STUDENTS
’ A
BILITY IN WRITING
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY AT ENGLISH TEACHER
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SUNAN AMPEL
SURABAYA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) In Teaching English
By:
Indah Nova Layaalia
NIM D05211007
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
SUNAN AMPEL STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
▸ Baca selengkapnya: soal essay expressing feeling
(2)
STUDENTS
’ A
BILITY IN WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE
ESSAY AT ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE ISLAMIC
UNIVERSITY OF SUNAN AMPEL SURABAYA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) In Teaching English
By:
Indah Nova Layaalia
NIM D05211007
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING
SUNAN AMPEL STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE SHEET i
APPROVAL SHEET ii
EXAMINERS’ APPROVAL SHEET iii
MOTTO iv
DEDICATION SHEET v
ABSTRACT vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vii
PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN TULISAN viii
TABLE OF CONTENT ix
LIST OF CONCEPT MAPS x
LIST OF TABLES xi
LIST OF APPENDICES xii
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study 1
B. Research Questions 7
C. Objectives of the Study 7
D. Scope and Limitation of the Study 7
E. Significance of the Study 8
CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Literature
1. The Nature of writing 11
2. Essay Writing 14
B. Review of Previous Studies 30
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Design 36
B. Researcher Presence 37
C. Research Location 37
D. Research Instrument 38
E. Data Collection Technique 44
F. Technique of Data Analysis 45
G. Checking Validity of Findings 49
H. Research Stages 50
CHAPTER IV : RESEARCH FINDING
A. Research Finding 53
B. Discussion 59
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion 67
B. Suggestion 69
REFERENCES
ABSTRACT
Layaalia Nova, Indah. 2015. The Students’ Ability in Writing Argumentative Essay at English Teacher Education Department of the State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Skripsi, English Teacher Education Department Faculty of Tarbiyah And Teachers Training, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Advisors: (I) Dr .Mohamad Salik, M.Ag, (2) Asadi,M.AppLing
Key words: Ability, Writing skill and Argumentative Essay
Writing is the most difficult skill in English learning process and has close relationship with higher education. Arguentative essay is one of type in writing skill. When writing an Argumentative essay, the students should notice the aspects of writing essay and the structure or the elements of argumentative essay. They are organization (the introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion), style (grammar and sentence structure), mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization) and vocabulary use.This research has purpose to analyze the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay at English education department of State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Based on that purpose, the researcher intents to answer the
research questions (1) how is the student’s ability in writing argumentative essay at English education department of State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya.
The subject of the research is the students of English education department at State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya. The researcher took two classes as the subject of this research and both of the classes have same lecturer, they are: the students in A class and the students in B class. There were 11 students of A class and 21 students of B class and the total of the students are thirty two (32). The researcher took all of them as the subject of the research.
The researcher used qualitative descriptive to present the data. The technique
used for collecting data is collect students’ assignment or document study. The
researcher directly asked the students’ assignment that they get in the middle test to the lecturer of the classes.
The result of the research was that the students’ ability in writing argumentative
essay was the fair grade. It was because in the first class, the researcher find that 54,5 % students are in fair and 45,45 % students are in good grade and in the second class, the researcher find that 14,28 % students are in good and almost 85,7 % students are in fair grade. Therefore, the highest grade of the students’ ability in writing argumentative
ABSTRACT
Layaalia Nova, Indah. 2015. The Students’ Ability in Writing Argumentative Essay at English
Teacher Education Department of the State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Pembimbing: (1) Dr. Mohamad Salik M.Ag.
Kata Kunci: Ability, Writing Skill and Argumentative essay
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on the area of the study that involves (1) background of
the study (2) Research question (3) objective of the study (4) scope and limitation (5) significance of the study, and (6) definition of key terms.
A. Background of Study
There are four skills that must be improved by English students especially by the candidate of English teacher, in which they are called listening, reading,
speaking and writing. However, as English teacher we also aware that writing skill is the most important and needs to be separated and special attention because writing is considered as the most difficult and the biggest challenge for
many students.1 Moreover writing skill also is considered as the skill that has close relationship with higher education.2
The reasons of writing as the most important skill that should be learned by students are; firstly, because writing has been considered as the most difficult and the biggest challenge for many students. It happens because obviously
writing needs long process or much time, needs deep thought, expression, and
1
Dana-Ayda,”Writing Difficulties and New Solutions: Blended Learning as an Approach to Improve Writing Abilities”. Vol. 3 No.9. May 2013.
2
2
understanding to create many interesting ideas. Furthemore, for foreign language learners, the biggest challenge in writing well is the students have to master the
aspects of writing e.g. spelling, capitalization, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar or sentence structure .3
Secondly, writing skill also is considered as the skill that has close relationship with higher education. As we probably know that most exams, whether they are testing foreign language abilities or other skills, often rely on
students’ writing proficiency in order to measure their knowledge.4
It seems that writing well is needed in getting good value in facing exams specially for
college students because by students’ writing the teacher or the lecturer can measure the students’ understanding about the knowledge that they get during learning process in the past. Moreover, as we probably know that every tudent in
college must complete the final task in the last semester by producing a thesis. Fundamentally, writing cannot be separated from education system or the
teaching learning process.
Essay writing is the best way for students in learning process and to increas their ability in writing. The best reasons are because in writing essay
students are forced to express their feeling, thought, idea, and opinion or argument about their subject that they got in the class in writing form
3
Dana-Ayda.”Writing Difficulties and New Solutions: Blended Learning as an Approach to Improve Writing Abilities”. Vol. 3 No.9. May 2013.
4 Jeremy Harmer. “
3
confidently and by essay writing the lecturer can know how well the students mastered their subject or material from their lecturer. Like Greetham states that
essay writing is a valuable opportunity for learnig because essay writing can force you to organise your thinking and develop your ideas on the issues and by
students essay, you will know clearly how well you understood the subject, how well you commnunicate the subject that you get and you can know where your strengths and weakness are.5 It can be concluded that writing an essay can help
the teacher or the lecturers and the students in teaching and learning process spesially in writing class to know how well the students understanding in
studying and to increase the students’ ability in writing.
There are some kinds of text or writen form that will be gotten by students during learn to write especially learn to write essay in every college. They are
narrative, descriptive, explanation, recount, exposition, and argumentation or essay.6 In this study, the researcher refers to argumentative essay as a subject to
research because argumentative essay is an essay that make the authors to force themselves to think critically and to pour great ideas or opinion in order to persuade the reader and make the readers to change their belief.7 It means that by
writing argumentative essay the students will practice to communicate or convey
5 Brian Greetham.”
How to Write Better Essay” (New York: Palgrave Study Guides, 2001), 1. 6
Jack Baker – Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli,.“Essay writing” (https://owl.english.purdue.edu, accessed on march 10, 2013)
7 Oya Ozagac. “
4
what they think confidently because in writing argumentative essay the students are required to write by collecting some important information, generating, and
evaluate evidence, then establish a position on the topic in a consice manner.8 The second reason of the researcher to choose the argumentative essay as
a subject to research is because every college student is required to produce a thesis in the final of semester. As we probably know that in making thesis, students have to choose interesting problems in the field to be a good research
and to produce good thesis students need strong evidences to courage their statements in their research. It means that by practicing to write argumentative
essay, it will help the students in making thesis in the final of semester because argumentative essay is an essay that force the students to get good arguments with
strong evidence in order to persuade the reader.
This researcher conducted this research at the State Islamic University (SIU) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.9 The researcher chooses this university because
this university has English Teacher Education Department and in the English teacher education department there is argumentative essay class. Therefore the researcher chooses this class to conduct this research.
The reason of the researcher chooses the argumentative essay class are because the researcher found the problems that the students got in writing
8
Jack Baker – Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli.“Essay writing” (https://owl.english.purdue.edu, accessed on march 10, 2013)
9
5
argumentative essay. The researcher done interview about the difficulties in writing argumentative essay that is held on Thrusday, 27 April, 2015 in State
Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya and some students said that they feel difficult in arranging and emplaced the thesis statement correctly. As we
probably know that there are aspects of writing that should be noticed by students in writing. Probably by interviewing, the researcher found that the students feel difficult in arranging and emplace the thesis statement, but the
researcher still doesn’t know whether the students master all of the aspects of
writing or not. Therefore, the researcher conducts this research to know what
aspects of writing that students master and what aspects of writing that students
don’t master.
The second reason of the researcher to choose the argumentative essay
class is because there is previous study that related with this study, but the
previous study focused on the cohesion and the coherence of the students’
essay.10 The previous study was conducted at University of Bengkulu and the study was descriptive research that used quantitative approach to analyze the
data. The previous study was conducted to know the students’ ability in writing
argumentative essay and the researcher of the previous study found that the students have difficulties in cohesion and coherence, while by preliminary
10 Ziah.”An Analysis of Students’ Ability in Building Cohesion and Coherence in Argumentative
6
research or interviewing the researcher of this study found that the students have difficulties in arranging and emplacing the thesis statement. According the
differences of the final finding of the previous study and the preliminary finding of this study, therefore the researcher is interested to conduct this study to know
other abilities or difficulties of the students in writing argumentative essay by concerning other aspects of writing besides the cohesion and the coherence of
the students’ essay.
The third reason to choose the argumentative essay class is because of the experience of the researcher herself. According to the researcher experience,
writing argumentative is not simple because it needs much time to choose interesting idea or topic and good thesis statement, and needs to master the aspects of writing essay.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher is interested in discussing about students’ ability in writing argumentative essay at State Islamic University (SIU) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya in order to know how well they arrange their argumentative essay and to know the problems in writing argumentative essay by focusing on the aspects of writing essay and the structure of argumentative
essay such as the introduction, supporting paragraphs or body paragraph, conclusion, mechanics and style (grammar, sentence structure, punctuation,
spelling, capitalization) and vocabulary.
7
According to the background of the study above, the research questions for
the current study is”How is the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay at English Teacher Education Department of the State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya?”.
C. Objective of the study
Considering the statement of the problem questioned on this study, this
study intends to find “The students’ ability in writing argumentative essay at English Teacher Education Department of the State Islamic University of Sunan
ampel Surabaya”.
D. Scope and limitation of the study
The scope of this study is the students’ ability in writing argumentative
essay in argumentative essay class of the State Islamic University of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. The researcher analyzes the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay by focusing on the aspects of writing essay or the structure of argumentative essay such as the introduction, supporting paragraphs or body paragraph, conclusion, mechanics and style (grammar, sentence structure,
punctuation, spelling, capitalization) and vocabulary.
In this study the researcher limits the class on argumentative essay class
8
in two classes that have the same lecturer in order to make the data which are gathered by the researcher is more valid.
E. Significances of the study
There are two significances of this study:
1. For students:
This study is expected to give awareness to the students especially
students of English Education Department about how important in increasing their writing skill by writing argumentative essay. For students this study will
give them knowledge about a good argumentative essay and how to make argumentative essays that have high quality and argumentative essays that can persuade the reader to change their belief.
2. For lecturer:
For lecturer this study is expected to become references in teaching
argumentative essay effectively for students in English class especially in
argumentative essay class by focusing on the students’ weakness in writing
argumentative essay and the lecturer can make appropiate strategies to
9
F. Definition of Key Terms
In order to make students easy to understand about this study, some definitions of key terms are provided;
1. Ability
The ability can be defined as a skill or power to do something.11 It means that where the students do their best to do something with maximal
performance. Explicitly, when individuals were administered intelligence,
aptitude, or achievement tests, they were exhorted to “do your best.12
In this
study students’ ability is focused on students’ ability in writing
argumentative essay and how well they can produce good argumentative essay or how well they understand to arrange good argumentative essay that
will persuade the reader to believe the author’s opinion or argument.
2. Writing skill
Writing skills are specific abilities which help writers put their thoughts into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the message.13 In this study writing skill is the skill in which the students show
their ability to write argumentative essay by focusing in the aspects of writing argumentative essay such as the introduction, body paragraphs
10
(supporting paragraph), conclusion, mechanics and style (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure).
3. Argumentative essay;
In this kind of essay, we give not only information but also present an
argument with the PROS (supporting ideas) and CONS (opposing ideas) of an argumentative issue in order to make the essay to be strong by having supporting ideas and opposing ideas.14 It means that the students’ argument has to have good supporting ideas and opposing ideas by showing an
evedince to make the reader believe about the students’ argument because in
writing argumentative essay the essay should be writen as if we are trying to persuade an opposing audience to approve new beliefs or behavior.
14 Oya Ozagac. “
11
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Literature
This chapter will review theoretical framework that is related with this study. The theory that underlies writing will be presented and explained in deep understanding and thought by the author to make the reader more understand
about this study. This section will discuss about (1) the nature of writing they are; (a) definition of writing (b) the aspects of writing (2) essay writing (a) types
of essay writing (b) argumentative essay and (c) students’ ability in writing argumentative essay (3) Previous Studies.
1. The nature of writing
a. Definition of writing
There are many definitios of writing that the researcher got according
some expert. Related with education, writing is fundamental importance to develop person in learning and to success in the educational system.1It means that in educational system spesially in university or collage, writing is the
important one for students to finish their final exam in the last smester. They
1
12
have to produce a thesis if they want to graduate from the university and in making thesis is not simple. The students have to have good ability in writing
and have to think criticallyl.
The second definition, writing is one of the four in language skills
which is taught in the school and in writing students can express their feelings, ideas, thoughts and opinions.2 In this definition, it means that writing will help the students success in learning process beacuse by writing
the lecturer will know how well their students master their subjects that the lecturer gave to them during in the teching and learning process. Then,
writing require the students to think critically by expressing their feelings, ideas, thought and opinion.
Writing also can be called as telecommunication tool because in writing
the author can convey their opinion, idea or their thought in deep understanding to be communicated to the reader. As we probably know that
writing is not a simple thing although everyone can write. In writing the author needs much time to create good writing. They should give attention in the content of every paragraph, the structure or grammar and the vocabulary
that will be used by the author in their writing.
2
13
According to these definitions of writing above, we can conclude that writing is a way to get success in education system for students and writing is
a telecommunication tool to convey what we feel and what we think in writen form confidently in order to make the reader understand more about what we
want to convey to them.
b. The aspects of writing
There are many aspects of writing that should be mastered by students
if they want to increas their ability in writing. According to Weigle, the aspects of writing are content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and
mechaics.3 It means that in writing, the students have to consider the good content, organization, appropiate vocabulary, language use, and consider the mechanics such as spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
According to Geoffrey Broughton there are the numbers of aspects
which need to be considered in writing4. They are:
a) Mechanical problems with the script of English; b) Problems of accuracy of English grammar and lexis;
c) Problems of relating the style of writing to the demands of a particular situation;
d) Problems of developing ease and comfort in expressing what needs to be said.
3
Sara Cushing Weigle. Assessing Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2002), 115.
4
14
2. Essay Writing
a. The definition of writing essay
When we want to write and extend a topic more extensively or complex, we must convey it into essay form, in which a kind of writing that consists of more than one paragraph.5 It means, an essay is communication
way in writing form that is conveyed with extensive knowledge, thought and understanding. An essay is different from paragraph because an essay is longer than paragraph. We can look at the difference both of them in concept
maps bellow;
Concept map 2.1
Paragraph
5
Otong Setiawan D. Essay Writing (Bandung: YRAMA WIDYA, 2009),11. Topic sentence
Supporting sentence
Supporting sentence Supporting sentence
15
Concept map 2.2
Essay
According the concept maps above, it can be concluded that an essay is longer than the paragraph. In writing essay, it needs the author’s extensive
knowledge, thought, idea and opinion to make a good essay that has longer
paragraph and content.
Concluding sentence
Introductory paragraph
General statement
Thesis statement
Topic sentence
- Supporting sentence - Concluding sentence
Topic sentence
- Supporting sentence - Concluding sentence
Topic sentence
- Supporting sentence - Concluding sentence
Topic sentence
- Supporting sentence - Concluding sentence
Concluding paragraph
- Restatement of the main points or - Summary
16
b. Types of essay writing
There are some types of writing that we should know specially for
English students. They are letter writing, essay writing and creative writing. In this study we will talk about essay writing. There are four types of essay
that could be distinguished in the English language. They are narrative, descriptive, expository and argumentative essays.6 This study only concerns with argumentative essay because arguentative essay is used in college to
make students think critically in writing by expressing their feeling, idea, thought and opinion.
c. Argumentative essay
Argumentative essay is another types of essay writing and it is concerned with the reasoning ability of the writer to present an issue logically
with an overriding view.7In this kind of essay, the author not only gives information but also present an argument with the PROS (supporting ideas)
and CONS (opposing ideas) of an argumentative issue.8 The argumentative essay is also called a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the
topic in a concise manner.9 According to the meanings above, it is stated that
6
V.A.Alabi – Babatunde. The Use of English in Higher Education (Nigeria, Ilorin University Press, 1998), 172.
7
V.A.Alabi – Babatunde. The Use of English in Higher Education………. 175. 8
Oya Ozagac, Argumentative Essay, (Www.buowl.boun.edu,tr, Accessed on September 2004) 9
17
argumentative essay is an essay that requires the writer or the author to convey their thinking in deep understanding and extensive knowledge by
considering the evidence or supporting ideas to make the reader believe about the writer’s argument. Therefore, in producing a good argumentative essay
the author must have extensive knowledge, good ideas, deep thought and opinion about what they want to write.
Looking for the argumentative topic is not an easy task because
according the definitions above the topic in argumentative essay should be narrowed down and it should contain an argument. The author also must have
deep understanding, deep thought and extensive knowledge if they want to take a good topic to their writing.
According the explanation above, there are three possible organization
patterns in writing argumentative essay.
There are three possible organization patterns:
Pattern 1:
Thesis statement: PRO idea 1 PRO idea 2
CON(s) + Refutation(s) Conclusion
18
Pattern 2:
Thesis statement: CON(s) + Refutation(s) PRO idea 1
PRO idea 2 Conclusion
Pattern 3:
Thesis statement:
CON idea 1 ---> Refutation CON idea 2 ---> Refutation CON idea 3 ---> Refutation Conclusion
d. Students’ ability in writing argumentative essay
There are some theories that can define the students’ ability in writing
argumentative essay. The first theory comes from Wingate. She says that
“The „argumentative essay’ is the most common genre that undergraduate
students have to write and the value of the essay is its „ability to display
critical thinking and development of an argument within the context of the
curriculum”.10 According to the definition, it shows that students’ ability in
writing argumentative essay is their ability to display their critical thinking
10
19
and develop their argument that they have into some paragraph by following the supporting pargraph that will make their argument to be more strong.
The second theory comes from Bob, he says that “More likely than not,
your writing program’s best answer will be found in a rubric or scoring
guide.”11According the statements, it seems that the students’ ability can be
known by assessment. The assessment that is in this study is scoring procedures for writing assessment. There are three kinds of scoring
procedure. They are primary trait procedure, holistic procedure and analytic
procedure.12 It shows that there is kind of assessing or testing writing ability
like assessing by using a rubric or scoring guide. There are some aspects of
writing which should be noticed in assessing writing essay such as content,
organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanic.13 likes Alice and Ann says that“Good writing in English requires both good grammar and good
organization”.14
The statement explains that grammar and organization are
included in the aspects of writing which should be noticed by the students in writing essay spesially in writing argumentative essay. According to Setiawan, every essay has to consist of the clear topic sentence, supporting
11
Bob Broad. What We Really Value “Beyond Rubrics in Teaching and Assessing Writing (United States of America: Utah State University, 2003),1.
12
Sara Cushing Weigle. Assessing Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2002), 108. 13
Sara Cushing Weigle. Assessing writing……….., 114.
14
20
sentences, concluding sentence and every paragraph has to be unity, completeness, and coherence.15
The third theory is from the Karen’s rubric for assessment
argumentative essay. The content of the rubric can be seen as follow:
Table 2.1
Rubric for the assessment of the argumentative essay
Well developed introductory, paragraph contains detailed background information, a clear explanation or definition of the problem, and a thesis statement
4
Introductory paragraph contains some background information and states the problem, but does not explain using details. States the thesis of the paper
3
Introduction states the thesis but does not adequately explain the background of the problem. The problem is stated, but lacks detail.
2
Thesis or problem is vague or unclear. Background details are a seemingly random collection of information, unclear, or not related to the topic.
1
Conclusion
Conclusion summarizes the main topics without repeating previous sentences; writer’s opinions and suggestions for change are logical and well thought out.
4
Conclusion summarizes main topics. Some suggestions for change are evident.
Conclusion does not adequately summarize the mains points. No suggestions for change or
1
15Otong Setiawan D. “
with supporting details. Refutation paragraph acknowledges the opposing view, and summarizes their main points.
4
Three or more main points are present but may lack detail and development in one or two. Refutation paragraph acknowledges the opposing view, but doesn’t summarize points.
3
Three or more main points, but all lack development. Refutation paragraph missing and or vague.
2
Less than three main points, with poor development of ideas. Refutation missing or vague.
1
Use of source
All source material is used and smoothly integrated into the text. All sources are accurately documented and in the desired format on the work cited page. All sources are relevant and reliable.
4 page. Some sources are relevant and reliable.
2
Lacks sources and or sources are not accurately documented. Innocent format is used. Sources are not relevant or reliable.
1
Sentence precision
Sentence clarity
The writer treats the subject seriously using formal language. All sentences are complete, accurate, and clear; the writer controls the point of view essay, indicating a lack of revision or control.
3
Some unclear or confused sentences; the writer shifts person throughout the essay or uses “you” and “I” frequently.
22
Many unclear or complete sentences. 1
Mechanics
Punctuation and
capitalization
Punctuation and capitalization are correct. 4
Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward sentences do appear. There are one or two errors in punctuation and capitalization.
3
Work contains structural weaknesses and grammatical errors. There are three or four errors in punctuation and capitalization.
2
Work contains incorrect sentence structure. Thre are four or more errors in punctuation and capitalization.
1
The fourth theory is adapted from Sara’s book. In analytic scoring,
there are some analytic scales that should be notice by the evaluator of essay. According to Jacobs in Sara’s book, there are some aspects of essay writing
and level of essay writing that should be noticed by the evaluator of essay.
The aspects are content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization and paragraphing) and the
23
Table 2.2
Jacobs et al.’s (1981) scoring profile
ASPECT SCORE LEVEL/ CRITERIA
C
ON
TEN
T
30-27
26-22
21-17
16-13
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: knowledgeable substantive thorough development of thesis relevant to assigned topic
GOOD TO AVERAGE: some knowledge of subject
adequate range limited development of thesis mostly relevant to the topic, but lacks detail
FAIR TO POOR: limited knowledge of subject little substance inadequate development of topic VERY POOR: does not show knowledge of subject
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: fluent expression
ideas clearly stated/ supported succinct well-organized logical sequencing cohesive
GOOD TO AVERAGE: somewhat choppy loosely organized but main ideas stand out limited support logical but incomplete sequencing
FAIR TO POOR: non-fluent ideas confused or disconnected lacks logical sequencing and development
VERY POOR: does not communicate no organization OR not enough to evaluate
VO
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: sophisticated range effective word/ idiom choice and usage word form mastery appropriate register
GOOD TO AVERAGE: adequate range occasional errors of word/ idiom form, choice, usage but meaning not obscured
FAIR TO POOR: limited range frequent errors of word/ idiom form, choice, usage meaning confused or obscured
tense, number, word order/ function, articles, pronouns, prepositions
GOOD TO AVERAGE: effective but simple constructions minor problems in complex constructions several errors of agreement, tense, number, word order/ function, articles, pronouns, prepositions but meaning seldom obscured
FAIR TO POOR: major problems in simple/ complex constructions frequent errors of negation, agreement, tense, number, word order/ function, articles, pronouns, prepositions and/ or fragments, run-ons, deletions meaning confused or obscured
VERY POOR: virtually no mastery of sentence construction rules dominated by errors does not communicate OR not enough to evaluate
MEC
EXCELLENT TO VERY GOOD: demonstrates mastery of conventions few errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing
GOOD TO AVERAGE: occasional errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing
but meaning not obscured
FAIR TO POOR: frequent errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing poor handwriting meaning confused or obscured
VERY POOR: no mastery of conventions dominated by errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing handwriting illegible
26
In Sara’s book, Weir also has criteria and aspects of writing essay for
assessing essay by using analytic scoring. The aspects are the relevance and adequacy of content, compositional organization, cohesion, adequacy of
vocabulary for purpose, grammar, mechanical accuracy I (punctuation) and mechanical accuracy II (spelling). The score in weir’s attribute writing scale
begins from 3 to 0. In this study, the researcher only focuses on the adequacy
of vocabulary for purpose, grammar, mechanical accuracy I (punctuation) and mechanical accuracy II (spelling) to assess students’ argumentative essay.
The criteria or the level of the grammar, mechanical accuracy I (punctuation) and mechanical accuracy II (spelling) in attribute writing scale of Weircan be
seen as follow:
1) Grammar
( 0 ) Almost all grammatical patterns inaccurate. ( 1 ) Frequent grammatical inaccuracies.
( 2 ) Some grammatical inaccuracies. ( 3 ) Almost no grammatical inaccuracies. 2) Mechanical accuracy I (punctuation)
( 0 ) Ignorance of conventions of punctuation. ( 1 ) Low standard of accuracy in punctuation. ( 2 ) Some inaccuracies in punctuation.
27
( 0 ) Ignorance of conventions of spelling. ( 1 ) Low standard of accuracy in spelling. ( 2 ) Some inaccuracies in spelling.
( 3 ) Almost no inaccuracies in spelling.
In Sara’s book also has a scoring rubric for structure or composition
course and the scoring rubric has some score that show the level of the essay. They are 9-10, 7-8, 5-6, 3-4, and 1-2. This study only focuses on the organization from the rubric and the criteria of the organization can be seen as
follow:
1) In the score (9-10), the introduction orients the reader effectively to the topic and the author’s thesis (purpose, plan, and focus). The conclusion
effectively reinforces and comments on the thesis, providing closure to the
essay. The supporting ideas are provided in a relevant and credible way. Then, the paragraphs are separated and logical units, fully developed, clearly related to the thesis and effectively connected to each other by
appropiate, well-chosen and varied transitions.
2) In the score (7-8), the introduction orients the reader sufficiently to the
28
developed, clearly related to the thesis and well-connected to each other by appropiate and varied transitions.
3) In the score (5-6), the introduction orients the reader sufficiently to the topic and the author’s thesis, though it may be brief and undeveloped. The
conclusion reinforces and comments on the thesis. The supporting ideas are provided in relevant and credible way. Then, the paragraphs are separated and logical units, related to the thesis and connected to each
other by appropriate transitions.
4) In the score (3-4), the introduction may not orient the reader sufficiently to the topic or to the author’s thesis. The conclusion may neither reinforce
nor comment on the thesis. The supporting ideas are insufficient and irrelevant. Then, the paragraph may not be separated and logical units,
related to the thesis or connected to each other by appropriate transitions. 5) In the score (1-2), the introduction does not orient the reader sufficiently to
the topic or to the author’s thesis. The conclusion neither reinforces nor
comments on the thesis. The supporting ideas are insufficient and irrelevant. Then, the paragraphs are not separated and logical units, clearly
related to the thesis or connected to each other by appropriate transition. The last theory is from Alice and Ann’s book. In the Alice and Ann’s
29
thesis statement. In the body paragraph, each paragraph discusses a new point and begins with a clear topic sentence and each paragraph has specific
supporting material; facts, examples, quotations, and paraphrased or summarized information. Then, each paragraph has unity, coherence and
appropriate transitions are used to link paragraph. The last is about the conclusion. In the highest points (45), the concluding paragraph summarizes the main points or paraphrases the thesis statement, begins with conclusion signal, and leave the reader with the writer’s final thought on the topic.16
In Alice and Ann’s questioner or self-editing worksheet, they mention about
grammar and sentence structure. They asked the writer if the writer has varied their sentence structure by writing simple, compound, and complex sentences.17 It means that good essay can be shown by the varied sentence in the students’ essay.
According to all of the criteria, level and score of assessment essay
writing above that stated by some experts, it can be concluded that students’ ability in writing argumentative can be known by using assessment rubric to assess or measure students’ ability in writing argumentative essay. Then, the
researcher should consider some aspects in assessing argumentative essay such as content, organization (development of thesis statement or topic in
16
Alice Oshima – Ann Hogue. “Itroduction to Academic Writing“(PearsonEducation, Inc, 2007), 197 17
30
introduction paragraph, body paragraph, and concluding paragraph), cohesion, sources, grammar or sentence structure, cohesion, sources,
mechanic (spelling, punctuation, capitalization), and vocabulary or language use.18 In this research, the researcher only focuses on some aspects of writing
argumentative essay such as the organization (development of thesis statement or topic in introduction paragraph, body paragraph that focuses on the supporting and refuting sentences , and concluding paragraph), style and
mechanics (grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and vocabulary).
B. Review of Previous Studies
There are some studies that related with this study. The first previous study was carried out by Saito who conducted a research entitled “19An Analysis of
Argumentative Essays of Thai Third Year English Majors Instructed by the Integrated Process-Genre Approach”. This study investigated wheter the third
-year English majors improve the quality of their argumentative essays from the first draft to the second draft after the intergrated process-genre approach applied in the class. This study also investigated the major characteristics of the first
draft and the second draft of argumentative essay written by SWU third-year English majors. This study involved an exploratory design combining qualitative
18
Sara Cushing Weigle. Assessing writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 116-117.
19
31
and quantitative data collection and analysis. In the final of this study, this study found that the students had improvement in the quality of writing from the first
draft to the second draft and this study found that the students were interested in debating on five main categories of topics including technology, ethic, moral
value, health, education, media and the topic that could not be categorized. The second previous study was conducted by Gusman by the title “Analysis of Students’Cause and Effect Essay Writings at Batu Sangkar”.20
The
study had purpose to know the students’ ability in writing cause and effect essay by focusing on the aspects of writing essay such as content, organization,
grammar and sentence structure, mechanics and vocabulary. The study used descriptive-qualitative method in analyzing students’ ability in writing cause and effect essay. In the final, the researcher that is in the previousstudy found that only 5 or 16,67% of students’ cause and effect essay was very good in using the
aspects of writing, 12 or 40% of students’ cause and effect essay was good, 10 or
33,33% of students’ cause and effect essay was enough, 3 or 10% of students’
cause and effect essay was poor and 0% of students’ cause and effect essay was
very poor
The third study was conducted by Rokhmah with title “Students’ Capability In Writing Persuasive Essay At The Second Year In SMU
32
Muhammadiyah 1 Lasem”.21 This study analyzed the students’ persuasive essay
at the Second Year in SMU Muhammadiyah 1 Lasem to know the capability of students in writing persuasive essay, which is specified into the students’
capability of the development of content, organization, vocabulary, language
use, and mechanics. The result of the analysis showed that the students’ capability in writing persuasive essay at the second year in SMU Muhammadiyah 1 Lasem was fair. The content of the students’ essay ranged
from fair to poor. The capability of organization ranged from good to average. The capability of vocabulary, language use, and mechanics ranged from fair to
poor.
The fourth study was done by Diniya and the title is “An Analysis on Students’ Ability and Difficulty in Writing Narrative Text”.22
This study
investigated the errors was made and the difficulty was faced by eleventh grader students in writing narrative texts and this study discovered the kinds of process and circumstances on students’ narrative texts. The researcher designed this
study in descriptive-qualitative form. The result of this study were most of the students have acquired the main purpose and schematic structures of narrative text, the processes and the circumstances found from the students’ text are
varied, and the students’ grammatical errors found in their text are varied.
21Nurul Lailati Rokhmah. “Students’ Capability In Writing Persuasive Essay At The Second Year In SMU Muhammadiyah 1 Lasem“(Thesis--Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta; 2008)
22
33
According the previous studies above, the researcher concludes that the three studies above are different from this study. The first previous study has
purpose to investigate whether the third-year English majors improve the quality of their argumentative essays from the first draft to the second draft by applying
the intergrated process-genre approach. However, this study doesn’t apply either certain techniques that improve students’ argumentative essay because this study
focuses on analyzing the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay by
noticing the aspects of writing argumentative essay.
The second previous study has purpose to know the students’ accuracy in
using the aspects of writing in their essay. Although the previous study has similar purpose to know students’ ability in writing essay by noticing the aspects
of writing such as content, organization, grammar and sentence structure,
mechanics and vocabulary, but this study doesn’t focus on the content and this study focuses on the argumentative essay not cause and effect essay. Then, in the
previous study the researcher collected the data by asking the students to write essay according to some aspects that the lecturer given to the students, while this study collects the students’ essay that they produce in the middle test.
The third previous study has purpose to know the capability of students in writing persuasive essay, which is specified into the students’ capability of the
34
into some aspects (introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion) to be analyzed. The way the researcher takes the document was also different from this study.
The study used test to collect the data, while this study collects the data from the result of the students’ middle test in the fourth semester. The level of the
students is also different. The subject of the study was the students in SMU 1 Muhammadiyah, while the subject of this study is the students in the State Islamic University (SIU) Sunan Ampel Surabaya. It seems that the students’ level of the second study is low that the students’ level in this study and it make
the result of this study different with this study because of the differences of the
level in second language learning.
The last diference is about the kind of the essay. Some experts maybe say
that argumentative essay and persuasive essay have same aim to present a specific point of view but in writing argumentative essay the author more care in
using facts, statistic, and other evidence to make the reader agree that the writer’s position is correct while on the other hand in writing persuasive essay
35
loyalties.23 There are other diferencess both of argumentative essay and persuasive essay that will be explained in table 2.3.24
Table 2.3
The differences between Argumentative Essay and Persuasive Essay
Argumentative essay Persuasive essay
- Makes claims based on
factual evidence.
- Makes counter-claims.The
author takes opposing views into account.
- Neutralizes or "defeats"
serious opposing ideas.
- Convinces audience through
the merit and reasonableness of the claims and proofs offered.
- Often compares texts or ideas
to establish a position.
- Persuades by appealing to the
audience’s emotion or by relying on the character or credentials of the writer – lesson the merits of his or her reasons and evidence.
- Emotionbased.
The fourth previous study has purpose to investigate the errors are made and the difficulty are faced by eleventh grader students in writing narrative texts and the study discovered the kinds of process and circumstances on students’
narrative texts. The differnces of the study from this study is about the kinds of the essay. The study was analysing the students’ narrative text while this study is
23
Mitchell. ”What Is the Difference between an Argumentative and Persuasiven Essay?” (http:// www.wisegeek.org,accessed on june o4,2015)
24
36
analysing the students’ argumentative essay. However, the elements of
CHAPTER III
RESEACH METHOD
This chapter presents an overview of the research method. It contains an account of the procedures used in the study, including research design, research presence,
data collection technique, instrument of the research, and data analysis.
A. Research design
The design of this study is qualitative design using descriptive approach since the researcher’ purposes are to understand and describe the ability of
students in wrting arguentative essay in argumentative essay class at English
Teacher Education Department of the State Islamic University (SIU) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Collecting, analyzing the data, understanding the data and
describing the result of the analysis are emphasized in this study because in qualitative analyses provide detail, process, richness, and sensitivity to context and they are appropriate if the aim is to understand meaning and to build
theoretical explanations from participants understanding.1 Furthemore, this descriptive study is used to gain certain information about a certain phenomenon
1
37
that happens when this study is conducted.2 Therefore, this study is called as descriptive qualitative reseach, in which the researcher conducts this research by
collecting, selecting , analysing and discribing the data.
B. Researcher presence
The researcher presence is needed in this research. It is because the researcher has important role to collect the data. The researcher presence was known by the students and the lecturer in the classes. The lecturer and the
students accepted if the researcher conducted the research about students’ ability in writing argumentative essay. In this research, the researcher just
collected and analyzed the students’argumentative essay that they produced to fulfill the middle test. Therefore, the researcher was not a participant observer.
C. Research location
This research was held at State Islamic University (SIU) Sunan Ampel Surabaya. This university is located on Jl. Jend Achmad Yani 117 Surabaya.
This university is chosen by the researcher because the researcher has some considerations. Firstly, the reason is because the university has English Education Department that has argumentative essay class. Secondly, the researcher chooses that class because this study is about analysing students’
ability in writing arguentative essay. Thirdly, it is because the difficulties of
2
38
students of Argumentative class and the experience of the researcher who has become students in the class, writing argumentative essay.
The researcher conducted this research in two argumentative classes that were held by same lecture and every class had different number of students The
first class consisted of fifteen students and the second class consisted of twenty one students but the researcher only got eleven students in the first class.
D. Research instrument
The instrument is important to find out the result of the research. Therefore, the instruments must be prepared well. In this study, the researcher
used some instruments, such as assessment rubric, human instrument and documentation.
1. Assessment rubric
There are two key component of a writing assessment and they are called “ the development and trialing of task for writing assessment and
procedures for scoring the writen product”.3
It means that the assessment scoring guide or assessment rubric is one of the important component in writing assessment. There are three scoring guide to assess the writen
product. They are primary trait scoring, holistic scoring and analytic scoring. This study used analytic scoring in measure the students’ ability in
writing argumentative essay beacuse analytic scoring was more appropiate
3Sara Cushing Weigle. ”
39
and useful to assess students’ writen product and because analytic scoring
applies the criteria in separate scales than in holistic scales and primary trait
scales.4 The scales in analytic scoring is more spesific, thus this study emphasized more the analytic scoring.
The researcher had one assessment rubric or analytic scoring guide in analysing or measuring the students’ ability in writing argumentative essat
that was adapted from assessment rubric in Sara’s book (Assessing writing).5
Then, the researcher adapted the assessment rubric from Alice and Ann’s book (introduction to academic writing). 6 The last, the researcher adapted the
assessment rubric from Schwalm’ rubric.7 Those rubrics have elements that is used in analysing the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay but the researcher only used some elements from those rubrics in analysing students’
ability in writing argumentative essay at State Islamic University (SIU) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. The elements are organization that is generated more
specific into some elements (introduction and thesis statement, body paragraph or supporting senetences, and conclusion), grammar, sentence
4Sara Cushing Weigle. “
Assessing writing………..120.
5
Sara Cushing Weigle. ”Assessing writing “(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 116-117,193
6
Alice Oshima – Ann Hogue. Itroduction to Academic Writing (Pearson Education, Inc, 2007), 196-197
7
40
structure and vocabulary, and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization).
Table 3.1
The elements of rubric in assessing argumentative essay
Elements Category descriptor Score
Introduction sufficiently to the topic or to the author’s thesis
1
The introduction paragraph states the thesis but the introduction does not adequately explain the background of the problem or the introduction is largely unclear and may not orient the reader sufficiently to the topic or to the author’s thesis
2
The introductory paragraph begins with several general sentences, contains some background information, states the problem and ends with a thesis statement but not explain using details. The introduction orients the reader sufficiently to the topic and to the author’s thesis
41
Well-developed introductory paragraph, the introduction paragraph begins with several general sentences and ends with full development of clear thesis statement. the introduction has clear explanation of the problem and orients the reader effectively to the topic and the author’s thesis (purpose, plan, and focus) material;facts, examples, quotations and low paraphrased, each paragraph almost doesn’t have unity and coherence, and almost all transition inaccurate
1
Each paragraph discuses a new point and begins with a topic sentence but not clearly related to the thesis, each paragraph has low material; low facts, examples, quotations and low paraphrased, each paragraph has unclear unity and coherence, and low standard in using transitions to link paragraph
2
Each paragraph discuses a new point and begins with a topic sentence, each paragraph has few material; less facts, examples, quotations, and less paraphrased, each paragraph has adequate unity and coherence, and some inaccuracies in using transitions to link paragraph
3
Each paragraph discuses a new point and begins with a clear topic sentence, each paragraph has specific material; facts, examples, quotations, and paraphrased, each paragraph has clear unity and coherence, appropriate transitions are used to link paragraph
4
Conclusion The conclusion does not adequately summarize the main topics and no suggestion or opinion is included. The conclusion neither reinforces nor
42
comments on the thesis
The conclusion summarizes the main topics but is not repetitive and no suggestion and opinion are included. The conclusion may neither reinforce nor comment on the thesis, the conclusion doesn’t effectively capture thesis or argument
Conclusion summarizes the main topics without repeating previous sentences and ends with appropriate concluding sentence. Writer opinion and suggestion for change are logical and well thought out. The conclusion effectively reinforces and comment on the thesis and providing closure to the essay
4
Grammar and sentence structure
Almost all grammatical patterns inaccuracies and contains fragments or run-on sentences
1
Frequent grammatical inaccuracies, sentences lack variety and show errors of structure
2
Some grammatical inaccuracies, some sentence structures are effective and sentences have varied structure
3
Almost no grammatical inaccuracies or no grammatical errors, sentences are strong, effectively and expressive, with varied of sentence structure 4
Spelling, punctuation, capitalization
and vocabulary
Almost all punctuation inaccurate, or dominated by errors of punctuation, almost all spelling inaccurate, or dominated by errors of spelling,
dominated by errors of capitalization, vocabulary inadequate, little knowledge
43
of English vocabulary and word form Low standard of accuracy in punctuation, or frequent errors of punctuation, low standard of accuracy in spelling, or frequent errors of spelling, frequent errors of capitalization, ordinary vocabulary range or limited range, frequent errors of word, choice and usage but meaning confused or obscured
2
Some inaccuracies in punctuation, or occasional errors in punctuation, some inaccuracies in spelling, or occasional errors in spelling, occasional errors in inaccuracies in punctuation, or few errors of punctuation, the spelling is correct, almost no inaccuracies in spelling, or few errors of spelling, capital letters are used correctly, or few errors of capitalization, exceptional vocabulary range, effective word or idiom choice and usage
4
2. Human instrument
The researcher conducted this research from the bigining to the end and only the researcher knows how this research runs well. Therefore, in this
44
will be used in the research is the researcher herself.8 Therefore, the reseracher has to know about the process of this research well and has to have
extensive knowledge about this study or this research in order to get satisfactory result.
In instrument of qualitative research, Lincoln and Guba (1986) state that:9
“The instrument of choice in naturalistic inquiry is the human. We shall see that other forms of instrumentation may be used in later phases of the
inquiry, but the human is the initial and continuing mainstay. But if the
human instrument has been used extensively in earlier stages of inquiry, so
that an instrument can be constructed that grounded in the data that the
human instrument has product”.
It seems that the human instrument is also important instrument in qualitative study to collect and analyze the data to get the result that can answer the research question of this study.
E. Data collection technique
Data collection is an important part in research study. The data collection
technique is a technique used to collect the data. In this study, the researcher used document study or the students assigment that the produce in the middle test. The researcher collected the students’ argumentative essay or the product
of the students that they produced to fulfil the requirement of middle test in the
8
Sugoyono. ”Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R & D”(Bandung, Alvabeta,cv, 2007), 222.
9
45
fourth semester and the researcher directly asked that data from the lecturer of that classes.
In data collection technique of qualitative research, Marshall and Rossman state that:10
“the fundamental methods relied on by qualitative researchers for gathering information are, participation in the setting, direct observation,
in-deep interviewing, and document review”
According the statement above, it shows that document study or collecting students assigment is one of the technique that was used by the researcher in collecting the data of the students. Then the researcher presented five examples of students’ argumentative essay in this study.
The researcher collected the data from two classes which every class has different number of student. For the first class consists of fifteen students
but the researcher only got eleven data from the students and for the second class consists of twenty one students. From two classes, the researcher got thirty two data and these data were used in answering the research question of this study, in which to know the students’ ability in writing argumentative
essay.
After the researcher got the data, the data were analyzed by the researcher by assessment rubric that was prepared before. Then, the researcher made conclusion about the students’ score by noticing the marking
10
46
scale that was adapted by the researcher from Jacob’s scoring profile.11 It can be interpreted as follow:
Table 3.2
Marking Scale of students’ grade
The formula is:
Notes: P = percentage
F = frequency
N = number of sample
F. Technique of data analysis
11
Sara Cushing Weigle. Assessing writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 116.
Criteria of Mastery Grade Grade
17-20
11-16
5-10
Less than 4
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
47
This study used descriptive qualitative in analyzing the data. The researcher analyzed the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay by
focusing on the aspects of argumentative essay and the aspects of writing. The researcher used assessment rubric instrument in analysing students’ ability in
writing argumentative essay. There are some procedurs in analyzing the students’ ability in writing argumentative essay that was adapted from the theory
of Miles and Huberman:12
Picture 3.1
Components of Data Analysis: Interactive Model
12
Sugoyono. ”Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R & D”(Bandung, Alvabeta,cv, 2007), 247.
Conclusion Data
Display
Data Reduction Data
