ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahirabbil ‘alamin, giving the
deepest sense of gratitude to Allah Azza wa Jalla for a life full of happiness,
because of His generosity, the writer completed this challenging study well. And
also for the last prophet, Muhammad saw, the greatest teacher of great teacher
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements for the degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan (S-1) at the English Department, Faculty of Languages and
Arts, State University of Medan.
This thesis would not have been possible nor legible without the
dedication and guidance of several individuals who always contributed and
extended their valuable assistances in the preparation and completion of this
thesis. The writer’s special appreciation goes out to:
1. Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
iii
4. Drs. Zainuddin, DIP,TEFL, M.Hum her thesis supervisor who has been
very always encouraging, careful readings and supportive feedback to the
writer in finishing this thesis. The discussion we have had on choices of
words and his excellent advice, inspiring guidance have been most
valuable, constructive and have improved the text throughout this process.
Without his knowledgeable, the writer would never have been able to
Mom Yusnizar, Nst, my brother M. Haris Syahputra Pasaribu. for their
prayers, the love and for continuous support, be it financial and moral,
during his whole studies up to finish. From the beginning, they gave him
the freedom and time to learn and to explore.
7. The Headmaster of SMPN 1 Perbaungan, Drs. Hambali, M.Pd., his
permission and opportunities in allowing the writer to do observation and
to collect data. All the teachers and students at the school, thanks for the
cooperation
Medan, August 2014 The Writer
i ABSTRACT
Pasaribu, Sa’adatul Awaliyah. 209321062. Improving the Students’
Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text through Somatic Auditory Visual Intellectual (SAVI) Method. A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan. 2014.
This study attempted to improve students’ achievement in writing descriptive text through SAVI method. This study was conducted by using classroom action research. The subject of the research was class VII-1 SMPN 1 Perbaungan which consisted of 33 students. The research was conducted in two cycles, cycle I consisted of three meetings and cycle II consisted of two meetings . The instruments for collecting data were quantitative data (writing evaluation) and qualitative data (diary notes, observation sheet, questionnaire sheet and interview). Based on writing scores, students’ score kept improving in every evaluation and based on diary notes, observation sheet, questionnaire sheet, and interview report, it was found that teaching learning process ran well. Students were active, enthusiastic and interested in writing. The result of the research showed that SAVI method significantly improved the students’ achievement in writing descriptive text.
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1 The Example of Descriptive Text ... 12
Table 3.1 The Activities in Cycle I ... 25
Table 3.2 Scoring of Writing Evaluation of Test ... 29
Table 4.1 Students’ Writing Score during Six Meetings ... 33
Table 4.2 The Result of Observation of Teaching Learning Process ... 35
Table 4.3 Range of Score Improvement ... 37
Table 4.4 Comparison Score of Students’ Writing Evaluation ... 41
Table 4.5 The Improvement of Mean Score of Students’ Writing ... 42
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vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
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LIST OF APPENDIXES
Page
APPENDIX A. Lesson Plan ... 58
APPENDIX B. Diary Notes ... 76
APPENDIX C. Observation Sheet ... 80
APPENDIX D. Questionnaire Sheet ... 85
APPENDIX E. Questionnaire Score ... 90
APPENDIX F. Interview Report... 91
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Writing is a part of language skills. As one of the four skills of language,
writing has always formed part of the syllabus in teaching of English. Writing is
taught as a compulsory subject in Junior High School. The National Content
Standard mentions that the teaching and learning English should be able to lead
students to develop communicative competence in the written forms in order to
reach the ability to use the language in daily needs.
In Indonesia, English is taught as a compulsory subject at school. In Junior
High School, for example, the teaching and learning English should be able to
lead students to achieve three abilities. As have been mentioned in the National
Content Standard (BSNP: Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006), one of the
abilities is to develop communicative competence both orally and written forms in
order to reach the ability to use the language in daily needs.
Moreover, the Education Unit Level Curriculum (KTSP: Kurikulum
Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) mentions that in Junior High School recommends the
introduction of five different types of text, in which one of them is descriptive
text. The gradation of teaching material involves some elements that are
2
In relation to its implementation, teaching descriptive text refers to a
description of something or object between teachers and students where teacher
explains explicitly the elements of descriptive text.
Based on the observation in Grade VII of SMP Negeri 1 Perbaungan (the
first and the second semesters in 2011/2012) the writer found the data of writing
task through interviewing. The data showed that the students’ achievement in
learning English especially writing task was low. It was known that the students’
low score are mostly caused by their difficulties in writing.
Almost all students could not write well in English. They assumed writing
was difficult task because they could not transfer their idea, thoughts and feelings
in writing form by using English. In addition, the teaching method that teacher
applied in teaching descriptive writing was not effective. The teaching method
that teacher frequently used was teacher directed teaching. The teacher only
taught the writing theories and focused on grammar. As a result, students tended
to be passive learners while they were learning in class.
In order to solve the problems above, Somatic Auditory Visual Intellectual
method would give a special contribution on helping students’ ability in
descriptive writing. SAVI method emphasized that learning shall exploit all
appliances senses owned by the students. SAVI method includes these elements;
Somatic is learning by doing and moving; Auditory is learning by talking and
hearing; Visual is learning by observing and picturing; Intellectual is learning by
problem solving and reflecting. Those four elements must exist in the learning
3
learning. Meier says that all these four learning modes have to be present for
optimal learning to occur. Since these elements are all integrated, the best kind of
learning occurs when they are all used simultaneously.
Therefore, SAVI method is effective in teaching descriptive text. By
applying SAVI method, students also can write through practice. The more
students practice, the more they will get the good result of writing. In addition,
students try to get writing in a number of common everyday styles includes
writing descriptive. Additionally, students become active learners and are
interested in following teaching learning process by applying those elements of
SAVI method. Then, can increase and encourage students’ interest and motivation
in descriptive writing text.
B. The Problem of the Study
In relation to the background of the study, the research problem is
formulated as follows:
Does the application of Somatic Auditory Visual Intellectual Method
significantly improve the students’ achievement in descriptive writing in class VII
of SMP Negeri 1 Perbaungan?
C. The Objective of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out whether the application of
Somatic Auditory Visual Intellectual Method significantly improved students’
4
D. The Scope of the Study
There are many genres of writing texts, which are learnt at Junior High
School such as procedure, descriptive, recount, narrative and report. But this study
focuses on the application of Somatic Auditory Visual Intellectual method in
descriptive writing in class VII of SMP Negeri 1 Perbaungan.
E. The Significance of the Study
The findings of the research are expected to be useful for:
a. Students or English learners who want to improve their writing skill
especially in descriptive writing by using Somatic Auditory Visual
Intellectual Method.
b. English teachers who teach writing particularly those who want to
improve their students’ achievement in descriptive writing through
54 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A.Conclusion
Based on the result of data analysis presented in the previous chapter, it
was found that the mean scores of students in cycle II is significantly higher than
that of the scores in cycle I. It can be said that there is a significantly improvement
on the students’ achievement in descriptive writing by using Somatic Auditory
Visual Intellectual Method. It can be seen from the improvement of mean of
students’ score namely; the name of the writing evaluation I (52.64) increased to
the mean of the writing evaluation II in cycle I (60.76) and to the writing
evaluaiton III in cycle II (82.21). The score continuously improved from the
writing evaluation I to the writing evaluation III in cyucle II. Diary notes and
observation result showed that the students gave their good attitudes and
responses during teaching learning proccess by using SAVI method.
Questionnaire and interview report showed that strongly agree that the
implementation of SAVI had helped them in descriptive writing. So, it can be
concluded that the application of SAVI method significantly improved students’
achievement in descriptive writing in class VII.
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The study showed that the application of Somatic Auditory Visual
Intellectual Method could improve students’ achievement in descriptive writing.
In relation to the conclusion above, some points are suggested, as follow:
a. For the English teacher are suggested to use Somatic Auditory Visual
Intellectual Method in teaching writing because this method helps the
teachers to develop their implementation and idea to make a sentence or
paragraph and buid the students’ motivation to study.
b. For the readers who are interested for futher study (university students)
related to this research should explore the knowledge to enlarge their
understanding about how to improve descriptive writing and research
56
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