LEARNING STRATEGIES IN WRITING USED BY WRITING III STUDENTS
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Ruminingsih
Student Number: 021214075
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2007
iii
BE THE BEST OF WHATEVER YOU ARE
Douglas Malloch
IF YOU CAN’T BE a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley-but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here,
There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.
If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail-
Be the best of whatever you are!
I dedicate this thesis to:
Jesus Christ
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to praise and thank the Lord, Jesus Christ, for the grace, guidance, and blessing. Without His grace, guidance, and blessing, I doubt that this thesis could be completed.
A debt and gratitude is owed to F.X. Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd., my major sponsor, for the enormous guidance, suggestions, and inputs during the accomplishment of the thesis. My gratitude also goes to Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., my co-sponsor, for the great patience to read and correct my thesis. I also thank her for the discussions, support, and suggestions.
I would like to express my gratitude to C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd., for giving me the chance to conduct the research in her Writing III class. I am also grateful to the students of Writing III class E of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University for the cooperation and willingness to be the respondents of this research.
I would like to thank A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., the Head of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, for every discussion and input and also for lending me the books on researches and language learning strategies. I also thank the lecturers and staff of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University for the guidance and help.
My special thanks go to my father, Ignatius Poniran, my mother, Ignatia Tumini, and my sister, Yuliana Dwi, for their support, love, and understanding during my study. I am very lucky to be with them. I also thank my whole family for the great time.
Great thanks go to my best friends, Lisa, Wulan, Haryana, Daru, Santi, Woro, Lukita, Cipluk, Ayu, Rina, and Vivin, for the great time and friendship. For support, advices, and friendship, my appreciation also goes to Bin2, Nuri, Retno, Shella, Endah, Vindi, Anas, Hani, Septi, and Reni.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank many friends, students, and people who have inspired me and helped me but names I could not mention here.
Ruminingsih
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ... ii
BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PAGE OF DEDICATION ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... viii
LIST OF TABLES ... xii
LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xiv
ABSTRACT ... xv
ABSTRAK ... xvi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ... 1
B. Problem Identification ... 3
C. Problem Limitation ... 3
D. Problem Formulation ... 4
E. Research Objectives ... 4
F. Research Benefits ... 5
G. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW A. Theoretical Description ... 8
1. Writing ... 8
a. Description of Writing ... 9
b. Processes of Writing ... 10
1) Prewriting ... 10
Page
3) Writing the First Draft ... 11
4) Revising ... 11
5) Proofreading ... 11
c. Elements of Writing ... 12
1) Content ... 12
2) Organization ... 12
3) Discourse ... 12
4) Syntax ... 13
5) Vocabulary ... 13
6) Mechanics ... 13
d. The Nature of Writing ... 13
1) Product Approach ... 14
2) Process Approach ... 14
2. Learning Strategies ... 15
a. Description of Learning Strategies ... 15
b. Features of Language Learning Strategies ... 16
c. Kinds of Learning Strategies ... 18
1) Direct Strategies ... 20
2) Indirect Strategies ... 20
3. Learning Strategies in Writing ... 21
a. Memory Strategies ... 22
b. Cognitive Strategies ... 22
c. Compensation Strategies ... 25
d. Metacognitive Strategies ... 26
e. Affective Strategies ... 28
f. Social Strategies ... 30
B. Theoretical Framework ... 31
Page
B. Research Participants ... 34
C. Research Instruments ... 35
1. Questionnaire ... 35
a. Validity ... 37
1) Content Validity ... 37
2) Criterion-Related Evidence of Validity ... 38
3) Construct Validity ... 38
b. Reliability ... 39
2. Observation Forms ... 40
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 40
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 41
F. Research Procedure ... 42
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Data Presentation ... 44
1. Learning Strategies Used by Students ... 45
a. Memory Strategies ... 45
b. Cognitive Strategies ... 45
c. Compensation Strategies ... 47
d. Metacognitive Strategies ... 47
e. Affective Strategies ... 48
f. Social Strategies ... 49
2. Learning Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 51
a. Memory Strategies ... 51
b. Cognitive Strategies ... 53
c. Compensation Strategies ... 57
d. Metacognitive Strategies ... 58
e. Affective Strategies ... 60
Page
B. Discussion ... 63
1. Learning Strategies Used by the Students ... 64
a. Questionnaire Results ... 64
b. Class Observation Results ... 64
2. Learning Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 68
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 71
B. Suggestions ... 72
REFERENCES ... 74
APPENDICES ... 76
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 4.1 Memory Strategies Used by the Students ... 45
Table 4.2 Cognitive Strategies Used by the Students ... 46
Table 4.3 Compensation Strategies Used by the Students ... 47
Table 4.4 Metacognitive Strategies Used by the Students ... 48
Table 4.5 Affective Strategies Used by the Students ... 49
Table 4.6 Social Strategies Used by the Students ... 50
Table 4.7 Learning Strategies Used by the Students ... 50
Table 4.8 Memory Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 52
Table 4.9 Cognitive Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 55
Table 4.10 Compensation Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 57
Table 4.11 Metacognitive Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 59
Table 4.12 Affective Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 61
Table 4.13 Social Strategies Used by Students with Different Proficiency Levels in Writing ... 63
LIST OF FIGURE
Page Figure 2.1 Diagram of the Strategy System: Overview (Oxford, 1990:16) ... 19
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A. Writing III Course Outline ... 76
Appendix B. Data on the Students’ Final Grades ... 77
Appendix C. The Questionnaire on Learning Strategies in Writing ... 79
Appendix D. Raw Data on the Questionnaire Results ... 82
Appendix E. Observation Results ... 95
Appendix F. The Reliability Analysis ... 104
ABSTRACT
Ruminingsih. 2007. Learning Strategies in Writing Used by Writing III
Students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
In learning processes, students set different goals and strategies. The different goals and strategies lead to the different achievements. Some other factors such as students’ cultural backgrounds, ages, gender, motivation, and learning styles also influence the students’ achievements. The research was focused on the learning strategies employed by the students in writing.
Six learning strategies, memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social were investigated in the research. There were two objectives of the research. The first was to find out the learning strategies in writing used by the students in Writing III class. The second objective was to investigate how students with different proficiency levels in writing use the learning strategies in writing.
The method used in the research was descriptive research method. In order to find out the students’ learning strategies, the researcher used a questionnaire and class observation checklists as the research instruments. The participants of the research were Writing III students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University of the 2006/ 2007 academic year. There were twenty-five students selected as the subjects of the research. They were divided into three groups, high proficient, medium proficient, and low proficient learners, based on their final grades.
The research findings showed that the students in Writing III employed the six learning strategies, memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social. Memory, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective strategies were used less frequently by the students. Compensation and social strategies were used more frequently by the students. The students employed compensation strategies more frequently than the other strategies. It was also found that memory and metacognitive strategies were mostly used by the high proficient learners. Cognitive, compensation, and social strategies were more frequently used by the medium proficient learners. Affective strategies were mostly employed by the low proficient learners.
Some suggestions are addressed to writing lecturers, students, and other researchers. The lecturers may provide trainings on the learning strategies to help the students to improve their learning strategies in writing. The researcher suggests that the students study the learning strategies and use the strategies wisely because learning strategies contribute to students’ academic success. Finally, other researchers may use the research as a reference in conducting further studies on the learning strategies used by students.
ABSTRAK
Ruminingsih. 2007. Learning Strategies in Writing Used by Writing III
Students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Dalam proses belajar, siswa mempunyai tujuan dan strategi yang berbeda. Tujuan dan strategi yang berbeda tersebut menyebabkan perbedaan pencapaian belajar. Faktor-faktor lain seperti latar belakang budaya, usia, jenis kelamin, motivasi dan gaya belajar juga mempengaruhi pencapaian belajar siswa. Penelitian ini berfokus pada strategi belajar yang digunakan oleh siswa dalam mengarang.
Enam strategi belajar, memory, cognitive, compensation,
metacognitive, affective, dan social diteliti dalam penelitian ini. Ada dua tujuan dari penelitian ini. Tujuan yang pertama adalah menemukan strategi-strategi belajar yang digunakan oleh mahasiswa di kelas Writing III. Tujuan kedua adalah menemukan bagaimana mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan yang berbeda menggunakan strategi belajar dalam mengarang.
Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian deskriptif. Untuk menemukan strategi-strategi belajar mahasiswa, peneliti menggunakan kuesioner dan lembar observasi sebagai instrumen penelitian. Partisipan dalam penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa Writing III Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma tahun akademik 2006/2007. Ada dua puluh lima mahasiswa yang menjadi subyek penelitian ini. Berdasarkan nilai akhir mahasiswa, mahasiswa kemudian dibagi menjadi tiga, yaitu mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan tinggi, mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan menengah dan mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan rendah.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa Writing III
menggunakan enam strategi-strategi belajar memory, cognitive,
compensation, metacognitive, affective, dan social. Strategi-strategi memory, cognitive, metacognitive dan affective lebih jarang digunakan oleh mahasiswa.
Strategi-strategi compensation dan social lebih sering digunakan oleh
mahasiswa. Mahasiswa menggunakan strategi compensation lebih sering
daripada strategi-strategi lainnya. Dalam penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa
strategi-strategi memory dan metacognitive paling sering digunakan oleh
mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan tinggi. Strategi-strategi cognitive,
compensation dan social lebih sering digunakan oleh mahasiswa dengan
tingkat kecakapan menengah. Strategi- strategi affective paling sering
digunakan oleh mahasiswa dengan tingkat kecakapan rendah.
Beberapa saran ditujukan untuk dosen dan mahasiswa writing serta
untuk peneliti-peneliti lain. Dosen bisa menyediakan training strategi belajar untuk membantu mahasiswa meningkatkan strategi belajar mereka. Peneliti menyarankan agar mahasiswa mempelajari strategi-strategi belajar dan menggunakan strategi-strategi belajar dengan bijak karena strategi-strategi belajar berkontribusi untuk kesuksesan akademis mahasiswa. Peneliti-peneliti lain dapat menggunakan Peneliti-penelitian ini sebagai referensi untuk melakukan penelitian lebih lanjut tentang strategi-strategi belajar yang
digunakan oleh siswa.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The chapter provides background information for the research and describes the research problems that become the focus of the research. It consists of research background, problem identification, problem limitation, problem formulation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A. Research Background
Writing is not only an end result but also a process that helps the writers to develop their ideas. It is a complicated skill to master since there are many aspects that should be considered in writing. “Writing is not simply a series of action, but a series of decisions which involves setting goals and selecting strategies to achieve them” (Hyland, 2002: 183). Nunan (1999: 271) states that “in terms of skill, producing a coherent, fluent, extended piece of writing is probably the most difficult thing there is to do in a language.” Furthermore, he states that writing is a kind of language skill that is concerned with process and product (Nunan, 1991: 86-87). He adds that a product-oriented approach focuses on the end result of the learning process. On the other hand, a process approach focuses more on the various activities that are believed to support the development of the language users.
Learning strategies are parts of the language learning processes. Therefore, it is important to investigate the students’ learning strategies in writing since writing is concerned with not only products, but also processes. In the learning
processes, students have different goals and strategies. The different goals and strategies lead to different achievements. Besides the students’ goals and strategies, there are some other factors influencing the students’ achievements such as their cultural backgrounds, ages, gender, motivation, and learning styles.
Oxford (1990: 1) states that learning strategies are important for language learning because if students use appropriate learning strategies, their proficiency and self-confidence will improve. It means that if the students apply appropriate strategies based on language tasks and their personality factors such as motivation and learning styles, they will complete the language tasks successfully. For this reason, many experts conduct researches on language learning strategies.
Oxford (1990: 14) divides language learning strategies into six. They are memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and social strategies. The strategies can be used to learn the four language skills in English, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In the study, the researcher concentrates on the learning strategies used by Writing III students. The focus of Writing III is more on the content, organization, and language. The content, organization, and language of compositions are supported by vocabulary, mechanics, and grammar. From the researcher’s investigation, it is found that the third semester students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University have weaknesses in writing. The weaknesses include the content, organization, and language of the composition.
Program of Sanata Dharma University of the 2006/2007 academic year. Besides, the researcher also investigates how students with different proficiency levels in writing use the learning strategies in writing. It is important to conduct researches in this field because the students need to improve their writing skills. Moreover, by using appropriate learning strategies, the students will have better writing skills.
B. Problem Identification
Students have different abilities in writing. The different abilities may be influenced by learning strategies that they use in writing. It is important to investigate the learning strategies used by the students since the students may set different learning strategies in writing.
In the research, the researcher investigates the learning strategies in writing used by the students who took Writing III class. The researcher also investigates how students with different proficiency levels in writing employ the learning strategies in writing. Therefore, from this point on, the focus of the study should be specified; that is, on the investigation of learning strategies used by the students in Writing III.
C. Problem Limitation
the researcher wanted to give them a view about learning strategies in writing so that they can improve their learning strategies at the next level of their Writing classes. Moreover, in the future, students who are taking Writing III can consider the learning strategies which are appropriate for the language tasks and apply the strategies for learning writing. In the research, one class was randomly chosen. The focus was on the learning strategies in writing used by the students. This focus was due to the fact that there are many factors that should be considered in learning writing.
D. Problem Formulation
As previously stated, the research is concerned with learning strategies in writing used by students in Writing III. Therefore, the problems of the research are formulated as follows:
1. What are the learning strategies used by the students in Writing III class of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University? 2. How do students with different proficiency levels in Writing III class of the
English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University use the learning strategies in writing?
E. Research Objectives
The objectives of the research are to answer the two questions mentioned in the problem formulation. The objectives are:
2. To investigate how students with different proficiency levels in Writing III class of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University use the learning strategies in writing.
F. Research Benefits
The research is aimed at bringing valuable inputs and information to writing lecturers, students of English major in Indonesia, and other researchers. Hopefully, the information about learning strategies used by the students in writing may be used by the lecturers to help the students to improve their learning strategies in writing. It is based on the fact that learning strategies can be trained. The researcher also expected that the information about the learning strategies in writing may be used by students of English major in Indonesia to develop their learning strategies in writing. As a result, the quality of their writing will improve. Finally, other researchers and those who are interested in language teaching and learning could use this research as a reference in conducting further studies about foreign language learners' learning strategies in writing.
G. Definition of Terms
There are some keywords used in the study. In order to avoid misinterpretation, the researcher would discuss them. The keywords of the research are defined as follows:
1. Writing
it is much more than putting letters together in a meaningful pattern. Moreover, writing includes both processes and products. When someone treats each task as a process, he/she will be a skillful writer. With each step, his/her skill becomes sharper and the product becomes better. In the research, writing is viewed as processes and products.
2. Writing III of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University
Writing III is a compulsory subject in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Writing III has two credits. According to Panduan Akademik of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, the goal of Writing III is to make the students able to write well several written genres. The students are expected to be able to deconstruct generic or schematic structure of each genre, to find the social purposes and linguistic features of texts, and to write texts with the learned genre. The evaluation is focused on the content, organization, and language.
3. Learning strategies
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
The research is conducted to investigate learning strategies in writing used by Writing III students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. In order to answer the research questions, it is necessary to describe theories that are relevant to the research. In the chapter, the researcher clarifies some related theories that become the bases of the study.
The chapter comprises two main parts. The first part is theoretical description. In this part, the researcher clarifies main issues and other issues related to writing and the learning strategies in writing. The second part is theoretical framework. This part provides the theoretical answers to the research questions.
A. Theoretical Description
In the theoretical description, the researcher reviews theories of writing, language learning strategies, and learning strategies used in writing.
1. Writing
Since the research deals with writing, it is necessary to review some theories of writing that become the references in conducting the research. In the research, the researcher elaborates some definitions of writing, processes of writing, nature of writing, and elements of writing.
a. Description of Writing
Sokolik, as cited in Nunan (2003: 88), defines writing in a series of contrasts. The first definition is that writing is both physical and mental acts. The second definition is that the purposes of writing are to express and to impress. Finally, writing is both a process and a product.
Writing is a physical act of committing words or ideas to some medium, for example an email message typed into a computer and a composition written by a student. Besides, it is a mental act of inventing ideas and thinking about how to express the ideas. Moreover, writers have to think about how to organize the ideas into statements and paragraphs.
Writers write to express their ideas or feelings. They write not only for their own desires, but also for the readers. Their compositions should be free from grammar mistakes. Hence, the readers can enjoy reading the compositions. Moreover, the contents of the compositions should be meaningful so that the readers understand the ideas of the compositions.
In addition, Richards (1990: 100) states that “learning writing in either a first or a second language is a difficult task a learner encounters and one that few people can be said to fully master.” The goal of a written language is to convey information correctly, effectively, and appropriately. It is not merely the linguistic organization of written discourse that makes writing a difficult skill to acquire. Nevertheless, it is also influenced by processes of moving from concepts, thoughts, and ideas to written texts, which are considered complex processes.
b. Processes of Writing
As previously stated, writing is not merely a product, but also a process. Langan (2002: 630-633) divides the process of writing into five steps, prewriting, outlining, drafting, revising, and proofreading. The steps are described as follows.
1) Prewriting
Prewriting is the first step that allows writers to generate ideas, organize thoughts, and prepare for writing the first draft. There are several prewriting strategies. They are freewriting, questioning, mapping, and brainstorming.
their compositions. The writers should not worry to put the lists in special order. The writers may use bits and pieces of all four since the prewriting strategies are not in order. The writers can choose what they will generate first.
2) Outlining
An outline is a brief plan for a paragraph. The outline becomes a foundation of the paragraph. There are main ideas included in the outline. The ideas are supported by some supporting details.
3) Writing the First Draft
The next step is writing the first draft. This step is concentrated on contents, not on mechanics. It should be written quickly. If the writers have problems in making the first draft, the writers may go back to the prewriting stage.
4) Revising
In the revising strategy, the writers look at the writings again and develop them. They revise words, order, and flow to provide a better sequence of events. They may omit sentences and paragraphs if they do not contribute to effective pieces of writing.
5) Proofreading
grammar, and punctuation errors. However, in this step, the writers also check the contents of their compositions.
c. Elements of Writing
There are elements that should be considered in writing. Brown (2001: 357) divides the elements into six. They are the content, organization, discourse, syntax, vocabulary, and mechanics. The six elements must fulfill some criteria. Below is the discussion of elements of writing.
1) Content
The writers should have clear main ideas. Moreover, the paragraph should be convincing. It means that there should be enough logical points to support the main ideas. In addition, there are no important points left out and no irrelevant points included. The focus of the writing must be consistent.
2) Organization
Written texts should be well-organized so that readers want to continue reading. The main ideas and supporting points should be understood easily after the readers read the compositions. The writers should consider the effectiveness of introductions, logical sequence of ideas, concluding sentences, and length of the compositions.
3) Discourse
order of the compositions. As a result, the writers can convey the intended meaning successfully.
4) Syntax
In the compositions, there should be no crucial errors in grammar in order not to create ambiguity. Ambiguous sentences may be wrongly interpreted by the readers. As a result, the writers may fail to convey their intended ideas.
5) Vocabulary
Word choice is important in order to write good-quality compositions. The writers should use the appropriate vocabulary based on the type of writing tasks. The writers may consult dictionaries and thesauruses in choosing the right vocabulary.
6) Mechanics
Spelling, punctuation, citation of references, neatness, and appearance of the writings also need to be focused on. If there are errors in mechanics, the readers may not enjoy reading the compositions. Moreover, the meaning which wants to be conveyed by the writers may be differently perceived by the readers if there are errors in mechanics.
d. The Nature of Writing
approaches in teaching writing. The first approach is a product-oriented approach and the second approach is a process-oriented approach. Below is the discussion of the two approaches.
1) Product Approach
According to Richards (1990: 106), the focus of a product approach is on the ability to produce correct texts or products. ”This approach is regarded as the traditional approach in teaching writing” (Cohen, 1990: 105). He also states that the major focus of this approach is on the finished product of writing. Furthermore, the emphasis of the product approach is also put on the grade. Nunan (1991: 86) states that “a product oriented approach is focused on the end result of the learning processes - that the learners are expected to be able to do as fluent and competent users.” He also states that “writing teachers who subscribe to the product approach will be concerned to see that the end product is readable, grammatically correct, and obeys discourse conventions related to main points, supporting details, and so on” (Nunan, 1989: 36).
“A product approach concentrates on ends rather than means” (Richards, 1990: 108). The focus of this approach is on the final result and not on the process. By focusing on the form and structure of writing rather than on how writers create writing that has form and structure, the composing processes of good writers are ignored.
2) Process Approach
this approach emphasizes the notion that writing is a process whereby a finished product emerges after series of drafts. He adds that “it puts emphasis on an incubation period in which the written piece takes shape.” The process approach focuses more on the various classroom activities that are believed to promote the development of skilled language users. The approach focuses on means/processes whereby complete texts were created rather than on the end product itself.
Richards (1990: 109) states that successful writers appear to produce better-quality writing because they use more appropriate writing processes. The successful use of writing processes such as planning, organizing, and revising gives the learners better control on the content and form of what they write. A number of changes toward the teaching of writing are emerging in order to apply a process perspective into second language writing programs. These changes affect the role of the learners, teachers, and kinds of teaching learning activities that are employed in writing classrooms. Nonetheless, teachers should not only extremely put emphasis on the writing process. ”Process is not the end. It is the means to the end” (Brown, 2001: 337).
2. Learning Strategies
a. Description of Learning Strategies
Wenden, as cited in Wenden and Rubin (1987: 6), defines the term learning strategies as “language learning behaviors learners actually engage in order to learn and regulate the learning of a second language.” It can be inferred that students are often conscious that they are applying strategies when they learn a language. While Nunan (1991: 168) defines learning strategies as “the mental processes which are employed by learners to learn and use the target language.”
Learning strategies are not inherently good or bad, but have the potential to be used effectively. The effectiveness may depend on the characteristics of the learners, the language structure, the context, or the interaction of these. According to Nunan (1999: 183), some strategies are used more frequently than others depending on the age and proficiency of the students, the skills being focused on, and the needs of the individual learner.
In the study, the language learning strategies meant by the researcher are the learning behaviors that are employed by the learners in order to complete the language learning tasks. The language task that becomes the focus of this study is writing. The strategies that are employed by certain learners may differ from other learners.
b. Features of Language Learning Strategies
The second is that learning strategies allow learners to become more self-directed. The language learning strategies encourage greater overall self-direction for students. It is important because they will not always have the teacher to guide them. Self-directed students gradually gain greater confidence, involvement, and proficiency in learning a new language.
The third feature is that the learning strategies expand the role of teachers. In a teaching-learning process, the teacher is a facilitator, helper, guide, consultant, adviser, coordinator, and co-communicator. Identifying the students’ learning strategies, conducting training on the learning strategies, and helping learners to be more independent are also the capacities of the teacher. It is due to the fact that learning strategies can be taught.
The next feature is that learning strategies are problem oriented. The language learning strategies are tools to solve problems, to accomplish tasks, to meet an objective, or to attain a goal. Hence, the employment of learning strategies eases the students’ efforts to achieve their purposes. Learning strategies are also specific actions taken by the learners to enhance their learning. In addition, learning strategies also involve many aspects of the learners. They involve the learners’ cognitive, metacognitive, affective, social, and other functions as well. The next feature is that learning strategies support learning both directly and indirectly.
as they learn to use a language. Teachers could investigate the learners’ language learning strategies by conducting interviews, class observations, verbal reports, diary studies, note taking, and using questionnaires. The teachers may use one of these methods or the combination of these methods.
Learning strategies are also often conscious. If the writers are conscious of the processes underlying the learning that they are involved in, the learning will be more effective. Learning strategies are also flexible. It means that the employment of the learning strategies depends on a given problem. A learner may combine some learning strategies to complete a language task. Finally, learning strategies are influenced by a variety of factors. There are some factors affecting the choice of strategies, such as degree of awareness, stage of learning, task requirements, teachers’ expectations, age, sex, nationality, general learning style, personality traits, motivation levels, and the purpose of the language learning.
c. Kinds of Learning Strategies
personalizing, self-evaluating, and reflecting. The creative strategy is brainstorming.
Chamot, as cited in Wenden and Rubin (1987: 77), classifies learning strategies into three categories. The first strategy is metacognitive. It consists of advance organizers, directed attention, selective attention, self-management, advance preparation, self-monitoring, delayed production, and self-evaluation. The strategies help language learning indirectly by helping learners to manage and monitor their learning. They are essential in successful language learning. The second strategy is cognitive. It includes repetition, resourcing, directed physical response, translation, grouping, note-taking, deduction, recombination, imagery, auditory representation, key word, contextualization, elaboration, transfer, and inferencing. The strategies are used mainly for learning the target language. The third strategy is social-affective. It contains cooperation and question for clarification. The strategies are applied by the learners to manage their feelings or their interaction with others.
Oxford (1990:16) categorizes six learning strategies, memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and social strategies. The first three strategies proposed by Oxford are called direct strategies and the last three strategies are called indirect strategies.
I. Memory Strategies Direct strategies II. Cognitive Strategies III. Compensation Strategies LEARNING STRATEGIES
I. Metacognitive Strategies Indirect strategies II. Affective Strategies III. Social Strategies
The researcher reviews further the learning strategies proposed by Oxford since the taxonomy of learning strategies is more specific compared with the others’. Moreover, her taxonomy is comprehensible, practical, and consistent with the condition of the learners in dealing with language tasks. The kinds of language learning strategies proposed by Oxford then become the focus of this study. Below is the discussion on the learning strategies proposed by Oxford (1990: 37-147).
1) Direct Strategies
Oxford (1990: 37-51) states that direct strategies are language learning strategies that directly involve the target language. Direct strategies are divided into memory strategies, cognitive strategies, and compensation strategies. All of the direct strategies require mental processing of the language. Memory strategy is used for remembering and retrieving new information. This strategy is divided into four sets, creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds, reviewing well, and employing action. Cognitive strategies used for understanding and producing the language. It consists of practicing, receiving and sending messages, analyzing and reasoning, and creating structure for input and output. Compensation strategies allow learners to use the language despite their often large gaps in knowledge. It involves guessing intelligently and overcoming limitations in speaking and writing.
2) Indirect Strategies
manage language learning without directly involving the target language. Indirect strategies are divided into metacognitive, affective, and social strategies.
Metacognitive strategies are actions by using cognitive devices and providing the learners a way to coordinate the learning process. Sets of metacognitive strategies are centering the learning, arranging and planning the learning, and evaluating the learning. Affective strategies used for regulating emotions in learning. Kinds of affective strategies are lowering the learners’ anxiety, encouraging themselves, and taking the emotional temperature. Social strategies are used for learning with others. There are three sets of social strategies, asking questions, cooperating with others, and empathizing with others.
Oxford (1990: 14-16) states that the direct and indirect strategies are related to one another. When using direct strategies, the language learners are like performers in a play. On the other hand, the language learners’ indirect strategies are closer to the role of the play’s directors. They deal with regulation and control.
The sets of the strategies that have been described are applicable for all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, the sets of strategies are still divided into sub-strategies. Some of the sub-strategies are not applicable for writing. Therefore, since this research deals with writing, the writer will only review the sub-strategies of the learning strategies which are applicable for learning writing.
3. Learning Strategies in Writing
a. Memory Strategies
Memory strategies help learners to link a new item with something known. The strategies are useful for memorizing information. The strategies also enable learners to retrieve information from their memory when they need to use it for comprehension or production.
The first strategy is creating mental linkages. The only sub-strategy that can be applied for learning writing is placing new words into a context. In this strategy, the learners try to place words or phrases that have been heard or read in a meaningful sentence or story in order to remember them. The second strategy is reviewing well. Here, the learners review what they have learned in spaced intervals. At first, they review in a close interval and then in a more widely spaced interval. The goal is to be familiar with the information so that it becomes natural and automatic. It is useful for remembering new material. The third strategy is employing action. This strategy is suitable for learners who enjoy the kinesthetic learning style. It involves using mechanical techniques. Here, the learners use creative techniques in order to remember new information. To contextualize a new expression and to practice writing, learners can write a new expression in a full sentence on a flashcard (Oxford, 1990: 58-68).
b. Cognitive Strategies
formally practicing with writing systems, recognizing and using formulas and patterns, recombining, and practicing naturalistically.
The use of the repeating strategy is first to revise. It means that writers read written drafts in detail in order to correct them. Imitation of native users of the language is another repeating technique used for writing. Finally, the “lead paragraph” is also a part of repeating strategies. This principle involves putting into the paragraph all the details of who, what, when, where, why, and how. In formally practicing with writing systems, the writers practice new writing systems of the target language. Here, the writers learn alphabets, syllabaries, or idiographic systems that differ from the learners’ own writing systems in their own language. The next strategy, recognizing and using formulas and patterns, improves writers’ comprehension and production. In this strategy, the writers recognize formulas or patterns of the target language. The strategy of recombining involves constructing a meaningful sentence or longer expression by putting together known elements in new ways. The last strategy, practicing naturalistically, is very important for developing the writing skill. In this activity, real-readers are involved. Often students read the writings of their peers. Moreover, they can also work together to make a single product.
videocassettes, and general books on culture and history can also provide useful background information.
The third cognitive strategy is analyzing and reasoning. The strategies in this set help learners to use logical thinking to understand and use the grammar rules and vocabulary of the new language. It includes reasoning deductively, translating, and transferring. Reasoning deductively involves making hypotheses about meaning by analyzing general rules the learners know. Sometimes, this strategy leads into errors. The learners may overgeneralize some patterns. For example, the question “What is it?” is overlapped in the ungrammatical sentence “I do not know what is it.” Translating strategy can be helpful as long as it is used with care. It allows learners to use their own language as the basis for understanding what they write in the new language. However, word-for-word translation can come to a wrong interpretation. The last of analyzing and reasoning strategies is transferring, which means directly applying previous knowledge to facilitate new knowledge in English. The transfer may be in the forms of words, concepts, or structures from the learners’ language to English.
highlighting, the writers may highlight the main ideas and supporting details of their writings (Oxford, 1990: 70-90).
c. Compensation Strategies
Compensation strategies help learners to overcome knowledge limitations in language skills. They are intended to overcome the inadequate knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. They also help the learners make up for missing knowledge when using English in writing.
expressions which involve several words to describe or explain a single concept, and synonyms, words that have the same meaning as other words in the same language, to convey the intended meaning (Oxford, 1990: 91-97).
d. Metacognitive Strategies
Metacognitive strategies help the learners to manage themselves as learners, the general learning processes, and the specific learning tasks. They are kinds of learning behavior used for centering, arranging, planning, and evaluating. The strategies are essential for successful language learning.
The first metacognitive strategy is centering your learning. It includes overviewing and linking with already known material and paying attention. The strategy of overviewing and linking with already known material involves previewing the basic principles and/or material for an upcoming language activity, and linking these with what the learners have already known. For example, writers do ‘nonstop writing’, a kind of brainstorming, when doing writing assignments. The second strategy, paying attention, involves directed attention and selective attention. In writing, directed attention is more required than the selective ones. In directed attention, the writers write what occurs in their minds and do not care with noise and interruption. In selective attention, the writers focus on the aspects of writing such as structures, contents, vocabulary, sentences, and punctuation.
second strategy is organizing. This strategy includes a variety of tools such as creating the best physical environment, making schedule, and keeping a language learning notebook. The third strategy is setting goals and objectives. Goals are considered as aims for a long term. It may be in some months or years. Objectives are short-term aims for hours, days, or weeks. Goals for writing may include developing enough writing skill to have correspondence with foreign friends, to pass the writing course, and to succeed in university courses. The example of the writing objective may be to finish essays as soon as possible in order to be collected in few days. The fourth strategy is identifying the purpose of a language task. This strategy involves determining the task purpose. By knowing the purpose for doing something, the learners will be able to transfer their energy in the right direction. The purpose of a writing task is related to the type of written format and the needs of audiences. The possible purposes are providing factual information, persuading someone to act and think in certain ways, and creating certain mood. The next writing strategy is planning for a language task. This strategy involves identifying general natures of a task, specific requirements of the task, resources available, and need of aids. The last strategy is seeking practice opportunities. The learners should seek or create opportunities to practice the language skills. If students want to be proficient, classroom time may not provide adequate practice opportunities. Therefore, they need to find additional chances to practice writing.
They should make the learners find the errors by themselves. In self-evaluating, the learners can review samples of their own works, note the styles and contents of the writings, and assess their progress over time (Oxford, 1990: 152-163).
e. Affective Strategies
Affective strategies include identifying one’s feeling and becoming aware of the learning circumstances of tasks that evoke him/her. The techniques help learners gain better control over their emotions, attitudes, and motivations related to language learning. Affective strategies make the learners feel secure in completing writing tasks.
The second affective strategy is encouraging yourself. The sub strategies are making positive statements, taking risk wisely, and rewarding yourself. When used before or during a language activity, positive statements are used for self-encouragement. When used after a good performance, positive statements also take on a self-reward function. The strategy of taking risk wisely involves a conscious decision to take risk of the possibility of making mistakes or coming into difficulties. This strategy is supported by the other affective strategies such as making positive statements and rewarding yourself. Learners often expect to be rewarded only by external sources such as a praise from the lecturer and a good grade. On the other hand, learners need to discover how to reward themselves for good work in language learning. Rewards differ from one person to another.
else, learners can obtain benefits from discussing certain topics with peers and with the teachers. Discussion on feelings can also take place outside of the writing class with friends, parents, or native speakers of English (Oxford, 1990: 163-168).
f. Social Strategies
Learning a language involves other people and appropriate social strategies are important in this process. The strategies facilitate learning with others and help learners understand the culture of the language they are learning. These strategies make the learners feel secure in learning the language.
The first social strategy is asking questions. The only strategy in this set that can be applied for learning writing is asking for correction. This strategy is mostly used in speaking and writing because errors which are most obvious to other people occur in producing the new language. Language learners should ask for corrections of some writing difficulties, but the kind and amount of the corrections depend on the level of the learners and the purpose of the writing.
The third social strategy is empathizing with others. First, the learners can use the strategy of developing cultural understanding. Background knowledge of the new culture often helps learners understand better what is heard or read in the new culture. Such knowledge also helps learners know what is culturally appropriate in writing. It can be done by comparing and contrasting behavior in the learners’ native culture and the target culture. The second strategy is becoming aware of others’ thoughts and feelings. Learners can become aware of the feelings of others as expressed in writing. Such awareness brings learners closer to the readers and helps them understand what is written more clearly. Students can sense the feelings of people with whom they communicate informally through letters or notes (Oxford, 1990: 168-173).
Those are learning strategies that can be used to learn writing proposed by Oxford. From this point on, the researcher’s investigation is concentrated on the learning strategies in writing used by the students based on the typology of learning strategies proposed by Oxford. Furthermore, the researcher will select the learning strategies that are suitable to the level of the students and the learning tasks.
B. Theoretical Framework
researcher focuses on the learning strategies used by the students in writing since learning strategies have a close relationship with the students’ writing processes.
There are many typologies of learning strategies which are proposed by some experts. Each has its advantages and weaknesses when it is employed in a certain situation. In this study, the researcher uses the typology of learning strategies proposed by Oxford which consists of six categories, namely memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies. The strategies are all suitable for learning the four language skills in English, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. However, the sets of strategies are still divided into sub-strategies and not all of the sub-strategies can be used for learning writing. In the study, the researcher only investigates the strategies that can be used in learning writing.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
The chapter presents the methodology of the research used by the researcher to answer the research questions. The chapter covers the research method, research participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedure.
A. Research Method
The study is a descriptive study. Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1990: 381) state that “descriptive study is designed to obtain information concerning the current status of phenomena. It is directed to determine the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study.” Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1990: 33) also state that “in descriptive study, the major purpose is to tell what it is.” In the research, a descriptive study is done to gain information about students’ learning strategies in writing and also to investigate how students with different proficiency levels in writing use the learning strategies in writing.
B. Research Participants
Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1990: 169) define population as “all members of any well-defined class of people, events, or objects.” In the research, the population was all students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University who took Writing III. The researcher chose the
population because the researcher was interested to investigate the learning strategies used by the students. Moreover, the researcher also wanted to give the students a view about learning strategies in writing. From the whole population, a sample was selected.
“A sample is a portion of a population” (Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh, 1990: 169). It is the small group that is observed by the researcher. The population of the research was the students of Writing III classes. Since it was not possible to involve all of the writing classes, the researcher applied random cluster sampling to select the subject of the study. From five classes, one class was chosen randomly as the representation of the whole population. It was Writing III class E. From the class, the researcher chose students who were in semester III during the 2006/2007 academic year. The students other than those who were in semester III were not included as the sample. The consideration was because the level of the students might affect the use of the learning strategies.
C. Research Instruments
In order to gather the data, the researcher used two kinds of research instruments. They were the questionnaire and class observations.
1. Questionnaire
intended to investigate how students with different proficiency levels in writing use the learning strategies in writing. The type of questionnaire employed in the research was closed question. A Likert scale, one of the rating scales, was used.
A Likert scale assesses respondents’ attitudes, opinions, and views toward a topic. In the research, the respondents were expected to indicate whether they never used the learning strategies, rarely, sometimes, usually, or always used them. Most of the statements expressed a clearly favorable attitude and the rest expressed clearly unfavorable ones. For favorable or positively stated items, the numerical values were 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. For example, “always” with a favorable statement would receive a weight of 5, “usually” would receive a 4, “sometimes” would receive a 3, “rarely” would receive a 2, and “never” would receive a 1. For unfavorable/negatively stated items, the weighting was reversed.
numbers of items for the six learning strategies were varied since each learning strategy has different numbers of sub-learning strategies that can be applied to learn writing.
To answer the research questions, the researcher also used the lists of students’ final marks in Writing III class E. For the sake of the research, the students were divided into three groups based on the final grades. They were high proficient writers, medium proficient writers, and low proficient ones. The researcher tried to describe the learning strategies used by the three groups of learners.
Since the research employed a questionnaire as its instrument, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire needed to be discussed. The characteristics of the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were discussed further below. a. Validity
Validity is defined as “the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure” (Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh, 1990: 256). There were three categories of validity used in the research. They were content validity, criterion-related evidence of validity, and construct validity.
1) Content Validity
six learning strategies in writing, namely memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies.
2) Criterion-Related Evidence of Validity
There are two kinds of criterion-related evidence of validity. They are predictive validity and concurrent validity. Fraenkel and Wallen (1993: 144) state that predictive validity is achieved if the researcher administers the same instrument twice. The first implementation is used to predict and then compare the score with the second implementation. Concurrent validity is achieved when the instrument and the criterion are gathered at nearly the same time, and the results were compared. Here, to achieve the validity, the researcher used a criterion to verify the questionnaire result. The criterion used was class observation.
3) Construct Validity
b. Reliability
Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1990: 169) define reliability as “the extent to which a measuring device is consistent in measuring whatever it measures.” Reliability is related to the consistency of an instrument. According to Fraenkel and Wallen (1993: 147), there are three best-known ways to gain a reliability coefficient. They are test-retest method, the equivalent-forms method, and the internal consistency methods. The reliability coefficients must range from 0.00 to 1.00. “When used to check reliability of scores, the coefficient should be at least 0.70, preferably higher” (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1993: 296).
To measure the reliability of the instrument, the study used the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient procedure, one of the internal consistency methods. The coefficient can be used to calculate the reliability of items when the items are not scored as right or wrong. The alpha coefficient obtained described the inter-item consistency of the instrument. The formula for alpha was presented as follows:
⎟
= sum of variances of the item scores
∑
2 i ssx2 = variance of the test scores (all K items)
criterion of instrument reliability proposed by Fraenkel and Wallen (1993: 296) since it was higher than 0.70.
2. Observation Forms
Class observations were conducted to gain complete descriptions of students’ behavior in Writing III class E. It was expected that from the class observations, the researcher would obtain some inputs related to the learning strategies of the students through their behavior in the class. In the research, the results of the class observations were used to verify the data that were obtained through the questionnaire. The class observations were conducted three times. In order to ease the class observations, class observation guidelines were used.
D. Data Gathering Technique
E. Data Analysis Technique
After obtaining the results of the questionnaire, the researcher coded the raw data of the questionnaire into numbers. From the raw data, means were drawn. The means were used to find out the tendency of the respondents toward the statements in the questionnaire. By drawing the means, the researcher knew the tendency of learning strategies used by the students. Then, the researcher presented the data in tables, where each statement was described. The researcher also made a table which presented the means of the six learning strategies used by all of the students. The learning strategies were memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies.
F. Research Procedure
The research was conducted through procedures. First, the researcher made the statement of the problems. There were two problems that became the focus of the research. The first was concerned with the learning strategies used by students in Writing III class of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The second problem was concerned with how students with different proficiency levels in Writing III class of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University use the learning strategies in writing.
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The chapter consists of two main sections. The first section is the data presentation, which covers the presentation of the data. The second section is the discussion, which is the elaboration of the data presentation.
A. Data Presentation
The data were obtained from twenty-five copies of questionnaire distributed to the third semester students in a Writing III class of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University of the 2006/2007 academic year. The researcher used a Likert scale. In the questionnaire, there were positively stated items and negatively stated ones. As stated in Chapter III, the numerical values were 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. For example, “always” with a positive statement would receive a weight of 5, “usually” would receive a 4, “sometimes” would receive a 3, “rarely” would receive a 2, and “never” would receive a 1. For negatively stated items the weighting was reversed. From the questionnaire, the researcher drew the means for each strategy.
The first data presentation covered six learning strategies in writing, memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies used by the twenty-five students. There would be some discussions, followed by some tables. The second data presentation presented the learning strategies used by students with different proficiency levels in writing.
The researcher analyzed students’ learning strategies by drawing the means of each item. The means were categorized into five. They were “almost
always used”, “generally used”, “sometimes used”, “generally not used”, and “almost never used”. The categories were based on the frequency of learning strategies used by the students. The mean was categorized into almost always used when the range was from 4.50 to 5.00. Generally used was ranged from 3.50 to 4.49. Sometimes used was 2.50 to 3.49. Generally not used was 1.50 to 2.49. Finally, almost never used was ranged from 1.00 to 1.49.
1. Learning Strategies Used by Students a. Memory Strategies
From Table 4.1, it is found that three of the memory strategies were sometimes used by the students. One of the strategies was generally not used. The strategies sometimes used by the students were placing new words into a context (statements 1 and 4) and reviewing well (statement 2). The strategy that was generally not used was using mechanical techniques (statement 3).
Table 4.1 Memory Strategies Used by the Students
No. Statement Mean Category
1. I use new English words in sentences so I can remember them.
3.08 Sometimes used
2. I do not review what I learn from the writing class. 3.32 Sometimes used 3. I use flashcards with the new English word on one
side and the definition on the other.
1.72 Generally not used
4. I write a new English word in different sentences or contexts.
2.88 Sometimes used
b. Cognitive Strategies
generally used. Six of the cognitive strategies were sometimes used. Four of the strategies were generally not used.
The strategies that were generally used by the students were repeating (statement 5 and 21), using resources/printed resources (statements 12, 13, 22, and 23), translating (statement 16), taking notes (statement 19), and highlighting (statement 20). The strategies that were sometimes used by the students were repeating (statement 6 and 18), practicing naturalistically (statements 7, 9, and 11), and summarizing (statement 17). The strategies generally not used by the students were practicing naturalistically (statements 8 and 10), using resources/unprinted resources (statement 14), and translating (statement 15).
Table 4.2 Cognitive Strategies Used by the Students
No. Statement Mean Category
5. I never revise my writing. 3.80 Generally used 6. I learn a model written by a native writer or a
more proficient writer.
2.64 Sometimes used
7. I exchange my writing with my peers’ or my lecturer’s.
2.92 Sometimes used
8. I write for newspapers, magazines, or newsletters in English.
1.56 Generally not used
9. I write my own stories and poems in English. 2.64 Sometimes used 10. I write a diary in English. 2.44 Generally not used 11. I write messages or notes in English in order to
practice my English.
2.92 Sometimes used
12. I gather information from articles, books, or newspapers to write about a certain topic.
3.76 Generally used
13. I gather information from dictionaries. 3.60 Generally used 14. I gather information from videocassettes. 2.32 Generally not used 15. I practice translating an Indonesian article into
English.
2.48 Generally not used
16. I try not to translate word-for-word. 3.56 Generally used 17. I make summaries of English texts. 2.96 Sometimes used 18. I start writing by having a written plan. 3.44 Sometimes used 19. I write down ideas as soon as the ideas come
into my mind.
Table 4.2 Continued
No. Statement Mean Category
20. I highlight important points of my writing in the writing process.
3.56 Generally used
21. I make drafts as a process of my writing. 3.76 Generally used 22. If I do not know words in English, I stop writing
and look up the correct words in the dictionary.
4.36 Generally used
23. I do not use dictionaries when revising. 4.20 Generally used
c. Compensation Strategies
There were four statements related to compensation strategies. One of the strategies was almost always used and three of the strategies were generally used. The strategy that was almost always used was selecting the topic (statement 26), while the strategies generally used by the students were coining words (statement 24), using synonym (statement 25), and adjusting the message (statement 27). Table 4.3 lists the compensation strategies used by the students.
Table 4.3 Compensation Strategies Used by the Students
No. Statement Mean Category
24. I make up new words if I do not know the right words in English.
3.60 Generally used
25. If I do not know a word in English, I find a similar English word that I know.
3.96 Generally used
26. I choose a topic which interests me to write. 4.56 Almost always used 27. I simplify what I want to write if I do not know
how to express my thought in English.
3.96 Generally used
d. Metacognitive Strategies
