i
THE EFFECT OF RUNNING DICTATION TOWARD
THE STUDENTS’
WRITING MECHANICS AT THE EIGHTH
GRADE OF SMP MUHAMMADIYAH 8 BATU
THESIS
This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education
By:
PrimadinaCahyati 201110100311138
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
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This thesis was written by Primadina Cahyati and was approved on 11 November, 2015
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MOTTO AND DEDICATION
Don’t Put of Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
“
Never Stop Praying No Matter How Dark and Hopeless It May Seem.
Keep Your Faith
”
-Dr. Bilal
Philips-“Sesungguhnya Sesudah Kesulitan Itu Ada Kemudahan”.
Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.
-Q.S Al-Insyiroh:5-
Dedication:
This thesis dedicated to:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Bismillahirrohmanirrohim
First of all, let’s praise to Allah SWT, which gave his grace to us. So, this
research can be finished. This research was made based on the data which was got
by the researcher. The purpose of this research is to develop the knowledge and to
know the effect of Running Dictation on the students’ mechanics in writing skill
at the eighth grade of SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu.
In terms of preparation this research, the researcher gained some helps
from some parties who gave support in the process wrote this research. Therefore,
the researcher needs to say thank you to them. Some of the following parties were
written below:
1. Mr. Edi Pranoto and Mrs. Nasyiatul Aisyiah, the researcher’s parents
that always give support and spirit to finish this research.
2. Mr. Drs. Jarum, M.Ed. as the first advisor who always helps and
supports to build up the researcher’s mind in order to finish this
research.
3. Mrs. Rina Wahyu S, M.Ed. as the second advisor who always helps
and supports the researcher to finish this research.
4. All of the researcher’s friends who always give enjoyable and also
spirit to finish this research.
The researcher recognizes that this research is too far from perfect. So,
constructive criticism and suggestion are highly expected by the author. In
addition, the author hopes that this research can be useful to solve the similar
problem in the future.
Malang, October 27 2015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page ... i
Approval Page before the Thesis Defense ... ii
Approval Page after the Defense ... iii
Motto and Dedication ... iv
Statement of Work’s Originality ... v
Abstract ... vi
ix
2.5 Writing Mechanics ... 15
Chapter III ... 17
3.1 Design of the Study ... 17
3.2 Population and Sample ... 18
3.3 Research Instrument ... 19
3.4 Data Collection ... 20
3.5 Data Analysis ... 22
Chapter IV ... 24
4.1 Research Finding ... 24
4.2 Discussion ... 31
Chapter V ... 35
5.1 Conclusion ... 35
5.2 Suggestion ... 36
References ... 37
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables Page
Table 3.1 The Research Design’s Table of Pre-test and Post-test 18
Table 3.2 Rubric Score for Mechanics in Writing 20
Table 3.3 The Schedule of Teaching in The Experimental and
Table 4.2 Table of the Average and Percentage in Control Group 26
Table 4.3 Mean Score of Both Experimental and Control Group in
Pre-test
Table 4.6 Table of the Average and Percentage in Control Group 29
Table 4.7 Mean Score of Both Experimental and Control Group in
Post-test
30
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LIST OF APPENDIXES
Appendixes Page
Appendix I The Materials of Pre-test, Post-test, and Treatment 40
Appendix II The Objective of The Teaching Writing 46
Appendix III The Result of Dependent Sample T-test 47
Appendix IV Table t 55
Appendix V Lesson Plan 57
Appendix VI Pictures of Running Dictation Activity 95
Appendix VII Research Letter 98
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REFERENCES
Afrilyasanti, R. (2011). Problem in EFL Writing Class. http://efl-teaching.com/problem-in-efl-writing-class. Accessed on December 22 2014.
Amy. (2014). 1 Running Dictation Activity to Engage Students in Reading, Writing, Listening, & Speaking. http://aliceleung.net/2014/04/13/running-to-read-write-listen-and-speak/. Accessed on December 22 2014.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C., Sorensen, C. & Razavieh, A. (2010). Introduction to Reasearch in Education. Eighth Edition. Canada, United States of America: Wadsworth Cengage Laerning.
Asmoro, R.P.Y., Hasan, H., & Kandaryanto, B. (2013). Increasing Students’
Listening Achievement Through Running Dictation. http://jurnal.fkip.unila.ac.id/index.php/123/article/viewFile/3203/2010. Accessed on Juny 28 2015.
Belmont, E., & Sharkey, M. (2011). The Easy Writer Formal Writing for Academic Purpose. Third Edition . Australia: Pearson Longman.
Celce-Murcia, M. (2002). Teaching English as a Secondary Foreign Language (3rdEdition). The electronic journal for English as second language, 4(5) http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume5/ej20/ej20r4/. Accessed on July 2 2015.
Fachrurrazy. (2011). Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Teachers in Indonesia. Malang: State University of Malang Press.
Graham, S. (2008). Effective Writing Instruction for All Students .United States of America: Renaissance Learning.
Harisah, Isna. (2013). The Effect of Using Running Dictation Game on The
Students’ Speaking Ability at The Second Year of SMP N 1 Pogaln
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Harmer, Jeremy. (2001). How to Teach English. United States of America: Longman.
Harmer, Jeremy. (2003).The Practice of English Language Teaching. Third Edition. United Kingdom: Longman.
Harmer, Jeremy. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Fourth Edition. United States of America: Longman.
Hoston, G. 2001. English Spelling Rules. New Delhi: Ivy Publishing House.
Jarvis, S. (2015). TEFL Games; Games for taching English to speakers of other languages. http://downloads.scottjarvis.com/grab.php?f=TEFL-Games.pdf. Accessed on January 12 2015.
Kavaliauskienė, G., & Darginavičienė, I. (2009). Dictation in the esp classroom: a tool to improvelanguage proficiency. English for Specific Purposes World, 8(23), 1-10.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED499569.pdf. Accessed on July 2 2015.
Oliviera, H. (2007). Teaching Strategies – Running Dictation. http://teachingenglishinportugal.blogspot.com/2007/10/teaching-strategies-running-dictation.html. Accessed on December 22 2014.
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Raimes, A. (1983). Technique in Teaching Writing. New York, UAS: Oxford University Press.
Rooney, K.J.(2010). Strategies for Learning: Empowering Students for Success, Grade 9-12. United States of America: Corwin.
Thuy, N.H.H. (2008). Teaching efl writing in Vietnam: Problems and solutions – a discussion from the outlook of applied linguistics. Journal of Sience, 25
(2009), 61-66.
Widayanto. (2011). Mengembangkan Listening Skill Melalui Running Dictation Game. https://fnuwidayanto.ordpress.com/2011/04/07/the-running-dictation-game/. Accessed on December 22 2014.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents background of the study, statement of the problem,
hypotheis, significant of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of key
terms.
1.1 Background of the Study
Language is a tool for communication. By using language, people can
develop interaction with others. English is one of the universal languages. In
Indonesia, English language becomes L2 language that requires Indonesian to
learn it. So, all of Indonesian should study English from Elementary school until
university.
In English language, there are four skills that should be mastered. They are
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Writing is one of the four language
skills which are very important to learn. As known, among four skills, writing is
the most difficult skill to be learnt, because it needs hard thinking in producing
words, sentences, and paragraph at the same time, and also paying attention to
the capitalization, punctuation and spelling (Rooney :2010).
Nowadays, writing is needed in some sectors, such as in business and
education. If one works as a secretary in one international company, she/he
should have ability in writing letter, proposal, and any others. In educational
sector, especially scientific communication, students will find many forms of
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dissertation, review papers, proposal, popular science and newspaper articles
(Malmfors, et.al. :2004). All of them are written in English.
Writing has some aspects that should be learnt, one of them is about
mechanics (Belmont & Sharkey :2011). It is about how to use the correct
punctuation, capitalization and spelling. If we know all of those aspects, it will
improve our writing. Even, native speakers still have to pay attention to those
aspects if they want their writing correct, because common errors of spelling,
grammar, punctuation and word choice often happen.
Therefore, all English teachers should use good technique to make the
students keep paying attention and know how to use the correct punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling. One of good techniques that can be used to teach
Junior High School students is Running Dictation. Running Dictation is one of
the activities done in groups of 4-5 students. In a group, there are writer and
runners. They have to work together to answer the right sentence dictated by the
runner.
By using Running Dictation, the teacher can teach writing happily but it
may be quite noisy because the students have to run around the class. As said by
Amy (2014), Running Dictation asks the students out of their seats and engages
their language skills; reading, writing, listening and speaking. Running Dictation
is designed in order to make the students in the group feel challenged to reach
the goal. So, this technique is suitable to apply in the intermediate level.
Running Dictation can be applied in all English skills, not only writing
skill but also speaking, reading, and listening skill. All skills take the same
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have to listen carefully to the sentence, and then speak it in order to make them
remember the sentence but it depends on the individual. After they remember the
sentence, they write it on the paper with correct spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization. If they think that the sentence they write is right, they can read it.
Many previous studies showed their successes when they applied Running
Dictation in teaching English skills for their students. A research done by
Widayanto (2005) found that the students in experimental group taught by
Running Dictation reached high point in listening skill significantly than control
group taught by traditional method. Another finding by Harisah (2013), that the
students who were taught by using Running Dictation showed better ability than
without Running Dictation in speaking ability. Mutmainnah (2012) who focused
their research in writing spelling skill collected the information that the students
understood the language more easily by using Running Dictation.
As previous study conducted by Mutmainnah which focused her study in
writing spelling skill, so in this research, the researcher wants to focus in
mechanical writing, because mechanical writing is still minim attention from the
teacher and the students. As happened by eighth grade students of SMP
Muhammadiyah 8 Batu when the researcher did Teaching Practice (2014), the
students faced many difficulties when they produced writing. It could be seen
from their writing with many errors like punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
It seemed that those aspects did not pay attention seriously, so it made the
students confused what they should do with capitalization, punctuation, and
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From that case, the researcher wants to observe this research of The Effect
of Running Dictation Toward The Students Mechanics in Writing Skill at The
Eighth Grade of SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu because, the researcher thinks that
Running Dictation is very useful technique to teach mechanical writing for
Junior High School students, which is the English teacher who taught eighth
grade students at SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu has never applied Running
Dictation to teach their students. So, Running Dictation technique is suitable to
be applied in teaching mechanical writing at SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
From the background of the study above, this research determines the
following research question, that is: Does Running Dictation give effect on the
students writing mechanics at the eighth grade of SMP Muhammadiyah 8
Batu?
1.3 Hypothesis
From the statement of the problem above, there are two hypotheses
appeared in this research, they are:
Ho : Running Dictation does not give effect on the students writing
mechanics at the eighth grade of SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu.
Hi : Running Dictation gives effect on the students writing mechanics at the
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1.4 Significance of the Study
From the explanation above, the result of this study is expected to useful
for students, teachers, and the general education, as follows:
1. This research is useful for the students to help them in learning English and
improve their writing skill especially about capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling in writing through fun activities. So, they can feel happy when they
are learning English.
2. This research is useful for the English teachers to help them solve the
students problem in writing skill especially about mechanics in writing and
to get an alternative teaching technique to improve the students writing
skill through fun activities.
3. This research is useful for the general education to be one of good
references in which writing skill can be taught by using fun activities, such
as Running Dictation.
1.5 Scope and Limitation
The scope of this study is the effect of using Running Dictation toward
students writing skill. The topic that is used to observe is mechanics in writing,
such as, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. This study is limited at the
eighth grade students of SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Batu. The classes that are
selected to be control and experimental group in this research are 8-5 class, and
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1.6 Definition of Key Terms
To avoid misunderstanding, this is some definition of key terms:
1. Writing skill is an activity or productive skill that produces writing, like:
narrative, descriptive, recount, and procedure text, which has the aims, to
show the feeling, to inform news, or to entertain (Fachrurrazy, 2011).
2. Teaching technique is the way how the teacher can handle their students and
deliver the material, so the teacher s expectation can be reached successfully
(Celce-Murcia 2011).
3. Running Dictation is one of activity which is done in group consist of 4-5
students. This activity asks one student as a runner dictates the sentence to
their friend then write it down, and whose group s answer is right will get
the point (Harisah 2013).
4. Mechanical Writing is one of the writing aspect needed in producing a
piece of writing, such as punctiation, capitalization, and spelling (Raimes
