CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Theoretical Framework.

1. The Nature of Writing

a. The Definition of writing

Based on Byrne (1999:1) writing is clearly more than the

production or graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the

production of sounds. The symbols have to be arranged, according to

certain convention. To form words and words have to be arranged

form sentences, although again we can be said ‗writing‘ if we are

merely making lists of words as in inventories of items.

According to Nunan (2003:88) writing can be defined by a

series of contrasts:It is both a physical and a mental act, Its purpose is

both to express and impress and It is both a process and a product. It is

a both physical and a mental because at the most basic level, writing is

the physical act of commiting words or ideas to some medium. On the

other hand, writing is the mental work of inventing idea, thinking idea,

thinking about hoe to express them, and organizing them into

statements and paragraph that will be clear to a reader.

Nunan (2003:88), writing can be defined by a series of contrasts

is both to express and impress. Writers typically serve two masters:

themselves, and their own desires to express an idea or feeling, and

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readers, also called the audience, who need to have ideas expressed in

certain ways. Each of these types of writing has a different level of

complexity, depending on its purpose. It is both a process and a

product. The writer imagine, organize, drafts, edits, reads, and rereads.

This process of writing is often cyclical and sometime disorderly.

Ultimately, what the audience sees, whether it is an instructor or a

wider audience, is a product – an essay, latter, story, or research report.

Writing is also a mean of reinforcing other language skills.

Writers gather information by reading, observing, talking with others,

synthesizing and evaluating data. In pursuing these activities students

writers abilities to think logically and solve problems are strengthened

as they conceptualize and state ideas (Jacobs et al,1983:6)

Based on the explanation of the nature of writing above,

basically writing is very important for students that should be mastered

as one of the four skills in English. It is not an easy skill like reading,

speaking and listening. It can be called as a complex activity because

reading, speaking and listening are also included in writing. A writer

has to know how to write, what will be written, large insight, and the

provisions of the writing in order to make a good writing. Writing is

also a skill which must be taught and practiced, writing is essential

features of learning a language because it provides a very good means

of foxing the vocabulary, spelling, and sentence pattern.

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b. The Purpose of Writing

There are some common purpose in writing. They are writing

to inform, writing to explain, writing to persuade, and writing to amuse

others. Writing to persuade is about to persuade the reader of the

correctness of the writers‘ point of view on a particular issue (Syafi‘I

et.al. 2014:102).

According to Ur (2009: 163), the purpose of writing, in

principle, is the expression of ideas, the conveying of a message to the

reader; so the ideas themselves should arguably be seen as the most

important aspect of the writing.

In addition, Grenville (2001:1), state there are three general

purpose of writing: writing to entertain; it means that writing does not

make the readers laugh, but it at least engages their feelings in some

way, writing to inform; it means that the writer tells the readers about

something, writing to persuade; it means persuade the readers to

convince something.

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c. The Process of Writing

There are 4 process of writing:

1) Planning

According to Harmer (2007:4) when planning, writers have

to think about 3 main issues: writers have to consider the purpose

of writing since this will influence (amongst other things) not only

the type of text produce, but also language use and the information,

writers think of the audience they are write for and writers have to

consider the content structure of the piece that is, how best to

sequence the facts, ideas, or argument which they have decide to

include.

2) Drafting

Draft is the first version of a piece writing. This first go at a

text is often done on the assumption that it will be amended later.

As the writing proceeds into editing, a number of draft may be

produced on the way to the final version (Harmer,2007:5). In the

drafting stage, writers are striving for one thing—getting their

ideas down on the page in a relatively coherent way. Drafting

represents the challenging transition from planning, or prewriting,

to formulating the words and putting them on paper. Tentative

though drafting may be, its importance in the process is critical, for

it is only when writers have put pen to paper or fingers to the

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keyboard that they have a written representation of what they know

(Urquhart,2005:16).

3) Editing (reflecting and revising )

Editing are often helped by other readers‘ (or editors)

comment and make suggestion. Another readers‘ reaction to a

piece of writing will help to the author to make appropriate

revision.

4) Final version

Based on Harmer (2007:5) once writers have edited their

draft, making the change they consider to be necessary, they

produce final version. This may look considerably different both

the original plan and the first draft, because things have changed in

the editing process. But the writer is now ready to send the written

text to its intended audience.

In conclusion, the process of writing tell us little about how

much weight is given to each stage but more importantly, by

suggesting that the process of writing is linear it misrepresents the

way in which the majority of writer produce written text.

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d. The Components of Writing

Jacobs et al point out that (1983:139) the components of

writing are:

1) Content

According to Jacobs et al (1983:139) the content component

concerns the invention of writing-having something to say. To

develop contents, the writers need to define a term, to expand the

points of view about subject discussed, or to elaborate examples in

order to help readers understand the text or to persuade them about

the validity of the arguments presented. Moreover, Heaton

(1990:135) added content is the ability to think creatively and

develop excluding an irrelevant information.

2) Organization

Audience, purpose, and subject matter determine the

particular organizational form content will take in piece of writing.

Writer need a clear focus, a thesis before they can go about

organizing information so that the massage they wish ―to

communicate to readers is organized into written text and made

manifest to readers‖ (Jacobs et al, 1983:107). Organization is the

internal structure of a piece of writing, the thread of central

meaning, the logical and sometimes intriguing pattern of ideas.

Organizational structure can be based on comparison-contrast,

deductive logic, point-by-point analysis, development of a central

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theme, chronological history of an event, or any of a dozen other

identifiable patterns. Connections are strong and bridges from one

idea to the next hold up.

3) Vocabulary

In vocabulary writers endeavor to make suitable word

choice for their writing. In addition, the spelling system of English

demand that writers master wealth morphological information not

require the speech systems. Recognition of these morphological

structures enable learners to build the vocabularies quickly as they

visualize word development. Vocabulary, language use, and

mechanics together deal with elocution-the linguistic and

mechanical principle for effective delivery of discourse (Jacobs et

al,1983:6)

4) Language use

The components of language use includes, effective

complex construction, agreement, tense, number, word order,

articles pronouns and prepositions (Jacobs et al, 1983:145). In

general, language use can be defined the creation or interpretation

of intended meanings in discourse by an individual, or as a

dynamic and interactive negotiation of intended meanings between

two or more individuals in particular situation. In using language to

express, interpret, or negotiate intended meanings, language user

create discourse. This discourse drives meaning not only from

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utterances, or texts themselves, but more importantly, from the

ways in which utterances and text relate to the characteristics of a

particular language use situation.

5) Mechanic

In the component of mechanics, which includes meticulous

of examination of the accuracy of spelling, capitalization,

punctuation paragraphing, handwriting, and overall neatness of the

paper, and affective use of illustration and headings (when

applicable) (Jacobs et al,1983:132).

According to Heaton (1990:135) mechanic is the ability to

use correctly those conventions peculiar to the written language,

such as spelling and punctuations. Punctuations in needed in order

to get the right meaning and punctuation system is to reveal

structure.

In this research, writer formulate the indicators as a measure

of students‘ writing ability based on the expert opinion above. The

indicators that can be formulates: such as, content, organization,

vocabulary, language use (grammatical features) and mechanics

(spelling and punctuation) to enable the students to cunstruct their

writing.

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2. Writing Ability

The term of ability is defined as skill or power. Concisely, writing

ability is the skill to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings to other people in

written symbols to make other people or readers understand the idea

conveyed. Based on SIL International (1999:1) in Melgis (2012:81)

discussed that there are some kinds of writing skills have to be fulfilled by

the writers, as follows:

a. Comprehensibility skills for writing include understanding that writing

is communicating messages or information.

b. Fluency skills for writing include:

1) Recognizing the linear sequence of sounds

2) Mastering writing motions and letter shapes

3) Recognizing the chunking of words

4) Recognizing the need for space between words

5) Writing quickly

c. Creativity skills for writing include the ability to freely anything the

students wants to write.

According to Brown (2007:221) divided writing skills into two

term, as follows:

a. Micro Skills

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.

2) Produced writing an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.

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3) Produce an acceptable core of words and used appropriate word

order patterns.

4) Use acceptable grammatical system (e.g., tense, agreement,

pluralization), patterns and rules.

5) Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.

6) Use cohesive devices in written discourse.

b. Macro Skills

1) Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.

2) Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written

texts according to form and purpose.

3) Convey links and connections between events, and communicate

such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given

information, generalization, and exemplification.

4) Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.

5) Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the

written text.

6) Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately

assessing the audiences interpretation, using prewriting device,

writing with fluency in the first drafts, using paraphrases and

synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using

feedback for revising and editing.

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Based on the statement above, the writer concludes that the writing

skills are complex skill and sometime difficult to teach, requiring mastery

not only of grammatical and rhetorical devices but also of the conceptual

and judgmental elements. Writing skill have general components that

necessary for writing good prose they are language use, mechanical skills,

treatment of content, stylistic skills and judgment skills.

3. Principles for Teaching Writing

The following principles can be used to evaluate teaching and

learning activities so that the best are chosen for use. According to Nation

(2009:94) the principles can also beused to evaluate a writing course or the

writing section of a languagecourse to make sure that learners are getting a

good range of opportunities for learning.

a. Meaning-focused Input

Learners should bring experience and knowledge to their

writing. Writing is most likely to be successful and meaningful for the

learners if they are well prepared for what they are going to write. This

preparation can be done through the choice of topic, or through

previous work done on the topic either in the first or second language.

b. Meaning-focused Output

Learners should do lots of writing and lots of different kinds of

writing. There are many elements of the writing skill which are

peculiar to writing and so time spent writing provides useful practice

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for these elements. This is a very robust principle for each of the four

skills. Different genres use different writing conventions and draw on

different language features.

c. Language-focused Learning

Learners should know about the parts of the writing process

and should be able to discuss them in relation to their own and

others‘writing. Teachers should provide and arrange for feedback that

encourages and improves writing

d. Fluency Development

Learners should increase their writing speed so that they can

write very simple material at a reasonable speed. Fluency development

can occur through repetitive activities and through working with easy,

familiar material.

Harmer (2004:330-331) point out that, although the teacher needs

to deploy some or all the usual roles when are asked to write, the ones that

are especially important are as follow:

a. Motivator

One of principle roles in writing task will be to motivate the

students, creating the right condition for the generation of ideas,

persuading them of the usefulness of the activity, and encouraging

them to make as much effort as possible for maximum benefit. This

may require special and prolonged effort on our part for longer

process-writing sequences.

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b. Resource

Especially during more extended writing tasks, teachers should

be ready to supply information and language where necessary. Teacher

need to tell students that are available and prepared to look at their

works as it progresses, offering advice and suggestion in a constructive

and tactful way. Because writing take longer than conversation.

c. Feedback provider

Giving feedback on writing tasks demands special care.

Teachers should respond positively and encouragingly to the content of

whole students have written. When offering correction, teachers will

choose what and how to focus on, based on what students need at this

particular stage of their studies and tasks they have undertaken.

4. The Concept of Descriptive Paragraph

The genre of describing is one of the fundamental functions of any

language system and one of the first skills emergent language-users learn

to control. Describing is also used extensively in many text types, such as

information reports, literary descriptions, descriptive recounts and, due to

the need to classify and/or describe a process before explaining it, in the

opening paragraphs of most explanations. Describing is also a central

feature of narrative texts providing the means for developing

characterization, sense of place and key themes (Knapp,2005:97)

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According to Zemach and Rumisek (2005:25). A descriptive

paragraph explains someone or something looks or feels. A process

paragraph explains how something is done. In another idea explains that a

descriptive paragraph is a paragraph that describes the features of

someone, something, or a certain place. In a descriptive text, there are

identification and description part. Identification is also called introduction

part, it is the part of paragraph that introduces the character. Description is

the part of paragraph that describes the character (Wardiman

et.al,2008:16).

Syafi‘I (2014:42) added, descriptive paragraph (vivid imagery) is

used to tell what the subject looks, sounds, feels, testes and smells like. A

descriptive paragraph describes ideas and examples focused on particular

subject. It attempts neither to argue nor persuade. Rather, it presents an

impression of something, through details that evoke one of the five senses.

Descriptive paragraph fall into two board categories: objective and

subjective. Objective paragraphs describe the topic in a literal, impartial

way. As much as possible, the writer‘s feelings are not revealed. These

type of paragraphs tend to include words that don‘t convey a high degree

of emotion. Subjective paragraph, on the other hand, communicate the

writer‘s opinion; their intention is to evoke from the reader an emotional

response, among other thing. These types paragraph use words charged

with some emotional tone and clear-cut attitude.

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According to Knapp (2005:98): the Language Features of

descriptive paragraph are: focus on specific participants, use of Simple

Present Tense, use rational verbs; are used when classifying and describing

appearances/ qualities and parts/ functions of phenomena, use action

verbs; are used when describing behaviour, use mental verbs; are used

when describing feeling in literary descriptions, adjectives are used to add

extra information to noun and may be technical, or literary, depending on

the text, adverbs are used add extra information to verbs to provide more

detailed description, adverbial phrases are used in description to add more

information about the manner, place or time.

Descriptive paragraph is characterized by sensory details, which

appeal to the physical senses, and details that appeal to a reader‘s

emotional, physical, or intellectual sensibilities. Determining the purpose,

considering the audience, creating a dominant impression, using

descriptive language, and organizing the description are the rhetorical

choices to be considered when using a description. A description is usually

arranged spatially but can also be chronological or emphatic. The focus of

a description is the scene. Description uses tools such as denotative

language, connotative language, figurative language, metaphor, and simile

to arrive at a dominant impression. The generic structure of descriptive

paragraph covers identification which is a part of paragraph which

introduces or identifies the character to be described. It can be called

general description of the object. Usually, it contains object‘s name, kind

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of the object, etc. The next is description which is a part of paragraph

which describes parts, qualities, and characteristics of the person or

something that will be described. It should be described in detail, so the

readers can get clear description of the object.

In conclusion, descriptive paragraph is a paragraph that describes

the features of someone, something, or a certain place. In a descriptive

paragraph, there are identification and description part. Identification is

also called introduction part, it is the part of paragraph that introduces the

character. Description is the part of paragraph that describes the character.

5. The Concept of Bio-Poem Strategy.

According to Candler (2012:2) a bio-poem is a simple poem written

about a person, and it follows a predictable pattern. Bio-poems generally

don‘t rhyme, and they can be autobiographical or biographical. It‘s best to

have students begin by writing Bio-Poems about themselves, but later they

can write about famous historical figures or story characters. Bio-Poem is

a structured collection of vivid details about a character's life, personality

traits and aspirations: a portrait in words. In creating your Bio-Poem, try

to avoid generalizations, which tend to be boring and uninteresting, in

favour of vivid details which reveal interesting aspects of your subject

(Hrsbstaff,2010:1)

Bio-poems is strategy to learn across the curriculum helps students

to think critically and creatively. An excellent strategy to achieve a deeper

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understanding of a historical figure is a biopoem. A bio-poem ―requires

students to think carefully about the content of the text and make

inferences about what a [historical figure‘s] actions and statements imply‖.

Bio-poem included Critical and creative writing-to-learn strategies

(Fordham,2002:157). Bio-poem is good activity for the students who have

difficulty in expressing their description about thing in writing descriptive

paragraph. Bio-poem are poems that describe someone by using a specific

format which is organized in several lines and in any of the lines there are

ideas that have to be included in.

According to Knipper and Duggan (2006:467) a bio-poem is an

excellent strategy to achieve a deeper understanding of a historical figure.

In line with this, Gere (in Sejnost,2009:161), say that the biography poems

is yet another effective after-reading strategy that requires students to

focus on important concept of a topic and follow a specific formula to

compose a biographic poem featuring those concepts. It means that bio-

poem is a strategy that allows the students to think critically about a

character. In addition, the students are guided by the pattern of bio-poem

in order to make us easier in gathering the information of a topic.

Curtis (1995) said that, bio-poem strategy adapted from Sirpa

Grierson, is an after-reading strategy. It should be done the class period

before students begin their Body Biographies. The Purpose of this strategy

helps students to develop critical thinking skills. In order to do well on

this assignment, students are also required to have practiced close reading

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during their study of the book. The assignment has students relate both

hard facts from the novel and inferences about the character. It also serves

as a prep for the Body Biographies students will be doing as their final

assessment.

This strategy Fine for ELL and Special Needs with

accommodations with literacy skill Writing and reading skills (with

modifications). For younger students the requirements can be simplified,

less lines and less description. For different academic areas, the subject

and type of description in the pattern can be changed. As a preparation

strategy, students can use the bio-poem to describe their feelings about a

certain topic before reading about it. As assistance, students can fill in the

lines of the poem as they read. Share their poems in a group and then

reread. As a reflection strategy, students can read about a topic and use

the bio-poem to reflect on what they have learned.

Hess (2005: 95-96) also point out that, the aim of bio-poem strategy

are personal writing and getting to know fellow students. This strategy can

used for all levels. The procedures of bio poem strategy are:

a. The teacher together with the class, compose and write on the board a

bio-poem of famous person.

Here is the formula for a bio-poem:

Line one : First name of person

Line two : Three adjective that describe the person

Line three : Three ing verb that suit the person

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Line four : Relative of …

Line five : Who loves …

Line six : Who needs …

Line seven : Who wants …

Line eight : Who dislike …

Line nine : Who used to, …

Line ten : But above all, who …

Line eleven : Resident of …

Line twelve : One complete sentence describe person

Line thirteen : Last name

b. The teacher asks the students to read own bio-poem to the class.

c. The teacher provide the students in pairs, students interview partners

and write bio-poem about them.

d. The teacher post the bio-poem on the walls of the class.

e. The teacher make a class book of bio-poem.

f. The teacher if possible, provide a book of bio-poems for each students

and let the students write massages to one another on the page where

the bio-poem appears.

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Example of Bio poem

Snow White

Beautiful, beloved, lost

Cleaning, running, singing

Relative of a wicked queen

Who loves to eat apples

Who needs a prince to save her

Who wants to take care of the dwarves

Who dislikes dirt

Who used to live in a castle

But above all, who is very good

Resident of the dwarves cottage

She is such a good girl

The princess

Teaching writing a descriptive paragraph by using b-poem strategy

is expected to improve the students‘ ability in writing descriptive

paragraph. Creating bio-poem will help the student in writing because it

allows them to express their ideas in pleasure way. In addition, the teacher

can monitor the students‘ process in writing starting from the pre-writing,

drafting, revising and editing. The most important thing is by using bio-

poem the students can plan what they are going to write and than can

produce in the form of a descriptive paragraph.

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6. The Advantages of Bio-Poem Strategy

Sherly and Hafizh (2014:238) point out that, the advantages of bio-

poem as follows:

a. Bio-Poem is a strategy that allows the students to think critically about

a character.

b. Students are guided by the pattern of bio-poem in order to make us

easier in gathering the information of a topic.

c. Help the students in writing because it allows them to express their

ideas in pleasure way.

d. Helping the students to organize and generate a lot of ideas to write

about an object.

e. Bio-poem strategy can minimize the students‘ difficulties in writing

descriptive paragraph.

B. Relevant Research

There are some relevant research that have been done by many

researchers about bio poem strategy. Those are relevant researchers of this

research:

Research from Nizriani (2014) conducted a research entitled ―The

Effect of Bio-poem Strategy on Reading Comprehension at Students of SMPN

19 Pekanbaru‖ (An experimental study). The total number of population was

50 students that consisted of 25 VII A students as experimental group, and VII

B that consisted of 25 students as control group. The result of her research

from paired samples t-test, the t-test sign is < α (0.014<0.05). It means that

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there was a significant effect of using bio poem strategy on reading

comprehension at the eight grade students of SMPN 19 Pekanbaru.

Research from Syerly Deswita and Muhammad Al-Hafizh (2014)

conducted a research entitle ― Teaching Writing A Descriptive Text by Using

The Bio-Poems Strategy to Junior High School Students‖. The result of they

research is the use of bio poem strategy in writing a descriptive is considered

effective in helping the students to organize and generate a lot of ideas to write

about an object. It is an interesting and enjoyable strategy because it can make

the students become more motivated and enthusiastic in learning. Therefore, it

can increase the students‘ ability in writing a descriptive.

In conclusion, the two research above it is different from this research.

The first research is Effect of Bio Poem Strategy on Reading Comprehension

and the difference located in variable X. The second research is teaching

writing a descriptive text by using bio-poem strategy and the difference

located in design of the research. In this research, the writer uses Bio-Poem

strategy toward students‘ writing ability in descriptive paragraph at the eight

grade students MTs Darul Falah Salo Kampar Regency.

C. Operational Concept

In carrying out this research, it is necessary to clarify the variable used

in analyzing the data. There are two variables; they are independent variable

(X) and dependent variable (Y). Variable X is the effect of using bio poem

strategy. Variable Y is the writing ability on descriptive paragraph.

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The indicators of variable X (the effect of using bio poem strategy) are

as follows (Hess (2005: 95-96) :

1. The teacher together with the class, compose and write on the board a bio-

poem of topic given.

2. The teacher asks the students to read own bio-poem to the class.

3. The teacher provide the students in pairs, students interview partners and

write bio-poem about them.

4. The teacher post the bio-poem on the walls of the class.

5. The teacher make a class book of bio-poem.

6. The teacher if possible, provide a book of bio-poems for each students

and let the students write massages to one another on the page where the

bio-poem appears.

The indicator of variable Y (writing ability on descriptive paragraph)

Based on the syllabus for the eight grade at MTs Darul Falah Salo of Kampar

Regency (2005) the indicators are can be seen as follows:

1. The students develop ideas in writing.

2. The students write their writing based on the organizational structure.

3. The students write the right vocabulary.

4. The students write correct grammar.

5. The students write the component of mechanics (e.g. spelling, punctuation,

capitalization and grammar usage).

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D. Assumption and Hypothesis

1. The Assumption

In this research, the writer assumes that the better applying

performance bio poem strategy toward students‘ writing ability on

descriptive paragraph of the eight students at MTs Darul Falah Salo

Kampar Regency.

2. Hypothesis

The hypothesis of the study can be formulated as follows:

Ho : There is no significant effect on students writing ability taught by

using bio poem strategy at MTs Darul Falah Salo Kampar

Regency.

Ha : There is a significant effect on students writing ability taught by

using bio poem strategy at MTs Darul Falah Salo Kampar

Regency.

.