructing the Text.
This stage is intended to investigate the structural pattern and language features of the text (Feez, 1998). In this stage, the teacher’s role is to present examples, the purpose of the texts, identify the stages of the text, and introduce the language features of the texts (Hyland, 2003).
c. Stage 3. Joint construction of the Text
In this stage, students begin to contribute to the construction of whole examples of the text-type and the teacher gradually reduces contribution to text construction (Feez, 1998). Students’ growing understanding allows them to create a target text. In this stage, the students develop a text together in collaboration with the teacher and their peers (Hyland, 2003). d. Stage 4. Independent Construction of the Text.
e. Stage 5. Linking to Related Texts.
In this stage, the students investigate how what they have learnt in this teaching learning cycle can be related to other texts in the same or similar contexts and also related to future or past cycle of teaching and learning (Feez, 1998).
The teacher and students should cooperate well to achieve a successful learning and teaching process. Considering that teaching writing using genre-based approach needs some stages, it is also the same when teachers are teaching the students how to write a recount text. The stages can help teacher deliver the knowledge of how to write a recount text to the students well. Finally, it is expected that the results of students’ writing are satisfying.
2. Recount
This part presents a discussion of recount. The discussion talks about definition, communicative purpose, types, generic structures, and grammatical features of recount text.
a. Definition of Recount
means that a recount text consists of a series of past events and it has its own characteristics which differ to other types of texts.
b. Communicative Purpose of Recount
Hyland (2003) argues that the communicative purpose of a recount text is to reconstruct past experiences by retelling events in chronological order. Past experiences are any events happened in the past, such as a robbery crime happened two days ago. The students can make a recount text by retelling how the crime happened starting from the first event until the last event based on the chronology of the crime. Gerot and Wignell (1994) add that either informing or entertaining its audience by retelling events is the purpose of a recount text.
c. Types of Recount
There are some types of recount. Doyle et al. (2004: 57) state three types of recount. They are:
1)Personal recount
It describes events that the speaker or writer was personally involved in, for example a text about the writer’s unforgettable moment. In the text, the writer is personally involved so the writer can write a personal recount. 2)Factual recount
3)Historical recount
It is a variant of the factual recount and, as the name suggests, relates significant events in history. The example of this type of recount is the story of World War I which is written in chronological order.
d. Generic Structure of Recount
According to Hardy and Klarwein (1990), as cited by Mulya (2007: 20), generic structure of recount is usually organized as follows:
1)Orientation
Orientation provides the setting or background information about who were involved, when the event happened, and where the event happened. 2)Sequence of Events
Sequence of events tells what happened in chronological order. It means that the events are described from the event which happens first.
3)Reorientation
Reorientation is the closure of events. In this part, the writer or the speaker can state his/her personal comments about the events described. It is an optional part of a recount text.
e. Grammatical Features of Recount
Studies New South Wales (1994: 146), the grammatical features of recount include:
1)Use of specific participants to identity people, animal, or things involved 2)Use of material processes to refer to the actions
3)Use of past tense to locate events in relation to speaker/writer’s time 4)Use of temporal connectives to sequence of events
5)Use of circumstances of place and time (yesterday, after lunch, to the beach, at my house).
3. Picture Series
There are two things being discussed in this part. They are the nature of picture series and the advantages of picture series in writing.
a. The Nature of Picture Series
b. The Advantages of Using Picture Series in Writing
Picture can be one of good media to teach writing because it has many advantages. Raimes (1983) argues that picture provides for the use of a common vocabulary and common language forms. Besides, he adds that pictures bring the outside world into the classroom in a vividly concrete ways. A picture is a valuable resource as it provides:
1. a shared experience in the classroom;
2. a need for common language forms to use in the classroom; 3. a variety of tasks;
4. a focus of interest for students.
provides material that offers guidance on vocabulary, sentence structure, and organization yet lets the students write about new subject matter”.
Based on previous research done by Setiawaty in 2003, picture series can help her participants write a narrative text. It can be concluded that the theories mentioned agree that picture series can be used to help students write a recount text.
4. Classroom Action Research
This part presents a discussion of classroom action research. There are four parts in the discussion, namely definition, aims, characteristics, and model of classroom action research.
a. Definition of Classroom Action Research
According to Slavin (2007), action research is research that is set systematically in order to collect data to address an important problem faced by the researcher. Carr and Kemmis (1986), as cited by Burns (1999: 30), add that:
Action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out.
classroom where she/he teaches by focusing on teaching learning process and teaching learning practice improvement. From the definitions above, it can be concluded that classroom action research is a research which investigates problems in certain situation.
b. Aims of Classroom Action Research
Elliott (1991: 49) argues that “action research has a fundamental aim of action research which is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge.” Hendricks (2009), as cited by Ary et al. (2010: 515), adds that the aim of classroom action research is to improve classroom practice in the school. Slavin (2007: 169) concludes that “action research is especially appropriate for individual educators who want to improve their effectiveness through a systematic evaluation of their own practices”.
c. Characteristics of Classroom Action Research
Action research has some characteristics. Burns (1999: 30) suggests a number of common features to characterize action research as follows:
1) Action research is contextual in a small-scale and it is localized. Besides, it identifies and investigates problems within a particular situation.
3) It is participatory because it can be done by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers.
4) Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data. The data provides the impetus for change.
d. Model of Classroom Action Research
Kemmis and McTaggart, as cited by Burns (1999: 32) argue that action research occurs through a dynamic and complementary process, namely planning, action, observation and reflection as presented in the figure 2.2.
Figure.2.2. Kemmis and McTaggart’s Model of Classroom Action Research (Kusumah & Dwitagama, 2010: 21)
Furthermore, Kemmis and McTaggart, as cited by Burns (1999: 32), explain that those four steps is a spiraling process through which partpants in an action research group undertake to:
2) act to implement the plan,
3) observe the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs, and
4) reflect on these effects as the basis of further planning subsequent critically informed action and so on, through a succession of stages.
Those four steps are included in one cycle. Therefore, a researcher who conducts a classroom action research should follow those steps.
B. Theoretical Framework
English has four skills namely; listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Writing is one of the skills that should be mastered by students. Ironically, many English teachers do not really pay attention to teaching writing whereas the students need also to learn how to write something as the written communication.
Referring the purpose of the curriculum, students should be able to write various types of texts. Recount text is one of texts should be taught in senior high school level. Based on the preliminary study, the students of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta had difficulty in writing a recount text. They could not find the idea to write. As the result, they needed much time in writing a recount text. Besides, the result of their recount is not satisfying enough. It became the teacher’s responsibility to help the students write a recount text.
conducted a CAR based on Kemmis and McTaggart’s model. In that model, the action and observing steps were done at the same time.
While conducting the research, the researcher referred to the theories of writing. The researcher asked the students to write recount texts based on picture series as the products of the writing activity. While teaching writing, the researcher used genre-based which consisted of four stages which are building the context, modeling and deconstructing the text, joint construction of the text, and independent construction of the text as the theory purposed by Feez (1998) about the stages of teaching using genre-based approach. The researcher did not use one more teaching stage, namely linking to related text. It was because the researcher did not want to ask the students to link recount text to other types of texts. Being able to produce a recount text was enough for this research. In conclusion, by doing this research, it was expected that the students’ ability in writing a recount text could increase.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the discussion of the methodology used in the research. The discussion involves research method, research setting and participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, and data analysis technique.
A.Research Method
The researcher conducted this research to find out to what extent the use of picture series helps the students write a recount text. A classroom action research (CAR) was employed to answer the question formulated in this research. According to Elliot (1991), classroom action research is a process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice, try out new strategies, and record their work in a form that is understandable by other teachers. It means that classroom action research aims to make a kind of change within particular situation. Carr and Kemmis (1986), as cited by Burns (1999: 30), add that:
Action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out.
In this research, the researcher conducted a classroom action research to overcome the problem faced by the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta in writing a recount text. In conducting the research, the researcher referred to Kemmis and McTaggart’s model. Classroom action Research based on Kemmis and McTaggart’s model consists of four essential stages. They are planning, action, observation, and reflection. The reason why the researcher used that model is because the action and observation were done in the same time as we can see in the figure 2.2. in Chapter II. The researcher believed that it would not be possible to separate the observation from the action. While the action was implemented, the researcher could observe what was going on during the implementation.
In planning stage, the researcher found a problem faced by the students through a preliminary study. He tried to offer a solution to overcome the problem. The picture series were chosen as the solution for the problem after reviewing the related literature that picture series provide advantages to overcome the problem. After that, the researcher planned an action to overcome the problem.
The second and third steps were action and observation. As the researcher has said, action and observation could not be separated from each other. Therefore, the researcher did those steps in the same time. The researcher did the action, observed it and then made field notes based on everything happened during the implementation.
Besides, reflection was to decide whether or not the use of picture series to help the students write a recount text was successful. The researcher referred to the data taken after the implementation of each cycle. From the data, the researcher made conclusion about to what extent picture series help the students write a recount text which would be explained in Chapter IV.
B. Research Setting and Participants
This research was conducted in SMA N 10 Yogyakarta in XB class. The participants of this research were 34 students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta in the 2010/2011 academic year. Based on the preliminary research done by the researcher, the students in XB class had difficulties in writing a recount text.
C. Research Instruments
To conduct the research, the researcher used some research instruments. The research instruments used by the researcher were observation checklist, field notes, questionnaires, interviews, and also students’ drafts about recount text.
1. Observation Checklist
researcher is allowed to observe and record the actual events. It means that observation is quite important in a classroom action research.
2. Field Notes
According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1982: 197), field notes are methods of reporting observations of and reflections about classroom problems and the teachers’ own reaction to them. In this research, the researcher asked for help to an outside observer to make field notes based on her observation during the implementation.
3. Questionnaires
According to McKay (2002), questionnaires are a set of written questions that deal with a particular topic. The researcher distributed questionnaires to all students to know whether the use of picture series could help them write a recount text or not. Burns (1999) mentions that there are three types of response items which are usually written in questionnaires. They are closed items, scaled items, and open-ended items. In this CAR, the researcher used scale items in which the respondents give response based on the degree of agreement or disagreement
(Likert Scale). Besides, the researcher also provided some open-ended items to give space for the students to write their own opinions related to the implementation.
4. Interviews
selecting the students was based on their drafts about recount text. In this interview, two of the students were considered having low ability in writing a recount text. Meanwhile, two of the students were considered having high ability in writing a recount text. The interview was aimed to know deeper if the use of picture series could help the students in XB write a recount text. The types of the questions were open questions, closed questions, or both of them. However, the researcher sometimes made the questions directly following the participants’ answers.
5. Students’ Drafts
The students’ drafts became the main source of data in this research. There were three drafts written by the students individually, including the drafts written in preliminary study. Two other drafts were written in the end of implementation of each cycle. There were two cycles of this research. Actually, the researcher planned to conduct each cycle of this research in one meeting because he wanted to pass the writing process in one period of teaching and learning activity but it did not work well in the first cycle. So, he conducted the second cycle in two meetings.
D. Data Gathering Technique
situation of the class. Having found the problem faced by the students, the researcher tried to find a good solution for the problem.
After that, the researcher planned and then implemented the action through teaching and learning activities. Here, the researcher asked for help to the observers. The observers observed what was going on in the classroom and wrote it down in the field notes. Besides, the researcher asked the students to write a recount text in groups and a recount text individually and submit those two writing drafts in the end of the meeting. Having implemented the action, the researcher distributed questionnaire to the students. Afterwards, he conducted interviews to four students.
In the reflection stage, the researcher reflected to what extent the use of picture series helped the students write a recount text. In the reflection stage of the first cycle, the researcher prepared an action for the second cycle. Meanwhile, in the reflection stage of the second cycle, the researcher concluded to what extent the use of picture series helped the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text.
E. Data Analysis Technique
data. The data would be compared and contrasted with the theories reviewed in Chapter II.
The researcher analyzed field notes which were written based on the real situation and also observation checklist through the teaching and learning activity in the classroom. From the field notes and observation checklist, the researcher analyzed the data by summarizing it in the form of description. If the data gathered from the observation and field notes showed that the teacher implemented the actions based on the plan, it could be concluded that the implementation of the use of picture series in writing a recount text was successfully done.
The researcher gathered the other data using questionnaire. The questionnaire would use Likert Scale and also open-ended questions. Therefore, the researcher analyzed the data in the form of description. However, the researcher also presented some data in the form of percentage to make it easier to be explained. The researcher would also like to conduct interview to four participants in order to get more detail information about the implementation. This technique was to clarify the students’ opinions written in the questionnaire. The data taken from the interviews would also be analyzed by comparing and contrasting to the other data.
(Hughes, 1989) which has been modified. If the results of the students’ drafts written in the first cycle were better than their drafts written in the preliminary study and their drafts written in the second cycle were better than their drafts written in the first cycle, it indicated that the students made good progress. It could be concluded that the use of picture series could help the students write a recount text. Therefore, the researcher could end the implementation of the research.
F. Research Procedures
The researcher conducted this research by planning several steps to do. First, the researcher did the preliminary study to identify the problem faced by the students. After finding the problem in which the students had difficulty in writing a recount text, the researcher tried to find a solution dealing with the problem. The researcher offered the use of picture series to help the students write a recount text to the teacher.
The researcher then planned a learning activity which was the use of picture series in writing a recount text. After that, the researcher prepared the material and also lesson plan for the teaching and learning activity. Then, he implemented the action. During the action, there were two observers who observed and made field notes to record everything which was going on.
students write a recount text. In the different occasion, the researcher conducted interview to four students. Then, the researcher compiled all of the data, including the students’ drafts. In the next stage, the researcher made reflection by analyzing what went well and what went wrong during the action.
After that, the researcher made conclusion whether the action could really help the students write a recount text or not. If the result in the first cycle was still unsatisfying, the researcher made reflection to improve here and there and then planned to conduct the second cycle which still focused on the use of picture series in helping the students write a recount text. If the result in the cycle one has already been good, the researcher would still conduct the second cycle to prove that the use of picture series really helped the students write a recount text. The second cycle was based on the reflection done by the researcher in the first cycle. Finally, because the results of the implementations from both cycles were satisfying enough; the researcher did not need to conduct the third cycle. The success of each cycle could be identified by the progress in writing a recount text made by the students. Finally, the researcher could make the conclusion to what extent the use of picture series helped the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakartawrite a recount text.
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section discusses the role of picture series and the process of how the results could be taken up. The findings are related to the results of the action implemented in this research. Meanwhile, the research process focuses on the steps of the research.
The role of picture series presented the outcome of the research after the actions were implemented. The findings were related to the students’ improvement in writing a recount text using picture series. The findings were concluded by triangulating the data taken from the questionnaire analysis, interview analysis, and the students’ writing drafts analysis.
The research process described the cycles of the classroom action research. In this research, there were two cycles and each cycle consisted of planning, action, observation, and reflection. However, before the first cycle was conducted, the researcher did the preliminary study (initial reconnaissance) to know the real condition and problem faced by the students in XB class.
A. The Role of Picture Series
starting from the preliminary study (before the use of picture series in writing a recount text was implemented) until the second cycle.
NO Name of the
From table 4.1., the students made progress in writing a recount text. In the preliminary study, the class average was 52.82. Meanwhile, the class averages in the first and second cycles were 61.45 and 69.94. Here, the researcher concluded that the use of picture series helped the students write a recount text.
0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00
Failed 70.59 51.52 24.24 Passed 29.41 48.48 75.76
Preliminary
Study Cycle 1 Cycle 2
Figure 4.1. The Students’ Progress in Writing Recount Text (Individual)
From figure 4.1. above, the researcher could sum up that the students made significant progress in writing a recount text. It meant that the use of picture series really could help the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text. It could be concluded that the use of picture series helped the students of XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text seeing from the number of the students who failed to pass the passing grade in preliminary (23 students), cycle one (17 students), and cycle two (8 students).
recount text. Some participants also stated that the use of picture series helped him get ideas.
Albany: “Sangat membantu dalam menemukan ide, jadi kita tidak usah bingung lagi event selanjutnya ini kira-kira mau apa gitu.” (It is very helpful in getting ideas so we do not need to be confused to think about the next events)
Michigan wrote in the questionnaire:
“Sangat menarik dan dapat menemukan ide dengan cepat” (It is very interesting and I can get the idea fast).
Based on the students’ drafts written in groups, they also made progress in writing recount texts. It was good to prove that picture series could help the students write a recount text not only when they had to work individually but also when they had to work in groups.
Table 4.2. The Students’ Improvement Taken from Their Writing Drafts (in groups)
Some of the students stated that the use of picture series helped them get ideas and then develop the ideas into a good recount text. Kreidle (1968) argues that picture series can be used as cues for retelling a story. Using what appears in the pictures, the students can get ideas and opportunity to write in a connected way. From the questionnaire, there were 25 students (75.76%) stated that the use of picture series in writing a recount text helped them get ideas and 6 students (18.18%) stated that it really helped them get the ideas to write. Some of them added that picture series could help them develop the ideas. There were 24 students (72.73%) who said so and 7 students (21.21%) who strongly agreed that the use of picture series could help them develop the ideas. Moreover, some participants who were interviewed by the researcher also said the same thing.
Arkansas: “Ya asyik, jadinya jadi ada ide untuk mengembangin paragrafnya kan jadi tambah-tambah ide…” (It is exciting so there is idea to develop the paragraph because many ideas are there)
Nevada: “…Yang kedua, terus ada kata-kata, kata-katanya itu… gimana ya…. Lebih..lebih luaslah…..” (…secondly, we have many words, and the words are broader…)
concluded that the use of picture series helped the students arrange the events of a recount text into the correct order. When the teacher asked the students to decide the better writing, there were 25 students (75.76%) and 2 students (6.06%) stated that their recounts which were written based on picture series were better than their recounts which were written without using picture series. Some of them said:
Albany: “Lebih bagus yang sudah ada gambar serinya karena eventnya lebih runtut.” (The one which has picture series is better because the events are sequent)
In the questionnaire, Albany also wrote:
“Ya, gambar seri dapat membantu saya sehingga saya bisa menulis dengan urutan events yang cukup baik.” (Yes, picture series can help me so I can write using good sequence of events)
Nevada: “Lebih teraturan yang ini, yang pakai gambar seri… Karena kalau dilihat-lihat, ini ceritanya lebih teratur karena ada gambarnya….” (This is more sequent, which used picture series because if we see, this story is more sequent because it has picture…)
Seattle: “Proses pembuatan recount teks lebih mudah karena event-eventnya tersusun urut …” (The process of writing a recount text is easier because the events are in good order…)
Riverside: “Ya, dalam gambar seri telah dijelaskan urutan peristiwa secara runtut dan jelas dan ini membuat karangan lebih sistematik.” (Yes, in the picture series, it has been explained the order of the event in good order and clear and it makes the writing more systematic).
(1983: 36) argues that a set of parallel picture – picture that shows a similar scene or tell a similar story – provides material that offers guidance on vocabulary, sentence structure, and organization yet lets the students write about new subject matter.
Albany : “O iya, jelas. Karena ada dari gambar itu kita bisa melihat o kalau ini seperti ini, kita mau pakai apa ya? Terus kalau karena kita tak tahu katanya apa, kita bisa cari di kamus.” (Of course, yes! It is because from the picture we can see that it is like that, so what will we use? Next, if we do not know the word, we can check it in the dictionary). Although the teacher provided some vocabulary in the picture series, the students sometimes found the other words outside the list provided in order to write a good recount text. It was very good because some students stated that their lack of vocabulary became the source of difficulty in writing a recount text.
Arkansas: “Menurut saya, sulit, karena kosakata dalam otak saya itu kurang.” (I think it is difficult because I have limited vocabulary in my brain). The use of picture series could also make the students more creative. They could create a story creatively. They could be one of the characters in the story or they could also become someone who was seeing and then reporting what happened in the story. There were 25 students (75.76%) and 6 students (18.18%) stated that the use of picture series in writing a recount text made them to be more creative.
Riverside in the questionnaire: “Gambar seri dalam menulis Bahasa Inggris membuat kita kreatif dan tertantang untuk mengembangkan suatu ide”
(Picture series in writing English texts make us creative and challenge us to develop an idea)
The students also felt that they could write a recount text fast using picture series. There were 21 students (63.63%) stated that they could write a recount text without taking much time. It was good because they could save much time and they could be accustomed to write a recount text quickly. However, based on the field notes written by the outside observers, some students spent the time to discuss something else different from the topic being discussed. It might become the reason why 12 students (36.36%) did not feel that the use of picture series could help them write a recount text fast.
Some students in XB class did not love writing. There were 12 students (36.36%) disliked writing English text. Moreover, from 33 students, 27 students (81.81%) found difficulties in writing a recount text and only 13 students (39.39%) had understood about recount text well. It might be very ironical because recount is classified as the simplest story text (Feez, 1998). Fortunately, the use of picture series in writing a recount text could motivate 20 students (60.61%) to write a recount text. This fact was supported by Kieffer and Cochran (1985), as cited by Setiawaty (2003), who mention that well-chosen picture series give motivation to the students in learning situation, especially in learning how to write. One of the observers also stated that the internal motivation of the students was high.
An observer wrote:
“Sometimes, I saw the students got difficulties and asked the teacher. The students actively asked questions in order to accomplish the task correctly. Here, I could see that the internal motivation of the students was high.” (Field note of the first meeting of the first cycle, see appendix 7).
That was a good progress made by the students. Besides, 23 students (69.70%) agreed and 6 students (18.18%) strongly agreed that the use of picture series was interesting. It meant that the students had positive perception towards the use of picture series in writing a recount text.
Having analyzed the data taken from the research, the researcher concluded that the use of picture series helped the students in XB of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta write a recount text which is seen from the number of the students who failed to pass the passing grade in preliminary (23 students), cycle one (17 students), and cycle two (8 students).
B. Research Process
1. Preliminary Study (Initial Reconnaissance)
The researcher did the preliminary study while he was doing his
The problem identification was taken by observing the students while they were learning English in the classroom. The researcher played a role as a student-teacher who taught reading and writing skill about recount text. While the researcher was teaching writing a recount text, the students found difficulty in finding idea to write. They needed a lot of time only to find idea. It was the first problem related to the students’ problem in writing a recount text. After reading and checking the students’ drafts, the recount texts made by the students were not satisfying enough. There were still many students who could not write a good recount text.
Besides, the researcher also asked the students to write down their simple opinion towards writing on the back side of their drafts. From the data, there were more than 50% students who stated that writing is difficult. The fact that the students still have difficulties in writing a recount text became the researcher’s task to help the students of that class overcome the problem dealing with writing a recount text.
2. Determining Action to Overcome the Problems
3. Action Implementation
After formulating the action to overcome the teaching and learning problem faced by the students in XB class of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta, the researcher implemented the action. Because this research was a classroom action research, the action would be implemented through the steps of classroom action research.
This research consisted of four steps namely; planning, action, observation, and reflection. Those four steps were a part of a cycle. The planning step was done to prepare everything before the teaching and learning activity. Meanwhile, the action and observation were done at the same time during the action implementation. The result of the action would be evaluated and reflected by the researcher to figure out if the action implemented could help the students write a recount text. The results were taken using the instruments of this research.
The implementation of the use of picture series in teaching writing was conducted from October until November 2010. There were two cycles in this research. The first cycle was conducted in one meeting on October 2010. Meanwhile, the second cycle was conducted in two meetings on November 2010 because of some limitations found after the implementation in the first cycle. Each meeting was conducted in ninety minutes.
a. The First Cycle
conducted in one meeting on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. The teaching and learning activities were based on the genre-approach which had some steps to do namely, Building Context, Modeling and Deconstructing the Text, Joint construction of the Text, Independent Construction of the Text, and Linking to Related Texts. However, the last stage of writing in genre-based approach did not really become the focus of this research so there was no linking to related text explanation because knowing that the use of picture series helps the students write a recount text is enough for this research.
The first cycle of this research consisted of four stages namely; planning, action, observation, and reflection. However, the researcher did the action and observation at the same time because the researcher thought that it would not be possible to separate the observation from the action. While the action was implemented, the researcher could observe what was going on during the implementation well. After that, the researcher did reflection for the next cycle.
1) Planning
Having found the problem faced by the students, the researcher began to plan the classroom action research by asking permission to the headmaster of SMA N 10 Yogyakarta and to the classroom teacher to conduct a classroom action research. Having got the permission, the researcher prepared for the first cycle. He prepared the lesson plan, the model of recount text, and also picture series.
was how to prepare good method in teaching writing recount text using picture series.
a) Building the Context
In this step, the researcher planned not to use picture series. The researcher planned to provide a recount text. Besides, the researcher also planned to provide some questions to build the students knowledge about recount text.
b) Modeling and Deconstructing the Text
In this step, the researcher tried to find the best teaching method to teach writing recount text using picture series. The researcher tried to find simple picture series as the model about how to construct a recount text. The researcher made a plan to use two pictures of a set of picture series to guide the students to analyze a picture so they could make good sentences based on a picture.
Besides, the researcher planned to use a model of recount text provided by some questions about the characteristics of a recount text. It was expected that the students got more sufficient knowledge of a recount text.
c) Joint Construction of the Text
In the planning step of the first cycle, the researcher also planned to use picture series while the students were on the joint construction of the text stage. To help the students did this stage effectively, the researcher planned to ask the students to work in groups of four or five. The researcher planned to provide a set of picture series to each group. There were four pictures in each set.
