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STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING RECOUNT TEXT
Wahyuni Pela Sari, Sri Imelwaty, Dona Alicia
English Education Program, STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, Jl. Gunung Pangilun, Padang, Sumatera barat.
Wahyunipela_sari@yahoo.co.id Imelwaty05@yahoo.com Aliciadona21@yahoo.co.id
Abstract
The background of this research is not achieving the learning objectives recount writing text for students of SMAN 2 Koto XI Tarusan. The aim of this research was to find out the problems which encountered by students in the process of writing recount text. The type of this research was qualitative reseach using phenomenology design. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting the participant research. The finding from order the data shows that in the process of writing recount that includes pre-writing, writing, editing, revising, and publishing, the student have diverse problems. Pre writing, in this process the problems faced by students include: Vocabulary, Student's concentration, and Student's creativity. Writing, in here the problems often faced by students include: Vocabulary, Timing, and Grammar. Editing, in this process the problems found are: Carelessness and vocabulary.
Revising, students’ problem here in: Timing and Student's motivation. Publishing, in this process the problems found are: Student's self-confidence and lack of teacher's motivation. From these problems it can be concluded that the problems encountered by students not only from within the students themselves but also the influence from outside aspects.
Keys Word: Writing, Student Problem, Recount
INTRODUCTION
English has four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, that have to be mastered by the students. Writing is one of skills to be learnt by the student. Writing also means a communication process that conveys ideas and opinion into written form. In writing, focus of the students as a writer not only how makes the written form interesting for the readers, but also the students have to know how to explore the ideas into written form clearly.
Writing is a process of exploring ideas through written form. Exploring ideas refer to the ability in exposing topic and sharing
opinion. In exploring ideas, the students deliver their statements to become the writing product.
In writing English, there are several genres of text should be learned by the students such as descriptive, narrative, report, and recount, all of the genres have different social function. Descriptive is a text that describe about something such as people, place, and animal. Narrative explains about imaginative story (for example: Cinderella).
Report is a kind of text that tells the way things are (for example: a man-made thing), and recount is a text that explain the event in the past (for example: student experiences).
2 The purpose of recount text is to describe
about past experiences by retelling events in the order in which they happened. It also represents variable which can be used to attract, motivate, inform, and entertain the students. As a result, the students will be interested in studying English by using recount text in order increasing their mastery in writing.
From explanation about kinds of genres above, the researcher chose recount text as a focus of this research. According to Goatly (2000) “Recount text is to construct past experience by retelling events and incidents in the order in which they occurred” (p.30). It means that in recount the students make a written form based on interest experience or story happened in the past such as shamed experience, wonderful experience, and so many others who student likes to explain. So that, the teacher hopes writing recount text will be fun class because the student conduct the materials based on their experience.
However, based on the interviewed session on 0ctober 07th, 2014 between the researcher with an English language teacher at SMAN 2 Tarusan. There were several phenomenons that happened on the field related to the English writing recount text processes:
First, the class atmosphere did not conducive, the class often noisy because the student did not do their assignment.
Meanwhile according to interview session with Indonesia language teacher on October 08th, 2014 about student interested in writing Indonesia based on their experiences, they were so happy and interest. It made their learning achievement (standar: 85) was high in writing experience text. Even though recount also a text to describe self experience.
Second, in explained the material about recount, the teacher told to the student how to write in writing recout with correct ways by using writing processes prewriting, writing, editing, revising, and publishing. Pre-writing, the teacher told the student to think the topic and think the ideas. Writing, in here, the student started to write down the ideas which think before. Editing, after wrote down the teacher told the student to re-read the sentences or paragraph they wrote down to check the mistaken. Revising, in this process the teacher wanted the student re-read their
written form and gave adding idea if needed.
The last publishing, in this process the student show the paper on the public place. But in fact the student was not interest in follow the teacher instruction to use the process of writing. Most of them was difficult in follow the roles in writing process and they wanted to write the written form as a simple process. The student thinks the result of writing just a product not a process.
Third, the student scores in writing recount were dissatisfied. When the teacher evaluated the student’s paper, she found that several students have low standard learning achievement.
Writing
Writing is one important of several basic skills: listening, reading, and speaking in English language learning. It is an activity to arrange the ideas from one paragraph to others and make efforts to connect the idea cohesively and coherently be meaningful.
There are explanations of writing by experts.
According to Glencoe (2000),“writing is a process of steps from the idea to the finished manuscript”(p.06). It means that, in writing the activity that the students have not only refers to the product but also processes of conducting are important thing to make written form be better. In here, as an evaluator of students’
assignment in writing, the teacher has to evaluate the student process for the first such how the student conducting the idea, and at the end of the activity the teacher evaluate the student’s writing product.
According to Oshima and Hogue (1991),“there are several writing processes”
(P.03):
a. Prewriting
There a several steps in prewriting:
a). Choosing and narrowing a topic. In prewriting activity the student just thinks the topics, choose one of it and narrowing the topic be a specific one.
b). Brainstorming. After the student has chosen a topic and narrowing it to a specific focus, the next prewriting step is to generate ideas.
b. Planning (outlining)
In here, the student makes the specific topic that chosen on generalists which support the topic being a paragraph.
c. Writing and revising drafts
3 Writing means the student starts to write
based on the outlining which had wrote before and after the writing form was clear to do, the student do revising. On the other hand, the student can get respond or comment by others such as additional information to make the written form more clearly and grammatical correction from others.
d. Writing the final copy to hand in
Writing to final copy to hand in means after revising the student rewrites the writing form more perfect and then the student shows paper on the public place.
It means that, writing process has several roles to make the written form be better in showing for the reader. The process continue from pre-writing to get the topic, planning to make outlining after get the topic, writing and revising draft is a conducting idea process be written form, and until showing to the reader.
Writing Problem as a Foreign Language Language on second language is more complex; second language learners’ errors are caused by many complex factors affecting the learning process such as the target language itself, the communicative strategies used as well as the type and quality of second language instruction. According to Croll (1990), “students problem involved solving linguistic problem and that use of the first language in L2 writing added to the problem, especially in vocabulary” (p.46). In the other word, first language influences second language of writing student, they often used style in first language to the English writing language and lack of vocabulary is important aspect that makes writing recount is difficult for student English as a foreign language.
Furthermore Mu and Carrington (2007),
“argue that it is the cultural difference that results in L2 students' rhetorical organization problems” (p.02). It means that, the student culture in first language is close and it will be influence in making writing English. It is related with Watcharapunyawong and Usaha (2012) state that, “L2 writing can be more difficult if syntactic properties of the two languages are very different, which makes L2 students rely on their first language when writing in second language” (p.69).
This is an example of Thai student’s problem in writing English by Bennui (2008)
“Three levels of L1 interference represent more negative transfer than positive transfer in the students’ written English. The former shows many issues of errors on vocabulary use, phrases, clauses and sentence structures, as well as language style of paragraph writing”
(p.91). It means that, Indonesian students and other student from different country that have similar problem in English writing as a foreign language. It is related with the grammar, lack of vocabulary, phrases, clauses and sentence structures and related with the language style from L1 and it is related with the writing process.
From several explanations above, the researcher can conclude that culture in first language, grammatical, spelling, organization, punctuation, capitalization, and lack of vocabulary are problems in writing student in English second language. It means that the student has problem in the writing process (grammatical, organization, vocabulary) and editing process (punctuation, capitalization)
Recount Text
Recount is a genre that student learns in the writing English, this text is written with the purpose is either to inform or to entertain the readers about events in the past. According to Hyland on sixty writing process (2004), “A recount is a text that tells about past experiences or events” (p.iii). On the other hand, recount can explain about the student’s life story. For example: founding father bibliography.
Pardiyono (2000) mentions,“Main purpose of a recount text is to tell about an event, experience, or activities on the past to the readers in order to merely inform” (p.41).
It means that generally the key of the recount is past event, the student can explain about everything in the past on written form.
From two explanations about recount above, the researcher can conclude that recount is a text that explain about past experience to entertain the readers.
RESEACH METHOD
In this research, the researcher conducted this study as a qualitative research. According to Gay and Airisian (2010) “purpose of qualitative research is describing multiple
4 realities, developing deep understanding,
capturing everyday life and human perspective.” (p.10). In the other word, qualitative research aimed to explain and understand the social phenomenon that happens in human’s social life. So it appropriates to use in this research, because the researcher wants to describe about the problems that happen in the field.
This is using phenomenology as a research design because the researcher wants to describe about the phenomena that encountered by the students in the field based on the students’ experience itself on recount text. Ary et al (2010) states that, “A phenomenological study is designed to describe and interpret an experience by determining the meaning of the experience as perceived by the people who have participated in it” (p.471). So, by using this design the researcher explained the students’ problems based on their experiences on recount text.
In addition, the researcher took the tenth grade of senior high school 2 Tarusan 2015/2016 academic year. From eight classes, the researcher took a student from each class, so the total participant is eight students.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings
Based on the research question, the researcher found the various answers by the participants. They had difference answers from the researcher question about the problem in writing recount processes. Finding from this study, the researcher found the same categories with the expert’s explanation about student’s problem in writing as foreign language, so that the researcher used deductive approach and also researcher got many new categories. The new categories made by the researcher because this research was inductive.
The researcher explained the categories problem that found in the processes of writing when researcher done interview and analysis the data, includes:
1. Pre-writing activity a. Vocabulary
Vocabulary mastery is essential aspect in conducting ideas in making written form.
Vocabulary in here means the student ability in English word comprehension is less. The
participants think English was difficult and always uses dictionary to search word by word to make title of the English form that they written. In here, there were six participants who had this reason.
b. Classroom Environment
Not only student’s personal ability to improve the mastery in writing, but also outcome influence such classroom atmosphere given big effect for the student’s result in writing. Based on the data collected by the participants, the researcher got the information that 4 participants got problem related with it.
Based on the data by participant, she said that bad classroom environment situation made her was difficult and needed long time to think about ideas that would be wrote down on the paper.
c. Student’s Creativity
Student creativity means that how the student think the idea and conduct it on the paper be interest because as a writer, student has to make the written form be interesting one by the reader and especially in the title form.
2. Writing a. Vocabulary
Not only in pre-writing activity but also in writing activity the student has same problem about vocabulary. In pre writing, the student difficult to conduct the title into English form but in writing activity the student difficult to write down the idea into sentences and paragraphs. From 8 participants, 4 participant got problem in vocabulary in making writing recount form.
b. Timing
Timing means time that student needed to conduct the written form and the time that teacher give was one hour to clear the assignment. But, in the field, because of the student mastery in written was lack the students need more time to make the written form clearly.
c. Grammar
Grammar is important one aspect that has to be master by the student especially in writing. But in fact, so many students did not
5 understand about the tenses. Simple past tense
is a tense that used in writing recount form. It can be marked when the student conducted the sentences with wrong form.
3. Editing a. Carelessness
Carelessness means the student did not focus to check the form of their written. From eight participants, six students were careless in editing process so when the researcher corrected their written form so many mistakes happened.
b. Vocabulary
Vocabulary is biggest problem in writing assignment. Lack of vocabulary mastery made the students unfamiliar with the English word spelling. So that, the student was difficult in correct their written form.
4. Revising a. Timing
It was same with the problem in the writing activity because the student did not enough time in conduct the writing form so it was also be the problem in the revising.
b. Student’s Motivation
Motivation is internal aspect that guides the student doing better in their job. It was important aspect beside personal ability such vocabulary and grammar in writing.
5. Publishing
a. Student’s self confidence
Student’s self confidence means that the students as a writer did not believe to their self ability.
b. Lack of teacher’s support
Supporting needed by the student in teaching learning process. The support could be got by the student from the person as a role model. The teacher was one from the several people that student be imitated. But in fact, the teacher did not do the function for motivate the student to show off their assignment on public places.
From the data above, the participant said that the teacher never told her to explore the paper on the public place. So that, when the researcher asked the participant to do that, she
surprised because the teacher never asked her to do that.
Discussion
All of the problems above were found by the researcher based on the answers from the questions about the participant’s problem encountered in writing recount. The focus of this interview was student experience in recount text in SMAN2 Koto XI Tarusan. In found it, the researcher used semi structure interview for made the student’s answers be various.
CONCLUSION
Based on the interview, researcher got a lot of information about the problems that students encountered in writing recount process. After researcher done interview with students in SMAN 2 Koto X1 Tarusan about the problems that student encountered in writing recount process, researcher found categories based on the problem happened.
First, pre-writing activity, there were categories found: vocabulary, classroom environment, and Student’s creativity. Second, writing activity, there were categories found:
vocabulary, Timing, and Grammar. Third, Editing activity, there were two categories:
Carelessness and vocabulary. Fourth, revising activity, the categories found: Timing and student’s motivation. The last, publishing activity, the categories found that: Student’s self confidence and lack of teacher’s motivation
Based on the overall categories, the biggest problems that student get in writing process in recount were vocabulary and timing. Both of them related each other, where the students lack in vocabulary, they used dictionary to search word by word in conducting title and sentences. It made the students needed more time in conducting written form. But, in reality, the time that teacher gift was one hour for doing assignment. So that, the student did not do their writing process clearly and could not do revising process because of limited time.
From the explanation above, based on the result of interview, the researcher can give conclusion that the student’s problem in recount text not only come from inside but also outside.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In completing her journal, the researcher would like to express her best thanks for a plentiful guidance, help, advice, suggestion and constructive critics from my first advisor Sri Imelwaty, Ph. D and second advisor Dona Alicia, M. Pd. Because of them, the researcher can finish this manuscript.
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