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THE CONTRIBUTION OF WEB-BASED GRAMMAR PRACTICE TO STUDENTS’ GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE AND WRITING SKILL
A Thesis Presented to
The Graduate Program in English Language Studies inPartial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M. Hum)
in English Language Studies
by
Agatha Pepy Yerinta Student Number: 126332050
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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DEDICATION PAGE
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases, sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if she took somebody else's ideas, phrase, or sentence without a proper reference.
Yogyakarta, February 7, 2014
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswi Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Agatha Pepy Yerinta
NIM : 126332050
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE CONTRIBUTION OF WEB-BASED GRAMMAR PRACTICE TO STUDENTS’ GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE AND WRITING SKILL
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan 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 pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 7 Februari 2014 Yang menyatakan
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to dedicate my deepest gratitude to God, my beloved Jesus Christ, and Holy Mary for the grace and blessing so that I finally accomplished my thesis.Hereby, I dedicate my gratitude to my family: my parents (Fx. Suhardi and Ch. Maryati), my brother (Yohanes Benny Marwastu) and his wife (AgustinaLusiAndriyani) for their love, support, and prayers for all the time. My special thanks go to Hillarion Nori Wibowo, my husband as well as my best friend, for his love, patience and loyalty. I thank him for his support, our wonderful times, and great experiences.
My greatest appreciation also goes to my sponsor, Dr. B.B Dwijatmoko, M.A. for his patience, advice and attention during the process of finishing this thesis and also for giving me the very detailed corrections, to all lecturers in English Language Studies, FX. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. J. Bismoko, and Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. for their guidance and toMbak Lely providing me with her best services for these years.
My great thanks are addressed to my dearest friends in life, Uut, Indri, Lia, and Beni. I thank them for giving me support, suggestion in life and always go along with me in my good and bad times. For the moral and intellectual support, I thank all my lovely 2012 ELS friends, especially YustinaPriskaKisnanto and AdesiaKusumaWardani, for the laughter and support. Last, I also would like to thank Dea, Lia, and Nanda for their help and support.
May God always bless them.
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STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINALITY ... v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN UNTUK PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI
CHAPTER II: THERORETICAL REVIEW ... 12
A. Writing Skill ... 12
1. The Nature of Writing ... 12
2. Significant Aspects in Writing ... 15
3. Teaching and Learning Writing at University Level ... 17
B. Grammatical Competence ... 19
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2. Grammar in Writing ... 21
C. Web-Based Grammar Practice ... 24
1. Web-Based Learning ... 24
2. Autonomous and Collaborative Learning ... 26
3. Web-Based Learning for Teaching Writing ... 27
4. Web-Based Grammar Practice in Sentence Writing Class ... 28
a. Sentence Writing Syllabus ... 28
b. Grammar Practices: True and False ... 30
c. Grammar Practices: Sentence Writing ... 31
d. Grammar Practices: Passage Writing ... 32
D. Review of Related Research ... 38
E. Theoretical Framework ... 39
F. Hypotheses ... 43
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 45
A. Research Method ... 45
B. Research Setting and Subjects ... 47
C. Data Gathering Techniques ... 48
1. Grammar Identification ... 48
2. Passage Writing ... 49
3. Final Writing ... 49
D. Data Processing ... 52
1. Scale Assumption ... 52
2. Assumption of Normal Distribution... 53
3. Linearity Assumption ... 53
E. Data Analysis and Verification ... 55
1. Validity ... 56
2. Reliability ... 57
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 59
A. Data Presentation ... 59
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a. The relationship between web-based grammar
practice and grammatical competence ... 60
b. The relationship between web-based grammar practice and writing skill ... 67
2. Result of Qualitative Research ... 74
B. Discussion ... 80
1. Grammar Practices and Grammatical Competence ... 81
2. Grammar Practices and Writing Skill ... 83
3. The Contribution of Web- Based Grammar Practice to Students Grammatical Competence and Writing Skill ... 87
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 95
A. Conclusion ... 95
B. Implication ... 98
C. Suggestion ... 99
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 In-Depth Interview Blueprint ... 51
3.2 Correlation Coefficient ... 55
3.3 Independent Samples Test... 57
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 Course Syllabus ... 29
2.2 True and False Practice ... 30
2.3 Sentence Writing Practice ... 31
2.4Passage Writing Practice ... 32
2.5Passage Writing Evaluation ... 33
2.6 Grammar Scores in Passage Writing ... 34
2.7 Sentence Complexity Scores in Passage Writing ... 35
2.8 Passage Writing Evaluation ... 37
2.9Development of Grammatical Competence through Writing ... 42
3.1 Positive Correlation ... 53
3.1 Negative Correlation ... 54
3.1 No Correlation ... 54
4.1Test of Normality of Grammar Scores ... 61
4.2Q-Q Plot of Grammar Scores ... 61
4.3Scatterplot of Grammar Identification and Grammar Scores ... 62
4.4 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Grammar Scores ... 62
4.5Spearman Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Grammar Scores ... 63
4.6 Test of Normality of Sentence Complexity Scores ... 64
4.7 Q-Q Plot of Sentence Complexity Scores ... 64
4.8 Scatterplot of Grammar Identification and Sentence Complexity Scores 65
4.9 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Sentence Complexity Scores ... 65
4.10 Spearman Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Sentence Complexity Scores ... 66
4.11 Test of Normality of Passage Writing Scores ... 68
4.12 Q-Q Plot of Passage Writing Scores ... 68
4.13 Scatterplot of Grammar Identification and Passage Writing Scores ... 69
4.14 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Passage Writing Scores ... 69
4.15 Spearman Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Passage Writing Scores ... 70
4.16 Test of Normality of Final Writing Scores ... 71
4.17 Q-Q Plot of Final Writing Scores ... 71
4.18 Scatterplot of Grammar Identification and Final Writing Scores ... 72
4.19 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between Grammar Identification and Final Writing Scores ... 72
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
Appendix 1 : Course Syllabus ... 105
Appendix 2 : Interview Guideline #1 ... 107
Appendix 3 : Interview Guideline #2 ... 109
Appendix 4 :Grammar Identification and Grammar Scores ... 110
Appendix 5 : Grammar Identification and Sentence Complexity Scores ... 111
Appendix 6 : Grammar Identification and Passage Writing Scores ... 112
Appendix7 : Grammar Identification and Final Writing Scores ... 113
Appendix 8 : Transcribed Interview Result #1 ... 114
xiv ABSTRACT
Yerinta, Agatha Pepy. 2014. The Contribution of Web-Based Grammar Practice to Students’ Grammatical Competence and Writing Skill. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
It has been long and widely believed that grammatical competence has significant influence in the development of writing skill. Communicative grammar teaching integrated with writing is believed to be the best way in developing grammar competence that leads to the improvement of writing skill. As the emergence of technology in education, ELTGallery is implementing web-based grammar practices for a writing course with the aims of developing students‟ grammatical competence as well as their writing skill. Starting from this notion,
this research was conducted to find out whether the participants‟ (1) web-based grammar practices is related to their grammatical competence; (2) web-based grammar practices is related to their English writing achievement; and eventually it is aimed at (3) describing and interpreting the interview results of the research participants, particularly concerning their experience in conducting web-based grammar practices to find out the contribution of web-based grammar practices to their grammatical competence and writing skill.
Approaching the problems under the mixed-method approach, this research employed correlational study to answer the first and second research problems, and interview to answer the third research problem. The data were gathered through testing and interviews that were conducted to the students of English Letters in Writing 1 course. The data analysis was conducted through correlational
analysis, followed by description and interpretation of participants‟ interview
results regarding the contribution of web-based grammar practices for their grammatical competence and writing skill.
The research found out that: (1) there is positive correlation between
students‟ web-based grammar practices and their grammatical competence (r=0.770 at p=0.00 for grammar score and r=0.453 at p=0.00 for sentence
complexity score); (2) there is positive correlation between students‟ web-based grammar practices and their writing skill (r= 0.711 at p=0.00 for passage writing and r=0.913 at p=0.00 for writing final achievement). These results are also supported by the results of qualitative analysis through the description and interpretation of participants‟ interview results. The resultsshowed that web-based grammar practices improved students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill in some aspects, which are Article, Pronoun, and Tenses.
The research findings bring about some practical implications that
web-based grammar practices can be used to develop and assess students‟ grammatical
xv ABSTRAK
Yerinta, Agatha Pepy. 2014. The Contribution of Web-Based Grammar Practice to Students’ Grammatical Competence and Writing Skill. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Kompetensi grammar sudah lama terbukti dan dipercayai memiliki pengaruh terhadap perkembangan keterampilan menulis. Pengajaran grammar dan pengajaran menulis yang diintegrasikan secara komunikatif dipercaya menjadi cara yang terbaik dalam mengembangkan kompetensi grammar, yang mengarah pada perkembangan keterampilan menulis. Perkembangan ilmu teknologi dalam pendidikan menjadi dasar terbentuknya ELTGallery, dengan menerapkan latihan grammar berbasis web (web-based grammar practices). Latihan grammar berbasis web dalam mata kuliah writing tersebut bertujuan untuk mengembangkan kompetensi grammar dan keterampilan menulis siswa. Bertolak dari gagasan tersebut, penelitian ini dilakukan untuk meneliti apakah (1) latihan web-based grammar siswa berhubungan dengan kompetensi grammar mereka; (2) latihan web-based grammar siswa berhubungan dengan keterampilan menulis mereka, dan pada akhirnya penelitian ini bertujuan untuk (3) mendeskripsikan dan menginterpretasikan hasil interview siswa tentang kontribusi latihan web-based grammar terhadap kompetensi grammar dan keterampilan menulis siswa.
Dengan menggunakan pendekatan mixed-method, penelitian inimenerapkanstudikorelasionaluntukmenjawabpertanyaan pertama dan kedua, serta menggunakan interview untuk menjawab pertanyaan ketiga.Data dikumpulkan melalui tesand interview untuk siswa program studi Sastra Inggris dalam mata kuliah Writing 1.Analisis data dilakukanmelaluianalisiskorelasional, yang diikutidengan deskripsi dan interpretasi hasil interview tentang kontribusi latihan web-based grammar terhadap kompetensi grammar dan keterampilan menulis siswa.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) ada korelasi positif antara hasil latihan grammar siswa dengan kompetensi grammar mereka (r=0.770 at p=0.00 untuk grammar score dan r=0.453 at p=0.00 untuk sentence complexity score); (2) ada korelasi positif antara hasil latihan grammar siswa dengan keterampilan menulis mereka (r= 0.711 at p=0.00 untuk passage writing dan r=0.913 at p=0.00 untuk final writing). Hasil tersebut didukung oleh hasil penelitian kualitatif dari deskripsi dan interpretasi interview siswa.Hasil deskripsi dan interpretasi ini menunjukkan bahwa web-based grammar practices meningkatkan kompetensi grammar dan keterampilan menulis siswa dalam beberapa segi, yakni Article, Pronoun, dan Tenses.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study would like to firstly, investigate the relationship between web-based grammar practice and grammatical competence as well as writing skill and secondly describe and interpret the contribution of web-based grammar practice to
students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill in Writing 1 course. This chapter provides the research background, problem identification, problem limitation, research questions, research objectives, and research benefits.
A. Research Background
the construction among sentences. Thus, successful writing includes the ability in using correct organization, control of content, grammatical devices, mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization), and word choice (vocabulary).
Writing is categorized into some different levels. One of the levels is sentence writing. Sentence writing is the basic level of writing where students learn the inner aspects or elements within sentences. A sentence is composed by a group of words that are combined grammatically, while the combination of one sentence and another sentence can create compound and complex sentences (Birjandiet al. 2004). Those are what the students learn in Writing 1 course. This course focuses on the grammatical aspects of sentences. It aims at developing
students‟ skills in identifying the inner and outer elements of sentences and
creating their own sentences grammatically based on the topics provided. However, learning grammar can be frustrating since it deals with numerous elements. Teachers may also find difficulty in teaching those various elements within limited time provided in traditional learning. Therefore, there is a need to find an alternative way in teaching and learning grammar, especially in sentence writing.
for teaching and learning activities. Those websites offer modern learning processes that can facilitate both the students and the teachers.
ELTGallery is the website used in Writing 1 course that is designed to
facilitate the regular learning process in the classroom. Related to the goal of
Writing 1, which is to develop students‟ skills in writing sentences grammatically,
ELTGallery provides grammar practices for the students that can be conducted at
any time and any place. These grammar practices include the micro-skills of writing, which are sentence agreement, tense, article and determiner, personal pronoun, question, noun modifier, auxiliary verb, perfect and continuous, compound and complex sentence, relative clause, noun clause, and passive voice. It is believed that by conducting the grammar practices continuously, students will be able to write sentences grammatically. ELTGallery enables the students not
only to do exercises or practices but also to comment to their peers‟ work.
Therefore it will enable the students to learn independently outside the class. However, teachers and students are still inexperienced with the latest technology and unresponsive to implement technology in the learning process (Mumtaz 2000, Ertmer 2006, Pope et al. 2002). Thus, implementing technology should be followed by evaluating it. In addition, the learning advantages provided by
ELTGallery should be clearly stated to the students so that they will be able to
make use of ELTGallery beneficially.
suggests that autonomy involves the willingness to be responsible in the learning process. Furthermore, Sinclair (2000) also asserts that to develop learner autonomy, learners should be aware of the learning process. This awareness includes the reflection and decision-making process conducted by the learners (Borg 2012). It is conducted by reflecting the learning values into their own experience. By developing autonomous learning, learners will be able to control and monitor their own progress, and decide what they should do to improve and develop their progress (Lloyd 2000). Autonomous learning also deals with learner-centered learning, in which it covers individual as well as social dimension in creating independent and collaborative learning (Olesova&Meloni in Hubbard & Levy 2006). Taber (2006) also asserts that learner construct knowledge through collaborative interaction with others. In additional, learning should result from social interaction among learners through communication, activities, and interactions with others (Swan 2005). Jones and Youngs suggest that autonomous and collaborative learning is the key of successful online learning (Hubbard & Levy 2006). Therefore, by implementing ELTGallery, students will be able to develop their autonomous learning and collaborative learning with their peers. They will be able to work independently without being restricted by time and place. It means that they can monitor their progress and evaluate their learning by themselves.
Related to the advantages provided by using web-based learning,
ELTGallery is expected to be able to enhance students‟ autonomous and
successful writing. Learning grammar can lead to the improvement of writing (Hudson 2001, Fearn and Farnan 2007). Therefore, ELTGallery provides online grammar practices that are beneficial for the students in improving their writing skills. It is believed that by conducting these grammar practices autonomously and collaboratively, students will be able to write their own sentences grammatically and improve their writing skills.
For that reason, this study is conducted to find out the relationship between web-based grammar practice and grammatical competence as well as writing skill. It also investigates the contribution of the grammar practices offered in
ELTGalleryto the students‟ grammatical competence and writing achievement in
Writing 1 course. It is then analyzed to validate the positive influence of web-based grammar practice in Writing 1 course. The data gathered are the students‟ scores of the grammar practices, grammar scores and sentence complexity in passage writing tasks, passage writing, and final achievement in Writing 1 course. This study conducts quantitative research to identify the relationship between web-based grammar practice in ELTGallery and students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill. It also applies qualitative research to dig more about how ELTGallery, especially grammar practices, contribute to students‟ grammar competence as well as writing ability. It is expected that web-based grammar practice has positive relationship and contribution to the students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill and that the application improves
students‟ writing skills. The positive contribution of the grammar practices will provide new instrument to assess students‟ grammatical mastery, especially in
B. Problem Identification
The relation between grammar and writing has been a wide belief in English education. Teaching grammar and writing should be integrated in order to optimize the learning process. It is strongly suggested that the most beneficial way in assisting students to improve their grammatical competence as well as writing skill is by integrating grammar and writing in a communicative approach. Since the early 1960s, research shows that grammar teaching that is separate from
writing instruction does not show improvement on students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill (Braddock et al. 1963, Hillocks 1986). The use of
students‟ writings as teaching materials to teach grammar in writing is believed to
be the most effective way. Editing and revising are the possible ways in developing students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill at the same time. Integrating grammar instruction into editing and revising processes facilitate the students to make immediate applications that allow them to really pay attention to the relation between grammar and writing.
power of dialects and the dialects of power; and (5) teaching punctuation and mechanics for convention, clarity, and style.
As the rise of technology application in educational field, ELTGallery is implementing web-based grammar practice as one way in improving students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill. Web-based grammar practice allows the students to conduct editing and revising process for their writings. Web-based grammar practice offers 12 topics including sentence agreement, tense, article and determiner, personal pronoun, question, noun modifier, auxiliary verb, perfect and continuous, compound and complex sentence, relative clause, noun clause, and passive voice. These topics are carefully selected based on the minimum requirements of grammar that are suggested by previous studies in traditional learning. Web-based grammar practice integrates the traditional grammar practices in conventional learning with the technology that simultaneously allow the students to enhance their autonomous and collaborative learning more. Therefore, it is strongly believed that with the autonomous and collaborative learning supported in ELTGallery, web-based grammar practice and grammatical
competence as well as writing skill are positively related. It means that students‟
with more web-based grammar practice have higher grammatical competence and writing skill.
C. Problem Limitation
2009).Web-based learning facilitates autonomous and collaborative learning and offers a variety of features such as messaging, forums, chat, and discussion board (Olesova&Meloni in Hubbard & Levy 2006). Students are able to work independently and develop their autonomous learning and collaborative learning with their peers. These advantages become the basic foundation of ELTGallery in assisting students to improve their grammatical competence and writing skill.
Benefited from autonomous and collaborative learning developed by the use of e-learning, ELTGalleryprovides web-based grammar practice that are
integrated with sequential writing instructions with the aim at improving students‟
grammatical competence and writing skill. Three main tasks are developed in ELTGallery, namely Grammar Identification, Sentence Writing, and Passage
Writing. This study aims at investigating the relationship between
GrammarIdentification or web-based grammar practice and students‟ grammatical
competence, and between GrammarIdentification or web-based grammar practice
and students‟ writing skill. This study, further, investigates the contribution of
web-based grammar practice to students‟ grammatical competence and writing skill.
The contribution of web-based grammar practice is investigated through the
study and the underlying principle of autonomous and collaborative learning in e-learning, the learning strategy is investigated in three categorizations of meta-cognitive strategy, meta-cognitive strategy, and affective strategy out of six categorizations.
With the underlying idea of teaching grammar in writing with the use of technology, this study was conducted to investigate (1) whether web-based grammar practice are related to grammatical competence, (2) whether web-based grammar practice are related to writing skill and (3) the contribution of web-based grammar practice to grammatical competence and writing skill. These were investigated in mixed-method research of quantitative and qualitative research. Testing was conducted to gain the quantitative data, while in-depth interview was
conducted to gain students‟ perspective as qualitative data concerning the topics
under investigation. The English Letter students of Sanata Dharma University were taken as subject of the research since Writing 1 Course in English Letter is the one applying ELTGallery.
D. Research Questions
By identifying the rationale of the research, the problem identification and the limitation of the problem, this study was conducted to find out:
1. Is there a positive relationship between web-based grammar practicein
ELTGalleryand the grammatical competence of the 1st semester English Letter
students?
2. Is there a positive relationship between web-based grammar practice in
3. What is the contribution of web-based grammar practice to the grammatical competence and writing skill of the 1st semester English Letter students? E. Research Objectives
This study aims at finding out whether students who conduct more grammar practices achieve higher grammatical competence and writing skill. Further, it investigates whether students are able to write grammatically correct sentences after conducting grammar practices correctly in ELTGallery. It seeks to identify whether grammar practices provided by ELTGallery facilitate the students to be able to write sentences grammatically and thus lead them to improve their writing skill.
In addition, this study aims at investigating the contribution of web-based grammar practice to students‟ grammatical competence and writing ability. It means that this study investigates the real use or implementation of web-based grammar practice done by the students based on the learning strategies that they apply. Therefore, this study conducted in-depth interview to gain students‟ perspective of the contribution of web-based grammar practice to their grammatical competence and writing skill.
F. Research Benefits
This study is expected to provide some benefits and contributions to English education theoretically and practically. Theoretically, this study contributes to offer a supplementary way of teaching by implementing web-based learning. If
the students‟ web-based grammar practice scores are in line with and contribute to
the students‟ scores in passage writing and writing test, it will show that web
study will contribute to the study of web-based learning implementation, especially ELTGallery.
Practically, if the objective is achieved, ELTGallery is proved to be effective
in improving students‟ writing skills. Therefore, this study shows that web-based learning application can be used as a media to facilitate writing class. In this case, this study provides an effective instrument to assess as well as to improve
students‟ grammatical competence by using web application, which is
ELTGallery.
To sum up, this study is beneficial both for students and for teachers, as well as educators who are interested in the subject matter. By implementing this
application, teachers will be able to use the online instrument to assess students‟
12
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
Theories that are relevant to answer the problems are covered in this part. This part also discusses the conflicting theories concerning the problems. The discussion will be divided into three main points covering the nature of writing, the nature of grammar, and the implementation of technology in education, especially web-based learning.
A. Writing Skill
As a language, English is perceived as a communication means among human beings. Therefore, English as a second language in Indonesia is taught both as an object of study and as a system of communication (Weigle 2002).Among the four English skills taught at schools, which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing, writing is still considered as a difficult subject to learn. This is due to the nature of second language learners and the numerous aspects of writing that should be considered (Brown 2004). The writing aspects
are taught at schools to develop students‟ writing skill.
1. The Nature of Writing
language. Richards and Renandya (2002) suggest that the difficulty deals with both in generating and organizing ideas and in translating the ideas into readable texts. It involves more than just telling message; in fact it emphasizes on transforming information into texts in a different language (Myles 2002). In order to be successful in writing, students need to acquire proficiency in writing strategies, techniques, and skills. All of these relate to the development of writing performance in written production.
process writing for all purposes, such as essays, papers, research project report, and thesis. Focus on grammatical forms is limited only for the proofreading and editing.
Those four writing performance types suggest the inner significant aspects in the writing development stages. These inner aspects include vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, writing techniques and so on. In developing writing skill, Brown (2004) proposes micro and macro skills of writing. Micro skills deal with the basic knowledge of writing, covering the inner elements of writing, such as mechanics and grammatical rules. The skills include the ability to (1) create graphemes and orthographic English patters. Second, (2) create writing at a
well-organized rate of speed to adjust the objective, (3) create an acceptable words‟
2. Significant Aspectsin Writing
Since most of writing aspects deal with grammar, it is believed that grammar practices are needed to obtain successful writing. Grammar practices are best delivered in separate aspects, including subject-verb agreement, parts of speech, clause, sentences, tenses, and so on (Berger 2001). However, teaching grammar in separate aspects does not mean that it should be separated from the writing itself. Teaching grammar should be integrated with teaching writing. Therefore, the separate aspects of grammar should be learnt in the context of writing (Berger 2001).
However, some studies show the ineffectiveness of teaching grammar for writing. Teaching grammar has insignificant positive effects on improving
students‟ writing (Wyse 2001). It has negative impact on students‟ motivation due
and the techniques in delivering the grammar practices (Weaver et al. 2001, Andrews 2006).
To build communicative writing, contexts of writing should be emphasized as well. Therefore, besides using grammar practices, developing writing skill should also pay attention to the communicative context and meaningful purposes. It means that topics should be carefully selected in such a way that the topics can
enhance students‟ critical thinking to write contextually using appropriate
grammar aspects. Hence, the grammar practices combine grammar aspects and
meaningful topics to develop students‟ writing skill.
3. Teaching and Learning Writing at University Level
Students at university level belong to adult learners. Hammer (2007) suggests that adult learners have expectations about the learning process and already have their own set patterns of learning and a clear understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it. It shows that students are able to develop their learning strategies in the learning process. Students understand their position as students and they are aware of their responsibility in developing their own learning process. Hammer (2007) further suggests that university students are able to deal with various activities as well as various assessments. It means that teaching writing at university level can be optimized
using different types of activities and assessments to develop students‟ writing
skills. With these two basic characteristics of adult learners, teaching writing at university level should set the learning activities and learning assessments that can
University students understand their learning process. It means that learning writing can be directed to autonomous learning. Learning writing at university level is seen as reflective learning in which students intend to write and they are eager to build relationship between the students themselves and the tasks of writing (Lavelle &Zuercher 2001). It means that students really need to be aware of the writing process and perceive writing itself not merely as a task but more as intention. Lavelle and Zuercher (2001) further suggest that the activity of learning and how the students perceive the learning will affect the quality of the learning outcome. Therefore, students who are eager to write or who intend to write will have better learning outcome since they will do more effort than the others.
Hence, to develop writing skill at university level, the grammar practices should be carefully set to meet the characteristics of university students. Deep tasks need to be designed to facilitate the teaching writing at university level. These deep tasks emphasize on meaning, scaffolding, modeling and integrating writing across content areas (relevance) (Lavelle &Zuercher, 2001). In other words, the writing should focus on the message, have clear organization, show clear description and elaboration and be contextual according to the topic given. In addition, teachers at university level should provide meaningful feedback for the writings that the students have produced (Lavelle &Zuercher 2001). By given feedback, students will be able to reflect on their writings, evaluate their writings, and revise them.
learning. The grammar practices should be able to develop students‟ grammar competence and writing skill at the same time. In addition, the grammar practices should also enable the students to collaborate with each other. Feedback, as the additional aspect, should also exist in the implementation of grammar practices. B. Grammatical Competence
Language competence covers organizational competence and pragmatic competence. Organizational competence includes grammatical competence and textual competence. Grammatical competence is different from grammatical performance, in which the former deals with the knowledge of language and the latter deals with the actual use of language in concrete situation (Chomsky 1965). The knowledge of language deals with the knowledge of lexical items and the rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar semantics, and phonology (Canale& Swain 1980). It can be concluded that grammatical competence is what knowledge of language that the learners possess.
identified through several conditions and tasks. In the teaching of grammar,
learners‟ grammatical competence can be measured using grammar-based tasks.
1. Grammar Teaching
With the development of communicative methodology, the role of grammar instruction in second language learning is reduced. Teaching grammar is also seen as dangerous. If students focus more on the grammar, it is believed that their communication ability will be disrupted. Krashen (1981) proposes that language should be acquired through natural exposure, not learned through formal instruction. However, Nassjai&Fotos (2004) suggest that there is still a need for formal instruction for the learners to attain high levels of accuracy. This is strongly related to the key to successful writing, in which accuracy is considered as one of the main points in successful writing.
Grammar teaching is also supported by Schmidt (2001). Schmidt (2001) suggests that conscious attention to form, which he calls as noticing, is an essential condition for language learning. Ellis (2002) supports that noticing or awareness of target forms plays an important role in second language learning. It means that target forms, or in this case grammar, should be taught as input since learners cannot process target language input both meaning and form at the same time (Skehan 1998, Tomasello 1998). This is due to the inability of the
communicative focus. In fact, corrective feedback is considered to be an effective means in conducting grammar teaching (Ellis, 2006)
Teaching grammar is effective if it is conducted in a learner-centered approach (Long, 2000). It means that students are aware of the learning process and they can control their learning and adjust it based on their own need in the
learning process. Textual enhancement is believed to be able to draw students‟
attention to grammar (Calkins 1980, DiStefano&Killon 1984). It relates to the use of texts or writings as the media to teach grammar. With this way, teaching grammar can be less explicit and intrusive (Doughty & Varela 1998). Therefore, students will be able to learn grammar and writing at the same time. Grammar rules support their writing ability, and their writings will support their grammatical competence as well.
2. Grammar in Writing
The problems of the students‟ inability to produce acceptable writing are
due to the relative absence of direct and focused grammar instruction and the lack of vocabulary progress (Hinkel 2002). The role of grammar in writing is mutually synergistic. Frodsen and Erying (2000) propose that focusing on form (grammar) can facilitate students to develop their linguistic resources that are needed to express their ideas in effective ways. Therefore, second language students need to pay attention to the form or grammar to develop their writing proficiency.
practices that should be delivered. Hinkel (2004) proposes that grammar practices are grammar-based tasks that focus on grammar rules and grammatical aspects in sentences or paragraphs. Hinkel (2004) suggest some aspects of grammar that should be taught in second language writing, including sentences, phrases and text construction, nouns and the noun phrase, pronouns, verb tenses and voice in text cohesion, lexical classes of verbs covering the meaning and the text functions, and adjectives and adverbs on academic discourse. These aspects are in line with the micro and macro skills proposed by Brown (2004).
It has now been identified that grammar practices influence students‟
The common problems of learning grammar are due to the lack of varieties in the teaching techniques (Gardner 2008). Students who are excellent in doing grammar exercises may not be able to use the grammar well when they want to say something about themselves. It is because the teaching of grammar is still based on rules, not meaning. Therefore, teachers now have changed the techniques of traditional approach to a more communicative approach. It is an approach that teaches how to use grammar meaningfully in context (Gardner 2008). Fearn and Farnan (2007) assert that integrating grammar and writing should be defined in terms of grammar in writing, not grammar for writing. It means that the teaching of grammar is conducted altogether with the teaching of writing. Therefore, in integrating grammar and writing, grammar practices should be meaningful for the students so that they will be able to produce meaningful writing as well.
The recent development of technology has provided opportunity in integrating grammar and writing in the teaching learning process. Hegelheimer and Fisher (2006) suggest that the use of World Wide Web can develop the learning process that integrates and teaches grammar and writing at the same time. Technology can be helpful in creating an inventive online grammar resource
C. Web-based Grammar Practice
The development and revolution of technology that have developed with incredible speed have significant role in education field. Technology has been used in education over the decades. The use of technology in learning is called e-learning. As proposed by Masieet al. (2000), e-learning relates to both electronic media and internet (Munir 2009). It incorporates the use of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) and online internet. Similarly, Jenkins & Hanson (2003) and Waller (2003) also proposed that e-learning is a learning process that is supported and facilitated by the use of information and communication technology, including electronic or digitalized media and internet (Munir 2009). In this era of information and communication technology, e-learning offers abundant benefits in education field. E-learning is a very crucial media utilized in conducting learning process currently. It is employed in creating learning materials, assignments, and evaluations. Internet provides abundant sources in obtaining knowledge. Hence, accessing information and knowledge with the use of internet is easy and quick. Kakasevski et al. (2009) emphasize that the benefit of e-learning is due to its capability in making learning process free of time and location or place.
1. Web-Based Learning
learners in transferring and obtaining the knowledge easily. In LMS, learners must log in with an ID and a password so that only those who are enrolled in the class can access the information in the course. LMS enables the teachers to deliver
course content as well as to track the learners‟ progress at the same time
(Kakasevski et al., 2008).
One of the most widely used types of LMS is Moodle. Moodle stands for
Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is used to create an
informational website or an interactive learning environment online. It is an online application that can be used both for synchronous (simulations, web-based data collection) and asynchronous (e-mail, threaded discussions) e-learning technology. The features in Moodle are communication tools, student collaboration, 24-hour access, student/teacher interaction, online learning, digital tools, discussion board, and assessment tools. Therefore, it combines and integrates applications including websites, chat, messaging, blogs, and forums. The use of e-learning using Moodle opens up more opportunities for the learners to be more active, independent, self-reflected, and collaborative participants (Kakasevski et al., 2008).
able to develop and control their own learning, and they are responsible for their learning progress.
2. Autonomous and Collaborative Learning
One principle of CALL is students‟ autonomy. Edge and Wharton defines
learner autonomy as learners‟ responsibility in engaging in their own learning (Tomlinson 1998). Similarly, Sinclair (2000) suggests that autonomy involves the willingness to be responsible in the learning process. Furthermore, Sinclair (2000) also asserts that to develop learner autonomy, learners should be aware of the learning process. This awareness includes the reflection and decision-making process conducted by the learners (Borg 2012). It is conducted by reflecting the learning values into their own experience. By developing autonomous learning, learners will be able to control and monitor their own progress, and decide what they should do to improve and develop their progress (Lloyd 2000).
leaner autonomy and collaborative learning are the significant elements that should be developed in e-learning.
With the use of web-based learning, students will be autonomous or independent with their own learning and they will be collaborative with other students. First, web-based learning provides them with the ready materials for the whole semester that can be accessed every time. These materials cover the whole units with different sources. Therefore, students can improve and develop their learning progress by accessing the ready-materials autonomously or independently whenever they need them. Second, online chat, forum, and discussions are provided for the students so that they will make use of these applications to conduct collaborative learning (Jones &Youngs in Hubbard & Levy 2006). Sharing information via e-mail or messaging in asynchronous communication and chat in synchronous communication will enhance the solid collaboration (Hanson-Smith in Hubbard & Levy 2006). They may discuss the materials using these applications at any time
3. Web-Based Learning for Teaching Writing
Technology is seen to be a powerful means to enhance students‟ interest in
learning process (Ellis 2000, Krause 2006). With the facilities that are provided in the web-based learning, students can explore their creativity and they will be able to do autonomous and collaborative learning. Warschauer (2007) also supports that e-mail, bulletin boards, chat, discussion forum that are available in web-based learning enable the students to be more active in the learning process. Teaching writing using web-based learning is more beneficial than in traditional learning.
learning, they will be motivated by their peer‟s works. Thus, it will lead them to write more.
Web-based learning also enables the students to provide comments and
feedback for their peers‟ works. Therefore, students are eager to revise their work
more. It is seen that students make more revision if their works are commented by their peers (Schultz 2000). Hegelheimer and Fisher (2006) assert that students often feel unable to find grammatical mistakes in their own work. However, they find it easier if they identify the grammatical mistakes on their peer‟s works. It
shows that peer feedback is effective as a way in improving students‟ motivation
for evaluating and revising their works.
Besides its helpful facilities that can motivate students to learn more, web-based learning is also beneficial in its unlimited resources. Students can make use of internet resources as media in facilitating them whenever they met troublesome in grammatical features. Whenever they feel stuck and hard to understand the material they learn, they will be able to automatically access the internet and browse for information they might need to add.
4. Web-based grammar practice in Sentence Writing Class
ELTGallery is the website used in sentence writing class. The website is
used to facilitate the students to maximize their independent learning. It enables the students to improve their grammatical skills as they practice to do the grammar practices. It is hoped that by developing students‟ grammatical skills, students will automatically develop their writing skills.
a) Sentence Writing Syllabus
into well-formed passages. As a result, the grammatical and lexical accuracy are slightly neglected (Mennim 2003, Ferris 2002, Chuang 2005). Therefore, the grammar accuracy should be considered in teaching second language writing, especially in sentence writing.
The purpose of sentence writing is that the students will be able to write grammatically correct sentences. Grammatically, a sentence should consist of at least a subject and a verb. A sentence is composed by a group of words that are combined grammatically, while the combination of one sentence and another sentence can create compound and complex sentences (Birjandiet al. 2004). In writing these three types of sentences, students need to develop their micro and macro skills, in which most of them are about grammar.
ELTGallery provides the syllabus of the course. The syllabus describes the
goal and the objectives of the course, the class progress and activities, and the evaluation of the course. In the evaluation part, students are also given the explanation about the scoring of their tasks. The evaluation is not only conducted by the teachers, but also by their peers. This syllabus is used as the guideline for the students so that they will be able to monitor their progress (see Appendix 1). WRITING I
1. Credit : 1
2. Description : This course aims to help the students develop their ability to write grammatically acceptable sentences and to write simple passages.
3. General Objectives: The students are able:
a. write grammatically acceptable sentences b. use punctuation correctly
b) Grammar Practices: True and False
ELTGallery provide three main activities that should be conducted by the
students. The first one is true and false grammar practices. True and False grammar practice is also called as grammar mistake identification. This part is divided into twelve topics covering sentence, tenses, article and determiner, personal pronoun, question, noun modifier, auxiliary verb, perfect and continuous, compound and complex sentences, relative clause, noun clause, and passive voice. There are 250 items for each grammar topic and in each topic students are given 50 sentences and they need to identify whether the sentences are true or false. The items are jumbled every time students try to do the grammar practices. Therefore, the possibility of students getting the same questions is very low. Since the answer key of the true and false grammar practices is not shown and the sentences in the grammar practices are jumbled each time the students try to do them, students really need to understand the grammar aspect that they learn.
Figure 2.2: True and False Practice
students finish doing the true and false grammar practices, they will be able to check their scores. If they get below 7, they have to redo the exercises. However, if they already get 7, they are still able to improve their scores.
c) Grammar Practice: Sentence Writing
The second grammar practice is sentence writing practices. The students who can conduct these exercises are those who pass the first exercise in the true and false grammar practices. This part is divided into twelve parts as well covering sentence, tenses, article and determiner, personal pronoun, question, noun modifier, auxiliary verb, perfect and continuous, compound and complex sentences, relative clause, noun clause, and passive voice. Students need to compose 15 sentences based on the topic in the grammar aspect that they select.
After that, students learn to evaluate their peers‟ work by commenting on the
sentences and passages that their friends have composed.
Figure 2.3: Sentence Writing Practice
Students need to judge whether their peers‟ sentences are grammatically
correct word(s) for the incorrect ones. Students then may revise their sentences based on the comments that they get.
d) Grammar Practice: Passage Writing
The final practice in the grammar practice is called Passage Writing. There are 6 topics in this exercise, which are My Biography, My Unforgettable
Experience, College Life, My Idol, My Future Job, and Free Topic. In passage
writing, students need to write at least 250 words based on the topic. Students are to apply their knowledge in the 12 aspects of grammar that they have learned previously. The students may write more than 250 words as long as the topic given is administered.
The evaluation of the passages is based on the grammar and the story. The scoring criteria are based on the number of sentences, number of mistakes, and the total words the students produce. The grammar evaluation focuses on the technical things in writing, while the story evaluation focuses on the content. Since passage writing deals with grammar aspects as well as contextual topics, therefore, grammatical competence and writing skill can be measured when students conduct Passage Writing.
The teacher then provides comments for the students so that they can revise the passage. The comments are based on their grammatical mistakes as well as the message in the story. Students will be able to check their scores signed by the number of the stars that they get and check the evaluation from the teacher.
Figure 2.5: Passage Writing Evaluation
Based on the evaluation guideline in ELTGallery, the grammatical mistakes cover mistakes in word level, phrases level, and even sentence level, such as missing and wrong article, tenses, part of speech forms and word choice, the order of verb and noun phrase, and missing subject and predicate. In addition, the evaluation also covers technical mistakes, such as spelling and punctuation. The symbol [?] indicates other mistakes that are not covered in the evaluation guideline. It may contain any other mistakes, such as preposition, transition words, and so on. These criteria are in line with the grammar aspects in web-based grammar practice. Therefore, when the students write, students can relate to their grammatical competence trained in web-based grammar practice.
Students‟ passages are evaluated and scored based on this evaluation guideline. Students need to be careful not only in common mistakes, such as tenses, but also trivial mistakes, such as article. These criteria are designed so that
Where,
GS = grammar score
nu = number of unit (practically, number of unit = number of sentences)
nm = number of mistakes
5 = maximum range (value of 5)
Figure 2.6 Grammar Scores in Passage Writing
Therefore, the grammar scores, which are influenced by the number of sentences and the number of mistakes, indicate that students with higher grammatical competence are able to produce successful passages with more sentences and fewer mistakes than those with less grammatical competence.
is measured by the number of words in a sentence. A sentence, which has at least one subject and one predicate, may only consist of two words. Students who write more sentences do not show that they write more words than those who write fewer sentences. It is because a sentence may consist of two words only. Therefore, the number of words should be taken into account in measuring students‟ grammatical competence, which is using sentence complexity score.
Figure 2.7 Sentence Complexity Scores in Passage Writing
Thus, sentence complexity score is formulated as follows (Dwijatmoko 2014):
Where,
SC = sentence complexity
wp = words in passage
mw = minimum words in passage
ns = number of sentences
2 = minimum range (value of 2)
3 = value of 5-2 (maximum range-minimum range)
Sentence complexity score is defined based on the idea that the more grammatical competence the students possess, the more words they write in a sentence. Diessel (2004) suggests that the organization of grammar and grammatical development take into account on the complexity of the sentences that students create. Diesel further explains that the structure and organization of grammar and the emergence of grammatical knowledge relate to the complex sentences written by the students. Students with higher grammatical competence are able to organize grammar better. Therefore, those students may create more sentence complexity than those who have less grammatical competence.
Students with high grammatical competence write more than just two words for a subject and a predicate. Instead, the students may use noun phrase indicating the subject and verb phrase indicating the predicate. In fact, they may add objects and adverbs. Therefore, the sentence complexity scores, which are influenced by the number of words, ideally indicate that students with higher grammatical competence are able to produce more complex sentences than those with less grammatical competence.
Passage writing indicates grammatical competence not only in terms of understanding and applying grammar rules but also in terms of conveying message. It means that grammatical mistakes and grammar aspects are not only the measurement of passage writing. The evaluation is also based on the story or
the content of the passage. The story is evaluated as “excellent” if it is complete,
interesting, “bad” if it is short but not interesting, and “poor” if it is very short, boring, and poorly written. It shows that students with high grammar score do not always obtain high passage writing score.
Figure 2.8 Passage Writing Evaluation
Web-based grammar practice, which is generated into 12 topics, is designed
not only to measure but also to train students‟ grammatical competence. It is
because the grammar practices can be conducted over and over until the students are satisfied with their scores. The more the students conduct the grammar practices, the more improved their grammatical competence they possess. Thus, the more improved the grammatical competence the students possess, the better writing they produce.
D. Review of Related Research
The study about the implementation of web-based learning for writing course has been conducted by researchers since the beginning of the twentieth century. Compared to traditional learning, students feel more satisfied when face-to-face class is accompanied by online learning (Talay-Ongan& Gosper 2000). Some advantages are provided by the use of web-based learning, for example
increasing students‟ motivation and improving collaborative and independent learning. In increasing students‟ motivation, Bloch (2007) suggests that the use of
online writing contexts can motivate students to write more. In fact, the facilities provided in the web-based learning raise students‟ interaction and participation in conducting writing tasks. In terms of web-based grammar practice, Hegelheimer& Fisher (2006) propose that the grammatical evaluation provided in web-based
learning raise students‟ grammatical awareness, introduce meta-language related to grammar, and prepare for peer-editing. Meanwhile, interactive feedback can also facilitate students to reflect their works and do the revision (Ferris 2010, Storch 2005). This is also supported by Light (2001) and Krause (2001) asserting that meaningful feedback is an important contributor to student engagement in the writing process.
In fact, in the context of ELTGallery, two studies have been conducted as well (Kurniawati 2012, Magdalena 2013). The study was done by Kurniawati on finding out the effectiveness of web-based learning in Paragraph Writing class by
ELTGallery is conducted by Magdalena (2013). In that study, the focus is more on
the students‟ autonomy in using ELTGallery for Sentence Writing class.
The first study shows that web-based learning (ELTGallery) improves and
develops students‟ achievement (Kurniawati 2012). Therefore, ELTGallery is considered as successful web-based learning. However, the second study shows
that students‟ autonomous learning does not always lead to the high writing achievement (Magdalena 2013). It is due to the lack of students‟ grammatical
awareness. Students have shown high practice of independent learning but they still neglect the basic and significant aspect of writing, which is grammar. Therefore, ELTGallery is now adding grammar practices for its facilities aimed at
students‟ improvement in their writing ability. Therefore, this study would like to
find out whether by adding grammar practices in ELTGallery, students will be able to monitor their progress on sentence writing without neglecting the grammatical aspects.
E. Theoretical Framework
not only in writing techniques but also the underlying elements in writing, which are grammar aspects. These aspects are in line with the micro and macro skills of writing proposed by Brown (2004). Micro skills deal with the basic knowledge of writing, covering the internal elements of writing, such as mechanics and grammatical rules. Macro skills take wider and more complex elements of writing that focus on the management process in writing, such as functions of writing and writing strategies and techniques. Those reasons lead to the need of grammar practices for writing class. Grammar practices are best conveyed in separate aspects, including subject-verb agreement, parts of speech, clause, sentences, tenses, and so on (Berger 2001). However, teaching grammar in discrete aspects should not be separated from the writing itself. Teaching grammar should be incorporated with teaching writing. Therefore, the discrete aspects of grammar should be learnt in the context of writing (Berger 2001).
The mushrooming implementation of technology in education has led to the invention of web-based learning. The use of web-based learning has brought about advantageous results. Autonomous and collaborative learning that are surely promoted by conducting web-based learning can enhance students‟ achievement.
ELTGallery is one of web-based learning applications used in writing class, which
is Sentence Writing class. Previous studies on ELTGallery have shown the effectiveness of ELTGallery compared to traditional class. ELTGallery also leads the students to enhance their autonomous learning even though it is not in line
The lack of grammar awareness leads to the invention of web-based grammar practice in ELTGallery. The web-based grammar practice is expected to provide the students with more controlled practices so that they will be fully aware of their grammar errors and mistakes. It is believed that students who master the grammatical competence will be able to write grammatically correct and meaningful sentences. Web-based grammar practice is designed with the underlying principles of web-based learning that can enhance autonomous and collaborative learning. Web-based grammar practice is implemented to the university level students since they have their own learning strategies in the learning process.
Benefited from those ideas, it is expected that students can make use of the activities and facilities that are provided by web-based grammar practice in
ELTGallery to improve their writing skill, especially by developing their
Figure 2.9 Development of Grammatical Competence through Writing (Source: Dwijatmoko, Personal Communication)
In each topic, students need to recognize and identify whether the sentences are true or false. It means that they have to be able to judge whether the sentences are grammatically correct or incorrect. The second one is sentence writing practices. This part is also divided into twelve parts as well. Students need to compose sentences based on the topic they select. In this sentence writing, students are given meaningful topics so that they will be able to construct meaningful sentences based on their daily life. Peer-feedback is a significant
aspect, in which it raises students‟ attention and awareness on the grammar of the
sentences. The third one is passage writing. Students have six different topics for the passage writing. Similar to sentence writing, students learn to evaluate their
peers‟ work by commenting on the passages that their friends have composed.
Sentence writing and passage writing serve as writing practice as well as grammar practice. They are considered as writing practice since students need to write
Grammar Practices
Sentence Writing
Peer Feedback Passage
Writing (Micro SKills)
based on several different topics. It means that students practice to write in certain contexts. Sentence writing and passage writing are also considered to be grammar practice since the grammar or the structure of the writing is evaluated by the students and the teacher. It means that students need to be careful in applying the grammar aspects that they learn in composing their sentences and passages. The
evaluation done by identifying whether their peers‟ sentences are grammatically
correct or not and by providing suggestions of how the sentences should be. The three activities in ELTGallery facilitate the students to experience the grammar practices in a series of process, which are identifying, constructing, and evaluating. In addition, students may also revise their work after receiving comments from their peers or the teacher. It shows that autonomous and collaborative learning are really promoted through the use of web-based grammar practice in sentence writing class. Students‟ achievement is graded based on their results on grammar practices, sentence writing, and final writing. It is believed that grammar practices can enhance students‟ writing ability.
F. Hypotheses
It is predicted that web-based grammar practiceare positively related to the grammatical competence and writing skill. It means that the correlation between them is positive (one-tailed). As the first and second research problems are for the quantitative study, statistically, it was hypothesized that:
1. There is a positive correlation between web-based grammar practice and the grammatical competence of the 1st English Letter students of Sanata Dharma University, which statistically is put into H0: r12 ≤ 0, H1: r12 > 0
