A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of S.Pd. (S-1) in English Education
By
Maya Syarie 1111014000096
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY JAKARTA
2018
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Education, The Faculty of Educational Sciences, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, 2018
Keywords: outlining technique, personal letter
The purpose of this study was to find empirical data about students’
performance on their writing after applying outline technique as the initial stage of writing process. The method used in this study was quantitative research with quasi-experimental design. The study was carried out in two classes of research, experimental and controlled class. The subject of this study was the eleventh grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani, and the samples of this research were XI-IPS as controlled group and class XI-MIPA as the experimental group. The instrument used in this study was writing test. The writer gave the writing test in pre-test and post-test to collect the data. The technique used in collecting the data was t-test. The data analysis was based on t-test and the Cohen’s level of significance in which d > 1.00. The result of this study showed that the use outlining technique as the initial stage of writing has strong effect to help students produce better writing. It could be seen from the result of calculation that the students’ score in experimental class was higher than the students’ score in controlled class. The mean score of posttest result in experimental class is 66.3 and the mean its gained score is 6.35. While the mean score of posttest result in controlled class is 65.2 and the mean of its gained score that is 2.65. Furthermore, based on the statistical calculation with the significance level of 5%, it showed that t-observation is higher than t-table that was 2.27 > 1.69. Therefore, it proved the alternative hypothesis, which stated that there is significant difference between the students’ score in writing personal letter by using outlining technique and the students’ score in writing personal letter without using outlining technique.
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Education, The Faculty of Educational Sciences, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, 2018.
Keywords: teknik outline, surat pribadi
Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan data empiris mengenai pencapaian siswa dalam menulis setelah menerapkan teknik outline sebagai tahap awal dalam proses menulis. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan desain Quasi-Eksperimen. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di dua kelas penelitian, yaitu kelas eksperimen dan kelas kontrol.
Subyek dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas sebelas MA Soebono Mantofani, dan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah kelas XI-IPS sebagai kelas kontrol dan XI- MIPA sebagai kelas eksperimen. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah tes menulis. Peneliti memberikan tes menulis pada pre-test dan post-tes untuk mengumpulkan data. Analisis data merujuk pada t-test dan uji level signifikansi dari Cohen dimana d>1.00. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa penggunaan teknik outline sebagai tahap awal dalam proses menulis memiliki efek yang kuat dalam membantu siswa menghasilkan tulisan yang lebih baik. Hal itu dapat dilihat dari hasil perhitungan bahwa nilai siswa di kelas eksperimen lebih tinggi daripada nilai siswa di kelas kontrol. Nilai rata-rata post- test di kelas eksperimen adalah 66.3 dan nilai rata-rata selisihnya adalah 6.35.
Sedangkan, nilai rata-rata di kelas kontrol 65.22 dan nilai rata-rata selisihnya adalah 2.65. Selanjutnya, berdasarkan perhitungan statistik dengan taraf nyata 5%, menunjukan bahwa t-observasi lebih tinggi dari t-tabel, yaitu 2.27 > 1.69. Oleh karena itu, hal ini membuktikan hipotesis alternatif, yang menyatakan bahwa ada perbedaan yang signifikan antara nilai siswa yang menulis diawali dengan teknik outline dengan nilai siswa yang menulis tanpa diawali dengan teknik outline.
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His mercy, guidance and strength to finish this research paper. Peace and salutation be upon to the prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, as well as his followers.
In this occasion, the writer would like to express her greatest appreciation, honor, and gratitude to her beloved parents Mrs. Janah and Mr. Muhamad Amin and also her husband, Ahmad Bukhori, who always give prayer, support, motivation and guidance during doing this research.
Secondly, the writer would like to address her thank and great gratitude to the advisors, Mrs. Siti Nurul Azkiyah, Ph.D. and Mrs. Neneng Sunengsih, M.Pd.
for the valuable advice, suggestion, comment and support during conducting this research.
Thirdly, the writer thought that she would never finish this research paper without their supports and helps. Therefore, her sincere gratitude also goes to:
1. Dr. Alek, M.Pd., as the Head of Department of English Education.
2. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum., as the Secretary of Department of English Education.
3. Dr. Ratna Sari Dewi, M.Pd. as the academic adviser.
4. All lectures in Department of English Education for the precious knowledge and patience to the writer during her study at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.
5. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Thib Raya, M.A., as the Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences.
6. Linda Asmarani, S.Pd. MM, the principal of MA Soebono Mantofani, for giving permission to the writer to conduct the research.
7. The students of XI MIPA and XI IPS who are willing to contribute their effort during this research.
8. All beloved friends of EED 2011 who have accompanied the writer’s life during the study in the university.
9. All of people, whose name cannot be mentioned for their contribution to the writer during finishing this research.
Finally, the writer admits that this writing is still far from being perfect.
Therefore, she hopes some suggestion and constructive critique from the reader for this better research paper. Hopefully, this research paper will be useful not only for the writer, but also for the reader.
Ciputat, June 29th 2018 The Writer
Maya Syarie
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ENDORSEMENT SHEET... iii
SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
ABSTRAK ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... vii
TABLE OF CONTENT... ix
LIST OF TABLES... xii
LIST OF APPENDICES...xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study ...1B. The Identification of the Problem ...4
C. The Limitation of the Study ...5
D. The Research Question ...5
E. The Objective of the Study ...5
F. The Significance of the Study ...5
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Writing ...61. The Understand of Writing ...6
2. Aspects of Writing ...7
3. Stages in Writing ...9
4. The Teaching of Writing ...10
5. The Scoring of Writing ...15
B. Personal Letter ...18
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C. Outlining Technique ...24
1. Definition of Outlining Technique...24
2. Steps of Applying Technique...25
3. The Types of Outline ...26
D. Previous Studies ...30
E. Thinking Framework ...31
F. Research Hypothesis ...32
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method and Design ...34B. Place and Time ...34
C. Population and Sample ...35
D. Instrument ...35
E. Data Collection ...36
F. Data Analysis ...36
G. Statistical Hypothesis ...38
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
A. Research Finding ...391. Data Description ...39
a. The Score of Experimental Class’ Pre-Test and Post-Test ...39
b. The Score of Controlled Class’ Pre-Test and Post-Test...40
B. The Analysis of the Data ...41
C. Discussion ...44
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REFERENCES ... 47
APPENDICES ... 50
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Table 4.2 Students’ Score in Experimental Class ...40
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Appendix 3 Students’ Score ...64
Appendix 4 Student’s work ...67
Appendix 5 Surat Bimbingan Skripsi ...71
Appendix 6 Surat Permohonan Izin Penelitian ...72
Appendix 7 References Examination Paper ...73
Appendix 8 t-table ...77
1
Writing is an activity of expressing and communicating ideas in the written form. People communicate by writing a letter, short message service, e- mail, and even they express their feelings by writing diary. However, it is not simply writing down anything we have in mind. Kirton and McMillan explain that writing is more than decoding thoughts into written words, further, writing is creating the thoughts per se.1 By writing, people create and express their ideas in an organized process. The more they write, the better their thinking skill will be. As a result, the way they communicate their ideas becomes better and easier to understand.
Related to the teaching and learning in Indonesian schools, writing is also taught in the English class. Teachers ask students to write their identity, presentation, report paper, summary, and examination as well. Students are also asked to learn various types of written texts such as letter, announcement, application letter, recount, narrative, descriptive, procedure, report, explanation, exposition, and discussion text. As Nelson points out that school curriculum are created to give students’ involvement in writing various forms of discourse for different purposes.2 Through the involvement of writing various forms of text, students’ skills in writing will improve. This improvement, then, can be seen in the students’ writing scores.
In scoring students’ writing tasks, teachers may use scoring system which is based on analytic scoring proposed by Jacob as cited in Hughes.3 First, the scoring deals with how well students apply their grammar or word order
1 Bill Kirton and Kathleen McMillan, Just Write; An Easy-to Use Guide to Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 1.
2 Nancy Nelson,Why Write? A Consideration of Rhetorical Purpose. In G. Rijlaarsdam (Series Ed.) and P. Boscolo & S. Hidi (Volume Eds.), Studies in Writing: Writing and Motivation, Volume 19 (pp. 17–30), (Oxford: Elsevier, 2007), p. 26.
3 Arthur Hughes, Testing for Language Teachers, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 101.
knowledge into their writing. Second aspect in the scoring is vocabulary.
Students’ writing is graded by the vocabularies they have used. Third aspect is writing mechanism such as punctuation and spelling. Fourth, the scoring includes fluency (style and ease of communication). Last, the scoring deals with organization; whether or not students’ writing has included cohesion and coherence. Overall, students need to achieve the Minimum Mastery Criteria / Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) for these five aspects.
The KKM in each school is different from one to another; MA Soebono Mantofani for example. The KKM in MA Soebono Mantofani is 73 for English lesson. It is the school where the writer used to be a student in a senior secondary school. Therefore, the writer is interested in conducting a research there. The writer interviewed the English teacher about his students’ score in writing. However, the teacher showed that some of his students’ score in writing have not actually reached the KKM yet. It can be assumed that some students still have difficulty in writing.
From the explanation above, the writer identifies three possible causes of students’ difficulties. First, it may be caused by lack of reading. Flynn and Stainthorp state “reading influences writing indirectly through information about the topic stored in long-term memory.”4 Reading activity is the initial step to reach ideas in writing. Lack of reading habit means lack of information that might be an important idea for writing. Second, students may have anxiety that they cannot finish their writing, so they decide not to write from the beginning. Last, the possible cause of students’ difficulty is the lack of portion in the teaching writing in the class. Therefore, teachers do not have much time to facilitate students in the writing process.
Writing is a process in which students communicate their thoughts in written form. Moreover, Cohen and Cowen support that nowadays, writing in educational level is not only to be the last product of teaching-learning
4 Naomi Flynn and Rhona Stainthorp, The Learning and Teaching of Reading and Writing, (Chichester: Whurr Publishers Limited, 2006), p. 59.
activities, but also to test students’ way in communicating their thoughts.5 That is why writing is not a simple activity. Furthermore, because of lack of guidance from the teacher, accordingly, students do not know steps in writing.
For this reason, they often write poorly planned paper, whereas, they need to organize their ideas to reach the purpose of communication.
A good writing has to facilitate readers to understand what the writer is going to convey. Therefore, before writing, students must plan their writing carefully. They have to present the content of their writing smoothly, so that the readers are able to catch the intended information. However, students often write down their ideas directly without any planning. Consequently, the presentation of the content of their writing does not run smoothly in an order way. Finally their target reader, the teacher, is not able to well understand the information they present in their writing. In this case, teachers hold important role in teaching outline. As mentioned in some books, outlining technique is the initial stage in writing process. However, teachers do not teach this technique. As a consequence, it causes student’s difficulty in writing.
Dealing with technique, there are some studies related to the teaching writing. One of the studies has been done by Faraj. He conducted a research related to the effect of scaffolding on EFL students’ writing ability through writing process.6 He used one experimental group, they were thirty second-year college students. The writer guided the students writing stage by stage including teaching outline technique. The writer also gave students questionnaire before and after treatments. The questionnaire showed that there was improvement after students applied outline technique before writing.
Further, Ningrum conducted a study in developing students’ writing ability by
5 Vicki L. Cohen and John Edwin Cowen, Literacy for Children in an Information Age:
Teaching Reading, Writing, and Thinking, (Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengange Learning, 2011), p.
324.
6 Avan Kamal Aziz Faraj, Scaffolding EFL Students’ Writing through the Writing Process Approach. In Journal of Education and Practice. Volume 6, No. 13, (2015), p. 131.
using scaffolding strategy in the process of writing at STAIN Kediri.7 According to the result of the study, students’ writing ability improved significantly and the students were enthusiastic and motivated in the teaching and learning process. Guiding question is one of the techniques in writing process, and scaffolding is one of the strategies in the teaching writing. Both of these studies involve initial steps in writing, in which the researcher or teacher assist students along the writing process.
Having an objective to assist students in writing process through other technique, then, in this study the writer intends to apply outlining technique.
Outlining, as the initial stage in organizing writing product, may help students generate ideas and involve the ideas into coherence and cohesion paragraphs as long as they are writing. Outlining also may help them keep focus on their initial plans instead. Outline that students have made then will be a starting point for their writing.
Considering the importance of writing and the use of outlining technique, as a result, the writer considers that outlining technique may assist students to produce better writing. Therefore, the writer is interested in doing research.
That is why the writer chose “The Implementation of Outlining Technique in Teaching Writing to the Second Grade Students of MA Soebono Mantofani, Jombang – Ciputat” as the title of this writing.
B. The Identification of the Problem
According to the background of the study, there are some possible causes which students face in writing. For instance, less motivation in reading, students’ anxiety, lack portion in learning writing, and lack of guidance from the teacher, so students do not know steps in writing. However, this research is not proposed to answer all the problems. The main focus of this study is the problem of students’ lack of knowledge of writing steps. There are some
7Ary Setya Budhi Ningrum, Developing Students’ Writing Ability of STAIN Kediri through Scaffolding Strategy in the Process of Writing. In Lingua Scientia, Jurnal Bahasa.
Volume 5, No. 2, (Yogyakarta, Nopember 2013) p. 153.
teachers who do not teach their students outline, whereas outline may assist students in writing.
C. The Limitation of the Study
Based on the identification of the problem, therefore the writer makes an attempt on the problem by teaching outlining technique in supporting the eleventh grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani produce better writing.
D. The Research Question
According to the problem that students encounter in writing, the writer formulates a research question as:
Is the implementation of the outlining technique effective to help eleventh grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani produce better writing?
E. The Objective of the Study
Through this study, the writer would like to find empirical data about students’
performance on their writing after applying outline technique as the initial stage of writing process.
F. The Significance of the Study
This research is expected to give more information for teachers that there is a technique to teach writing well. It is by applying outline as the initial stage before students start their writing.
6 1. The Understanding of Writing
Writing has become the medium of communication which connect people around the world. Flynn and Stainthorp agree that writing has a communicative function; people write to communicate to others or to communicate to themselves.1 People share their ideas and information, and even they are able to express their feelings through writing.
However, writing is more than such a communicative means.
According to Browne, writing is a language form that is distinguished from speech because it can be permanent and it can be planned and changed before it emerges.2 Writing activity trains writers‟ thinking skills to work better. Writers make a good planning for their writing and change it as necessary. In addition, writing activity often makes people are accustomed to organizing their ideas neatly. Kirton and McMillan add writing as the process of thinking and putting words into organized written form.3 Well-organized writing will facilitate readers to understand what the writers want to convey.
Moreover, Dietsch adds the importance of writing.4 First, people are able to sharpen their thinking skills such as how to question, analyze, evaluate, and make decision. The second importance of writing is the opportunities to learn widely opened for people because as they write, they will discover thoughts and ideas that might come from their own mind. Third, by writing, people encourage their personal development in
1 Naomi Flynn and Rhona Stainthorp, The Learning and Teaching of Reading and Writing, (Chichester: Whurr Publishers Limited, 2006), p. 55.
2 Ann Browne, Teaching and Learning Communication, Language and Literacy, (London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007), p. 81.
3 Bill Kirton and Kathleen McMillan, Just Write; An Easy-to-Use Guide to Writing. (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 64.
4 Betty M. Dietsch, Reasoning and Writing Well; A Rethoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook, (New York: McGraw Hill Company, 2006), p. 5-6.
which they raise their self-confidence as their writing skill improved.
Moreover, writing helps writers to establish relationship becomes the fourth importance of writing. As people are accustomed to writing positive words and effective sentences, they will find their readers feel comfortable with them. The last importance of writing is fostering people to be success in school, college, and workplace.
Furthermore, related to writing, Harmer distinguishes writing-for- learning from writing-for-writing.5 Writing-for-learning is considered as a tool to help students practice and work with the language they have been studying. This writing activity is designed to reinforce students‟ ability in writing. Meanwhile, writing-for-writing is focused at developing the students‟ skills as writer. This activity is intended to make students better at writing.
According to the explanation above, it can be inferred that writing is a process of improving thinking skills by discovering ideas and then transforming them into an organized written-form.
Now, we know that writing is important for students to learn.
Students have to learn how to produce a good writing. Students, as writers, are also required to make sure whether or not their writing conveys ideas in their mind. Nation states that writers should confirm whether their writing is effective to convey their purposes.6 By determining the purpose of writing from the beginning, students are able to keep their goals in mind.
2. Aspects of Writing
In writing process, the writer can be said successful if their writing contains some aspects of writing. According to Jacob et al) there are five aspects of writing.
5 Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, (Edinburgh: Pearson Education, 2007), p. 112.
6 Nation, Teaching EFL / ESL Reading and Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2009), p.
115.
They are:
1. Content refers to substance of writing, the experience of the main idea (unity), i.e., groups of related statements that a writer presents as unit in developing a subject. Content paragraph do the work of conveying ideas rather than fulfilling special function of transition, restatement, and emphasis.
2. Organization refers to the logical organization of the content (coherence).
It is scarcely more than an attempt to piece together all collection of facts and jumble ideas. Even in early drafts it may still be searching for order, trying to make out patterns in its material and working to bring the particulars of his subject in line with what is still only a half-formed notion of purpose.
3. Vocabulary refers to the selection of words those are suitable with the content. It begins with the assumption that the writer want to express the ideas as clearly and directly as he can. As a general rule, clarity should be his prime objective. Choosing words that express his meaning is precisely rather than skew it or blur it.
4. Language use refers to the use of the correct grammatical and syntactic pattern on separating, combining, and grouping ideas in words, phrases, clauses, and sentences to bring out logical relationships in paragraph writing.
5. Mechanic refers to the use graphic conventional of the language, i.e., the steps of arranging letters, words sentences, paragraphs by using knowledge of structure and some others related to one another.
Based on the definition above, the writer can conclude that writing is important means of indirect communication that referred to the productive and expressive activity. In this case, students are expected to be able to express their ideas, feeling, and thought in written language.
3. Stages in Writing
Writing activity is not as simple as changing thoughts to words in a paper.
Langan (2001) agrees that writing should be completed through three stages; pre-writing, drafting, and editing.
a. Pre-writing
Pre-writing as the first stage is the activity in which writers generate ideas. As Dietsch states, the purpose of pre-writing is to capture and preserve ideas.7 In this stage the writers generate all ideas in their mind based on certain topic of their writing. Ruddell also explains that pre-writing activities are major way of us to hear students‟ voices, to find out what students know and do not know about a given topic, and to learn about the different perspectives and content knowledge bases afforded by various cultural and experiential backgrounds.8
b. Drafting
The second stage in writing process is drafting. Drafting is an activity in expanding an outline that we have made into paragraph. Dietsch proposes drafting process to let ideas develop, expand, and form connections.9 In the drafting process, writers develop their initial ideas and sometimes they discover new ideas to complete their writing.
After writing a whole draft, we need to revise our writing.
c. Editing and Revising
The last step to end a good writing is editing process. After having the last draft, once more, writer checks the entire writing; spelling, punctuation, and grammar error. Actually, editing process is not
7 Betty M. Dietsch, Reasoning and Writing Well (A Rethoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook) (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), p. 11.
8 Martha Rapp Ruddell, Teaching Content Reading and Writing, (Hoboken: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 2008), p. 296.
9 Betty M. Dietsch, loc.cit, p. 11.
restricted only after all the writing has been completed. Therefore, editing process can be conducted as long as we are writing.10 Besides, the goal of revision is to rethink and reshape our writing so that it is effectively reaches our audience and accomplishes our purpose.
Revision involves the larger aspects of draft: the organization and presentation of ideas. The smaller items within the sentences – word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation – are treated in the final stage of the writing process, editing and proofreading.11 Dietsch points out that this last stage requires examining ideas, details, words, grammar, and punctuation in which it emphasizes on accuracy, correctness, and clarity.12
4. The Teaching of Writing
According to Brown, teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the condition for learning.13 Teachers have to guide and facilitate students in each learning activity. Teachers also give new knowledge and help students to maintain the knowledge they have received. Further, in teaching, teachers should create good condition so that students will be comfortable during their study in the class.
Related to writing, teaching writing is guiding students to create and develop their ideas or knowledge in the written form. According to Harmer, writing encourages students to focus on accurate language use and prompt language development as they think while they are writing.14 Further, Franco explains that teaching writing would also enable our students to have a better knowledge and awareness of the new language
10 Nation, Teaching EFL / ESL Reading and Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2009), p.
120.
11 Betty M. Dietsch, Reasoning and Writing Well (A Rethoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook) (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), p. 62.
12 Ibid. p. 11.
13 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York:
Pearson Education, 2007), p. 8.
14 Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach Writing, (Edinburgh: Pearson: 2007), p.31.
they are using; the students have time to think about the language when they are writing.15
Moreover, the teacher has to check whether his students are able to integrate their experience into writing. Wyse and Jones add that teaching writing should be focused on creativity and self-expression.16 Each student has different experience and creativity. Here, the teacher gives the students opportunity to write freely. However, Nation argues that students need to do lots of writing and lots of different types of writing.17 It is because students will be challenged by various writing after they graduate from school. Therefore, here it is the task of teacher to decide what kind of reinforcement, activities, and experiences that students need in order to help them writing.18
There are several activities that support the students‟ development in the writing class. The basic activity of writing is asking students to copy a text after reading it. Then, the teacher guides the students to understand the text; to identify the function and the generic structure of the text. The next activity that is usually conducted in the writing class is group writing. The teacher assists students to do brainstorming and exchange their ideas so that they are able to find various ideas at glance.
In a group, students may explore everything in their mind. As long as they are writing, they will easily find new ideas if they work together. Then, after students are ready to write individually, teacher asks them to do independent writing with appropriate process of writing.
As mentioned above, writing activity includes some steps – prewriting, drafting, and revising. Here, teacher should involve students in each step. In the prewriting stage, teacher asks students to brainstorm
15 Maria Estela Pinheiro Franco, Designing a Writing Component for Teen Courses at a Brazilian Language Institute. In Kathleen Graves, Teachers as Course Developers, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 120.
16 Dominic Wyse and Russel Jones, Teaching English, Language and Literacy 2nd ed., (New York: Routledge, 2008), p. 112.
17 Nation, Teaching EFL / ESL Reading and Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2009), p.
93.
18 Dominic Wyse and Russel Jones, op. cit., p. 134.
ideas related to certain topic. In this stage, students gather ideas and organize the ideas into an outline. After making an outline, students start to write the first draft. Students write down everything dealt with the outline they have made. Then, to complete the writing task, students do revision by themselves, by peer feedback, and the last revision is by the teacher‟s correction. In addition, Franco states that students will be able to improve their writing through systematic self-correction during the process of writing.19
After students complete steps in writing, teacher assesses their writing. It is to get information concerning the gap between students‟
current and target performance on writing, and then help them develop.20 The assessment can be in the form of writing task according to what genre students have learned.
As in the description beforehand, paragraphs should clearly convey students‟ purposes. One way to achieve a good paragraph is by outlining.
Although Kirton and McMillan state that writing is flexible – ideas are developing as we write,21 yet making outline before drafting may help students keep focus on what they want to write. Further, Braine and May shows that we can arrange our ideas in logical order by outlining. In addition, we can put the transition and topic sentence in our outline to ensure our writing‟s coherence.
When teaching writing, teacher should assure the students have understood about how to write a good paragraph, that is, coherence and unity. Harmer (2007) also force that writing must include organized and coherent paragraphs. Thus, here are the explanation of unity and coherency in writing.
19 Maria Estela Pinheiro Franco, Designing a Writing Component for Teen Courses at a Brazilian Language Institute. In Kathleen Graves, Teachers as Course Developers, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 124.
20 Ken Hyland, Second Language Writing, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 212.
21 Bill Kirton and Kathleen McMillan, Just Write; An Easy-to-Use Guide to Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 75.
a) Unity
Unity refers to cohesion. Unity in a paragraph or the whole writing is very essential so that readers can read our writing clearly. A paragraph needs to develop only one clear main idea. One way to make sure the unity of our writing is to include enough supporting details related to the main idea. Supporting details might include fact, examples, statistic, and quotation.22 To unify a paragraph, writers focus on one major idea in the topic sentence. Support sentences may amplify the major idea with examples, facts, statistics, opinions, and reasons.23 According to Sarwono and Purwanto, we can do repetition and word connection in order to make a cohesive paragraph.24
Example 1 refers to repetition.
Nobody owned any part of the land. Sotopo‟s father owned many cattle. And if the cows continued to produce calves, he might as well become the next chief. Old Grandmother owned the beautifully tanned animal skins she used as covertlets in winter. And Sotopo owned his polished hard-wood assegais. But the land belonged to the spirits who governed life; it existed forever, for everyone, and was apportioned temporarily according to the dictates of the tribal chief and senior headman. Sotopo‟s father occupied the hillside for the time being, and when he died the older son could inherit the loan – land, but no person or family every acquired ownership.
From The Covenant by James Michener.
22 Alice Omaggio Hadley, Teaching Language in Context, (Boston: Heinle, Cengange, 2001), p. 37.
23 Betty M. Dietsch, Reasoning and Writing Well (A Rethoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook) (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), p. 78.
24 Jonathan Sarwono and YudhyPurwanto, English for Academic Purposes; A Successful Way to Learn Scientific English, (Yogyakarta: CV Andi Offset, 2013), p. 87.
Example 2 refers to word connection.
Writing a paper is often difficult and many times rewarding. First, I don‟t always know what to write about, so I often need to research, talk to people, and think about what I know before I come up with a strong topic. In addition, writing a paper takes time and energy. Time is needed to select and narrow a topic, to generate information and structure ideas, to knock out draft after draft, and to edit for my usual typos and mechanical errors. Besides the time involved, energy (and lots of food to produce it) is needed so I can produce my best work.
Although writing a paper is sometimes difficult, it can be very rewarding. I enjoy seeing words which say exactly what I want them to. I also feel proud when everything “clicks.” Finally, knowing that I‟ve done my best work and earned a good grade too are strong personal rewards.
b) Coherency
Coherency refers to the way writer brings his readers get his writing purposes from the whole text. Some experts add the way to achieve coherency in writing. The first is using repetition of keywords.
Keywords that are repeated in the same words could make readers bored. That is why we use the pronoun or synonym of the keywords.
Secondly, we use parallel structure to write repetition of similar grammatical constructions. The last is transition. Transitions are text signs that guide the changing of one state to another. According to Blass and Baky, a paragraph is easier to read if the sentences in it move smoothly from one to the other; this is called coherence.25
Sarwono and Purwanto propose some techniques that we can use to set up coherence in paragraphs. They are repeating key words or phrases, creating parallel structures, being consistent in point of
25 Laurie Blass and Meredith Pike-Baky, Mosaic 1 Writing, (New York: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc., 2002), p. 127.
view, verb tense, and grammar, and the last is using transition words or phrases between sentences and between paragraphs.26
Here are the transitional words and phrases based on Pharr and Buscemi27
1) Addition; also, in addition, too, moreover, and, besides, furthermore, equally important, then, finally.
2) Example; for example, for instance, thus as an illustration, namely, specifically.
3) Contrast; but, yet however, on the other hand, while, nevertheless, nonetheless, conversely, in contrast, still, at the same time.
4) Comparison; similarly, likewise, in the same way.
5) Concession; of course, to be sure, certainly, granted.
6) Time; first, second, next, then, finally, afterwards, before, soon, later, meanwhile, subsequently, immediately, eventually, currently.
7) Location: in the front, in the foreground, in the back. At the side, adjacent, nearby, next to, in the distance, here, there, to the left, inside, outside.
8) Result; therefore, thus, as a result, so, accordingly.
9) Summary; hence, in short, in brief, in summary, in conclusion, finally
5. The Scoring of Writing
To measure students‟ writing products during the research later, the writer intends to use analytic scoring system from Jacob as cited in Hughes (2003). This is the scale of analytic scoring system for writing.
26 Jonathan Sarwono and Yudhy Purwanto, English for Academic Purposes; A Successful Way to Learn Scientific English, (Yogyakarta: CV Andi Offset, 2013), p. 86-87.
27 Donald Pharr and Santi V. Buscemi, Writing Today, (New York: McGraw Hill Companies, 2005), p. 71.
Table 2.1 Scoring Rubric Grammar
6 Few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar or word order.
5 Some errors of grammar or word order which do not, however, interfere with comprehension.
4 Errors of grammar or word order fairly frequent; occasional re- reading necessary for full comprehension.
3 Errors of grammar or word order frequent; efforts of interpretation sometimes required on reader‟s part.
2 Errors of grammar or word order very frequent; reader often has to rely on own interpretation.
1 Errors of grammar or word order as severe as to make comprehension virtually impossible.
Vocabulary
6 Use of vocabulary and idiom rarely (if at all) distinguishable from that of educated native writer.
5 Occasionally uses inappropriate terms relies on circumlocutions;
expression of ideas hardly impaired.
4 Uses wrong or inappropriate words fairly frequently; expression of ideas may be limited because of an inadequate vocabulary.
3 Limited vocabulary ad frequent errors clearly hinder expression of ideas.
2 Vocabulary so limited and so frequently misused that reader must often rely on own interpretation.
1 Vocabulary limitations so extreme as to make comprehension virtually impossible.
Mechanic
6 Few (if any) noticeable spaces in punctuation or spelling.
5 Occasional spaces in punctuation or spelling which do not, however, interfere with comprehension.
4 Errors in punctuation or spelling fairly frequent; occasional re- reading necessary for full comprehension.
3 Frequent error in spelling or punctuation; lead sometimes to obscurity.
2 Errors in spelling or punctuation so frequent that reader must often rely on own interpretation.
1 Errors in spelling or punctuation so severe as to make comprehension virtually impossible.
Fluency (style and ease of communication)
6 Choice of structures and vocabulary consistently appropriate; like that of educated native writer.
5 Occasional lack of consistency in choice of structures and vocabulary which does not, however, impair overall ease of communication.
4 „Patchy‟ with some structures or vocabulary items noticeably inappropriate to general style.
3 Structures or vocabulary items sometimes not only inappropriate but also misused; little sense or ease of communication.
2 Communication often impaired by completely inappropriate or misused structures or vocabulary items.
1 A „hotchpotch‟ of half-learned misuse structures and vocabulary items rendering communication almost impossible.
Form
6 Highly organized; clear progression of ideas well linked; like educated native writer.
5 Material well organized; links could occasionally be clearer but communication not impaired.
4 Some lack of organization, re-reading required for clarification of ideas.
3 Little or no attempt at connectivity, though reader can deduce some organization.
2 Individual ideas may be clear, but very difficult to deduce connection between them.
1 Lack of organization so severe that communication is seriously impaired.
SCORE:
Gramm:__+ Voc:__+ Mech:__+ Fluency:__+ Form:__= ( x 10)
B. Personal Letter
1. Definition of Personal Letter
In order to communicate to each other in a distance, people send personal letter and become pen pals. Sudarwati and Grace (2017) summarize that personal letter is a type of letter that usually concerns personal matters and is sent to someone you know. For example, you might write to a friend, family member, classmate or pen pal. Personal letters have been popular forms of personal communication since 18th century. However, various innovations over the past several decades have contributed to a decline in the practice of personal letter writing.
Corresponding with a peer hundreds or even thousands of miles away is a rich educational experience for most young people. They learn something about different schools, towns, and countries; they learn something about the commonalties and differences among people; and they also learn something about writing. Personal letter writing will enrich people‟s knowledge about writing and life experience.
2. Parts of Personal Letter
Personal letters, also known as friendly letters and social notes normally have five parts. Kurniawan summarizes the part of letter as the following.28
1) The Heading. This includes the address, line by line, with the last line being the date. Skip a line after the heading.
2) The Greeting. The greeting always ends with comma. The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word “dear” and using the person‟s given name or relationship, or it may be informal if appropriate.
Formal: Dear Uncle Jim, Dear Mr. Wilkins Informal: hi Joe, Greetings,
3) The Body. It is also known as the main text. This includes the message you want to write. Normally in a friendly letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented. If not indented, be sure to skip a space between paragraphs. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close.
4) The Complementary close. This short expression is always a few words on a single line. It ends in a comma. It should be indented to the same column as the heading. Skip one or three spaces (two is usual) for the signature.
5) The Signature line. Type or print your name. The handwritten signature goes above this line and below the close. The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close. The signature should be written in blue or black ink. If the letter is quite informal, you may omit the signature line as long as you sign the letter.
28 Lany Kurniawan, Talk Active 2, (Jakarta: Yudhistira, 2014), p. 72
3. Types of Personal Letter
Personal letter is one of means of communication that people share to someone. People share their happiness, they show their gratitude, share their holiday experience, etc. here are some types of personal letter which are summarized by Sudarwati and Grace.
a. Love
We can write a love letter to someone whom we love or care about.
In this letter, we express feelings of affection and romance.
b. Farewell
In a farewell letter, we say goodbye and good luck to someone who is moving interstate or overseas, or changing schools.
c. Congratulation
We would send this type of letter to congratulate someone on a birth, wedding, achievement, or award.
d. Condolence
In a condolence letter, we show sympathy, usually for the loss of someone close to the recipient. We might wish them strength through their grief, say we are sorry for their loss, or share memories of the person they have lost.
e. Celebration
A holiday letter could celebrate a birthday, Eidul Fitr, Christmast, New Year, or any other special event or holiday.
f. Thank you
When we write a thank you letter, we are showing our appreciation to someone. Perhaps they invited us to their birthday party, gave us a thoughtful gift, or did us a favor. This is less formal than an appreciation letter, and would be sent to a friend or family member.
Every types of personal letter might use different expression to start the conversation. Here are some phrase that can be used in the writing of personal letter according to Bashir (2014: 97-98)
Kind of expression Expression
1. Gratitude I‟m just writing to thank you for …
It was very kind of you to …
Thanks very much for …
2. Giving advice Well, I thought about it and if I were you, I would …
Have you thought about …
I think you should … 3. Delivering good
news
I‟m sure you will be happy to hear that …
I‟m sure you will be interested to know that
OMG! You‟ll never guess what happened!
4. Delivering bad news
I‟m sorry but I have to tell you that …
I‟m extremely sorry to hear that …
It was heart wrenching to read about … 5. Asking for help I wonder if you could help me.
I hope it‟s not too much to ask but …
I wonder if I could ask you a favor. Could you …?
6. Apologizing I would like to apologize for …
I‟m sorry that …
Words are not enough to erase the pain I have given you but I want to say how sorry I am.
4. Examples of Personal Letter Here are examples of personal letter.
Example 1
Rachel Thomas
234, Hill View Apartments California
10th March 2010
Dear Rachel,
In today’s world it is very difficult to get true friends who stay with us when we are in need of them and who we can completely count on. Even when we find such friends, it is very hard to keep them close to us. But you are the special angel sent by God as my friend and I will keep you safe with me forever.
However, today I would like to express thanks for being my true friend and creating that unique distinction in my life.
With best wishes, Warmly,
Sofia
The Heading
The Greeting
The complimentary
close
The Signature The Body
Example 2 (taken from Sugeng, 2014: 105) D/194
Block 4 Sector 7 Vashi
29th October 2012
Dear Mr. Gupta
I am aware that some of my neighbors have complained to you about the loud party I held at my rented apartment a few days ago. I am most embarrassed about this incident and sincerely regret the disturbance it may have caused to my neighbors. Please accept my apologies.
The reason for the excessive noise was that it was my birthday celebration and I had invited around 20 friends.
My girlfriend had also hired a local music band to perform at the party. Trust me! We weren’t expecting that things would get this loud. We did turn the music down after 11 o’clock, but I guess it was already late.
I have since personally apologized to the neighbors and they seem to have understood the situation. Rest assured that this incident will not be repeated.
Yours sincerely,
Gautam
The Heading
The Greeting
The Body
The complimentary
close
The Signature
Example 3
Puri Anjasmoro B7/25
Semarang, Central Java 50144 Indonesia
August 21st
Dear Evan,
How are you? I hope you and your family are fine. My family and I are fine too.
Thank you for the bag you sent me. I like it very much.
However, my sister says I shouldn’t wear it to school because it is very big. My sister is the best but I feel that she talks too much.
Do you have any plans to visit me? I hope to hear from you soon.
Your loyal friend,
Raka
C. Outlining Technique
1. Definition of Outline Technique
Outline is one of techniques in the pre-writing stage which help writers organize their ideas. In the pre-writing stage, writers do brainstorming to find any ideas they want to include in their writing. Then, to make the ideas become more organized and are related to each other, the writer put them into an outline. Langan agrees that outline is a plan to help writers
achieve a unified, well-organized, and supported composition.29 Writers are able to involve one main idea and its supporting details as they create an outline. Further, Zemach and Rumisek state that outline shows writers what to write before they begin to write, outline also keeps them forgetting any important points.30
2. Steps of Applying Outline
Outline technique can be applied in any kind of text. Here are the steps how to apply the outline technique according to Robitalle and Conelly.31 a. Begin by filling your thesis.
b. Next, select the main ideas you will use to support your thesis.
Remember that you will develop one main idea in each body paragraph.
c. Generate additional ideas if you don‟t have enough main topics to support your thesis.
d. Write a tentative topic sentence for each body paragraph using the outline template.
e. Generate ideas to develop each body paragraph.
f. Decide which supporting ideas to use and the order in which to present them. Add them to your outline.
g. Revise your thesis statement to fit the ideas you will develop in the writing text. If you intend to use blueprinted thesis, (one that include the main topics of support), you should list the topics of support in the order you will introduce them in the writing text.
29 John Langan, College Writing Skills with Reading 5th ed., (New York: McGraw Hill, 2001), p. 30.
30 Dorothy E. Zemach and Lisa A. Rumisek, College Writing From Paragraph to Essay, (Between Town Roads, Oxford: MacMillan Education, 2003), p. 63.
31 Julie Robitaille and Robert Conelly, Writer’s Resource; From Paragraph to Essay, (Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007). p. 78.
3. The Types of Outline a. Formal Outline
The formal outline, which is the most detailed, structured outline, allows you to plot all your main and major supporting ideas. This is the outline that uses roman numerals, letters, and Arabic numbers.
Main ideas are designated with roman numerals; supporting ideas to develop a main idea are designated with capital letters; points to further develop supporting ideas are designated with Arabic numbers.
The format looks like some variation of this:
I. Main idea
A. Supporting detail B. Supporting detail C. Supporting detail II. Main idea
A. Supporting detail
1. Further development 2. Further development B. Supporting detail
Here is an example of a formal outline written for an essay about the attitudes of children toward food. Note that each main and supporting idea is stated in a complete sentence. Also note that the ordering strategy is a progressive order.
Thesis: Children can be taught to have healthy attitudes about food.
I. Parents should make mealtimes pleasant.
A. Keep conversation enjoyable.
1. Avoid discussing problems.
2. Avoid arguments about food.
B. Serve balanced meals and let children choose quantities.
C. Avoid eating in front of the television.
II. Parents should not forbid children to eat certain foods.
A. Children will want what they cannot have.
B. Reasonable amounts of sugar and fat are not harmful.
III. Parents should stress health and fitness.
A. Teach nutrition.
B. Serve healthy foods.
C. Exercise with children.
D. Set an example.
IV. Parents should praise children for their behavior, not their appearance.
A. Children should take pride in what they do, not in how thin they are.
B. Those with a tendency toward carrying more weight need to like themselves.
You may prefer writing a formal outline with phrases rather than with sentences, as in this excerpt of a phrase outline for an essay on the causes of eating disorders.
I. Poor self-image
A. Caused by media emphasis on thinness B. Caused by self-hatred
If you have trouble completing your outline, you may need to go back to prewriting to generate additional ideas.
b. Outline Cards
To outline using cards, you need several large index cards (or you can use sheets of paper). Use one card to plan each paragraph. On each of your cards, list your ideas in the order they will appear in the paragraph the card represents. One advantage of cards is flexibility:
You can shuffle paragraph cards into different sequences to examine alternative arrangements.
c. The Outline Worksheet
The outline worksheet, like outline cards, allows you to plot organization in as great or as little detail as you require. While it is not as easy to rework parts of the outline when the worksheet is used (this is the advantage of cards), it is easy to get a clear overview of your organization (this is one advantage of the formal outline).
Below is a sample outline worksheet. To use it, fill in the blanks with the amount of detail that works for you. If you have trouble filling in the blanks, return to idea generation.
Sample Outline Worksheet Introduction
Detail to generate reader interest
___________________________________________________________
Preliminary thesis
___________________________________________________________
Paragraph Main idea
___________________________________________________________
Supporting details
___________________________________________________________
Paragraph Main idea
___________________________________________________________
Supporting details
___________________________________________________________
(Note: The number of paragraph sections will correspond to the number of paragraphs planned for the first draft.)
Conclusion
Detail to provide closure
__________________________________________________________
Here is a sample outline worksheet for an essay about the attitudes of children toward food.
Sample Outline Worksheet Introduction
Detail to generate reader interest
Give statistics on number of overweight children in the United States.
Preliminary thesis:
Children can be taught to have healthy attitudes about food.
Paragraph Main idea
Parents should stress health and fitness.
Supporting details
Teach nutrition, serve healthy foods, exercise with children, set example.
Paragraph Main idea
Parents should make mealtime pleasant.
Supporting details
Keep conversation enjoyable, serve balanced meals, let children choose quantities, avoid eating in front of television.
Paragraph Main idea
Parents should not forbid children to eat certain foods.
Supporting details
Children should be proud of what they do, not how thin they are.
Havier-set children need to like themselves.
Conclusion
Detail to provide closure
Explain how it is important for children to have healthy attitudes about foods.
D. Previous Studies
There are some researches which are related to this study.
Firstly, a script entitled Developing the Students’ Ability in Writing Recount Text through Guiding Questions Technique by Iwan. He conducted the study to know whether guiding question is useful in developing students‟
writing recount text. The sample was the second year students of SMPN 1 Terbanggi Besar Central Lampung in the year 2009/2010. The result of the study shows the significant changes between pretest and posttest in the experimental class, that is 77%. Thus, it reveals that guiding technique in teaching writing is useful.
The second script was Teaching Writing Recount Text by Using Task- based Learning by Izz Rizqiyani. The study was aimed to improve students‟
ability in writing recount text by using task-based learning of second graders
in one of junior high school in North Jakarta. She used classroom action research as the method and giving pretest, mid test, and post test. The result reveals that studying writing recount text by using task-based approach is fun and interesting. The change of students‟ pretest and post test is about 93,94%;
it means that task-based approach is effective in teaching writing skill, chiefly recount text.
The third research was conducted by Maimanah (2014), entitled The Effectiveness of Using Mind Mapping in the Teaching of Writing Essay. This research was conducted to the eleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah 25 Setiabudi Pamulang. She did the study to know the use of mind mapping toward students‟ writing essay. She used a quasi-experimental study which compares pre-rest and post-test between the experimental group and the controlled group by using T-test formula. The mean of gained score of experiment class was 20,2; while the mean gained score of control class was 3,7. The result of statistical hypothesis showed that t0=5,10 and ttable 1,67 which reveals that t0>ttable. It indicates the alternative hypothesis was accepted. She concludes that mind mapping technique has significant effect in order to help students in writing essay.
Based on those previous studies, teaching writing is able to be delivered by guiding questions technique, task-based technique, or mind mapping technique. The writer intends to conduct another research about teaching writing, yet this time is about the use of outline technique on students‟ writing product.
E. Thinking Framework
Teaching writing in secondary school has involved students in arranging paragraphs. As in the description beforehand, paragraphs should clearly convey students‟ purposes. Therefore, before writing, students must plan their writing carefully. They have to present the content of their writing smoothly, so that the readers are able to catch the intended information. However, students often write down their ideas directly without any planning. Consequently, the
presentation of the content of their writing does not run smoothly in an order way. Finally their target reader, the teacher, is not able to well understand the information they present in their writing. In this case, teachers hold important role in teaching outline. As mentioned in some books, outlining technique is the initial stage in writing process. However, teachers do not teach this technique. As a consequence, it causes student‟s difficulty in writing.
One way to achieve a good paragraph is by outlining. Although Kirton and McMillan state that writing is flexible – ideas are developing as we write,32 yet making outline before drafting may help students keep focus on what they want to write. Further, Braine and May shows that we can arrange our ideas in logical order by outlining. In addition, we can put the transition and topic sentence in our outline to ensure our writing‟s coherence. When teaching writing, teacher should assure the students have understood about how to write a good paragraph.
F. Research Hypothesis
The research hypotheses that will be used in this research concerned to the influence of applying outline technique in personal letter writing. There are two kinds of hypotheses, they are:
1. H0 (Null Hypothesis): There is no effectiveness of using outline technique on students‟ pre-writing stage of personal letter in the eleventh grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani.
2. H (Alternative Hypothesis): There is an effectiveness of using outline technique on students‟ pre-writing stage of personal letter in the eleventh grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani.
32 Bill Kirton and Kathleen McMillan, Just Write; An Easy-to-Use Guide to Writing, (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 75.
In this research, the hypothesis which used was the alternative hypothesis. It was needed to be tested in order to prove the research notion about the effectiveness of using outline technique on students‟ pre-writing stage to produce better writing of personal letter.
34
The writer uses quantitative method and chooses Quasi Experimental as the design in this research. This research was conducted to identify if there is any significant change of students’ writing scores after students apply outlining technique. The difference could be obtained by comparing the results of pre- test and post-test between two different classes; experimental class and control class. Then, the writer would find whether or not the outline technique is effective to help students producing better writing. If the result shows that students are able to produce better writing, it means that outline technique is good to be implemented in teaching writing.
During the research, each class had two sessions; pre-test and post-test session. Here is the description of the research process:
1. Pre-test session
On January 20th 2018, the writer scheduled to enter Class XI-IPS and XI- MIPA. The writer asked students to write a personal letter. After the writer corrected the post-test, according to the result, the writer decided which one is included into control and experimental class.
2. Post-test session
In the post-test on February 20th 2018, students in both classes were asked to write their second personal letter. The experimental class began the writing by applying outline technique, whereas the control class did not.
B. Place and Time
The writer conducted the research from January 20th, 2018 until February 20th, 2018. This research was conducted to the second grade students of MA Soebono Mantofani. It is located in Jl. Sumatera 75 Jombang – Ciputat, South Tangerang.
C. Population and Sample
The population of the research were 147 students in MA Soeb
