TEACHING WRITING BY COMBINING RAFT AND POW+TREE STRATEGY AT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Oleh:
Undariati *)
**) Yulmiati, S.S, M.Pd.
Staff Pengajar Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera BaratAbstrak
Undariati (10040248). 2014. Pengajaran menulis menggunakan kombinasi dua strategi yaitu strategi RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic)) dan strategi POW+TREE (Pick, Organize, Write + Topic sentence, Reason, Explain, End) Untuk Siswa Menengah Atas. Makalah program sarjana STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat.
Penulisan makalah ini bertujuan untuk mengatasi permasalahan yang ada dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris, khususnya dalam menulis paragraf disekolah Menengah Atas. Siswa kesulitan dalam menemukan ide-ide sebelum mereka menulis sebuah paragraf. Kemudian, mereka juga kesulitan dalam merealisasikan ide dalam sebuah tulisan.
Untuk itu diperlukan suatu strategi pengajaran yang efektif dalam pengajaran menulis.
Dalam makalah ini, penulis mengkombinasikan dua buah strategi untuk membantu siswa dalam menulis yaitu RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) dan POW+TREE (Pick, Organize, Write, + Topic sentence, Reason, Explain, End)strategy. RAFT Strategy ini bertujuan untuk membuat siswa lebih kreatif dalam belajar, sehingga mereka mampu menulis dalam Bahasa Inggris. Kemudian. POW+TREE Strategy berguna untuk membantu siswa dalam mengembangkan ide-ide tersebut lebih rinci lagi sehingga siswa bisa menghasilkan sebuah paragraf yang baik. Dengan demikian, mengkombinasikan RAFT dengan POW+TREE Strategy diharapkan bisa membantu siswa Sekolah Menengah Atas dalam menulis paragraf dengan mempelajari maupun memahami strategy ini.
Kata Kunci: Menulis, Pengajaran, RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), POW+TREE (Pick , Organize, Write +Topic sentence, Reason, Explain, End)
*) Penulis
**) Pembimbing
Introduction
In learning English, there are four skills that should be mastered by students. They are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among those skills, writing is language skill indirectly communicate that is used as communication tool. Through writing we can express and explain own ideas. It is also a comprehensive ability to involve some aspects such as grammar, and vocabulary. In writing activity, the students must learn how to communicate his or her idea, in other to make the reader understand about their idea.
Based on curriculum 2013, the Senior High School students should master all kinds of writing genre such as; procedure text, report text, narrative text and also descriptive text. Furthermore, the students should be able to pick an idea, organize, format and also write it to be a good paragraph. As a result the students can increase their ability in writing skill and also they are able to arrange the sentence into paragraph.
In fact, the students find some difficulties that influence on their writing ability. Based on the writer experience in teaching practice, the writer found many problems. First, most of students do not have an idea to write. It is because they have lack knowledge in writing. Second, when they have an idea they got difficulties how to organize it into a text like descriptive text. It is because how to write English words is different with how they pronounce it. Third, teaching strategy that the teacher use is not interesting or was not effective for students. The teacher often thinks how to finish the lesson without thinking whether the students understand about the material or no. The teacher should use a good strategy while teaching to achieve the aim of the study, so the students can get good ability in writing, especially in descriptive text. It is because the teacher’s strategy is important aspect in making students master in writing.
Review Writing of Related Literature
Writing is one of skills that should be mastered in learning English. Enjoy activity is needed, so the writer never feel bored in writing activity. Besides that they have much idea to be written in good sentences or paragraph.
There are many experts that express about definition of writing. According to Nunan (2003: 88), writing is the physical act of committing words or ideas to some medium weather it is hieroglyphics inked onto parchment or an e-mail message typed into a computer. On the other writing is the mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how express
them, and organizing them into statement and paragraph that will be clear to a reader.
From the experts’ opinion above it can be concluded that writing is a process of collecting some idea about something and realizing it into a written form. Therefore, writing also can be summarized as the process to express some words or sentences of the thoughts and ideas that can help to explore our ideas and feeling in other to able to select relevant information and arrange the sentence to produce a correct paragraph.
Teaching Writing
Teaching writing is facilitating the students in developing ideas and as knowledge in process writing. According to Harmer, (1998:79) teaching writing to students of English as foreign language includes reinforcement, language development, learning style and most importantly, writing as a skill in its own right. In learning process, some students get language in a purely oral way, but written down have big influence for most of students. Then, writing can help students to understand of how it all fits together and help students to do the new language to memory. Language development is to help student to learn the writing. And also, writing is a basic language skill, just as important as speaking, listening and reading.
RAFT Strategy
RAFT is one of strategies in teaching writing which help students easy to understand make writing, it is caused by using Raft strategy, and students will feel free to express their idea, write and choose the topic with them. According to Buehl (2009:144), RAFT activity infuses a writing assignment with imagination, creativity, motivation. In that statement RAFT emphasized in the manufacture of writing assignments to develop the imagination of students, so students are required to use their imagination about something, then more creative to develop the idea.
Procedures of RAFT Strategy
RAFT strategy has purpose to make students easier in the writing process. In the realization and in order the purpose that has procedure must be followed by writer. There are some experts who explain about procedure of the RAFT strategy.
According to Syrja (2011:180) the procedures of RAFT strategy, are:
a. Teacher explains the material on the learning process, after that explain about what is the component of the RAFT to the students until they understand about the strategy. Then using the
RAFT to students brainstorm that match with the role which they take in writing.
b. In the first step before, teacher readies to explain the component of RAFT, and then teacher and the students make the graphic of RAFT. Then, teacher ask students to decide who is the students to their writing, after decided the audience teacher ask students to determine the format the writing will take. After that teacher ask to students for decide the topic that will they take in their writing and collect the information about topic.
Graphic of RAFT
Role Audience Format Topic
c. After giving the brainstorm to students, teacher asks to each student to complete their own RAFT organizer with what they want to write. When their finish to complete their draft of RAFT.
POW+TREE Strategy
Graham and Haris (2013: 187) states that POW strategy is used to frame the writing process;
TREE is used to organize the written prose. First, students are asked to pick an idea. Picking an idea helps students narrow their focus and begin to conceptualize their notes using TREE. It means that the strategy can help the students to write a story or paragraph into a good essay and can organize the idea that they have been written.
Procedures of POW+TREE Strategy
There are some experts who express some procedures of POW+TREE strategy. According to Peter (2008:75) mentions that step of POW+TREE strategy has some steps;
1. The teacher asks the students to pick a topic or an idea. After that, the teacher helps the students to plan their idea and the students write it into the book.
2. The teacher asks the students to organize the trough and make notes of their idea.
3. The teacher asks the students to write more their idea in the book that includes; topic sentence, reason, explanation and end the writing. First, the teacher asks the students to write topic sentence based on their idea that have been writing.
Second, the teacher asks the students to give at least three reasons to support the topic sentence or state their opinion about the topic. Third, the teacher asks the students to explain the reason more details with give some examples on the
reason. The last, the teacher prompts the students to end their writing with a good conclusion.
The Combination of RAFT and POW+TREE Strategy
1. The writer combines of RAFT and POW+TREE strategy. The purpose is to help the students to be more understood about what they are studying.
The procedure of Combining RAFT and POW+TREE strategy that should be applies in learning process as follows;
2. The teacher explains the material on the learning process, after that explain about what is the component of the RAFT to the students until they understand about the strategy. Then using the RAFT to students brainstorm that match with the role which they take in writing.
3. The teacher asks the students to pick a topic or an idea. After that, the teacher helps the students to plan their idea and the students write it into the book.
4. The teacher asks the students to make the graphic of RAFT. Then, teacher ask students to decide who is the students to their writing, after decided the audience teacher asks students to determine the format the writing will take. After that, the teacher asks students to decide the topic that will they take in their writing and collect the information about topic.
Graphic of RAFT
Role Audience Format Topic
5. The teacher asks the students to complete their own RAFT organizer with what they want to write, example;
Role Audience Format Topic
Writer Reader script Fish
6. The teacher asks the students to organize the trough and make notes of their idea.
7. The teacher asks the students to write more their idea in the book that includes; topic sentence, reason, explanation and end the writing. First, the teacher asks the students to write topic sentence based on their idea that have been writing.
Second, the teacher asks the students to give at least three reasons to support the topic sentence or state their opinion about the topic. Third, the teacher asks the students to explain the reason more details with give some examples on the
reason. The last, the teacher prompts the students to end their writing with a good conclusion.
Conclusion
Writing is one of the skills in language learning besides listening, speaking and reading.
Meanwhile, it can be the tool to express our feeling, the thought the ideas into written form. However, writing is not an easy activity for students.
Sometimes, the students get problems in expressing their ideas, opinion, and feeling. They do not know how to put their ideas into a good writing. It is caused by limited grammatical, limited vocabulary and background knowledge that they have.
The writer suggest the English teacher to use combining of RAFT and POW+TREE strategy in teaching writing paragraph because trough this strategy the teacher can help the students to struggle their difficulties in writing activities such as how to pick up the idea, and format the idea. Meanwhile, this strategy can help the students more easy in writing paragraph with includes topic sentence, the reason of the topic sentence, explain the reason of topic sentence more detail, and the last end the paragraph with a good conclusion
References
Buehl, Doug. 2009. Classroom Strategies For Interactive Learning. Oklahoma: International Reading Association, Inc.
Buehl, Doug. 2011. Developing Readers in the Academic Disiplines. New York: International Reading Association.
Flores, Eugene Mora. 2009. Writing Instruction For English Learners. United State of America:
Corwin press.
Graham. 1996. Self assessment: a powerful process for helping students revises their writing.
Canada: Pembroke.
Harmer, Jeremy. 1998. How to Teach English an Introduce To the Practice of English
Language Teaching London. Pearson Education Limited.
Linse, T Caroline. 2005. Practical English Language Teaching. New York: McGraw Hill
Nation. 2009. Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. New York: Routledge
Nunan, David. 2003. Practical English Language Teaching. New York: Weigl Publisher inc.
Sejnost, Roberta L and Sharon M. Thiese. 2010.
Building Content Literacy Strategies For The Adolescent Learners. United State of America:
Corwin.
Syrja, Rachel Carrillo. 2011. How To Reach And Teach English Language Learners. San Francisco: Jhon Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Urquhart, Vicki and MonetteMclver. 2005. Teaching Writing In The Content Areas. United State of America: ASCD
Westwood, Peter. 2008. Reading and writing Difficulties. Sydney: Acer press.
