THESIS
Submitted to Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq of Jember to fulfill of the requirements for the degree
of Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training
English Education Program
By:
Bella Amelia Resmanto NIM: T20186010
ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF KIAI HAJI
ACHMAD SIDDIQ JEMBER
JUNE 2022
ii
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIARY WRITING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY AT THE EIGHTH GRADE
OF MTs BANIY KHOLIEL BANGSALSARI
UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Submitted to Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq of Jember to fulfill of the requirements for the degree
of Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training
English Education Program
By:
Bella Amelia Resmanto NIM: T20186010
Supervisor Approved
Ninuk Indrayani, M.Pd NIP. 197802102009122002
iii
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIARY WRITING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY AT THE EIGHTH GRADE
OF MTs BANIY KHOLIEL BANGSALSARI
UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Has been examined and approved as the requirements to obtain a bachelor‟s degree of Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd)
Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training English Education Department
Day: Thursday Date: June 9th, 2022
iv
MOTTO
ِباتِكلاب َملِعلا اوُدِّيق
“Keep knowledge by writing.”
(Shahih Al-Jami‟, no.4434 Syaikh Al-Albani mengatakan bahwa hadits ini sahih)*
*Al-Bani dan Muhammad Nasiruddin, Shahih Al-Jami‟ (Jakarta: Najla Press, 2004), 4434.
v
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my beloved mother Mrs. Khairu Wahyuni and father Mr. Bambang Resmanto. I would like to thank for all your prayers, sacrifice, and struggle. You have raised and educated me with love and affection.
I also say thanks to all of my family and my beloved future husband, thanks for your support and motivation.
vi ABSTRACT
Bella Amelia Resmanto, 2022: The Implementation of Diary Writing to Improve Students‟ Writing Ability at the Eighth Grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
Keywords: diary writing, writing ability
The students of the eight grade had problem in writing. The students immediately wrote what they thought without regarding their writing was correct or not and wrote their assignment freely. The students‟ writing skills should be more attention. They still didn‟t understand about writing. The problem was they didn‟t practice enough. The teacher realized that he did not provide sufficient writing practice both inside and outside the classroom. So, the writer emphasizes on the study in the use of diary writing by giving an assignment at class and home for students as their pleasant habit. It will help students to understand easily.
This research is about the implementation of diary writing to improve students‟ writing ability at the eighth grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
The research question in this research focused on “How is the implementation of diary writing able to improve students' writing ability?”. The objective of research was to investigate how the implementation of diary writing is able to improve students' writing ability.
The approach used in this research was Classroom Action Research.
(CAR). The classroom action and research design used in this research are collaborative classroom action research. In this study, researcher was research with the English teacher of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari. The researchers conducted this research at the eighth grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari of 25 students. The research was conducted in cycle 1 and cycle 2. Each cycle consisted of four steps: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. To collect the data, the researcher used the students‟ writing testing, observing, and interviewing. The testing was utilized to find out the improvement of the students‟
writing after the research was conducted.
The results of the research in cycle 1 showed that 60% of students who managed to get a score above the minimum mastery criterion (KKM) with the mean 67,6, and the held of cycle 2 showed that 76% of students who got the criteria of success with the mean 72,2. The criteria for success in this study is if students who achieve a minimum mastery criterion (70) are equal to or more than 75% of the total students in this study, it can be said to be successful. It showed a significant improvement, thus it fulfill the success criteria. It can be concluded that the implementation of writing diary is believed to be an effective way to improve students‟ writing ability at the eighth grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
vii
ACKNOLEDGEMENT
The researcher very grateful to Allah SWT the most gracious and the most merciful Praise be to Allah, the almighty for blessing given to researcher to accomplish this undergraduate thesis. The peace is upon to our prophet Muhammad SAW who brought the complete teaching of Islam and the human life from the darkness into brightness that is right path of Allah SWT.
This undergraduate thesis is writing to fulfill a part of requirement to obtain degree of bachelor (S1) in English Education Program of Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember under the title “The Implementation of Diary Writing to Improve the Students‟ Writing Ability at the Eighth Grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari”.
In arranging this undergraduate thesis, there are a lot of people who always giving support, motivation, and also the good advice until this undergraduate thesis has done. The researcher also realize, that without help from numerous people, this undergraduate thesis would have not been completed as it is. So in this change the researcher would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following people:
1. Prof. Dr. H. Babun Suharto, S.E, M.M., as the Rector of Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember.
2. Prof. Dr. Hj.Mukni‟ah, M.Pd.I., as the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training.
3. As‟ari, M.Pd.I., as the Head of English Education Program.
viii
4. Ninuk Indrayani, M.Pd., as the supervisor who has patiently guided, given suggestion and helped to finish this undergraduate thesis well.
5. Moh. Hisbi Muttahid, S.Sos.I., as the principal of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari who gave permittion for conducting th research.
6. Ajeng Wahyuningtyas, S.Pd., as the English Teacher of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari and all of the students of the eighth grade who helped the researcher during the research.
This undergraduate thesis is not perfect one but it is expected to be useful for the readers. Thus, for these reason, constructive thought, suggestion and critic are accepted to make this thesis be better.
Jember, March 19th, 2022
Author
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER ... i
ADVISOR APPROVAL SHEET ... ii
EXAMINER APPROVAL SHEET ... iii
MOTTO ... 1iv
DEDICATION ... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
ACKNOLEDGEMENT ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
LIST OF TABLE ... xi
LIST OF APPENDIXCES ... xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of Study ... 1
B. Research Question ... 5
C. Research Objective... 5
D. Research Significance ... 5
E. Research Limitation ... 5
F. Definition of Key Term ... 6
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7
A. Previous Research ... 7
B. Theoretical Framework ... 13
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 26
A. Research Design ... 26
x
B. Research Setting ... 27
C. Research Subject ... 27
D. Action Research Procedure ... 28
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION ... 38
A. Description of Research Object ... 38
B. Research Finding ... 42
C. Discussion ... 58
CHAPTER V CLOSURE ... 60
A. Conclusion ... 60
B. Suggestion ... 61
REFFERENCES ... 62 APPENDIXCES
xi
LIST OF TABLE
Table 2.1: The Research Similarities and Differences ... 11
Table 3.1: Scoring Rubric ... 25
Table 4.1: Students‟ Data of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari ... 32
Table 4.2: The Result of Test Cycle 1... 42
Table 4.3: The Resylt of Test Cycle 2 ... 56
xii
LIST OF APPENDIXCES
Appendix 1: Declaration of Authenticity Appendix 2: Matrix
Appendix 3: RPP
Appendix 4: PPT Recount Text Appendix 5: Interview Transcript Appendix 6: Preliminary Study
Appendix 7: Students‟ Presentace of VIII Class Appendix 8: Students‟ Diaries
Appendix 10: Documentation Appendix 11: Oservation Checklist Appendix 12: Permission Letter
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study
Language is the basis for human knowledge1. Also language teaching is the foundation core for other subjects. For learning languages including English, there are several skills, namely receptive and productive skills2. Receptive skills include listening skills and reading skills. While productive skills include speaking skills and writing skills. Both of them are very important to develop in the process of learning English. The students also is necessary to learn writing skill.
This is also supported by the existence of a quote from the letter of the Al-Quran which contains the command that there is our suggestion to write, quoted from Surah Al-„Alaq in verse 4 which reads:
ِم َ ل ق َ ْ
لاِب َم َّ
لَع ْي ِذ َّ
لا
Meaning: "Who teaches (humans) with a pen." (Surah Al-'Alaq : Verse 4)3 The fourth verse means that writing with a pen can make humans record various knowledge, and with a pen too human can express all opinions, desires and by writing will also gain new knowledge. Among the forms of Allah's grace is that He teaches humans to be able to use writing instruments.
Teaching here means giving him the ability to use it. With the ability to use writing instruments, humans can write their findings so that they can be read
1 Chomsky Noam, Language and Mind Third Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 153.
2 Jack C. Richards, “Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), The Role of Vocabulary Teaching, Vol. 10, No. 1,(September, 2013): 84.
3 Al-Qur‟ân, 96:4.
by others and the next generation. By being read by others, this knowledge can be developed. Thus, humans can know what they did not previously know, meaning that knowledge will continue to develop. Such is the size of the read-write function.
Langan states writing is a complex skill to learn and to teach. By wring, the students can express their idea, and enrich vocabulary.4 Writing are very important for a students to support their needs. In teaching writing skills in schools has two important benefits. First, writing is a skills that can demonstrate the ability to use strategy such as planning, evaluation, and revision in order to achieve the purpose of writing with variety of opinions and supporting evidences they have. Second, Writing means to expand and deepen the student's knowledge.5
By writing skills a student can write what is on his mind and issued his opinion in accordance with what he wants to say in learning.6 In expressing opinions, students must also provide supporting data and facts or references from which the opinion was obtained. In addition, students‟ writing activities can acquire new knowledge that they did not know to relearn or repeating what he had written earlier. By having writing skills, students can also add to the knowledge they already know and what they don't know. Writing is a way to learn a lesson. Writing skills are needed by students since they are in elementary school so that when they are at a higher level, they will be the master of writing skills itself.
4 J. Langan, College Writing Skills with Readings (6thed.) ( New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2005)
5 Graham, Charles, McArthur and Fitzgerald, Handbook Writing Research. (New York: The
Guilford Press, 2007), 34.
6 Ihda Muflih Saifullah, “The Use of Dairy Writingc to Improve The Students‟ Writing Skill in Recount Text” (Thesis, IAIN Salatiga, 2017), 2.
According to Anne Lamott, there are many products of writing that can support students needed and it can be see in whenever and wherever like magazines, newspapers etc.7 Douglas Brown states for academic writing like paper, thesis, article, etc., and personal writing for examples diaries, questionnaire, etc. One of the activities of writing that can help students writing is personal writing or usually that call as diary writing.8
Diary writing is an activity that asks some students to write sentences freely. According Jahnson in 2002, states defines as kind of handwritten activity that arranged by the expression of personal feelings, thoughts and experiences on daily basis. In implementing the diary writing as a habit, it can help the students to improve their writing skill.9 Through writing a diary in English, people's writing skills will be developed. They have tried to improve their writing skill. However, they do writing practicing subconsciously.
Sometimes they do not realize that they have done practicing through writing diary.10
Based on the researcher's observations through interviews with one of the English teachers, the researcher found that there were problems that occurred in learning English for the eighth grade students of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari, such as: 1) The students‟ writing skills should be more attention. 2) They still didn‟t understand about writing. 3) The problem was they didn‟t practice enough. 4) They often get bad score in their exercise. 5) Sometimes, they feel confuse to get idea and to understand the content
7 Anne Lamott, Birt by birt some instructions on Writing and life. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1994), 23.
8 H. Douglas Brown, Language Assessment Principle and Classroom Practice, (New York:
Pearson Education, 2004).
9 A. Johnson, “Modern English Teacher”. Journal Writing for Audience. 2002, 46-50.
10 Leli Ana Veritasari, “Using Dairy to Develop Writing Ability of The Fourth Grades of Kanisius Notoyudan Yogyakarta Elementary School” (Thesis, Universitas Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta, 2008), 3.
because of the limited vocabulary that they have. Then, the teacher tries to help solving their problem with some activities. The teacher realized that he did not provide sufficient writing practice both inside and outside the classroom. In teaching this type of text, for example, the teacher needs at least three meeting to bring students to the expected stage.
Based on the background above, the writer emphasized the study in the use of diary writing by giving an assignment at class and home for students as their pleasant habit. It help students to understand easily.
The theory in similar research but with different focus. They are the research from Atena Haghnavaz Bazir with the title “The Role of Writing Diary in a Classroom”11, the next research from Rosyidah Hardiwatiningsih with the title “The use diary writing in learning vocabulary”, and from Ihda Muflih Saifullah with the title “The Use of Diary Writing to Improve the Students‟ Writing Skill in Recount Text”12. The some research that proves that research using diary writing has important in improving students' writing skills So, the study focuses on “The Implementation of Diary Writing to Improve Students' Writing Ability” (A classroom action research at the eighth grade students of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari in the Academic Year of 2021/2022)”.
B. Research Questions
Based on the background of research above, the researcher formulated the research questions as follows:
11 Atena Haghnavaz Bazir, “The role of writing diary in a classroom”. JIEB, vol 4, 2016.
12 Saifullah, 2017
How is the implementation of diary writing able to improve students' writing ability?
C. Research Objective
Based on the research questions above, the aim of the research is to investigate how the implementation of diary writing is able to improve students' writing ability
D. Research Significances
There are some benefits of the study which are divided into two aspects. They are theoretical and practical significance :
1. Theoretical Significance
This study can be a reference and theoretical knowledge for similar research.
2. Practical Significance
The result of the study will provide the alternative way for teaching writing which is more enjoyable to improve the students‟ writing skills andincrease their motivation and develop their writing skills
E. Research Limitation
This study applied to the eighth grade students of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari. Researchers hope their writing skills will improve gradually. By writing a diary students will write better day by day. Based on the reasons above, this research focus on the implementation of diary writing to improve the students‟ writing ability in recount text at the eighth grade students of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
F. Definition of Key Term
The researcher would like to explanation some key term, such as:
1. Dairy Writing
Diary writing is a process of writing that allows the students to write anything they want such as their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences.13 Which someone write about her daily experiences or sometimes with spaces.
2. Writing Ability
Writing is the process of documenting thoughts and experiences. It is viewed as a communicative social activity through which one can communicate a variety of messages to a close or distant, known or unknown readers.14 So, writing ability is the skill to express idea, thought, and feeling to other in writing symbol. It make other people or readers understand the idea conveyed.
13 Blanka Kimova, “Diary writing as a tool for students‟ self-reflection and teacher‟s feedback in the Course of Academic Writing,” Social and Behavioral Science, 197, ( 2015 ): 551.
14 Zuhri Efendi, “Journal Writing Ability,” Improving students‟ ability in writing English teaching by using portfolio assessment (ELT) (An Experimental Study at SMKN 1 Blangpidie) Vol.4 No.2 (November, 2017): 156.
7
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW A. Previous Research
1. The first research was conducted by Vitaloka Irmala Dewi, University of Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta, 2017, entitled “A Study on the Use of Diary Writing to Improve the 8th Grade Students‟ Vocabulary Mastery in SMP Negeri 13 Yogyakarta”. The method used in this study uses a quantitative approach to the type of survey research. The research was aimed the diary writing was implemented as the solution proposed by the English teacher because of the students‟ lack of vocabulary mastery. Through implementing diary writing, the English teacher expected that students‟
vocabulary mastery would be improved. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze how diary writing improved students‟ vocabulary mastery. The participants in this research were students at the 8th grade B of SMP Negeri 13 Yogyakarta and the English teacher. The researcher used three research instruments to obtain the data. They were observation, questionnaire, and interview. The results of this research showed that diary writing was implemented as a weekly exercise which was done by the students at home. The explanation of to what extent the implementation of diary writing helped students to improve their vocabulary mastery was divided.15
15 Vitaloka Irmala Dewi, “A Study on the Use of Diary Writing to Improve the 8th Grade Students‟ Vocabulary Mastery in SMP Negeri 13 Yogyakarta” (Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta, 2017)
2. The second was conducted by Leli Ana Veritasari, University of Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta, 2008, entitled “Using Diary to Develop Writing Ability of the Fourth Graders of Kanisius Notoyudan Yogyakarta Elementary School”. The method used in this study uses a mixed quantitative-qualitative research. This research was addressed to determine the subscription and describe students‟ perceptions of the application of diary writing in writing lesson at SD Kanisius Notoyudan Yogyakarta. The research process was used to obtain data about improving students‟ writing skills during implementation of diary writing. The quantitative research was conducted when the researcher was conduct experiments on participants. In this study, the researcher divided them into two group to obtain the data, it were experimental group and the control group. And the qualitative research was conducted when the researcher analyzed the diary.
The researcher also conducted a survey with interview to the experimental group to answer the second question in the research problem. The research concluded that writing diary contributed to students‟ writing skill, which consisted of content, grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation. And students commented positively on the implementation of diary writing in the writing class.16
3. The third research was conducted by Rahma Dian Indriyani, State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2020, entitled “Using Writing Diary to Improve Students„ Writing Ability on Recount Text”. The
16 Leli Ana Veritasari, “Using Diary to Develop Writing Ability of the Fourth Graders of Kanisius Notoyudan Yogyakarta Elementary School” (Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta, 2008)
method used in this study uses Classroom Action Research. This research was aimed to discover whether writing diary can improve student„s writing ability on recount text at the tenth grade students of SMA Negeri 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan. The subject of this research is X IPA 2 class of SMA Negeri 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan that consisted of 32 students. It used Class Action Research. Quantitative data were gathered from tests while qualitative data gathered from observation and interview. Based on qualitative data showed that students become more familiar with the writing process so that they were encouraged to write frequently. In addition quantitative data from the tests indicate that students helped using writing diary in enriching their ability on recount text. It can be concluded that the implementation of using diary writing to improve the students„
writing ability at tenth grades of SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan is considered to be an effective way.17
4. The fourth research was conducted by Rosyida Hardiwatiningsih, Universitas Islam Negeri Surabaya, 2019, entitled “The Use of Diary Writing in Learning Vocabulary at the Eighth Grade of SMP Plus Darus Sholah Jember”. The research used qualitative method which used descriptive qualitative to analyze the students‟ use of diary writing in learning vocabulary. The researcher observed the students during writing diary and learning vocabulary to describe the way of students during using diary in learning vocabulary. This research focused on the students‟ use of
17 Rahma Dian Indriyani, “Using Writing Diary to Improve Students„ Writing Ability on Recount Text” (State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2020)
diary writing in learning vocabulary and find out the students‟ challenges during they write diary in learning vocabulary. This research was conducted on eighth grade unggulan at SMP “Plus” Darus Sholah Jember the academic year 2018 – 2019. The researcher found that the students use their diary in learning vocabulary. The students can learn vocabulary by listening the teacher‟s explanation, reading the example of diary, using any sources and tools during translating their diary and noting the difficult vocabulary from their diary. The researcher also found the students‟
challenges during they write diary and learn vocabulary such as in determine topic and content, and choose the correct vocabulary toward their diary.18
5. The last research was conducted by Nur Millah Mutsliah State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2016, entitle “The Effectiveness of Diary Writing on Students‟ Writing of Recount Text”. This research was conducted in a quantitative method with quasi experimental design.
The population of this research were seven classes with a total of 252 students. Classes were randomly assigned to the control and experimental classes. The experimental class was applying diary writing and control class was applying conventional teaching techniques or without applying diary writing. Furthermore, it was carried out with the procedures: doing a pre-test, implementing an intervention, and doing a posttest. The data was collected through the tests and interviews. This finding is also in line with
18 Rosyida Hardiwatiningsih, “The Use of Diary Writing in Learning Vocabulary at the Eighth Grade of SMP “Plus” Darus Sholah Jember” (State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabya, 2019)
the results of interviews which show that writing diaries is very effective to help students find writing ideas, improve their writing fluency, and develop their writing habits.19
Table 2.1
The Similarities and Differences between Previous Research and this Research
No. Author and Title Similarities Differences
1 2 3 4
1. Vitaloka Irmala Dewi in 2017 “A Study on the Use of Diary Writing to Improve the 8th Grade Students‟ Vocabulary Mastery in SMP Negeri 13 Yogyakarta”
a. The previous research and this current research analyzed students using Dairy Writing
a. Previous research used quantitative approach to the type of survey research while this research used classroom action research.
b. The previous research used the dairy writing to improve students‟
vocabulary mastery while this research was to improve students‟ writing ability
2. Leli Ana Veritasari in 2008 “Using Diary to Develop Writing Ability of the Fourth Graders of Kanisius Notoyudan Yogyakarta Elementary School”
a. The previous research and this current research analyzed students‟
writing ability using Dairy Writing
a. Leli used
qualitative- quantitative
descriptive it was experimental and control class while this research used classroom action and research.
3. Rahma Dian Indriyani in 2020 “Using Writing Diary to Improve Students„ Writing Ability on Recount Text”
a. Both of the researchers utilized Classroom Action Research
b. This current research and the previous research
a. The subject of this research was the students of the Eighth Grade of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari while Rahma‟s was at
19 Nur Millah Mutsliah. “The Effectiveness of Diary Writing on Students‟ Writing of Recount Text”. Skripsi, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2016.
discussed about diary writing to improve writing ability
SMA Negeri 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan.
4. Rosyida
Hardiwatiningsih in 2019. “The Use of Diary Writing in Learning Vocabulary at The Eighth Grade of SMP Plus Darus Sholah Jember”
a. This current research and the previous research discussed about students using diary writing
a. Previous research used qualitative method which used descriptive
qualitative
b. The previous research used the dairy writing in learning vocabulary while this research was to improve students‟ writing ability
5. Nur Millah Mutsiliah in 2016 “The Effectiveness of Diary Writing on Students‟ Writing of Recount Text” (A Quasi-experimental Study at the Eighth Grade of SMPN 166 Jakarta in the Academic Year 2015/2016)”
a. Both of researches discussed about diary writing to improve writing ability
a. Previous research used quantitative method with pre- test and post-test quasi-experimental design while this research used classroom action research
b. The previous research discussed
about the
effectiveness of diary writing while this current research about the implementation of diary writing.
This study in the use of diary writing by giving an assignment at home for students as their pleasant habit. It will helps students to understand and applying to write easily. So, the specialty of this research compared with the previous researches above is this current research focused on to investigate how the
implementation of diary writing is able to improve students' writing ability. While Vitaloka‟s research focused on improve writing students‟ vocabulary mastery.
B. Theoretical Framework 1. Writing Ability
a. Definition of Writing Ability
Barli Bram says that writing means to try produce or reproduce written message, it should have something meaningful to convey. To put the messages successfully, the writer apply a number of writing strategies.20 Donn Byrne states writing is organizing the sentences into a text, into a coherent. Whole which is as explicit as possible and complete in itself that are able to communicate successfully with the readers through the medium of writing.21
According to Dorothy and Carlos, writing is an important form of communication in day-to-day life, but it is especially important in high school and college. Writing also one of the most difficult skills to master in both a first language and a second language. Students can find it challenging to find ideas to include their writing, and each culture has its own style for organizing academic writing.22
Writing ability is defined as the ability to perform writing tasks for a given purpose, satisfy a given discourse community with regard to the structure and content of the discourse, and communicate
20 Bram, Barly., Write Well (Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 1995), 7.
21 Byrne, Don., Teaching Writing Skills New Edition (London: Longman, 1977), 2.
22Dorothy E Zemach and Carlos Islam, Paragraph Writing from Sentence to Paragraph, (Macmillan, 2005), iv.
functionally.23 Based on definitions above writing ability is capacity of someone to produce written message from words, into sentences, into text, into coherence whole where the readers can understand the meaning.
b. Theory of Writing
Harmer, J., said that writing decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life, they feed the soul;
1) Cohesion
When we write text we have a number of linguistics techniques at our disposal to make sure that our propose sticks together. We can use lexical repetition and or chains of words within the same lexical set through a text to have this affect. The topic of the text is reinforced by the use of the same word more than once or by the inclusion of related words (e.g. water, waves, sea, tide). We can use various grammatical devices to help the reader understand what is being referred to at all times, even when words are left out or pronouns are substituted for nouns.
2) Coherence
The cohesive devices we have discussed help to bind elements of a text together so that we know what is being referred to and how the phrases and sentences relate to each other. But it is perfectly possible to construct a text which, although it is in such devices,
23 Yi, Jyi-yeon., Defining writing ability for classroom writing assessment in high schools. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 61.
make little sense because it is not coherent. Coherence therefore is frequently achieved by the way in which a writer sequences information, and the brings us right back to the issue of genre and text construction.
3) Register
Register, then, involves the choice of topic vocabulary to suit the subject matter of the piece. However, register is not just about topic vocabulary choice. It is also about the tone of a piece- how formal or informal it is.
4) Implication for learning and teaching
Writing in a particular genre tends to lead to the use of certain kinds of text construction. This must have implications not only for the way people write in their first or main language, but also for the ways in which we teach people to become better writers in a foreign language. since people write in different registers depending on different topics and on the tone they wish to adopt for their intended audience, then students need to made aware of how this work in English so that too can choose language appropriately.
5) Different purpose, different writing
The planning phase of the writing process, author have focus on the purpose of their writing (amongst other considerations) since this will affect what language they chose and how different
purposes provoke different kind of writing. The fact on that the writer, having decided on a purpose (advertising a job), chose to construct the advertisement on the basis of what the members of the community would be familiar with.
6) Different within a genre
Knowledge of genres (understanding how different purposes are commonly expressed within a discourse community) is only one of the many knowledge or competences that a reader brings to the task of reading, and which a writer assumes the reader will know.
In other word, there are various sub-genres within a genre. Since within each genre and sub-genre we find typical text construction, it is useful to look at how such construction can be described.24 c. Tasks of Teacher in Teaching Writing
Harmer, J., stated there are a number of tasks that the teachers should do to help their students become better writers. They are as follows;25 1) Demonstrating
Teachers have to be able to draw the features of the genre of the written texts, so that the students are aware of the differences among the types of written texts.
2) Motivating and provoking
Students often find themselves lost for words when they are
24 Harmer, J., How to Teach Writing (London: Longman, 2004), 15-27
25 Harmer, J., 41-42.
writing. In this case teachers can help them by provoking them into having ideas, enthusing them with the value of the task and persuading them what fun it can be.
3) Supporting
Students need a lot of help and reassurance once they get going, both with ideas and with the mean to carry them out.
4) Responding
Teachers react to the content and construction of a piece
supportively and often (but not always) make suggestion for its improvement.
5) Evaluating
Teachers make a correction of the students‟ writing. It can be a note which indicates where they wrote well and where they made mistakes. It is a kind of giving feedback towards the students‟
writing.
The explanation above shows that the teachers take an important role in the development of the students‟ writing skills. Good teachers are they who can perform those tasks while teaching writing. They can facilitate the students in their learning so that the students could develop their writing strategies.
d. The Aspect of Writing
Jacobs et al as cited in Weigle, states her study showed that the students‟ writing skill assessed in this research is classified into five aspect, such as:26
26 Weigle, S.C., Assessing Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres, 2002), 116.
1) The content
In terms of content or ideas, the students often found it difficult in writing down their ideas, so their writing mostly did not meet the purpose and was not relevant to the topic.
2) Paragraph organization
Developing and organizing the ideas are the other problems that the students faced in the process of writing. Most of the students could not manage their thoughts so that they tended to write whatever comes on their mind. As a result, their sentences usually do not relate each other.
3) Vocabulary
Transforming thoughts into written words is not easy. A good writer is the one who can deliver his/her message to the reader. The use of appropriate words will determine the success of the writing. For beginner writers, the word choice is the main problem. Many students often use inappropriate words. When they have difficulty in finding a word, they tend to use the first word that they found in the dictionary without considering the context.
They also tend to create new vocabulary which is not common in English words.
4) Language use
Besides the vocabulary, the language use may be another problem that the students face in writing. Because the rules of
English grammar are slightly different from Indonesia, the students commonly make mistakes in terms of grammar.
5) Mechanics.
Mechanics is one of the important aspects in writing. It involves punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. However, some people do not pay attention to this aspect while writing. They do no realize that this aspect also influent the message. The message would mean different if they put wrong punctuations and writing wrong spelling.
e. Types of Writing Performance
Saifullah., proposes five major categories of classroom writing performance. They are as follows.27
1) Imitative
This type of writing is usually for the beginners, in which they simply write down English letters, words, and possibly sentences in order to learn the conventions of the orthographic code.
2) Intensive
Students produce language to display their competence in grammar, vocabulary, or sentence formation.
3) Self-writing
Self-writing is a writing with only the self in mind as an audience. Diary or journal writing and note taking can be
27 Saifullah, 34-35.
categorized in this kind of writing in which they take a note for something for the purpose of later recall.
4) Display writing
This type of writing is more focused on task based responses in which students are responding to a prompt or assignment.
5) Real writing
The purpose of this type of writing is to exchange useful information.
Since the different writing may have different purposes, the teacher should able to give the students a clear understanding of the types of writing performance so that the students could differentiate and recognize which types their writing belongs to.
2. Diary Wriring
a. Definition of Diary Writing
Diazz Maggioli in 2004 stated that diary writing are a personal account of event, usually written in a narrative manner.28 Witing diary is in which students write thoughts, feeling, reaction, and response to something happened that is included in self-writing category, or writing with only the self in mind as an audience.29
28 Gabbriel Diaz Maggioli, Teacher-Centered Professional Development. (USA: Cover Art
Copyright, 2004), 129.
29 Mas Darul Ihsan, Djoko Ardhityawan, “The Influence of Students‟ Writing Skill by Writing Diary in Recount Text for Junior High School Students‟,” 14 Juli 2016, http://journal.unigres.ac.id/index.php/AESTHETICS/article/view/812/682.
In the midst of the 21st century era, diary writing is scarce. The digital era has affected almost all aspects of human life, including the habit of writing a diary which used to be popular especially among adolescents in the past. In the old days, a diary used to be a loyal friend to a teenager and a student. A personal diary was used to record the teenager and student‟s feelings. The moments of joy, irritation, disappointment, love, including all that happen in their life were poured into the diary. The diary thus served as a safe and complimentary means through which the adolescents “confide” their secrets. Diaries have become an effective and constructive vehicle that can help the adolescents release their emotions. Diaries have also created a positive impact in the adolescents‟ life.30
Based on the definition above, it could be concluded that diary writing is a book that contains expressions of our feelings or a record of our daily activities. Therefore, the diary writing was introduced to students to make them become familiar with the writing process so that they will be encouraged to write frequently on their own. By keeping a diary, students will develop writing skills or at least they will write better day by day because it gives they have more opportunities to write freely whatever they want to write.
30 Eko Kuntarto, “The Effectiveness of Diary Writing in Improving Universitu Students‟ Assertive Attitudes,”
b. The Purpose of Diary Writing
Curtis and Bailey states a journal or diary is a record, often kept daily, of one‟s life, a kind of personal account book.31 The similar description also proposed by Fitzpatrick states that a diary is a personal record of a writer‟s life experience and is usually private.32
The purpose of diary writing is not only expressing feelings but also practicing writing especially for students who learn English.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that writing diary is a very important strategy and is needed by students in the writing process to improve their writing. By writing diary every day, it can cause students to get used to writing correctly and improve their writing day by day.
c. Steps to Implementation of Diary Writing
Diary writing is a personal recount text. The students write diary without worrying about the grammar. The implementation of diary writing consists of:
1. The teacher gives the explanation about personal recount text is diary writing and the grammar is simple past tense. Here, the teacher helps to make the students understanding in writing diary.
Their teacher gives the students some examples of diary before they start to write diary in the class.
31 Curtis, A. and Bailey, K.M., “Research Digest: Diary Study”. OnCUE Journals, Vol.3, No.1, pp.
67-85 (October, 2007): 68.
32 Fitzpatrick, Engaging Writing Paragraph and Essay (London: Longman, 2005): 4.
2. After the students have understood with the teacher‟s explanation, the students should choose interesting topic that will use and support with their content of diary. It‟s depends on the students‟
interest in writing. They able to create good diary writing if they feeling interest with the content of diary.
3. After students write their diary, they submit it to the teacher.
4. Then the teacher give feedback by write some notes on the students‟ diary. So that, the students can repair the error of their writing.
5. The students write diary freely. Here, during writing diary, the students do not worry about grammar, style and organization.
Students develop their ideas through writing by writing diaries. Its means that students can write diary writing to improve students' writing ability.33
d. The Benefit of Diary Writing
Harmer, J., states that there are some benefits of diary writing.
The first is the value of reflection. A diary provides an opportunity for students to think about what they are learning and also how they are learning. The second is freedom of expression. Diary writing allows students to express feelings more freely. For example, in their writing they can write about their daily life, love story, or anything they want to write to. The next is developing writing skills. Diary writing contributes to the students‟ general improvement such as their writing
33 Joan Rubin, Diary Writing As A Process: Simple, Useful, Powerful. Guidelines. 2003.
fluency. Their writing fluency will improve since they write regularly and become more familiar with.34
Ngoh (as cited in Tuan) also adds the benefit of diary writing that it also provides students with good opportunities to improve their writing skills and good chances to record their thoughts and feelings.35 Moreover, Langan , says that keeping a dairy is one of excellent ways to get practice in writing and it will help the students develop the habit of thinking on paper.36 Diary or journal can also make writing as a familiar part of the students‟ life. Therefore, it can be summarized that diary writing can help the students to improve theire writing skills and motivation towards writing.37
6. Recount Text
a. Definition of Recount Text
Recount text is one of text that the grade students learn at school. Recounting itself is an activity where people are telling people about something that has happened in their lives. It might be about what they did at the weekend or about exciting things that happened on their holiday last year. Anderson and Anderson define a recount text as a piece of text that retells past events, usually in the order in which they happened.38 So, recount text is a text that telling the reader about past events or past experiences. Text which tells about something
34 Harmer, J., The Practice of English Language Teaching-4th Edition (London: Longman, 2007), 128.
35 Tuan, L.T., 82.
36 Langan, J., “College Writing Skills with Readings-International Edition 8th”(2011), 14.
37 Langan, J., “College Writing Skills with Readings-7th Edition. (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc, 2008), 16
38 Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English 1, (Australia: Macmillan Education
Australia PTY LTD, 1997), 48.
happened in the past. Its purpose is to retell past events or past experiences.
b. Generic structure of recount text
Generic Structure Text
Orientation :
(Pengenalan; Who, When, Where)
Yesterday, I spent my holiday in Jember Mini Zoo. The located on St.
Brawijaya, Mangli, Kaliwates, Jember.
Event :
(Urutan Peristiwa)
I went by motorcycle with my sister only. When I arrived, I bought tickets for us. The ticket price was only Rp.
20.000. There were many kinds of animals. Then, I saw one by one of animals and I feed rabbits only not other. And there were playground for kids.
Reorientation :
(Penutup cerita, rangkuman deretan cerita)
After I saw many animals in the mini zoo, I went home and I was very happy about that.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design
The design of the research was classroom action research. Burns states that action research is a reflective process that aims to solve particular teaching/learning that has been identified.39 Action research is also defined by Kemmis and McTaggart that classroom action research typically involves the use of qualitative, and qualitative data collection by teachers and students (interview) with a view to teachers making judgments about how to improve their own practices.40 Septiani states that action research is the way to get information with the goals of gaining insight and improving students‟
outcomes and developing positive changes in the school from teaching learning process in the class.41 It means, this research was conducted in the classroom by using an action to improve the quality of the teaching and learning process in order to obtain better results than before.
The classroom action and research design used in this research are collaborative classroom action research. In this study, researchers in collaboration with the English teacher of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
In conducting research, the role of the researcher is as an English teacher.
She taught English in eighth grade, while the real role of the English
39 Anne Burns, Collaboative Action Research For English Language Teachers (Cabridge University Press, 2000), 30
40 Stephen Kemmis and McTaggart, The Action Research Planner (Springer, 2014), 11
41 Puput Septiani, “Improving Students‟ Writing Skill By Using Four Square Writing Technique (A Collaborative Classroom Action Research)” (Thesis, Slamic University Of Raden Intan Lampung, 2018), 35.
26
teacher is as an observer or collaborator. She observes research actions while teaching and the learning process is carried out in the classroom.
This is use process approach which is the process oriented approach in learning to write places students as independent writers in producing texts.
They are welcome to use all the resources within and around them to produce a composition or writing.
B. Research Setting
The research was conducted at MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari on the second semester of the 2021/2022 school year. The implementation time is when the English lesson is in progress. The located in Jl. Balung No. 99 Kec.
Bangsalsari Kab. Jember. It is an Islamic boarding school. Most of the students stay at the boarding school from various village. MTs Baniy Kholiel was chosen was because the researcher had got permission from the school to conduct the research. Another reason was because the diary writing strategy had not been applied yet by the teacher of MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari.
C. Research Subject
The research involved the students of MTs Baniy Kholiel especially the students of class VIII consists of 25 students. By interviewing the English teacher in MTs Baniy Kholiel, the teacher suggested me as the researcher to conduct my research in class VIII. The students had difficulty in writing English. This research. In this study the researcher used purposive sampling.
Purposive is a strategy to determine a person based on the characteristics that have been known before.
D. Action Research Procedure
Classroom Action Research Procedures (CAR) utilized in this research was designed by Kemmis and McTaggart as cited in Burns, it was composed of two cycles, and each cycle contains the components of classroom action research: plan, act, observe, and reflect. After finished new problems maybe have been discovered in the first cycle. Consequently, as new problems appear in the first cycle, it is important to enter cycle 2. The concept of the second cycle is the same as in the first cycle.
Figure 3.1 Kemmis and Mc Taggart Classroom Action Research Design
According to the action research design of Kemmis and McTaggart mentioned above, the researcher adjusted cycle 1 to cycle 2 study concept designed by Kemmis as follows:
1. Planning
Planning means make a plan for the action that will be conducted in order to improve learning practice, in detail and clear manner.42 There are several activities which is prepared before the action of this research is given to the research subject. The researcher develops scenarios for the learning process, then sets the criteria for success. While the setting technique refers to student problems which for students when they start writing they have difficulty in coming up with ideas. So, the researcher gave interesting ideas to students such as writing a diary so that this writing problem could be solved. Then the researcher developed a lesson plan (RPP).The RPP design based on the standard and basic competence of curriculum 2013 about recount text. The lesson plan is using eight grade‟s lesson plans, the researcher describes the planned assignments for eighth grade students at MTs Baniy Kholiel Bangsalsari. RPP contains the following: details of learning objectives, learning materials and methods, presentation, and assessment process. By setting the criteria for success, the researcher determines the criteria of success for the action. This is useful for success of this research.
2. Acting
Action is performing of the planning. Generally, this action is in the form of learning using a certain method according to the planning,
42 Kemmis and McTaggart, The Action Research Planner, (Victoria: Deakin University. 2000), 10.
which according to the researcher‟ assumption has benefits. The researcher applied and implemented the lesson plans she had made. The steps are:
1) In the first meeting, the researcher asked the students to write about event or experience itself, at least consists 80 of words in 45 minutes.
Then, submit it to the researcher as a pre-test.
2) The researcher corrected it by giving feedback and some explanation or notes on the students‟ work.
3) In the second meeting explained the material which was about recount text. It is about the definition, the function, generic structure, and language feature according to the lesson plan.
4) The researcher gave the example of recount text especially diary wiring to the students.
5) The researcher explained the students‟ error which mostly students get the error on it.
6) The third meeting, the researcher give post-test. It write a diary writing to tell about her experiences last week.
3. Observing
Observation means efforts to obtain input or data concerning the results of the action taken.43 During the implementation of the plan the researcher took note of anything happened in the classroom. It was used to collect the data from classroom activity despite collecting the data only from the students. Collecting data in the classroom activity was important
43 Rima Rohmatul Bariroh, Improving Students‟ Recount Text Writing Achievement By Using Corrective Feedback At The Tenth Grade Of Ma Al-Qodiri Jember, (Thesis, UIN KHAS Jember, 2020), 45.
because it would consider the students who need more treatment by the researcher. The researcher also had to take a note the students‟ responses about the question and the activity of the students. The researcher also gave the writing test for the students. Then, taking the score and observed or identified it whether there is an improvement or not.
4. Data Collection and Research Instrument
Research instrument refers to any equipment used to collect the data.44 In this research, the instrument will use writing tests, observation, and interview. According to Ary et al that test is a set of stimuli presented to individual in order to elicit responses on the basis of which a numerical score can be assigned.45
a. Testing
The preliminary study was given to know the condition of the students before receiving the teaching material about writing recount text and diary writing, while the test after giving treatment was given to know whether there was an influence from getting the teaching material about writing recount text and diary writing itself.
In assessing the students‟ writing ability, the researcher used scoring rubric proposed by Jacobs et al as cited in Weigle,46 which focuses on five aspects of writing. They are the content, the
44 Suharsini Arikunto, Prosedur penelitian suatu pendekatan praktik (Jakarta: PT Rineka Cipta, 2010), 262.
45 Donalt Ary et al., Introduction research in education (New York: Printed United States of Amerika, 2006), 201.
46 Weigle, S.C., Assessing Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres, 2002), 116.
organization, the vocabulary, the language use, and the mechanics aspect
Table 3.1
Assessment Writing Scoring Rubric (adapted from Jacobs, 1981) Aspect Criteria Level Descriptions
1 2 3 4
Content
Excellent to Very Good
30-27 Relevant to the topic, give the detail information about the topic
Good to Average
26-22 Mostly relevant to the topic, lacks of the detail
Fair to Poor 21-17 Adequate development of topic, argument only sketchy
Very Poor 16-13 Inadequate development of idea, arguments are completely inadequate
Organization
Excellent to very Good
20-18 Orientation gives essential info (time, place, & participants), event mentioned, show part of reorientation but the reader still gets the idea of story
Good to Average
17-14 In the orientation section it provides some information but does not show one part of the orientation, for example: there is no description of the place so that the reader has not received complete information from the story, the events are only vague, ends the story with a short comment but the reader still gets the idea of the story
Fair to Poor 13-10 Orientation provides little information, lacks some necessary background, events are only sketchy, ends the story with a brief commentary, so the reader is a little confused to get story ideas.
Very Poor 9-7 Missing or weak orientation, directly explains the event without orientation, no background provided, no reorientation, end the story without any comments, signals or summary. So, the reader does not realize that the story finished.
Vocabulary
Excellent to Very Good
20-18 Vocabulary choice is appropriate, the paragraph shows that the usage of words such as noun, verb, conjunction and adjective is used appropriately.
Good to Average
17-14 There are 2-4 word was errors such as nouns, verbs, conjunctions and adjectives that are displayed in the paragraph but their meaning does not change.
Fair to Poor 13-10 There are 5-7 errors of words form such as noun, verb, conjunction and adjective show in the paragraph but it influences the meaning.
Very Poor 9-7 Essentially translation, little knowledge of English, not enough to evaluate.
Language use
Excellent to Very Good
25-22 All sentences are mostly correct use of past tense, it no serious errors in simple past tense.
Good to Average
21-18 Mostly complete sentences, but there are 3-5 errors in form of simple past tense
Fair to Poor 17-11 There are 6-8 errors in form of simple past tense, and it rarely influenced the meaning
Very Poor 10-5 There are 7-9 errors in form of past tense and the reader seriously distracted by grammar error
Mechanics
Excellent to Very Good
5 Few errors of capitalization and punctuation
Good to Average
4 There are 2-3 errors in using punctuation, capitalization but the paragraph is still easy to read
Fair to Poor 3 There are 4-6 errors in using punctuation, capitalization but the paragraph is still easy to read
Very Poor 2 There are 7-9 errors in using punctuation, capitalization but the paragraph is still easy to read
1 2 3 4
b. Observing
The observation table is carried out in the classroom learning activity. The researcher observed the classroom to gathered data.
Observation data can be recorded in the written type (observation sheet). It should include a significant file throughout the cycle, written immediately following every phase of the research. The details collected from this observation form will be utilized as the basic for evaluating the next stage of preparation.
c. Interviewing
Sudjana states that interview is the process of collecting data or information through face-to-face between the questioner and the answerer.47 Blaxter, Hughes, & Thight, (2001, hlm. 259) says the interview method involves asking questions or discussing matters with the people concerned with the research. This method can be a useful technique in collecting data that may not be accessible using observational techniques. In this research, the researcher interviewing students in the preliminary study to identify problems and sources of problems faced by students in learn to write so that the researcher decides the most appropriate way in solving it.
47 Nana Sudjana dan Ibrahim, Penelitian dan Penilaian Pendidikan, (Bandung: Sinar Baru Algensindo, 2007), hlm. 19
