improving students' writing ability using affinity grouping at seventh ...

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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY USING

AFFINITY GROUPING AT SEVENTH GRADE OF SMP N 4

WONOGIRI IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2011/2012

(AN ACTION RESEARCH)

Written by:

SENDY EKA PRATIWI

K2208098

THESIS

Submitted to Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret

University as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

for the Undergraduate Degree of Education

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY

SURAKARTA

2012


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PRONOUNCEMENT

I would like to certify that the thesis entitled “IMPROVING

STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY USING AFFINITY GROUPING AT

SEVENTH GRADE OF SMP N 4 WONOGIRI IN ACADEMIC YEAR

2011/2012 (AN ACTION RESEARCH” is really my own work. It is not plagiarism

or made by others. Everything related to other works are written in quotation, the

sources of which are listed on the bibliography.

If then, this pronouncement proves wrong; I am ready to receive any

academic punishment.

Surakarta, July 2012

`

Sendy Eka Pratiwi


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APPROVAL

This thesis is approved by the consultants to be examined by the Board of

Thesis Examiners of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret

University.

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APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS

This thesis has been approved by the Board of the Examiners of Teacher

Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret University and accepted as partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the Undergraduate Degree of Education in

English.

Day :

Date :

The Board of Examiners:

1. Chairman:

Endang Setyaningsih, S.Pd., M.Hum (…………………….)

NIP. 19800513 200312 2 002

2. Secretary:

Drs. Muh. Asrori, M.Pd (…………………….)

NIP. 19601015 198702 1 001

3. Examiner I:

Dr. Sujoko, M.A (…………………….)

NIP. 19510912 198003 1 002

4. Examiner II:

Teguh Sarosa, S.S., M.Hum (…………………….)

NIP. 19730205 200604 1 001

The Representative of the Dean,

The First Dean Assistant


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ABSTRACT

Sendy Eka Pratiwi. K2208098. IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY

USING AFFINITY GROUPING AT SEVENTH GRADE OF SMP N 4

WONOGIRI IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2011/2012 (AN ACTION RESEARCH). A

Thesis, Surakarta: Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret

University, 2012.

This research aims at: (1) describing whether or not and to what extent affinity

grouping can improve students’ writing skill, and (2) identifying whether or not

affinity grouping can make the students active in teaching learning process.

The method used in this research was a collaborative action research with a

junior high school English teacher (teacher AJM), and the researcher. The research

was conducted in two cycles at the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 4 Wonogiri from

February 2012 to June 2012. The research data were collected by using techniques of

observation, interview, field note, and test (pre-test and post-test). The data were

analyzed through constant comparative method and descriptive statistic.

The research findings show that affinity grouping could improve students’

writing skill and classroom situation of English class. The improvement of the

students’ writing skill includes: (1) the students could develop the idea easily; (2) the

students also made grammatical sentences; (3) the students had fewer difficulties in

spelling; (4) the students were able apply appropriate generic structure in making

descriptive text; (5) the students were able to master the vocabulary. The

improvement of students’ writing skill could also be seen from students’ post test

result. The means of pre test was 51.5, post test 1 was 67.6 and post test 2 was 76.7.

The improvement of classroom situation includes: (1) the students only talked

to each other when they had to discuss the material given by the teacher; (2) the

students looked active and did not look sleepy; (3) the students focused on the lesson;

(4) the students were able to answer the teacher’s questions and active to ask

questions to the teacher; (5) the students paid attention to the teacher and did not look

bored or made noise.

From the results above, it could be concluded that Affinity Grouping could

improve students’ writing skill and could make the students active in teaching

learning process.


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MOTTO

“I can do everything through HIM who gives me strength.”

(Philippians 4: 13)

I am ordinary with extraordinary God

(@Agnezmo)

“My Lord is bigger than all my problems”

(Stefanus Mulyadi)


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DEDICATION

With deep profound love, this thesis is dedicated to:

� Jesus Christ

My Best Partner, my Great Consultant, my Father, my Hero, my Everything. I can do

everything through YOU who give me strength. For You are Great, You do miracle so

Great. You are amazing. I love You!

� My beloved father, Drs. Joko Purwahono

Thank you for your love, support, prayer, and everything. I love you!

� My beloved mother, Suryani Maharani, S.Pd

You are not my step mother but you are my mom. Thank you for everything. I love

you!

� My Aurora Deana

Thank you for everything. I love you!

� Ari Tri Samekto

Thank you for the lesson that you have given to me. I love you!

� My Dearest Grandma “Buk Ti”

Thanks for your love, your prayer, your support. You are the best grandma. I love

you!

� My Pastor, Mr.Stefanus, and his family, Mrs.Stefanus, Anggit, Dito.

Thank you for your prayer and support. I love you!

� My Dearest Friends

“PKFC” (cannot mention one by one…hahaha, you guys are faithful!!!) Tika, Ichie,

Intan (you guys always accompany me to go to the library and share about thesis,

thanks beb!), Asih, Haning, Rini and all of my friends in EngEdu ’08. Thanks for your

support. I love you all guys.

� All of my friends and my families

Thank you so much guys. I love you!


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Praise to The LORD, My Jesus Christ, who has given His blessing and His

love to the writer so that she can complete the writing of this thesis. In this occasion,

the writer would like to express her deepest gratitude and appreciation to the

following.

1. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Sajidan, M.Si, the First Dean Assistant of Teacher Training

and Education Faculty, for his advice and his approval of this thesis.

2. Dr. Muhammad Rohmadi, S.S., M.Hum., the Head of the Art and Language

Education, and Endang Setyaningsih, S.S.,M.Hum., the Head of English

Education Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty, for their

advice and their approval of this thesis.

3. Dr. Sujoko, M.A., the first consultant, and Teguh Sarosa, S.S., M.Hum., the

second consultant, for their priceless guidance, advice, suggestion,

encouragement and patience.

4. Drs. Eko Sutantyo, M.Pd., the Headmaster of SMP N 4 Wonogiri for

facilitating the writer in collecting the data.

5. Adil Joko Mursito, S.Pd., the English teacher of SMP N 4 Wonogiri, who has

helped the writer to do the research.

6. The seventh F students of SMP N 4 Wonogiri who have participated well

during the research.

7. Her beloved family, for their supports, caring, prayer, and helps.

8. Her friends in English Education Department of year 2008, for their

everlasting friendship.

The writer realizes that this thesis is still far from being perfect. She hopes

and accepts every comment and suggestion. Hopefully, this thesis will be useful for

the readers.

Surakarta, July 2012

‘SendyEka’


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TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE ............................................................................................................... i

PRONOUNCEMENT. ..................................................................................... ii

APPROVAL .................................................................................................... iii

APPROVAL OF THE BOARD EXAMINERS… .......................................... iv

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... v

MOTTO .......................................................................................................... vi

DEDICATION ................................................................................................ vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................... viii

TABLE OF CONTENT .................................................................................. ix

LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................. xi

LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................. xii

LIST OF FIGURE ............................................................................................ xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1

A. Background of the Study ................................................. 1

B. Problems Statements ........................................................ 4

C. Objectives of the Study .................................................... 4

D. Benefits of the Study ........................................................ 4

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RELATED THEORIES .......................... 6

A. Review on Writing Skill .................................................... 6

1. Definition of Writing ..................................................... 6

2. Micro and Macro Skills in Writing ............................... 7

3. Process of Writing. ........................................................ 9

4. The Purpose of Writing. ................................................ 11

5. Type of Scoring Writing. ............................................... 12

B. Teaching Writing ............................................................... 15

1. Importance of Writing Skill in Language Teaching ..... 15

2. Technique in Teaching Writing .................................... 15


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3. Teaching Writing in SMP. ............................................ 17

4. Descriptive Text. .......................................................... 18

C. Affinity Grouping .............................................................. 21

1. Review on Cooperative Learning ................................. 21

2. The Benefits of Cooperative Learning. ........................ 22

3. Review on Affinity Grouping ....................................... 23

4. Implementing Affinity Grouping in Teaching Writing. 24

D. Active Learning ................................................................. 26

E. Rationale ............................................................................ 29

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................... 31

A. Setting and Subject of the Research ................................. 31

1. Research Setting ........................................................... 31

2. Subject of the Research ................................................ 31

B. Research Approach ............................................................ 32

1. Definition of Action Research ....................................... 33

2. Model of Action Research ............................................. 33

3. Procedure of Action Research ....................................... 35

C. Technique of Collecting Data ............................................ 37

D. Technique of Analyzing Data ............................................ 39

CHAPTER IV THE RESULT OF THE STUDY ........................................... 42

A. Process of The Research ................................................... 42

1. Pre-research ................................................................... 42

2. Research Implementation .............................................. 45

a. Cycle 1. ..................................................................... 46

b. Cycle 2. ..................................................................... 56

B. Findings ............................................................................. 63

C. Discussion. ........................................................................ 71

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION......... 73

A. Conclusion ........................................................................ 73

B. Implication ......................................................................... 74

C. Suggestion ......................................................................... 74

BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 76

APPENDICES ................................................................................................. 79


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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Research Schedule .................................................................... 80

Appendix 2: List of Students’ Name ............................................................. 81

Appendix 3: Pre-research Observation .......................................................... 82

Appendix 4: Transcript of Interview before Research .................................. 87

Appendix 5: Questionnaire before Research ................................................. 97

Appendix 6: Syllabus ................................................................................... 101

Appendix 7: Lesson Plan ............................................................................... 126

Appendix 8: List of Students’ Activity ........................................................ 152

Appendix 9: Field Note Cycle 1 .................................................................... 155

Appendix 10: Field Note Cycle 2. ................................................................... 173

Appendix 11: Result of the Study ................................................................... 186

Appendix 12: Transcript of Interview after Research. .................................... 189

Appendix 13: Questionnaire after Research. ................................................... 198

Appendix 14: Photograph ................................................................................ 202

Appendix 15: Students’ Worksheet ................................................................. 208

Appendix 16: Legalization .............................................................................. 237


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LIST OF TABLE

Table 2.1: Scales ESL Writing ....................................................................... 12

Table 2.2: The Scoring Rubric. ...................................................................... 14

Table 3.1: The Schedule of the Research ....................................................... 31

Table 3.2: Technique of Collecting and Analyzing Data ............................... 38

Table 4.1: Situation before Research .............................................................. 42

Table 4.2: The Schedule of the Research ....................................................... 45

Table 4.3: The Summary of Process of the Research ..................................... 45

Table 4.4: The Improvement of Students’ Writing Skill ................................ 53

Table 4.5: The Summary of the Implementation of Cycle 1 .......................... 54


Table 4.7: The Summary of the Implementation of Cycle 2 .......................... 61


Table 4.9: The Summary of Research Findings. ............................................ 70


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LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 3.1: The Circle of Action Research ...................................................... 34

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background Of The Study

Language is the most essential and effective means of communication.

Language is not only to express ideas feeling and thought, but also it is the basic

for the acquisition of understandings, attitudes and ideas which are important to

individuals, groups, and society. Therefore, to connect international

communication, an international language is unbearably needed. So, learning

English is a need, because by mastering English well, people will find it easy to

understand some information written in English.

Language exists not only in spoken, but also written form. Written

language plays an important role in any field of human life. To pass an

examination or enter a school, students are sometimes asked to make a paper or

another writing form. To apply for a job, someone needs to make an application

letter. Moreover, in scientific field, good writing skill is really needed, for example

in conducting a research. These facts prove the importance of writing. That is why

writing is really needed to be taught to students in school and university. It will be

helpful for them in doing many activities in their career and life.

Teaching writing is just as important as teaching other skill as basic

language skills. Globalization era affects students to have more chance to get in

touch with written English text. Students need to know how to write letters, short

message, and electronic mail or even chatting in English. Moreover, many

occupations and advertisements must be replied in English as demanded by the

workplace. Furthermore, good writing skills are required to achieve both academic

purpose and communicative purpose.


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Based on pre-observation in SMP N 4 Wonogiri, there are some problems

in writing. Their problems in writing skill are also indicated from 2 indicators,

students’ writing problem and classroom situation. From the competence of

writing skill they are: (1) Students get difficulty in developing the idea; (2)

Students get difficulty in producing grammatical sentences; (3) Students write

some words incorrectly; (4) Students are confused to use appropriate generic

structure; (5) Students lack of vocabulary.

From the classroom situation, the indicators are: (1) The students make

the class noisy; (2) Students look sleepy during the lesson; (3) Students do non-

academic activities rather than focus on the lesson; (4) Students are too passive in

the class; (5) The students do not pay attention to the teacher.

Based on the pre-test result, the seventh grade students of SMP N 4

Wonogiri have low writing activity. It can be seen from the writing score. The

mean of the students’ writing score is 51, whereas the minimum score of writing is

39 and the maximum score is 61. It is indicated that the students face a problem in

writing.

The problems above were caused by some reasons. One of the reasons

which made teaching and learning writing failed was the students themselves. The

students had low motivation in learning English. They felt that writing was not

interesting. This statement is supported by an informal interview with the student

“Aku gak begitu suka nulis sih mbak. Apalagi pakai bahasa inggris, jadi susah

gitu deh...”. Beside it, the students also confused about what they should write.

One of the students said “Yang bikin susah nulis tu pas mikir idenya mbak.

Bingung mau nulis apa…”.They found difficulty in developing the idea, producing

grammatical sentences and mastering the vocabulary.

The other problem was less interaction between teacher and students.

Teacher never gave reward after the students did what the teacher asked. Even


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when students did the task, teacher did not help and guide them. Teacher just sat

on his chair. Sometimes, teacher tended to speak too much in the class and

dominated the teaching and learning activity. That made the students was not

thoroughly involved in teaching learning process.

There are many techniques that can be used to improve students writing

skill easily. They can solve the students’ lack of motivation and lessen their

difficulty in writing activity. One of the techniques is Affinity Grouping. Barkley,

Cross, and Major (2005: 206-207) said that Affinity Grouping is a technique in

which students generate ideas, identify common themes, and then sort and

organize the ideas accordingly. It is particularly useful for helping students

“unpack” a complicated topic and identify and classify its constituent parts.

Affinity Grouping is a technique that will make the students interested in

learning English, especially in writing. Here some advantages using Affinity

Grouping to teach writing: 1) This technique is useful for helping students unpack

a complicated issue and identify and classify its constituent parts; 2) Affinity

Grouping will help students brainstorm and organize ideas; 3) Affinity Grouping

can help the students find the idea, because they work in groups and they will

share about the topic with others friends; 4) Affinity Grouping also can help

students make coherent paragraphs. Students have organized their ideas so they

can arrange their sentences easily; 5) By discussing, students can share about they

problems in making grammatical sentences, mastering vocabulary, spelling,

punctuation and so on; 6) The students will not feel bored. Because the learning

process is student-centred, so the students will be more active; 7) Increasing

students’ motivation in learning.


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Based on the problem and the proposed solutions, the writer is interested

in conducting an action research entitled Improving Students’ Writing Ability

Using Affinity Grouping at 7th

grade of SMP N 4 Wonogiri in academic Year

2011/2012 (an Action Research).

B. Problem Statements

In this study, the writer only focuses on certain problems. These problems

are formulated as follows:

1. Can Affinity Grouping improve the students’ writing skill?

2. Can Affinity Grouping make the students being active in teaching learning

process?

C. Objectives Of The Study

Based on the problem statements above, the objectives of this study are:

1. To identify whether Affinity Grouping can improve the students’ skill in

writing.

2. To find out whether Affinity Grouping can make the students active in

teaching learning process.

D. Benefits Of The Study

The research is expected to give benefits for the teachers, the students, the

school, and other researcher.


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1. For the teacher

Teachers can use Affinity Grouping technique as an alternative to teaching

writing in order to improve their students’ writing skill.

2. For the students

Using Affinity Grouping can increase students’ interest and motivation in

writing so that they can explore their ideas effectively.

3. For the school

The result of the study can be a pioneer in the efforts of finding new teaching

and learning activity and can be a motivation for other teachers to develop another

teaching and learning technique.

4. For other researcher

This study can be used as one of the references for further research dealing

with improving students’ writing skill.

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review On Writing Skill

1. Definition of Writing

Related to the better understanding of writing, the writer presents some

basic theories about writing suggested by some experts. Byrne (1997: 1) defines

writing as the act of forming letters or combination of letters: making marks on flat

surface of some kind but it is more than the production of graphic symbols, just as

speech is more than the production of the sound. The symbols have to be arranged

according to certain conventions to form words, and words have to be arranged to

form sentences. Nevertheless, it then does not stop here. In writing, a writer does

not just write one sentence or a number of unrelated sentences. The writer has to

be able to produce a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and

linked together in certain ways, so that they will form a coherent whole.

According to Harris (1993: 10), writing is a process that occurs over a

period of time, particularly if the writer takes account the sometimes extended

periods of thinking that precede initial draft. The length of the time is different

among writers. Some needs a longer time to just think about what to write before

making the initial draft.

Then, Peter Elbow as quoted by Brown (1994: 321) states that writing is a

two-step process. First, the writer figures out the meaning. It means that the writer

should understand what he or she wants to say by making planning or outline to

control the idea. Second, the writer put the meaning into the language or

transaction of meaning-into-language. Traditionally, writing considered as an

organic, which needs process to develop with suitable words and coherence with

the idea without lost of throwing words away.


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Harmer (1998: 79) states that writing is a skill and he argues that teaching

writing has a very important reason since it is a basic language skill, just as

important as speaking, listening, and reading. Students need to know how to write

letters, how to put written reports together, how to reply to an advertisement – and

increasingly, how to write story, message, or other kinds of text either in the form

of hand-written or typed by using electronic media. The students also need to

know some of writing’s special conventions (punctuation, paragraph construction,

etc), just as they need to know how to pronounce spoken English appropriately.

Meanwhile, Bell and Burnaby in Nunan (1998: 6) says that writing is an

extremely complex cognitive activity in which the writer is required to

demonstrate control of a number of variables simultaneously. At the sentence level

these include control of content, format, sentence structure, vocabulary,

punctuation, spelling, and letter formation. Beyond the sentence, the writer must

be able to structure and integrate information into cohesive and coherent

paragraphs and texts. In writing, there are numbers of aspects that must be

considered to make the information inside the paragraphs and text cohesive and

coherent.

From the definition above, it can be concluded that writing is a process to

express idea, opinion, feeling which are arranged into letters, words, then

sentences based on particular rules. The rules are concerning with some aspects

such as content, grammar, adequate vocabulary, mechanics, and organization so

that it is understandable for others as a means of communication between writer

and readers.

2. Micro and Macro Skills in Writing

The writer should consider the aspects of micro and macro skills in

writing in order the learners are able to do such in writing. Brown (2004: 220)

explains that micro skills are related no imitative and intensive types of writing


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task whereas macro skills are related to responsive and extensive writing. The

descriptions are as follows:

a. Micro-skills:

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English;

2) Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose;

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

order patterns;

4) Use acceptable grammatical systems (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 communicate 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 audience’s interpretation, using prewriting devices,

writing with fluency in the first drafts, using paraphrases and

synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback for revising and

editing.

Therefore, in order to able to produce a good written text, the researcher

should focus on some of micro and macro skills. First, produce an acceptable core

of words and use appropriate word order patterns. Second, use acceptable


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grammatical systems (e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization), patterns, and rules.

Third, use cohesive devices in written discourse. Forth, appropriately accomplish

the communicate functions of written texts according to form and purpose. Fifth,

convey links and connections between events, and communicate such relations as

main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization,

and exemplification.

3. Process of Writing

According to Hedge (1988: 21-23), there are three process of writing

namely pre-writing; writing and rewriting; and editing.

a. Pre-writing

The good writer generates plans for writing at this stage though.

He could draw a scale from comparatively spontaneous writing to

very carefully planned writing and place different kinds of writing on

it in appropriate places. However, even when quite elaborate outlines

are prepared, good writers change their ideas as they write and

reshape their plans.

b. Writing and rewriting

The second phase of activity is the writing itself and with good

writers this consists of making a first draft. But writing the first draft

is often interrupted as the writer stops to read over and review, to get

an idea of how the text is developing, to revise plans, and bring in

new ideas or rearrange those already expressed. There is a good deal

of recycling in the process from planning to drafting, reviewing,

replanning, revising, etc.

c. Editing

The post-writing stage consists of reading through and trying to

apply a reader’s perspective in order to assess how clearly readers


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might follow the ideas. The editing process makes the final

readjustments and checks accuracy so that the text is maximally

accessible to the reader.

According to Harris (1993: 45-60), the process of writing is divided into

three stages. The first stage is assembling strategies, the second stage is creating

and developing the text, and the last stage is editing.

a. Assembling strategies

Consist of some classroom activities such as listing questions,

brainstorming, research (including reading and note-making),

diagrams, planning (using grids and planning sheets), considering text

type, purpose, and readership.

b. Creating and developing the text

This stage is consist of some classroom activities too such as

drafting using “cut and paste’ techniques for revising text, provisional

responses from readers (teacher and response-partners), reconsidering

text type, purpose and readership.

c. Editing

Editing involves the careful checking of the text to ensure that

there are no errors that will impede communication – errors of

spelling, punctuation, word choice, and word order.

In this study, the researcher used assembling strategies, creating and

developing the text, and editing as the process of writing. In assembling strategies,

students have to think and develop their idea. Then they have to create and

develop the text. After they create a text, they have to check it to find some errors.


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4. The Purpose of Writing

Harris (1993: 1) states that the purpose of text is its communicative

function. Text can be grouped, for example, according to whether they are

intended to entertain, inform, instruct, persuade, explain, argue a case, present

arguments, and so on.

Similarly, Brookes and Grundy (1991: 3) state that the purposes of

writing are considered into three points. First, to give information to someone we

cannot presently talk. Thus, writing allows us to transcend time or space. Second,

writing can solve the problem of volume of having to store more than the human

brain can remember. Recently, people believe that writing is useful to store the

information reliably. It can be seen in modern industrialized society where written

form is the most convenient for storing the sheer information. Third, the purpose

of the writing is to filter and shape our experience. When people write, they think

about what to write and how to represent our experience. Indeed, they may well

find that writing helps us to come to terms with their experience and understand it

better. A further filter will be found when they edit what they have written. Then

as well as filtering, they compose. That is, they consider hoe to present what they

want to communicate – with what purpose, for which reader (s), and in what order.

Based on those statements above, some purposes of writing generally can

be seen as follows:

a. To entertain the reader;

b. To give information; meaning that the writers can use writing to be

the media to send message or to give information to whom cannot

presently talk to; and

c. To express idea or experience.


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5. Type of Scoring Writing

Scoring rubric is important in the evaluation. Reid (1993: 235) says that,

in general, there are two basic types of grading: analytic and holistic. Both can be

useful tools for evaluating student writing, but each has different purposes.

Analytic scoring separates various factors and skills so can be used by teachers

and student to diagnose writing strengths and weaknesses. Holistic scoring

assesses the overall competence of a piece of writing, but it neither diagnoses

problems nor prescribes for the writing.

In this research, the writer use the analytic scoring in evaluating student’

writing. She uses the Composition Profile in Testing ESL Writing: A Practical

Approach introduced by H. Jacobs in Reid (1993: 236-237) as the analytical scales

for ESL writing which becomes the most widely used. The ESL composition

profile is as follows:

Table 2.1. Scales ESL Writing Score Criteria Description

CONTENT 30 – 27

26 – 22

21 – 17

16 – 13

Excellent to Very

Good

Good to Average

Fair to Poor

Very Poor

Knowledgeable, substantive,

development of thesis, relevant to

assigned topic

Sure knowledge of subject, adequate

range, limited development of thesis,

mostly relevant to topic but lacks

detail

Limited knowledge of subject, little

substance, inadequate development of

topic

Does not show knowledge of subject,

non-substantive, not pertinent, or not

enough to evaluate

ORGANIZATION 20 – 18

Excellent to Very

Good

Fluent expression, ideas clearly

stated/supported, succinct, well-

organized, logical sequencing,

cohesive


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17 – 14

13 – 10

9 – 7

Good to Average

Fair to Poor

Very Poor

Somewhat choppy, loosely organized

but main ideas stand out, limited

support, logical but incomplete

sequencing

Non-fluent, ideas confused or

disconnected, lacks of logical

sequencing and development

Does not communicate, no

organization, or not enough to

evaluate

VOCABULARY 20 – 18

17 – 14

13 – 10

9 – 7

Excellent to Very

Good

Good to Average

Fair to Poor

Very Poor

Sophisticated range, effective

word/idiom choice and usage, word

form mastery, appropriate register

Adequate range, occasional errors of

word/idiom form, choice usage but

meaning not obscured

Limited range, frequent errors of

word/idiom form, choice, usage,

meaning confused or obscured

Essentially translation, little

knowledge of English vocabulary,

idioms, word form, or not enough to

evaluate

LANGUAGE

USE

25 – 22

21 – 18

17 – 11

Excellent to Very

Good

Good to Average

Fair to Poor

Effective and complex constructions,

few errors of agreement, tense,

number, word order/function, articles,

pronouns, prepositions

Effective but simple constructions,

minor problems in complex

constructions, several errors of

agreement, tense, number, word

order/function, articles, pronouns,

prepositions, but meaning seldom

obscured

Major problems in simple/complex

constructions, frequent errors of

negation, agreement, tense, number,

word order/function, articles,

pronouns, prepositions and/or


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10 – 5

Very Poor

fragments, run-ons, deletions,


Virtually no mastery of sentence

constructions rules, dominated by

errors, does not communicate, or not

enough to evaluate.

MECHANISM 5

4

3

2

Excellent to Very

Good

Good to Average

Fair to Poor

Very Poor

Demonstrate mastery of conventions,

few errors of spelling, punctuation,

capitalization, paragraphing

Occasional errors of spelling,

punctuation, capitalization,

paragraphing, but meaning not

obscured

Frequent errors of spelling,


paragraphing, poor hand writing,


No mastery of conventions,

dominated by errors of spelling,


paragraphing, hand writing illegible,

or not enough to evaluate

Based on the analytical scales for ESL writing above, it can be summed

up that the total score is 100 which are described in following table:

Table 2.2 The Scoring Rubric

No. Aspects of writing Range Score

1. Content 30 – 13

2. Organization 20 – 7

3. Vocabulary 20 – 7

4. Language Use 25 – 5

5. Mechanics 5 – 2

Total 100


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B. Teaching Writing

1. Importance of Writing Skill in Language Teaching

In language teaching, although writing is the last skill learnt after

listening, speaking, and reading, still it has importance. What makes writing

important is that by writing, people especially students are able to express

themselves. It prepares them for school itself and employment. Writing can

solidify ideas and thoughts, and allow the students to reflect on them better than if

the ideas remained evolving in their head. Writing helps the students with other

language tasks as well. Writing is easier to examine, evaluate, and revise than

speaking because it is concrete.

Teaching writing is best when the students are personally involved so that

they get the learning experience with lasting value. Teacher in teaching writing

should have been clear on what he/she wants to develop. The teacher also needs to

choose the most appropriate means applied according to the target. Target here

means all about what kind students the teacher is going to teach. The correct

choice can encourage the students to have better writings.

2. Technique in Teaching Writing

Teacher is responsible for delivering teaching materials to the students.

The case is students’ learning style is different one another. Therefore, teacher had

better choose an approach in teaching in order to make every student receive what

is delivered. Raimes (1983: 97-112) mentions some techniques in teaching writing.

They are:

a. Controlled writing

The students are helped to produce a good composition by certain

control. Exercises consist of pieces of discourse in which students are

instructed to copy and in which to then make discrete changes or fill in the

blanks. This will enable students to more practice with the structure,


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punctuation, and grammar. This approach stresses three features of grammar,

syntax, and mechanics. It emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency or

originality.

b. Guided writing

It is the type of writing in which the students from controlled writing

transit before going to the free writing. In this type, the students are still

guided but not given full control by the teacher. The teacher gives only little

scaffolds during the writing process. Students are allowed to try some free

compositions after they have reached an intermediate level of proficiency.

Guided writing is useful for a range of teaching purpose. It allows

students to consider audience, purpose, topic, and selection of text type when

planning their writing. It allows students to focus on conventions such as

spelling, punctuation, standard usage, and handwriting. It also may be used to

encourage students to revise and edit their writing. The focus for each session

could be on one of the ‘authorial’ aspects of writing, such as clarifying and

extending ideas or organizing and planning the structure of a text. Students’

writing can be evaluated during the guided writing process as the teacher

moves around the group. The products can also be analyzed more closely

afterwards and used as work samples in portfolios or records of development.

c. Free writing

This type stresses writing quantity rather than quality. Teachers who

use this approach assign vast amount of free writing on given topics with only

minimal correction. The emphasis in this approach is on content and fluency

rather than on accuracy and form. Teachers may begin their classes by asking

students to write freely on any topic without worrying about grammar and

spelling for five or ten minutes. The teacher does not correct these pieces of

writing. They simply read them and may comment on the ideas the writer

expressed. Alternatively, some students may volunteer to read their own


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writing aloud to the class. Concern for audience and content are seen as

important in this approach.

Teaching writing conducted in this research is based on guided writing

approach. By considering the students’ writing skill, guided writing suits them best

since the students have problems in all writing aspects: mechanic, language use,

vocabulary, organization, and content. As mentioned above, guided writing can

make teacher helps students in practicing every aspect of writing well.

3. Teaching Writing in SMP

In English teaching for Junior High School, it is directed for the students

to be able to achieve functional level, that is able to communicate orally and

written in their daily life. A Permendiknas article 22nd

edition of the KTSP

Curriculum of Junior High School (2006: 214) states “Mata pelajaran Bahasa

Inggris di SMP/MTs bertujuan agar peserta didik memiliki kemampuan salah

satunya adalah: Mengembangkan kompetensi berkomunikasi dalam bentuk lisan

dan tulis untuk mencapai tingkat literasi fungsional”. It means that written and

oral competencies are essential to develop students’ skill. It is very clear that

writing is suitable to be taught in junior level after the students got introduction

about writing in lower level. They can explore the writing technique to avoid the

mistakes in the next higher level.

Dealing with the curriculum establishes by the government, there are five

types of text called genre-based approach which are learned in Junior High School.

They are: Description; Recount; Narrative; Procedure; and Report. In this research,

the researcher focuses on descriptive text.


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4. Descriptive Text

According to Pardiyono (2007: 34), description is a type of written text,

which has the specific function to give description about an object (human or non

human).

The generic structures of description text are:

a. Identification (statement about a topic that will be described)

b. Description (detail information about the topic in identification)

The grammatical patterns which are used:

a. Using simple present tense

Thomson and Martinet (1986: 159) explain the forms of simple

present tense.

1) In the affirmative the simple present has the same form as the

infinitive but adds an s for the third person singular.

Example: - I work - He works

- You work - She works

- We work - It works

- They work

2) Contractions: the verb do is normally contracted in the negative

and negative interrogative. The third person singular using does.

Example: - I do not work - He does not work

- Do not I work? - Does not he work?

3) Spelling notes

Verbs ending in ss, sh, ch, x, and o add es, instead of s alone, to form

the third person singular.

Example: - I kiss, he kisses - I box, he boxes

- I rush, he rushes - I do, he does

- I watch, he watches


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When y follows a consonant it is changed the y into i and add es:

Example: - I carry, he carries

- I try, he tries

But verbs ending in y following a vowel obey the usual rule:

Example: - I obey, he obeys

- I say, he says

Azar (1989: 11) explains the use of simple present tense.

1) The simple present tense is used for general statement

Example: - Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

- The world is round.

2) The simple present tense is used to express habitual or

everyday activity.

Example: - My classes begin at nine.

- He always eats a sandwich for lunch.

3) The simple present tense may indicate a situation that exists

right now, at the moment of speaking.

Example: - I have only a dollar right now.

- I don’t recognize that man.

b. Using adjective and adverb

Thomson and Martinet (1986: 33) explain the main kinds of

adjectives and adverbs.

1) Adjectives

a) Demonstrative : this, that, these, those

b) Distributive : each, every

c) Quantitative : some, any, many, much, little, one

d) Interrogative : which, what, whose

e) Possessive : my, your, his, her, its, our, their

f) Of quality : clever, dry, fat, golden, good


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2) Adverbs

a) Manner : bravely, fast, happily, hard, quickly

b) Place : by, down, here, near, there

c) Time : now, soon, then, today

d) Frequency : always, never, often, twice

e) Sentence : certainly, definitely, surely

f) Degree : fairly, hardly, rather, quite

g) Interrogative : when? where? why?

h) Relative : when, where, why

c. Using action verbs

Frank (1972: 48) says that action verb or predicating verb is the

chief word in the predicate that says something about the subject.

Example: - Babies cry.

- She writes a letter.

The example of descriptive text that is taken from book “English in Focus

for Grade VII Junior High School” (2008: 113):

Mr Kartolo, the Farmer

Mr Kartolo is very happy. The rainy season of

this year makes the farm beautiful. It is planting

time! Rice fields become fresh and green during

this season and by the end of this season Mr

Kartolo is ready to harvest his crops.

Tittle

Identification


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Mr Kartolo ploughs the land at the beginning

of the rainy season. Then, he usually works early

and finishes at noon. Milking the cows, feeding the

livestock, and cleaning the barns are among Mr

Kartolo’s duties before breakfast. He does most of

the hard outdoor work by himself.

Description

C. Affinity Grouping

1. Review on Cooperative Learning

According to Olsen and Kagan (1992: 8) in Richards and Rodgers (2001:

192), Cooperative learning is group learning activity organized so that learning is

dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in

groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning

and is motivated to increase the learning of others. Smith (1996: 7) in Barkley,

Cross, and Major (2005: 5) said that cooperative learning is the instructional use of

small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each

others’ learning. Cooperative learning, as the name implies, requires students to

work together on a common task, sharing information and supporting one other.

Cranton and Smith (1996) in Barkley, Cross, and Major (2005: 5-6) said

that in cooperative learning, the teacher retains the traditional dual role of subject

matter expert and authority in the classroom. The teacher designs and assigns

group learning task, manages time and resources, and monitors students’ learning,

checking to see that students are on task and that the group process is working

well.


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According to Nunan (1992: 34), the work in cooperative learning teams is

structured so that there is positive interdependence among the members in the

group: the learners feel that they work together for mutual benefits. Such as more

positive peer relationships, social support, higher self-esteem and academic

achievement.

From those explanations above, it can be concluded that cooperative

learning is group learning activity that students work together to exchange of

information between learners in group and give motivation to each other. In

cooperative learning teacher as a facilitator, teacher designs group learning tasks,

manages the time and resources, monitors student’s learning, checking the group

process is working well.

2. The Benefits of Cooperative Learning

According to Hill (1996: 5), cooperative learning has important

implications in the development of mutual respect and better understanding

between the students. Learning to work together, sharing group roles, and solving

problems in a cooperative way promote the self-esteem of everyone.

Then Bassano and Christison (1988) in Klesser (1992: 3) explained four

benefits of Cooperative Learning. First, cooperative learning can assist with

classroom environment and social tasks-for example, arranging the classroom,

distributing materials, or generating advice on critical incidents such as greeting

new students or dealing with discipline problems. Second, cooperative learning

can be useful in selecting content and setting goals. Third, cooperative learning

can help in developing materials such as flashcards and posters. And fourth,

cooperative learning can assist in monitoring progress and evaluative tasks.

From the explanations above, there are many benefits of cooperative

learning, such as the students can give motivation each others, they can share their

idea and solve the problem together, promote self-esteem and make the student be


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active. Cooperative learning also help teacher in teaching the materials, manage

the classroom, setting the goal in teaching, and evaluate the tasks.

3. Review on Affinity Grouping

Barkley, Cross, and Major (2005: 206-207) said that Affinity Grouping is

a technique in which students generate ideas, identify common themes, and then

sort and organize the ideas accordingly. Students individually generate ideas about

a topic and write each item on a slip of paper. Groups sort and organize the slips

into categories as they identify common themes. Affinity Grouping is particularly

useful for helping students “unpack” a complicated topic and identify and classify

its constituent parts. Affinity Grouping can help students unpack a complicated

issue and build groupings from the separate pieces. Because students identify

clusters of ideas and information shared by several people, this CoLT can help

build group consensus.

According to Barkley, Cross, and Major (2005: 207), there are several

steps in Affinity Grouping.

a. Distribute enough 3 x 5 cards, slips of paper, or sticky notes so that

each student can have several slips for brainstorming ideas.

b. State the category, issue, or problem to be explored and provide a

time limit for the activity.

c. Organize the students into groups, but then ask each student to

separately and silently brainstorm ideas, writing one idea per slip of

paper.

d. When time is up, ask one team member to collect the cards or sticky

notes, mix them up, and spread them out (or stick them) on a flat

surface.


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e. Instruct the teams to discuss and arrange the cards or sticky notes into

related groups.

f. Have students created a title or heading for each grouping that best

describes the theme of each group of items.

4. Implementing Affinity Grouping in Teaching Writing

Based on the observation in SMP N 4 Wonogiri, the researcher found

some problems in writings. The problems are indicated from 2 indicators,

students’ writing problem and classroom situation. From the competence of

writing skill they are: (1) Students get difficulty in developing the idea; (2)

Students get difficulty in producing grammatical sentences; (3) Students write

some words incorrectly; (4) Students are confused to use appropriate generic

structure; (5) Students are lack of vocabulary. From the classroom situation, the

indicators are: (a) The students make the class noisy; (b) Students look sleepy

during the lesson; (c) Students do non-academic activities rather than focus on the

lesson; (d) Students are too passive in the class; (e) The students do not pay

attention to the teacher.

Based on the problems above, the researcher implemented Affinity

Grouping in teaching writing. The researcher used the procedure of Affinity

Grouping from Barkley, Cross, and Major (2005: 207) to teach writing and to

solve the problems.

a. Teacher distributes enough 3 x 5 cards, slips of paper, or sticky notes to the

students. This step helps students prepare the teaching learning process.

b. Teacher organizes the students into groups. This step helps students work

cooperatively.

c. Teacher writes one topic on a whiteboard. Each group chooses one subtopic

that relevant with the topic. This step can cover the first (1) indicator that can

help the students find and construct the idea.


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d. Teacher asks each student to write a sentence that suitable with the subtopic. It

helps the students organize their idea.

e. Teacher instructs the groups to arrange the card, discuss each sentence, and

choose the sentences that will be written again in descriptive text. By

discussing, they can share about the generic structure of the text. It means that

this step can cover the forth (4) indicator.

f. Teacher asks students to make a text. They make a text grouply. This step will

help the students to produce grammatical sentences because they share their

text with their group. They can check if they write some words incorrectly and

they can ask to their friend if they are confused about the vocabulary. This

step can cover the second (2), the third (3), and the fifth (5) indicators.

By doing all the steps above, the class is still noisy, but it does not make a

trouble because the students talk or share about their idea. The students become

more active, they do not feel sleepy when teaching learning process. The students

focus on the lesson and pay attention to the teacher.

Based on the explanation above, the researcher get many advantages

using Affinity Grouping to teach writing.

1. This technique is useful for helping students unpack a complicated issue and

identify and classify its constituent parts.

2. Affinity Grouping help students brainstorm and organize ideas.

3. Affinity Grouping can help the students to find the idea, because they work in

groups and they will share about the topic with others friends.

4. Affinity Grouping also can help students to make coherent paragraphs.

Students have organized their ideas so they can arrange their sentences easily.

5. By discussing, students can share about their problems in making grammatical

sentences, mastering vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and so on.

6. The students do not feel bored. Because the learning process is students

centre. So the students become more active.

7. Increasing students’ motivation in learning.


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D. Active Learning

According to Angelo and Cross (1993: 4), to improve learning, it may

often be more effective to help students change their study habits or develop their

metacognitive skills (skills in thinking about their own thinking and learning) than

to change the instructor’s teaching behavior. Students’ motivation is increased

when they realize that the lesson are interested and invested in their success as

learners. When students focus more clearly, participate more actively, and feel

more confident that they can succeed, they are likely to do better in their task.

Silberman (1996: 3) said that the brain is like a computer and people are

its users. A computer, of course, needs to be “on” in order to work. The brain

needs to be “on” as well. When learning is passive, the brain is not “on”. A

computer needs the right software to interpret the data that is input. The brain

needs to link what are being taught with what already knowen and how people

think. When learning is passive, the brain does not make these links to the

software of our minds. Finally, a computer cannot retain information that it has

processed without “saving” it. The brain needs to test the information, recap it, or

explain it to someone else in order to store it in its memory banks. When learning

is passive, the brain does not save what has been presented.

Learning is not memorization anyway, without the opportunity to discuss,

ask questions, do, and perhaps even teach someone else, real learning will not

occur. When learning is passive, the learner comes to the encounter without

curiosity, without questions, and without interest in the outcome. When learning is

active, the learner is seeking something. He or she wants an answer to a question,

needs information to solve a problem, or is searching for a way to do a job.

Silberman (1996: 32) explains that there are three important goals to

accomplish active learning.


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a. Team building: Help students to become acquainted with each other

and create a spirit of cooperation and interdependence

b. On the spot assessment: Learn about the attitudes, knowledge, and

experience of the students

c. Immediate learning involvement: Create initial interest in the subject

matter.

All three goals, when accomplished, help to develop a learning

environment that involves students, promotes their willingness to take part in

active learning, and creates positive classroom norms.

Silberman (1996: xii) also explains about some techniques that are

designed to avoid or reinforce teacher-led instruction. A wide range of alternatives

are provided, all of which gently push students to think, feel, and apply. They

include:

a. Full class learning: teacher led instruction that stimulates the entire

class

b. Class discussion: dialogue and debate of key issues

c. Question prompting: students requests for clarification

d. Collaborating learning: assignments done cooperatively in small

groups of students

e. Peer teaching: instruction led by students

f. Independent learning: learning activities performed individually

g. Affective learning: activities that help students to examine their

feelings, values, and attitudes

h. Skill development: learning and practicing skills, both technical and

nontechnical

Silberman (1996: xiii) gives some suggestion to the teacher when

teaching a lesson to the students


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a. Do not experiment wildly. Try out a new method no more than

once a week.

b. When you introduce a method to students, sell it as an alternative

to the usual way of doing things that you think might be worth a

try. Obtain their feedback.

c. Do not overload students with too many activities.

d. Make your instructions crystal clear. Demonstrate or illustrate

what students are expected to do so that there is no confusion that

might distract them from getting the most out of the technique.

Harmer (1998: 10) describes some characteristics of good and active

learners.

a. A willingness to listen: good learners listen what’s going on – not

just in the sense of paying attention, but also in terms of really

listening to the learning.

b. A willingness to experiment: many good learners are not afraid to

‘have a go’. They are prepared to take a risk, to try things out and

see how it works.

c. A willingness to ask questions: good teachers frequently invite

students to ask if they do not understand something. Good learners

do this, judging when it is appropriate to do so and when it is not.

d. A willingness to think about how to learn: good learners bring or

invent their own study skills when they come to a lesson (and/or

when they study on their own).

e. A willingness to accept correction: good learners are prepared to

be corrected if it helps them. They are keen to get feedback from

the teacher and act upon what they are told.


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E. Rationale

Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that writing is one of

the four skills that is very important to be mastered by the learners. For the

students of SMP N 4 Wonogiri, writing was considered as the most difficult skill.

There are some problems in writing that the writer found first, students get

difficulty to find the idea, they confused about what they are going to write.

Second, they get difficulty in producing grammatical sentences. Third, students

write some words incorrectly. Fourth, tudents are confused to use appropriate

generic structure. Fifth, students are lack of vocabulary. The students look bored

and they are too passive in class. They do non-academic activities rather than

focus on the lesson. The other problem was less interaction between teacher and

students. Teacher never gave reward after the students did what the teacher asked.

Even when students did the task, teacher did not help and guide them. Teacher just

sat on his chair. Sometimes, teacher tended to speak too much in the class and


thoroughly involved in teaching learning.

In order to facilitate these beginners to learn writing, teacher can use

teaching technique, for example affinity grouping. Affinity grouping is a technique

that make the students interest to learn English, especially in writing. There are

some advantages using affinity grouping to teach writing. For example, affinity

grouping can make the student do not feel bored. Because the learning process is

students centre. So the students become more active. Another advantage is affinity

grouping can help the students to find the idea, because they work in groups and

they share about the topic with others friends.

Based on the explanation above, teaching writing by using affinity

grouping could make the students’ motivation, attention, and enthusiasm become

stimulated and the classroom environment would be conducive for studying so that


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the quality of teaching learning process could improve. Then finally, the writing

skill of the students would be improved.

�


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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Context of the Study

1. Research Setting

a. The Place of the Research

This classroom action research was carried out in SMP Negeri 4

Wonogiri. This junior high school is located at Jl. Yudhistira 14 Wonokarto,

Wonogiri. The location of the school is in a quiet village. It is also a strategic place

and easy to be reached since it is near highway.

b. The Time of the Research

The research was conducted in 6 months from February 2012 to June

2012. This research includes the pre-research, action, and activities after the

action. It can be arranged as follows:

Table 3.1 The Schedule of the Research

No� Activity� Time of Research�

1. Pre-research (interview, observation, pre-

test)

February 2012�

2. Preparation of thesis proposal� February - March 2012�

3. Action� April – May 2012�

4. Post-test� May 2012�

5. Analyzing the result� May to June 2012�

b. Subject of the Research

The subject of the research is the seventh year students of SMP Negeri 4

Wonogiri. The seventh grade consists of 14 boys and 12 girls. Basically, they are

students who have characteristics of cheerful and friendly students. The reason the


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writer chooses the seventh class is because of the fact that the students’ writing

skill was still low. It is proven by the result of interview with the teacher and the

result of the pre-test. The teacher said that the seventh grade students were active

in making noise but unfortunately they were also passive learners. It could be seen

from their behavior during the English lesson. In teaching and learning process,

they loved to chat and play. But when the teacher gave them questions they could

not answer. It seemed that they were passive students and this passiveness

influenced their result of study. It could be seen from their achievements of the

first semester final examination which were not satisfying. However, there were

some students who had high motivation in learning English but they were just the

minority. Most of the students in this class still had low motivation. During the

English lesson, the students looked bored and did the tasks or English learning

activities unenthusiastically

Besides those reasons, the number of the students is not too big. Small

number of the students is effective for language class. The teacher is able to

evaluate her students’ improvement in learning English in small number of

students better than students in big number. Moreover, the teacher is able to get

closer to the students so that the teacher is able to monitor the students’ behavior

during teaching and learning process. In this research the writer was the teacher

and the English teacher was the observer.

B. Research Approach

This research used action research as the method. According to Kemmis

and McTaggart (1988) in Nunan (1992: 17), there are three characteristics of

action research; (1) the action research is carried out by practitioners rather than

outside practitioners. (2) the action research is collaborative, and (3) the action

research is aimed at changing conditions.

This research is conducted as a classroom action research where researcher is

also as English teacher of the seventh grade students of SMP N 4 Wonogiri.


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1. Definition of Action Research

There are some definitions of Action Research proposed by some experts.

According to Bodgan and Biklen (in Burns, 1999: 30), action research as the

systematic collection of information that is designed to bring about social change.

Wallace (1998: 1) stated that action research as systematic collection and analysis

of data relating to the improvement of some aspect of professional practice.

While Burns (1999: 30) stated that action research is the application of

fact finding to practical problem solving in social situation with view to improve

the quality of action within involving the collaboration and cooperation of

researchers, practitioners and laymen”.

The other expert, Penny Ur (1996:328) defines action research is

primarily to improve the teacher-researcher’s own teaching. It is based on a cycle

investigation, action, and re-investigation, and is usually done by two or more

collaborating teachers.

From the definitions above, it can be concluded that action research is

systematic collection and analysis of data to get practical problem solving in social

situation that is done by researcher to improving and evaluating the results of

strategies practiced.

2. Model of Action Research

Kemmis and McTaggart (1998: 32) in Burns (1999: 33) state that Action

Research occurs through a dynamic and complementary process, which consists of

four fundamental steps in a spiraling process. They are as follows:

a. Planning

Before implementing the action, the researcher made a plan to improve what

is already happening. The researcher also prepared equipments needed in

doing the action in order to improve the students’ writing skill.


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O B S E R V E

O B S E R V E

AC

TA

CT

RE

FL

EC

TR

EF

LE

CT

R E V I S E D P L A N

P L A N

b. Action

The researcher carried out the lesson plans the researcher had made. In this

research, the researcher applied affinity grouping in teaching and learning

process in order to improve students’ writing skill.

c. Observation

The researcher observed all activities happening in the classroom and made

notes related to the process of teaching and learning. The researcher did

observation during teaching and learning process.

d. Reflection

Reflecting process on these effects as the basis for further planning, the

researcher reflected what she has done through a succession of stages.

Figure 3.1 The Circle of Action Research

(Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 1999: 33)


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Burns (1999: 30) suggest a number of common features which can be

considered to characterize action research:

a. Action research is contextual, small scale and localized. It identifies and

investigates problems within a specific situation.

b. It is evaluative and reflective as it aims to bring about change and

improvement in practice.

c. It is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of

colleagues, practitioners and researchers.

d. Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data which

provides the impetus for change.

3. Procedure of Action Research

The four steps at the model can be expanded into six steps which are

included in the procedure of action research. The procedures are: 1) identifying the

problem; 2) planning the action; 3) implementing the action; 4) observing the

action; 5) reflecting the action; and 6) revising the plan. In more detail, the process

done in this research runs with the following procedures:

a. Identifying the problems

Before starting classroom action research, the researcher needed to

identify a problem. The problems referred to the factors making the low of

writing skill and the classroom situation during the teaching learning process��

In this research, the problems were identified after interviewing the English

teacher and doing pre observation and pre test.

b. Planning the Action

After identifying the problems, the researcher needed to make plan. In

this step, the researcher prepared everything needed in doing the action in

teaching learning process, in order to improve the students’ writing skill. In


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this research, the researcher worked as the teacher in teaching learning

process.

The planning of the research consisted of some steps, as follows:

1) Preparing materials, preparing sheets for classroom observation (to know

the situation of teaching-learning process when the technique is applied)

2) Making lesson plan and designing the steps in doing the action.

3) Preparing some equipment that used to do the technique.

4) Preparing exercises and post-test.

c. Implementing the Action

In implementing the action, the researcher did the planning which had

been made. The researcher carried out the lesson plans the researcher had

made. The researcher applied affinity grouping in teaching and learning

process in order to improve students’ writing skill.The real implementation

was presented as follows.

a. The researcher prepared materials containing some exercises and

practices taken and adapted from book.

b. The researcher gave short explanation and guided the students to

understand, practice and do the exercise of affinity grouping.

c. The researcher organized students into groups then she wrote a topic on

the whiteboard.

d. The researcher asked to each of groups to choose five subtopics that

relevant with the topic. One group got one subtopic.

e. The researcher asked each student to write a sentence in a card that

suitable with the subtopic.

f. The researcher instructed the groups to arrange the card, discuss each

sentences, and choose the sentences that will be written again in

descriptive text.


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g. In the end of this session, the researcher asked the students to make a

descriptive text together.

d. Observing and Monitoring the Action

The observation part was done during the teaching and learning process.

In this step, the English teacher of SMP N 4 Wonogiri was the observer. He

observed all activities happening in the classroom. There were some aspects

which were observed, namely: class situation, students’ behavior, teacher

technique in delivering the materials and students response when they were

given the materials. The English teacher as the observer gave some input and

suggestion to the researcher.

e. Reflecting the Result of the Observation

The researcher makes an analysis on what she has observed to find the

weaknesses and the strengths of the teaching activity already carried out. The

result of this step is be the basis of the next activity or cycle and also answer the

hypothesis that has been proposed by the researcher before the action was

carried out.

f. Revising the Plan

Revising plan was needed when the action cycle did not make any

improvement on the students’ writing acquisition.

C. Technique of Collecting Data

The data of the research were collected by using some techniques of

qualitative data collection. The researcher used data collection techniques as

follows:


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1) Observation

The researcher observed and took notes all that happen before, during and

after the implementation of Affinity Grouping in the classroom.

2) Interview

This technique is held in the beginning and the end of the research to

know the students’ view of the teaching-learning process. The researcher

interviewed the English teacher and the students.

3) Questionnaire

The questionnaire was a set of questions in written form which is

designed by the researcher to answer by the students. It was used in pre

research and at the end of the research.

4) Test

The researcher gave tests to the students. It was used for measuring the

students’ writing skill quantitatively. The test used in this research was an

essay test which was given before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the

action.

5) Photograph

In the process of the implementation of the action, the researcher also

took photographs. These photographs covered students’ behavior and

students’ learning activities to provide the more accurate data.

The implementation of the data collection used in this research is

summarized in the table below:

Table. 3.2. Technique of Collecting and Analyzing Data

Steps of the

study�

Participants� Technique of

Collecting Data�

Data� Technique of

Analyzing

Data�

Pre-research Teacher

Researcher

Students�

• Observation

• Interview

• Pre test

• Questionnaire

• Observation report

• Transcript of the

interview result

• Result of pre test

• Result of

questionnaire

Constant

Comparative

Method�


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Implementation Researcher

Teacher

Students

�

• Observation

• Photograph

• Post test

�

• Field Note

• Photographs of

teaching-learning

process

• Result of English

test score

Constant

Comparative

Method

Descriptive

Statistic�

Result

Discussion

Teacher

Researcher

Students�

• Interview

• Questionnaire

• Transcript of the

interview result

• Result of

questionnaire

Constant

Comparative

Method�

D. Technique of Analyzing Data

The data collected were analyzed by qualitative and quantitative

techniques. The qualitative technique was used to analyze the data that were

during the teaching learning process. Meanwhile, the quantitative technique was

used to describe the tests results.

1. Qualitative Techniques

Burns (1999: 157-160) gives several steps of constants comparative

method that can be used to analyze the qualitative data:

a. Assembling the data

The first step is to assemble the data that have been collected over the

period of the research: field note, interview, questionnaire, and so on. At this

stage, the researcher began broad pattern should to show up which can be

compared and contrasted to see what fits together. By scanning the data, the

researcher began to process of more detailed analysis by bringing up

possible patterns which can be adapted and added to as it is processed.

The researcher collected the data dealing with students’ writing skill

and classroom situation by conducting interview with the teacher and some

students and spread questionnaire to the students.


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b. Coding the data

Once there has been some overall examination of the data, the

researcher developed categories or codes to identify patterns more

specifically. Coding is a process of attempting to reduce the large amount of

the data that may be collected to more manageable categories of concept,

theme or types.

In this case the researcher began by coding the data class she needed to

collect. As presented in the problem statements, the researcher wanted to

find students’ improvement on writing skill and classroom situation. Both

become the data classes. The codes would then be used to mark the data

within field notes and interview which supported each.

c. Comparing the data

Once the data have been categorized in some way, the researcher made

comparison to see whether themes or patterns are repeated or developed

across different data gathering techniques.

The data had been coded then compared to each other. This was to find

if the data or a certain code gained through one technique matched to the

ones gained through other technique.

d. Building interpretations

This is the point where the researcher moved beyond describing,

categorizing, coding, and comparing to make some sense of meaning of the

data. This stage demands creative thinking as it concerned with articulating

underlying concepts and developing the theories about why particular

patterns of behaviors, interactions or attitudes have emerged.

The comparison result was then interpreted to reveal the indicators of

the data toward the research implementation.


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e. Reporting the outcome

The final stage involves presenting an account of the research for

others. A major consideration is to ensure that the report sets out the major

processes of the research, and that the findings and outcomes are well

supported with examples from the data.

Then the data were presented in the report. The researcher had

provided supporting examples of the data. After the data have been analyzed,

they were interpreted to help answer the problems of the research.

�

2. Quantitative Technique

The quantitative data analyses were used to analyze data from the result

of the teaching learning process. It was done to compare the students’ writing

ability before and after the action or the result of pre-test and post-test. The mean

of pre-test and post-test are calculated with the formula:

N

xx�

= N

yy�

=

In which:

� x = The sum of students’ score before the action

� y = The sum of students’ score after the action

x = Means of students’ score before the action

y = Means of students’ score after the action

N = number of student

Finally, by analyzing the data, the researcher proposes the action

hypothesis of the research.


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CHAPTER IV

THE RESULT OF THE STUDY

A. Process Of The Research

1. Pre-research

Before conducted the research, the researcher did the pre-research to

know the condition of students’ writing skill and the classroom situation. The

researcher did an interview with the English teacher and the students, observed the

students’ writing class, and gave pre-test and questionnaire to the students. In this

stage, the researcher concluded that the seventh grade students of SMP N 4

Wonogiri had low writing skill.

After doing the pre-research, the researcher found the result of students’

writing skill and classroom situation. The result of pre-research is presented in

Table 4.1 below.

Table 4.1 Situation before Research

The Problems Description

Writing Skill

1. Students get difficulty in developing

the idea

Students had difficulty to develop the idea. When

they had a topic, they looked confused to develop

the topic. It was looked from their pre-test result.

2. Students get difficulty in producing

grammatical sentences

Many of students made ungrammatical sentences.

3. Students write some words

incorrectly

Students had problem in spelling. They wrote

some words incorrectly. For example “beautiful”,

they wrote “byutiful”.

4. Students are confused to apply

appropriate generic structure

When students made a descriptive text, they did

not use appropriate generic structure.

5. Students are lack of vocabulary It was so difficult to students to translate some

words from Indonesian to English. Even they did

not use suitable vocabulary to describe something.

Classroom Situation

1. The students make the class noisy In the beginning of the lesson, the class was so


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noisy. When the teacher gave explanations, the

students talked to each other, it made the class so

noisy.

2. Students look sleepy during the

lesson

Some of students were looked sleepy during the

lesson so they could concentrate.

3. Students do non-academic activities

rather than focus on the lesson

Students prefer do non-academic activity like

talked with their friends, drew something on a

paper better than focus on the lesson.

4. Students are too passive in the class When teacher asked some questions, nobody

wanted to answer this.

5. The students do not pay attention to

the teacher

When teacher was explaining the material, many

of students were busy with their own activity, for

example, they looked like imagine something,

sleepy, and talking with their friends.

The researcher also did the pre-test. It was conducted to know the

students’ writing skill, and it would be compared with the post test in the end of the

cycle to know the improvement. Based on the pre-test’s result, the seventhgrade

students of SMP N 4 Wonogiri have low writing skill. It could be seen from the

writing score. The mean of the students’ writing score was 51, whereas the

minimum score of writing was 39 and the maximal score was 61. It indicated that

the students face problems in writing.

Based on the questionnaire and interview with students, it can be seen

that there were problems in writing. The students said that they found difficulties

in learning English. The students found difficulties in developing the idea,

mastering the vocabulary, and making grammatical sentences.

The problems above were caused by some reasons. One of the reasons

which made teaching and learning writing failed was the students themselves. The

students had low motivation in learning English. They felt that writing was not

interesting. They found difficulty in making grammatical sentences and mastering

the vocabulary.


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thoroughly involved in teaching learning process.

Based on the facts above, the writer proposed affinity grouping as a

technique to overcome the problems in teaching and learning writing. Affinity

grouping can solve the problems in learning writing. Through affinity grouping,

the teacher gets benefits to conduct the lesson effectively. Affinity grouping

provides an enjoyable classroom situation. Students can be more active and they

can help each other. Teacher just guides and helps the students if they find some

difficulties.

Affinity grouping provides all materials needed by the students such as

the exercises to improve grammar, spell, and vocabulary. Affinity grouping can

also be an alternative technique of teaching to make the students feel fun in

learning English. Affinity Grouping can help students in learning writing. Because

Affinity Grouping obligates students to write a text that they have been discussed.

Teaching writing using Affinity grouping attracted the students’ interest. Through

classroom action research, the researcher expected to improve students’ writing

skill and their behavior during the teaching learning process. The implementation

of this research was held in two cycles.


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2. Research Implementation

This part presents the implementation of the research. The schedule of the

research and the summary of the research procedure is presented in Table 4.2 and

Table 4.3.

Table 4.2 The Schedule of the Research Cycle Activity Date

Cycle 1 � 1st meeting

� 2nd

meeting

� 3th meeting

� Post-test 1

April 18th, 2012

April 19th, 2012

April 20th, 2012

April 21st, 2012

Cycle 2 � 1st meeting

� 2nd

meeting

� Post-test 2

May 23nd, 2012

May 24th, 2012

May 25th, 2012.

Table 4.3 The Summary of Process of the Research

Class VII

Problem The students’ low writing skill

Solution Affinity Grouping

Pre-research

The researcher conducted pre-observation, interview, pre-test, and

questionnaire to find the problems in writing.

1. Pre-observation

The researcher observed the teaching and learning process.

2. Interview

The researcher interviewed the teacher and some students.

3. Pre-test

The researcher gave pre-test to 26 students.

4. Questionnaire

The researcher gave questionnaire to the students.

Implementatio

n of Research

Teacher AJM and the researcher collaboratively implemented the technique.

This research was implemented in two cycles. 1st cycle: 3 meetings; 2

nd cycle:

2 meetings.


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Cycle 1 3 meetings

1) 1st meeting: the teacher gave explanation about the definition, generic

structure, language feature and the example of descriptive text to the

students.

2) 2nd

meeting: the teacher gave explanation about simple present tense to

the students.

3) 3rd

meeting: the students did the Affinity Grouping to write descriptive

text.

Cycle 2 2 meetings

1) 1st meeting: the teacher gave explanation about simple present tense to

the students.

2) 2nd

meeting: the students did the Affinity Grouping to write descriptive

text.

Overall

Reflection

There were improvements in the students’ writing skill. It was indicated

through the reduced intensity of the problems after research. The students’

writing skill got improved and so did the situation of the class.

Every cycle in this research consists of series of steps, namely identifying

the problems, planning the action, implementing the action, observing or

monitoring the action, evaluating and reflecting the result of the observation, and

revising the plan.

a. Cycle 1

1) Identifying the Problem

Before the researcher implemented the research, she had done the pre-

research. The researcher found some problems in writing. The problems were

caused by some reasons. The causes came from the students themselves, and the

technique that used by the teacher. One of the reasons which made teaching and

learning writing failed was the students themselves. The students had low

motivation in learning English. They felt that writing was not interesting. They

found difficulty in making grammatical sentences and mastering the vocabulary.




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thoroughly involved in teaching learning process

2) Planning the Action

In planning section, the researcher prepared everything needed and

related to the action. First, the researcher prepared the materials. She also prepared

students’ worksheet consisting of some tasks and other thing related to the

action.She prepared lesson plans as teacher’s guidance in teaching writing��There

are three sections in lesson plan, namely; opening, main activities, and closing.

Cycle one consisted three meetings. Each meeting took 80 minutes. The action

plan was implemented by the researcher, while the teacher observed the whole

process during the teaching and learning in the classroom.

3) Implementing the Action

The action plan was implemented by the researcher, Sendy Eka Pratiwi

(SEP). In implementing the action, the researcher used the lesson plan that had

been prepared before. The action consisted of three sections: opening, main

activity, and closing. Each of the section is described as follows.

a) The First Meeting (Wednesday, 18th

April 2012)

(1) Opening

The lesson started at 11.45 a.m. the researcher (SEP) and the teacher

(AJM) entered the class. SEP greeted students and checked the students’

attendance. Beginning the lesson, the class was not noisy, but surrounding was

very noisy because it was the last lesson. SEP tried to create a good

atmosphere by asking students about descriptive text. They looked interest

and active.


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(2) Main activity

SEP asked some questions related to descriptive text, for example: “What

do you know about descriptive text?”. Some students tried to answer SEP’

questions using mix language between English and Indonesian. Then, SEP

corrected students’ answer using English then SEP translated it to Indonesian.

SEP gave question again to students “Describe about your classroom!”. All

students answered the question. It made the class so noisy. Then SEP asked

one student to answer it. Risky tried to answer it using Indonesian language.

Then Widi tried to answer the question using English, SEP helped Widi to

answer it. After that SEP told students about the material and distributed the

material to students. SEP explained the definition, generic structure, and

language feature of descriptive text. Students paid attention to SEP.

SEP asked students to open their book at page 113. In the book, there is

an example of descriptive text. SEP asked students to read the text and wrote

difficult words on the whiteboard. Some students wrote some difficult words

for example: “harvest, crops, ploughs, livestock, etc.” SEP Explain and wrote

the meaning on the whiteboard and students wrote it again in their book. After

that, SEP organized students into groups. One group consisted of 5-6 persons.

SEP distributes the worksheet I to each group. Students did the worksheet.

They discussed the worksheet actively. Sometime, SEP checked students’

work.

(3) Closing

After the time was out, students collected the worksheet to SEP. SEP and

students reviewed again about descriptive text. SEP asked to the students

whether they had questions or not. But no students asked question. When the

time given was over, SEP asked the students whether they were happy or not

in the lesson. The students answered “Yes”. Chairman led the prayer. Then the

teacher said “thank for your attention, Good afternoon and see you”.


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b) The Second meeting ( Thursday, 19th

April 2012)

(1) Opening

The second meeting was conducted on Thursday, 19th

April 2012. The

topic was Simple Present Tense. SEP greeted and checked the students’

attendance. SEP reviewed the previous lesson by asking students about

descriptive text. Students answered the questions. SEP did not directly tell the

students the topic of the lesson but she asked question to students according to

topic. It was done by the researcher to brainstorm students’ knowledge and

stimulate their ideas.

(2) Main Activity

SEP asked student about simple present tense “have you ever heard about

simple present tense?”, then students answered “yes.”. SEP asked again “apa

yang kalian tau tentang simple present tense?”, Some students tried to answer

it. Then, SEP told about the topic. SEP distributed the material to the students.

SEP explained about simple presents tense. SEP wrote some example of

simple present sentences on whiteboard. Then SEP gave chance to students to

write another example on the whiteboard. After some students wrote some

sentences, SEP corrected it.

SEP organized students into groups. One group consisted of 5-6 persons.

SEP distributes the worksheet II to each group. Students did the worksheet

seriously and actively. Some students asked to SEP about the questions when

they confused. SEP helped students when they got difficulty.

(3) Closing


students reviewed again about the lesson. SEP asked to the students “any

question about simple present for today?”, but there was no question. When

the time given was over, SEP asked the students whether they were happy or

not in the lesson. The students answered “Yes”. Then SEP said “thank for

your attention, Good afternoon and see you”.


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c) The third meeting (Friday, 20th

April 2012)

(1) Opening

The third meeting was conducted on Friday, 20th

April 2012. In this

meeting, the researcher used affinity grouping to help students in writing

descriptive text. SEP greeted and checked the students’ attendance. SEP told

students that in that day they would do affinity grouping to help them in

writing descriptive text. Before did the technique, SEP and students reviewed

again about descriptive text and simple present tense.

(2) Main Activity


SEP distributes a card to each student. SEP wrote a big topic “TOURISM” on

the whiteboard. Then SEP asked each group to think about a subtopic that

relevant with the topic. After that, each group told their subtopics to SEP.

Group 1 was Gajah Mungkur Dam; group 2 was Nampu Beach; group 3 was

Borobudur Temple; group 4 was Parangtritis Beach; group 5 or the last group

was Prambanan Temple. SEP asked each student to think and write a sentence

on a card. The sentence had to relevant with the subtopic.

SEP distributed the worksheet III to each group. SEP asked each group to

discuss and arrange the cards and choose some sentences. Those sentences

could become a reference when they made descriptive text. Then each group

made descriptive text based on the subtopic. They worked and discussed it

together.

(3) Closing

After time was out, students collected their work. SEP and students

reviewed the lesson. SEP said to students that the next meeting was post-test

of the first cycle and students answered “yes miss”. SEP closed the lesson,

she said “thank for your attention, Good afternoon and see you!”


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4) Observing or Monitoring the Action

In monitoring the implementation of affinity grouping in teaching writing,

the researcher used test and observation to the students as the consideration to

make a decision dealing with the next steps. The test was given in the form of

post-test and some group tasks. The observation was done continuously when

teaching and learning process happened.

a) First Meeting

When the teacher entered the classroom, the students became excited

when they knew that they were going to have a time with the researcher.

They wanted to know what she was going to do. When the researcher

asked them about descriptive text, they tried to answer the questions.

They looked active. When the researcher explained about descriptive text,

they stayed still and paid attention to the researcher. Students looked

understand about the definition, generic structure, and language feature of

descriptive text. They were very active when the researcher asked them to

write some difficult words on the whiteboard. Students also did the

worksheet well. Students did not find difficulties when they did it. They

looked fun and enjoy.

b) Second Meeting

The researcher began the lesson by reviewing the previous material

about the definition, generic structure and language feature of descriptive

text. Students still remembered about it. The researcher continued the

lesson about simple present tense. Some of students understood about the

material, because the teacher had explained. They could answer the

researcher question about the use of simple present tense. The researcher

explained about simple present tense. Students paid attention to the

researcher and sometime they answered the researcher questions. They

also wrote some example of sentences on the whiteboard actively. They

looked understood about the material.


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Students did the worksheet well. But some groups still made

ungrammatical sentences. They looked confused. Sometimes, some of

students asked to the researcher when they found some difficult

questions. Students got more active and noisy in doing the activity.

c) Third Meeting

The researcher designed this meeting as a time for affinity grouping.

Before did the technique, the researcher and students reviewed the

previous lesson. They still remembered about the last materials. The

researcher explained about the role of affinity grouping to students. They

listened to the researcher. They looked enthusiastic and interest. Students

could find the idea easily because they had been helped by topic that the

researcher gave to them. Students looked interest to the topic. Then they

had to discuss and choose subtopic related with the topic. When they

made a sentence in a card, some of students still made ungrammatical

sentence.

In doing Affinity Grouping activity, the students were active and they

also made a good cooperation with the member of the group. Many of

students looked active and shared about the sentences, vocabulary,

punctuation and spelling with the other member. But some of groups still

had problem in spelling ad making grammatical sentence. There was a

group that still confused to apply the generic structure of descriptive text

in making a text. If they confused about some vocabularies or found some

difficult words, they would ask to their friends. Not only asked to their

friends, they also asked to the researcher.

The result in cycle I was not satisfactory yet because there were some

weaknesses during the implementation of the action. Some students were still

passive during teaching learning process and some of them made mistakes in

making grammatical sentence. But there was an improvement of students’ writing


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skill. The improvement could be seen from the score of pre-test and post-test 1

below:

Table 4.4 The Improvement of Students’ Writing Skill

Aspect Pre-test Post-test 1

Sum of the Score 1339 1758

Students’ Mean Score 51.5 67.6

5) Reflecting the Action

Based on the analysis of the result of the observation in cycle I, the

researcher and the English teacher reflected several positive results and some

weaknesses in the first cycle. They were described as follows.

a) The Strengths

(1) There was an improvement of students’ writing skill. It was proven

by the improvement of the post-test result. The students’ mean

score in post-test 1 was 67.6.

(2) Students could find and developed the idea by discussing with their

friends.

(3) There was an improvement of students’ behavior in teaching and

learning process. The students became more active in every single

activity either in group or individually.

(4) The students paid more attention during instructional process and

focused on the lesson. They became brave to ask something to the

teacher.

b) The Weaknesses

(1) Some students still had problems in producing grammatical

sentences, spelling, and applying appropriate generic structure in

making a text.


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(2) Some students still made the class noisy. They did their own

activity rather than focused on the lesson.

The summary of the implementation of cycle 1 is presented in the Table

4.5 below.

Table 4.5 The Summary of the Implementation of Cycle 1

CYCLE I

Planning • Regarding the background of the study (Table 4.1), the researcher

planned the research instrument consisting of students’ activity

worksheet, pre and post test, materials that could best meet the

students’ need and problem.

Action 1st meeting

• Teacher explained about the descriptive text.

• Teacher divided students into groups.

• Teacher gave worksheet I to the students

• Students discussed and answered the worksheet.

2nd

meeting

• Teacher and the students reviewed the previous lesson.

• Teacher explained about simple present tense.


• Teacher gave worksheet II to the students

• Students discussed and answered the worksheet in group.

3rd

meeting

• Teacher and students did the reviewing session of descriptive text

ad simple present tense.

�� Teacher distributed cards, or sticky notes to the students.

�� Teacher organized the students into groups.

�� Teacher wrote one topic on the whiteboard.

�� Each group chose one subtopic that relevant with the topic.

�� Teacher asked each student to write a sentence that suitable with

the subtopic.

�� Teacher instructed the groups to arrange the card, discuss each

sentence, and choose the sentences that would be written again in

descriptive text.

�� Students made a descriptive text.

Observation 1st meeting

• Students looked understand about the definition, generic structure,

and language feature of descriptive text.

• Students did the worksheet well.

• Students did not find difficulties when they did the worksheet.

They looked fun and enjoy.


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2nd meeting

• Some groups made ungrammatical sentences.

• Some groups looked confused when they did the worksheet.

• Sometime, students asked to the teacher when they found some

difficult questions.

• Students got more active and noisy in doing the activity.

3rd

meeting

• Some students still made ungrammatical sentences

• Some groups still had problem in spelling

• There was a group that still confused to apply the generic structure

of descriptive text in making a text.

• Many of students looked active and shared about the vocabulary

with other members in group.

• In doing affinity grouping activity, the students were active and

they also made a good cooperation with the member of the group.

Reflection 1st meeting

• Students learned more about descriptive text

• Students got less difficulty in understanding descriptive text and

doing the worksheet.

2nd

meeting

• Students confused to make grammatical sentences

• The students looked more active than previous.

3rd

meeting

• Students still had problem in producing grammatical sentence,

spelling, developing idea, and using appropriate generic structure.

• The class was still noisy.

• Most students were motivated and active but some students

remained unmotivated.

RESULT

1. The Strengths

a. There was an improvement of students’ writing skill. It was proven by the

improvement of the post-test result. The students’ mean score in post-test 1 was

67.6.

b. Students could find and developed the idea by discussing with their friends.

c. There was an improvement of students’ behavior in teaching and learning process.

The students became more active in every single activity either in group or

individually.

d. The students paid more attention during instructional process and focused on the

lesson. They became brave to ask something to the teacher.

2. The Weaknesses

a. Some students still had problems in producing grammatical sentences, spelling, and

applying appropriate generic structure in making a text.


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b. Some students still made the class noisy. They did their own activity rather than

focused on the lesson.

b. Cycle 2

1) Revising Plan

Considering the observation result of Cycle 1, the researcher and the

English teacher decided that it was needed to take the second cycle. The

researcher and the English teacher revised the plan to solve the problems that

remained in cycle 1. Cycle 2 was conducted so the weaknesses would not occur

anymore. The plan in cycle 2 would focus on grammar, spelling, and the use of

generic structure. Before doing the second cycle, the writer and the English

teacher planned the action and prepared the lesson plans. The researcher planned

the research instrument consisting of the materials and students’ worksheet that

could best meet the students’ need and problem. The second posttest would be

given in the end of the cycle to find the improvement of the second cycle

compared with the first cycle.

2) Implementing the Action

The action plan was implemented by the researcher (SEP). In

implementing the action, the researcher used the lesson plan that had been

prepared before. Cycle 2 was consisted of two meetings. Each meeting took 80

minutes. The action consisted of three sections: opening, main activity, and

closing. Each of the section is described as follows:


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a) The First Meeting (Tuesday, 23th

May 2012)

(1) Opening

The first meeting of cycle 2 was conducted on Wednesday, 23th

May

2012. The topic was Simple Present Tense. SEP greeted and checked the

students’ attendance. SEP reviewed the previous lesson about Simple Present

Tense. SEP asked question to students according to topic. Some students still

remembered about it.

(2) Main Activity

SEP told students about the topic. SEP asked a student, Siti, to write the

formula of simple present tense. Then she wrote it on the whiteboard. SEP

explained about simple presents tense. SEP wrote some example of simple

present sentences on whiteboard. Then SEP gave chance to students to write

another example on the whiteboard. After some students wrote some

sentences, SEP chose some students to correct it. SEP help them to correct

their friends’ works. SEP asked students “Do you understand my

explanation?”, students answered “Yes Miss.”


SEP distributes the worksheet II to each group. Students did the worksheet

seriously and actively. SEP said to students whether they had some questions,

they could ask to SEP. Some students asked to SEP about the questions when

they confused. SEP walked around the group and guided them when they did

the worksheet. SEP helped students when they got difficulty. They looked

active and did not find some difficulties.

(3) Closing


students reviewed again about the lesson. SEP asked to the students “any

question about simple present for today?”, but there was no question. When

the time given was over, SEP asked the students whether they were happy or


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not in the lesson. The students answered “Yes”. Then SEP said “thank for

your attention, Good afternoon and see you”.

b) The Second Meeting (Thursday, 24th

May 2012)

(1) Opening

The third meeting was conducted on Thursday, 24th

May 2012. In this

meeting, the researcher used affinity grouping to help students in writing

descriptive text. SEP greeted and checked the students’ attendance. SEP told

students that in that day they would do affinity grouping again. Before did the

technique, SEP and students reviewed again about descriptive text and simple

present tense.

(2) Main Activity


SEP distributes a card to each student. SEP wrote a big topic “PROFFESION”

on the whiteboard. Then SEP asked each group to think about a subtopic that

relevant with the topic. After that, each group told their subtopics to SEP.

Group 1 was Farmer; group 2 was Teacher; group 3 was Chef; group 4 was

Driver; group 5 or the last group was Doctor. SEP asked each student to think

and write a sentence on a card. The sentence had to relevant with the subtopic.

SEP distributed the worksheet III to each group. After that, SEP asked each

group to discuss and arrange the cards and choose some sentences. Not only

arranged and chose some sentences, they had to correction their friends’

sentence. Perhaps there were any errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation,

and vocabulary. Those sentences could become a reference when they made

descriptive text. SEP guided students when they were discussing. Then each

group made descriptive text based on the subtopic. They worked and

discussed it together. When they found difficulty in vocabulary ad spelling,

they asked to SEP. Before they collected their work, SEP asked them to read it

accurately. If they found some errors, they could correct their work.


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(3) Closing

After time was out, students collected their work. SEP and students

reviewed the lesson. SEP said to students that the next meeting was post-test

of the second cycle and students answered “yes miss”. Because it was the last

meeting, SS said thanks for the students’ participation during the research.

SEP closed the lesson, she said “thank for your attention, Good afternoon and

see you!”

3) Observing and Monitoring the Action

The result of the research observation can be explained as follows:

a) First Meeting

The researcher began the lesson by reviewing the previous material

in cycle 1 about descriptive text and simple present tense. Students still

remembered about it. The researcher continued the lesson about simple

present tense. Some of students understood about the material. They

could answer the researcher question about the use of simple present

tense. The researcher explained about simple present tense. Students paid

attention to the researcher and sometime they answered the researcher

questions. They also wrote some example of sentences on the whiteboard

actively. They also could correct their friends’ work. They looked

understood about the material.

Students did the worksheet well. Most of groups made grammatical

sentences. They looked happy when the researcher walked around them

and guided them in doing the worksheet. Some of students asked to the

researcher when they found some difficult questions. Students got more

active and enjoy doing the activity.

b) Second Meeting

The researcher designed this meeting as a time for affinity grouping.

Before did the technique, the researcher and students reviewed the


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previous lesson about descriptive text and simple present tense. They still

remembered about the last materials. The researcher explained about the

role of affinity grouping to students. They paid attention to the researcher.

They looked interest. The researcher gave a big topic to them. It could

help them to find idea easily. Students looked interest to the topic. Then

they had to discuss and choose subtopic related with the topic. When they

made a sentence in a card, some of students looked make grammatical

sentence and had no problem with spelling.

In doing Affinity Grouping activity, the students looked active and

shared about the sentences, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling with the

other member. They also looked enjoy share their idea. They did the

activity well. The researcher guided and helped students. When they

confused about some vocabularies or found some difficult words, they

would ask to their friends. Not only asked to their friends, they also asked

to the researcher. It was looked so easy to students to do Affinity

Grouping. The researcher and students also did reflection about what they

had learned. It was good evidence in knowing the students’ feeling and

the success of the teaching and learning process.

There was an improvement of students’ writing skill. The improvement

could be seen from the score of pre-test, post-test 1, and post-test 2 below:


Aspect Pre-test Post-test 1 Post-test 2

Sum of the Score 1339 1758 1841

Students’ Mean Score 51.5 67.6 76.7


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4) Reflecting the Action

Based on the result of the observation, the researcher and the teacher

reflected the result of the action in the second cycle. There were some positive

results reflected in the second cycle. The positive results were stated as follows:

a) There was an improvement of students’ writing skill. . It was proven

by the improvement of all the post-test result. The students’ mean

score in post-test 1 was 67.6 and the students’ mean score in post test 2

was 76.7

b) Generally, the researcher could successfully manage the class better

than the first cycle. Although some students were noisy but the number

of them were decreased in the second cycle. Actually they made some

noise when they had to discuss the material from the teacher, so their

noises were related to the teaching and learning process.

c) There was also an improvement of students in producing grammatical

sentences, spelling, developing idea, and applying generic structure. It

was looked from their worksheets’ result and post test result. If there

was an error, it just very little error.

d) Students were active and they seldom asked to the researcher bravely.

They focused on the lesson and paid attention on the researcher’s

explanation.

The Summary of the implementation of cycle 2 is presented in Table 4.7

below.

Table 4.7 The Summary of The Implementation of Cycle 2 CYCLE II

Planning • Regarding the fact in the first cycle, the researcher concluded that

the students still lacked of grammar, spell and the use of generic

structure.

• The activity chosen in this cycle was expected to help the students

in grammar, spell, and the use of generic structure.

• The researcher planned the research instrument consisting of


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students’ activity worksheet, pre and post test, and materials that

could best meet the students’ need and problem.

Action 1st meeting

• Teacher explained about simple present tense and gave some

sentences.

• Teacher asked students to give example of simple present

sentence.


• Teacher gave worksheet to the students.

• Students did the worksheet.

2nd

meeting

�� Teacher asked to students about the previous lesson

�� Teacher distributed cards, or sticky notes to the students.

�� Teacher organized the students into groups.

�� Teacher wrote one topic on the whiteboard.

�� Each group chose one subtopic that relevant with the topic.

�� Teacher asked each student to write a sentence that suitable with

the subtopic.

�� Teacher instructed the groups to arrange the card, discuss each

sentence, and choose the sentences that would be written again in

descriptive text.

�� Students made a descriptive text.

�� Teacher and students reflected all the lesson

Observation 1st meeting

• Students looked interest and could answer teacher question.

• Most of groups made grammatical sentences.

• Students did the worksheet well.

2nd

meeting

• Most of students made grammatical sentences.

• Most of students wrote words correctly.

• Students could apply generic structure when they made descriptive

text.

• Students looked active and enjoy.

Reflection 1st meeting

• Students got excited to answer teacher’s questions.

• They also worked together did the worksheet.

• They looked fun.

2nd

meeting

• It was looked so easy to students to do the affinity grouping and

the worksheet.

• Students made grammatical sentences and most of them had no


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problem with spelling.

• They enjoyed shared about their idea.

• The reflection step was good evidence in knowing the students’

feeling and the success of the teaching and learning process.

Findings as the whole

The research findings after implementing the research in two cycles are as follows:

1. The improvement of the students’ writing skill.

2. The improvement of classroom situation after Affinity Grouping was implemented

Then, the writer concluded that teaching writing using affinity grouping

attracted and encouraged the students to be more active in teaching and learning

process. Through affinity grouping, there was an improvement in achieving each

aspect of writing in the final post-test. Considering about the facts of some

improvement dealing with teaching writing using affinity grouping above, the

researcher decided not to revise the next plan and stopped the cycle.

B. Findings

In this section, the researcher presents the research findings. The data of

the research findings were gained from the observation fieldnote, interview,

photograph, and test. Based on the observation fieldnote, there are two findings

related to research questions, writing skill and the classroom situation.

1. The Improvement of Students’ Writing Skill

The first finding is the improvement of students’ writing skill. After

implementing the cycle 1, the researcher found the improvement of each indicator.

a. Students are difficult to develop the idea

Students had difficulty to develop the idea. When they had a topic, they

looked confused to develop the topic. It was looked from their pre-test result.

Researcher divided students into some groups. Then researcher gave one big

topic to the students and then students chose one subtopic. Each group had one

subtopic. Researcher asked students do Affinity Grouping technique. Students


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made a sentence that suitable with the subtopic in a piece of paper. Students

could find the idea easily, because they had been helped by topic that the

researcher gave to them. And then they develop their idea by choosing one

subtopic that relevant with the topic and each of them made a sentence that

suitable with subtopic. After that they discussed with their friends in a group

and they shared their idea together when they made descriptive text.

b. Students get difficulty in producing grammatical sentences

Many of students made ungrammatical sentences. Researcher taught students

about simple present tense. Researcher asked students to make some groups.

Researcher gave worksheet to each group. Students did the worksheet in a

group. Besides that, students also did the Affinity Grouping technique. In this

technique, each student made a sentence that related with the subtopic they got.

Some students understood about simple present tense. They looked so excited

when researcher made some groups between them. Some students looked active

did the worksheet. But some students looked confused. When students did the

Affinity Grouping technique, some of students still confused and made

ungrammatical sentences.

c. Students write some words incorrectly

Based on students’ pre test result, they had problem in spelling. They wrote

some words incorrectly. For example “beautiful”, they wrote “byutiful”. When

did the action, researcher asked students do Affinity Grouping technique to

make descriptive text. After they made a sentence in their cards, researcher

asked them to share about the sentences, spelling, and punctuation. Students

shared about their sentences, spelling, and punctuation with their friends in a

group. The researcher found that some students still had problem in spelling.

d. Students are confused to use appropriate generic structure

When students made a descriptive text, they did not use appropriate generic

structure. Researcher taught students about generic structure of descriptive text.

Then researcher gave worksheet to the students to check whether students


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understood or not. Students understood about the generic structure. It was

looked from their worksheet. But some of them still confused to apply the

generic structure when they made descriptive text.

e. Students are lack of vocabulary

It was so difficult to students to translate some words from Indonesian to

English. Even they did not use suitable vocabulary to describe something.

Students did Affinity Grouping technique to make a descriptive text.

Researcher asked students to discuss about what they would write. Students

worked together to make descriptive text. If they confused about some

vocabularies or found some difficult vocabularies, they would ask to their

friend. Not only asked to their friend, they also asked to the researcher.

In the first cycle, there were some problems which have not been solved.

a. Some students still confused to make grammatical sentences using

simple present tense (indicator 2).

b. Some students still had problem in spelling (indicator 3).

c. Some students confused to make descriptive text using appropriate

generic structure (indicator 4).

The researcher decided to take the second cycle. In the second cycle, the

researcher found out the improvement of students’ writing skill. There was an

improvement of students’ writing skill in cycle 2.

a. Some students still confused to make grammatical sentences using simple

present tense (indicator 2)

Researcher taught students about simple present tense. Researcher asked

students to make some groups. Researcher gave worksheet to each group.

Students did the worksheet in a group. Researcher also helped students when

they did not understand about the questions. Besides that, students also did the

Affinity Grouping technique. In this technique, each student made a sentence


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that related with the subtopic they got. After that researcher asked students to

discuss and correct some sentences that their friends made. Students understood

about simple present tense. It was looked when they could answer the

researcher’s questions. They looked so excited when researcher made some

groups between them. They looked active did the worksheet. They helped each

others. Students did the Affinity Grouping well. They made grammatical

sentences. When they confused, they asked to the researcher.

b. Some students still had problem in spelling (indicator 3)

Researcher asked students to do Affinity Grouping technique to make

descriptive text. After they made a sentence in their cards, researcher asked

them to share about the sentences, spelling, and punctuation. Researcher helped

students when they shared about the sentences, spelling, and punctuation.

Students shared about their sentences, spelling, and punctuation with their

friends in a group. Sometimes, they asked to the researcher when they

confused.

c. Some students confused to make descriptive text using appropriate generic

structure (indicator 4)

Researcher explained about generic structure of descriptive text to the

students. Then researcher gave worksheet to the students to check whether

students understood or not. When students made a descriptive text in a group,

researcher guided them to make a descriptive text using good generic structure.

Researcher gave example of identification and description. Students understood

about the generic structure. It was seen from their worksheet. When they made

descriptive text, they asked to the researcher about the identification and

description. After the researcher give example of it, students tried to make

identification and description about their subtopic.

The students’ improvement of writing skill also can be seen from the

students’ score of the tests. The mean score of pre-test was 51.5 and it increased


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up to 67.6 in post-test1. While, the mean score of post-test 1 was 67.6 and it

increased up to 76.7 in final post-test. From these scores, it can be seen that there

was a difference between the score of pre-test and pos-test. It proves that affinity

grouping is an effective technique to improve students’ writing skill. The

improvement of students’ comprehension score from cycle 1 to cycle 2 can be

summarized in table 4.8 below.


Aspect Pre-test Post-test 1 Post-test 2

Sum of the Score 1339 1758 1841

Students’ Mean Score 51.5 67.6 76.7

2. The Improvement of Classroom Situation

The second finding is the development of classroom situation. Before this

action research was implemented, the students were so noisy. They did not focus

on the lesson. When teacher gave questions, they looked passive. After the

implementation of cycle 1, the researcher found the improvement of classroom

situation.

a. The students make the class noisy

When the teacher gave explanations, the students talked to each other, it

made the class so noisy. Researcher asked students to make some groups and

they did Affinity Grouping technique. When they did Affinity Grouping

technique, they kept silent. They talked with their friends when they discuss

about what they had written in a card. Some of students still made the class

noisy

b. Students look sleepy during the lesson

Some of students were looked sleepy so they could concentrate. Researcher

divided students into some groups. Researcher asked students to do the


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worksheet together with their group. Students looked active and did not look

sleepy.

c. Students doing non-academic activities rather than focusing on the lesson

Students prefer do non-academic activity like talked with their friends, drew

something in a paper better than focus on the lesson. Researcher divided

students into some groups to do the worksheet and make descriptive text using

Affinity Grouping technique. Students focused about what they had to do. They

discussed with their friends. Some students still busy with their own activities

like talking with their friends.

d. Students are too passive in the class

When teacher asked some questions, nobody wanted to answer this.

Researcher asked student to make some groups and asked them to do Affinity

Grouping technique. Researcher also told students that they could ask to the

researcher if they confused. Then the students asked to the researcher about the

questions that they did not understand. Students were active and they looked

braver and they seldom asked to the researcher if they confused about

vocabularies.

e. The students do not pay attention to the teacher

When teacher was explaining the material, many of students were busy with

their own activity, for example, they day dreamed, sleepy, and talking with

their friends. Researcher divided students into some groups. Then researcher

gave one big topic to the students and then students chose one subtopic. Each

group had one subtopic. After that, they did Affinity Grouping technique to

make descriptive text. Students looked interested to the topic and they

discussed with other members in group to choose a subtopic. After that they

listened what the researcher said


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In the first cycle, there were some problems that not have been solved.

a. Some students still made the class noisy (indicator 1)

b. Some students still busy with their own activity (indicator 3)

In the second cycle, the researcher found out the students became more

active and focus on the lesson. There was an improvement of classroom situation

in cycle 2.

a. Some students still made the class noisy (indicator 1)

Researcher asked students to make some groups and they did Affinity

Grouping technique. Researcher said to students that if they might talking each

other, but they had to talk about their task. When they did Affinity Grouping

technique, they kept silent. They talked with their friends when they discussed

about what they had written in a card and when they corrected their friend’s

works.

b. Some students still busy with their own activity (indicator 3)

Researcher divided students into some groups to do the worksheet and make

descriptive text using Affinity Grouping technique. Students focused about

what they had to do. They discussed with their friends.

In the second cycle, most students joined the activities. The students who

were passive in cycle I became more active and motivated in this cycle. Generally,

the students paid more attention to the lesson. The other utterances can be shown

when the researcher asked them whether they were happy or not in that day lesson,

they said, “Yes!”. The next improvement was the students looked active and did

not look sleepy. They focused about also what they had to do, they discussed with

their friends. When the teacher asked some questions, many students raised their

hand as a sign of their willingness in answering the questions. The students were

confident enough in answering the teacher’s question and they were also able to

answer the question correctly. The students became very active in the teaching and


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learning process. The researcher concluded that the classroom situation was

improved. The quality of the writing class improved since all students participated

actively in this cycle.

The summary of research findings are presented in the table below.

Table 4.9. The Summary of Research Findings

The Problems Improvement

Writing Skill

1. Students get difficulty in developing

the idea

Students could find and develop the idea easily.

2. Students get difficulty in producing

grammatical sentences

Students understood about simple present tense

and made grammatical sentences.

3. Students write some words

incorrectly

Students’ writing was better organized in

paragraphing and also much better in spelling.

4. Students are confused to apply

appropriate generic structure

Students made an organized text. They could

apply the generic structure in making a text.

5. Students are lack of vocabulary Students mastered more vocabularies. They began

to able to choose appropriate words for their

writing.

Classroom Situation

1. The students make the class noisy Students kept silent and stayed still. They talked

with their friends when they discussed about their

works

2. Students look sleepy during the

lesson

Students did not look sleepy during the lesson

3. Students do non-academic activities

rather than focus on the lesson

Students focused on what they had to do

4. Students are too passive in the class Students were active and brave. They asked to the

researcher about something that they did not

understand

5. The students do not pay attention to

the teacher

Students paid attention to the researcher’

explanation


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C. Discussion

This research aims to improve writing skill and classroom situation. The

research finding shows the two aspects above were improved by implementing

affinity grouping. In this section, those findings will be discussed by justifying those

findings with the theories from the expert. In more detail, each of the findings is

discussed below.�

1. Affinity Grouping Can Improve the Students’ Writing ability

The students’ writing skill increased after the implementation of affinity

grouping in classroom. Affinity Grouping is successfully implemented in teaching

and learning process of this research. Barkley, Cross and Major (2005: 205) said

that Affinity Grouping is a technique that use a graphic to organize information. It

can provide a framework for gathering and sorting ideas for discussion, writing, or

research. It means that Affinity Grouping is suitable to teach writing and can

improve students’ writing skill.

The improvement of students’ writing skill can be seen from the result of

students’ post test. The mean of pre-test score is 51.5, it improves to 67.6 in post-

test 1, and it increases up to 76.7 in final post-test. This result proves that teaching

writing using affinity grouping can improve students’ writing skill.

2. Affinity Grouping Can Make the Students Being Active in Teaching Learning

Process

In this research, Affinity Grouping is also able to make the students being

active in teaching learning process. Affinity Grouping is one of cooperative

learning technique. Hill (1996: 5) said that cooperative learning has important

implications in the development of mutual respect and better understanding


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between the students. Learning to work together, sharing group roles, and solving

problems in a cooperative way promote the self-esteem of everyone.

According to Richards and Rodgers (2001: 199) in doing cooperative

learning, the primary role of the student is as a member of a group who must work

collaboratively on tasks with other group members. Students are directions of their

own learning. They have to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning. Thus,

learning is something that requires students’ direct and active involvement and

participation.

Based on the theories and the finding result above, it can be conclude that

Affinity Grouping is able to make students being active in teaching learning

process. They focused on the lesson and did not look sleepy. They worked

together, shared and discussed about what they have to do.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

Based on the result of the research, which was aimed at improving

students’ writing skill by Affinity Grouping, the researcher can draw some

conclusion as follows:

1. Affinity Grouping can improve students’ writing skill. It is supported by the

results of the test scores and the situation of the class. From the results of the

test scores, it can be seen that the mean of pre-test score is 51.5, it improves to

67.6 in post-test 1, and it increases up to 76.7 in final post-test. This result

proves that teaching writing using affinity grouping can improve students’

writing skill.

2. In fact, Affinity Grouping can make the students become active in teaching

learning process. During teaching and learning process using affinity grouping

the students were paying more attention to the teacher’s explanation and more

focused on the involvement of teaching activities. Moreover, affinity grouping

can create an enjoyable condition in the classroom. Using affinity grouping, the

students give more participation in responding or even answering the teacher’s

questions in teaching and learning process. The center of the teaching and

learning process is no longer the teacher but the learner. The teacher can play

roles as facilitator, motivator, planner, manager, group organizer, and quality

controller.


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B. Implication

In teaching writing, it is important for English teachers to choose the

appropriate techniques. Before teaching the students, the teacher has to understand

students’ characteristics. The students are the ones who actually learn the language

so the students should be the center of teaching and learning process.

Fun and enjoyable activities make affinity grouping a suitable technique

to use in teaching and learning process. Using affinity grouping, the students

become active learners who experience what they are learning. The

implementation of affinity grouping in teaching writing is very effective to

improve students’ writing skill.

Viewed from the conclusion in this research and supported by all of the

data of the research, there is an improvement in teaching writing using computer

assisted games. The reseracher can imply that affinity grouping is an effective

technique in teaching writing to the students.

C. Suggestion

Based on the research findings, the researcher would like to propose some

suggestions to improve the students’ writing skill as follows:

1. To the teacher

English teachers have responsibility in finding the effective technique in

delivering their materials. The teaching technique has to encourage the students’

interest toward the lesson. It will develop a good atmosphere in the class when

the students get interest in teaching and learning process. One of the techniques

that make the students learn easily and comfortably in their class is affinity

grouping.


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2. To the students

English as a second language seems difficult to learn if there is no will and

motivation to learn it. The students who are taught by using Affinity Grouping

should be aware of the importance of writing. They should no judge writing as a

boring activity. Students in general should encourage themselves to learn more,

to ask what they do not know and to learn as much as possible,

3. To the Institution

SMP Negeri 4 Wonogiri should support the teachers to always learn about

how to teach well. It is needed for schools or other educational institutions to

conduct educational trainings. The trainings should be able to train English

teachers to be more creative in managing their class.

The school also has to provide the appropriate facilities that support the

teaching and learning process. Complete facilities are needed to support the

teaching and learning process. It also makes the teachers have opportunity to

express their brand new ideas and show their best ability in improving the

language skill especially for writing.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Angelo, Thomas. A. & Cross, K. Patricia. 1993. Classroom Assessment Techniques.

San Francisco: JOSSEY-BASS.

Azar, Betty Schrampfer. 1989. Understanding and Using English Grammar. New

Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Barkley, Elisabeth F, Cross, K Patricia, & Major, Claire Howell. 2007. Collaborative

Learning Techniques. San Francisco: JOSSEY-BASS.

Brookes, A & Grundy, P. 1991. Beginning to Write. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles. New Jersey: Prentice Hill.

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