IMPROVING STUDENTS WRITING SKILL IN DESCRIPTIVE TEXT THROUGH COMMUNICATION GAME AT THE EIGHT GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI

1 BABADAN PONOROGO IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013

THESIS

BY RINI KHOMARIAH NIM. O8331301

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF PONOROGO 2013

IMPROVING STUDENTS WRITING SKILL IN DESCRIPTIVE TEXT THROUGH COMMUNICATION GAME AT THE EIGHT GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI 1 BABADAN PONOROGO IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013

Presented to Muhammadiyah University of Ponorogo In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement For the Degree of Sarjana in English Language Education

BY RINI KHOMARIAH NIM. O8331301

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF PONOROGO 2013

UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH PONOROGO FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN (STATUS TERAKREDITASI) Alamat : Jl. Budi Utomo No. 10 Telp. (0352) 481124 Fax. (0352) 461796 PONOROGO 63471

APPROVAL PAGE This is to certify that the Sarjanas thesis of RINI KHOMARIAH has been approved by the Board of Examiners as the requirement for the degree of Sarjana in English Education. Ponorogo, October 20th, 2012 Thesis Examining Committee

Siti Asiyah, M.Pd ............................ Chair

Diyah Atiek Mustikawati, M.H......................... Member

Niken Reti Indriastuti, SS.............. Member

Acknowledged by Head, English Education Department

Approved by Dean, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

Niken Reti Indriastuti, S.S NIS. 044 0171

Drs. Bambang Hermanto, M.Pd NIP. 19710823 200501 1 001

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UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH PONOROGO FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN (STATUS TERAKREDITASI) Alamat : Jl. Budi Utomo No. 10 Telp. (0352) 481124 Fax. (0352) 461796 PONOROGO 63471

AGREEMENT PAGE

This is to certify that the Sarjanas thesis of RINI KHOMARIAH has been approved by thesis advisors for further approval by the Board of Examiners.

Ponorogo, October 20th, 2012 Advisor I,

Siti Asiyah, M.Pd NIS. 044 0377 Ponorogo, October 20th, 2012 Advisor II

Diyah Atiek Mustikawati, M.Hum NIS. 044 0504

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MOTTO

the future can be

determined now, by learning, praying and discipline

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DEDICATION From the deepest of my heart, I dedicate this thesis to: My beloved parents who love me very much. CHAN YUEN KWONG and SUMINI KATENO AND KATINEM Who always encourage and motivate me to finish this thesis and accompany me when I am cheerful and gloomy. They always support me to reach my deep goal. Father and mother, I believe my goal will be reached with you. And all my family that always support me. My sweet heart Rianto My family
my grandmother, my uncle, my nieces, and my young brother

Who accompany and give me motivation in every time, support mystruggle and always give me smile and motivation to get success in my life. All of my close friends and all of my friends. Who always make bad condition becomes fresh condition. Who give motivation to face the future life. May God bless you all

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks to Almighty God, Allah SWT, the most Merciful and the most Gracious Who has given this mercy that the researcher could finish this thesis as a final assignment in achieving the Sarjana degree of English Education Department at Muhammadiyah University of Ponorogo. Peace may be always upon the noble prophet Muhammad SAW, his families and companions who guide the way of life for us. The writer realizes that this thesis would never been accomplished without the guidance, motivation, and help kindness from many people. In this occasion, she would like to give her special gratitude and thanks to: 1. Drs. Bambang Hermanto, M.Pd as the Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Muhammadiyah University of Ponorogo. 2. Niken Reti Indriastuti, S.S as a Chairman of English Education Department. 3. Siti Asiyah M.Pd and Diyah Atiek Mustikawati, M.Hum as her advisors who gave profound guidance and direction in completing her study. 4. All English lecturers of Muhammadiyah University of Ponorogo for the knowledge and experiences shared. 5. Drs. Wahyu Hermadi, M.Pd as the Headmaster who gave permission in conducting the research.

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6. Drs. Ihwan, M.Pd as the Vice of Headmaster who gave permission in conducting the research. 7. All of teachers and staffs in SMP Negeri 1 Babadan Ponorogo, especially Wiwin Mantoningsih, S.Pd as the English Teacher and as a collaborator who gave her supports, advices, and her spare time to help her to finish this research. 8. Her beloved parents, grand mothers, sweet heart who always help and give her motivation. 9. All of her friends who have helped her with everything she needs during collecting data and writing the thesis.

Finally, the writer hopes that the result of this research could give advantages to the reader. The writer believes that this research is far from being perfect. So the writer expects some suggestions and criticisms of this thesis for the better result.

Ponorogo, October 2012

Rini Khomariah

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ABSTRACT

Khomariah, Rini.2012. Improving Students Writing Skill In Descriptive Text Through Communication Game At The Eight Grade Students Of SMPN 1 Babadan Ponorogo in the academic year of 2012/2013. Thesis. English Education Department. Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Muhammadiyah university of Ponorogo. Advisors: (1) Siti Asiyah, M.Pd. (2) Diyah Atiek Mustikawati, M.Hum. Key Terms. Communication game, rank order strategy, and writing skill Writing is the act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone or the other materials for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express or of communicating them to others by visible signs. It means that writing as a means of communication is able to send the message to the readers without meeting with other people. The research was done in SMPN 1 Babadan Ponorogo started on October 8th until may 13th ,2012. The subject of this research was the eight grade students of class VIIIB that consisted of 33 students. The researcher used four research instruments, they are; test, questionnaire, observation check list, and field note. By using action research design, the researcher applied the strategy for the students of class VIIIB. The researcher was done in two cycles. The result of the first test in cycle 1 got average score 66. The score did not reach the average score yet. But after the researcher made improvements in cycle 2, the score was increased became 72.5. The result of observation sheet showed that students were being active in teaching and learning process. The data of questionnaire showed that the students interested in writing descriptive text using communication game through rank order strategy. Finally, the researcher concludes that implementation of communication game through rank order strategy in descriptive text could improve the students writing skill at SMPN 1 Babadan Ponorogo. The researcher gives suggestion that English teacher could use rank order as alternative strategy in teaching writing. The next researcher could develop this strategy and make it better.

TABLE OF CONTENT THE TITLLE APPROVAL PAGE AGREEMENT PAGE MOTTO ...i DEDICATION ....ii ABSTRACT ...iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .iv TABLE OF CONTENT ....vi LIST OF APPENDIXES.x

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study..................................................................1 1.2 Statement of Problem .................................................................6 1.3 Purpose of Study.........................................................................7 1.4 Important of Study .....................................................................7 1.5 Scope and Limitation ..................................................................7 1.6 Definition of Key Terms ............................................................8

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Writing .......................................................................................9 2.1.1 Definition of Writing ..............................................................9

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2.1.2 Definition of Writing Skill ...................................................10 2.1.3 Process of Writing .................................................................10 2.1.4 Purpose Writing.. ..............................................................13 2.1.5 Writing Assessment.............................................................. 14 2.2. Text ........................................................................................19 2.2.1 Definition of Text ..................................................................20 2.2.2 Definition of Descriptive Text..............................................20 2.3 Communication Game........................................21 2.3.1 Definition of Communication game......................................22 2.3.2 Definition of Rank Order......................................................23 2.3.3 Procedure of Rank Order Activity ...................23 2.3.4 Rank Order As Communicative Language Teaching Activity................................................................................24 2.3.5 The Advantages of Rank Order.............................25

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design .......................................................................26 3.2 The Subject and Setting ...........................................................27 3.3 Research Procedure ..................................................................27 3.3.1 Preliminary Study ..................................................................27 3.3.2 Analysis and Identification ....................................................28

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3.3.3 Implementation of The Research...........................................28 3.3.3.1 Planning.........................................28 3.3.3.2 Documentation...............................................................29 3.3.3.3 Acting.................................................30 3.3.3.4 Observation.........................................................................30 3.3.4 Reflection ..............................................................................31 3.3.5 Data Clasification..................................................................31 3.3.6 Data Presentation..................................................................31 3.3.7 Data Interpretation................................................................31

CHAPTER IV FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Finding ......................................................................................33 4.1.1 Cycle 1 ...................................................................................33 4.1.2 Cycle 2 ...................................................................................38 4.2 Discussion ................................................................................43

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion................................................................................45 5.2 Suggestion ................................................................................46 5.2.1 To English Teachers ..............................................................46 5.2.2 To Students............................................................................46

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5.2.3 To School...............................................................................46 5.2.4 To Next Researcher ...............................................................47

BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIXES

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LIST OF APPENDIXES

Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 Appendix 6 Appendix 7 Appendix 8

Questionnaire I, Questionnaire II Obsevation I , Observation II Field Note I, Field Note II Lesson Plane Students Worksheets I, Students Worksheets II Table of The Data of CAR Picture Media Photo of the Result of CAR (Class Action Research)

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study Language is used to communicate in human life. By using language, people can express their feeling, idea, and everything in their mind. Language is also beautiful thing, because people can create a great poem, drama, and script to be a good film. Furthermore, language also can be a tool for doing something. Besides, language is also used in communication, it is divided into two group, they are; receptive skill and productive skill. All of skills are related to each other in language learning and they are learned in every degree. Language is very important part in human life. We can not imagine if there is not language as a communications t ool. In this modern era, we are forced to master more than one language. There are many educated people who master two or more foreign languages fluency now. According to Chastain (1976: 3) there are two benefits of teaching foreign language, that is internal and external benefit. Internal benefit is a benefit that changes the personality of their own during the process of foreign language take place. External benefit is a benefit that is more practical because the individuals ability relates to other more effectively for various purposes. In the environment, there are a lot of natural reinforcements that can support English learning more successfully. Nevertheless, in English learning situation there are still difficulties of independent word that students have

limitation in memorizing some words. Therefore, the teacher may feel obliged to teach and test the vocabulary. This is a way by which the language is forced into the students, and they feel that learning English is difficult for them. Therefore, teachers need to avoid a technique which forces the language into the students. All things that are needed to be introduced should make students interested in learning English and not afraid in learning it. The importance position of foreign language in society causes why teaching foreign language more important and have many efforts are being made to find out how someone can master language. The knowledge is very important to be known for the foreign language teaching process especially English language. The basic purpose of teaching language is the student will be able to master all of language skills, they are; listening, speaking, reading, and writing skill. Beside that, they should know about the teaching components in teaching process, they are; teacher, student, teaching technique, and media. Between fourth skills, the important one is writing. Because, much knowledge was not to be a good thing for the majority of the working population. But, as societies grow larger and more industrialized, the need for citizen to be able to write and read become vital in order for bureaucratic organization to be successful (Harmer, 2007: 3). Many elements that must exist in teaching writing to the students of English as a foreign language are reinforcement, language development, learning style and most importantly, writing as skill in its own right. Writing as a skill, the

most important reason for teaching writing, of course that it is a basic of language skill, as important as speaking, listening, and reading (Harmer, 2002: 79). Writing is the act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone or the other materials for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express or of communicating them to others by visible signs. Writing is an essential language skill that used for indirect communication. The main obstacle to improve writing skill is the translation from source language (L1) to target language (L2). In the translation activity, many students have many difficulties in the structure of the sentence itself. Because, between source language (L1) and target language (L2) have difference structure. So, most students use source languages (L1) structure as substitute of target language structure. Not only translation but also on the organization of ideas. In writing skill, we should more pay attention in spelling, punctuation, and so on. As one of the four language skills, writing has always occupied a place in most English language course. One of the reasons is that more and more people need to learn how to write in English for occupational or academic purpose. In other hand, more advanced classes students are assigned composition or other kind of text based on certain topics. The poor teacher only takes the students homework to make score especially based on the grammatical errors. They are finally returned to the student with some comments and corrections. Teaching writing does not mean simply having students do grammar exercise in writing. It no longer means having students manipulate unfamiliar

texts that have no special meaning for them. Instead, students are writing about what they really want to communicate with someone else and what they really want a reader to know. The teachers want to give some demands to the students into writing as quickly and immediately possible in some lesson. This kind of instant writing helps to develop the students writing fluency, which is also part of writing proficiency, but which is not the same as the drawn out processes we have been describing. Writing process is not an essay option for students or teacher. Writing process need more time to learn, it takes up space and can be problematic for the more disorganized students. Because the following example of writing text shows clearly how different purpose provoke different kinds of writing. Nowadays, many teachers still teach writing by giving a text, explaining form and rules, and asking students to write a same text. This result is boring, because they only listen to the teachers explanation. Because of this situation, the teachers have to find out the other ways to make the students boredom disappear, to improve their learners writing quality and to make master easier. To reach the maximal result the teacher needs some creativity and innovation. Teacher who always has a constant desire and improve also enhance the quality of teaching and learning activities. Because it attempts to improve and enhance the quality should always be done by looking for the solution of the problem in teaching and learning process.

Based on the statement above, the teacher should use an interesting strategy to make the students enjoy and do not feel bored in learning writing. One of the writing learning strategies is communication game through rank ordering as a strategy to solve the students difficulties in writing description. According to Klippel (1984: 58) rank order is the exercise that require students to put a certain number of item from a given list into an order of importance or preference. Learning strategy is step taken by students to enhance their own learning. Strategy is especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence. In English, there are many kinds of genre to make a write. They are; narrative, descriptive, procedure, recount, anecdote, etc. The writer chooses descriptive text in her research. Descriptive text is the text that describes the particular person, place, or thing in detail. The researcher chooses descriptive text in her research because the students feel difficult in descriptive text. There are many skills in teaching English language. They are; speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Every skill has difficulties level. One of them is writing skill, like in SMPN 1 Babadan. The students of SMPN 1 Babadan have many difficulties in writing skill especially make a descriptive text. There are many reasons must be solved by the researcher. The reason are; first, the students of SMP N 1 Babadan have problem in writing description text. Second, the students have less knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, so that it make them difficult to make a text. The last, the students can not write a text well. So

that, the researcher tries to apply communication game especially in rank order activity to solve the problems. Communication game especially in rank order strategy is chosen by the researcher because she should be careful in correcting students error. Being often to be interrupted and corrected make the students hesitant in their organization of ideas when they practices in make a text. It seems far better for the researcher to use the activities for observation and only help the students when they need. The students should be encouraged to overcome their difficulties by finding alternative ways of expressing what they want to write. There are list of words as ideas which may be needed for the activities to the students to compose a text easily. Based on the problems above, the researcher uses Classroom Action Research (CAR) in her research to solve the problems and improve the quality of teaching learning process. By giving attention to the fact, the researcher uses communication games especially in rank order strategy to make the students can overcome their problems and enjoy in learning process.

1.2 Statement of Problem Based on the explanation in the background of study, the statement of problem in this study is How does the communication game improve students writing skill in descriptive text of the second year students of SMP N 1 Babadan ponorogo in the academic year of 2012/2013?

1.3 Purpose of Study Based on to the statement of the problem, the researcher formulates the purpose of this research is to know how the improvement of students writing skill in description text by using communication games of the second year students of SMP N1 Babadan Ponorogo in the academic year of 2012/2013.

1.4 Important of Study The writer hopes this research will give contributions to: 1. For the students, can arrange and make a descriptive text well based on the generic structure. 2. For the English teachers, as a strategy in teaching learning process to write descriptive text 3. For the school or institution, to increase students competence in writing skill especially in descriptive text at SMP N 1 Babadan Ponorogo. 4. For the researcher, as the real action to apply her knowledge that she got from Muhammadiyyah University of Ponorogo.

1.5 Scope and Limitation This study is focused on the classroom action research of the teaching writing in descriptive text using communication games strategy. The subject of this study are the seventh grade students especially class VIII-B in SMPN 1 Babadan Ponorogo in the academic year of 2012/2013.

1.6 Definition of Key Term To avoid misunderstanding of the concept in this study, the researcher gives some definitions as follows: 1. Writing skill : Writing skills are specific abilities which help writers put their thoughts into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the message ( Lingulink, 1999). 2. Communication game : Are activities set up in the classroom to create opportunities and purpose for verbal

communication practice (Herrell et al, 2002: 94) 3. Rank order strategy : The exercise require students to put a certain number of items from a given list into an order of importance or preference (Klippel, 1984: 58). 4. Description text : Is a text which says what a person or a things is like (Nurmansyah, 2009).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ahmad,Zahrowi.2009.http://ahmadzahrowi.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/descriptiv e-text/ Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2002. Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta. PT. Rineka Cipta. Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2007. Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta. PT. Rineka Cipta. Black, Beth. 2008. Using An Adapted Rank-Ordering method Investigate January Versus June Awarding Standart. University of Cambridge. Brainyquote.2001. http://www.brainyquote.com/words/wr/writing240703.html.2001 Ghait, Ghazi. 2010. American University of Beirut. http://www.nadasisiland.com/ghaith-writing.html#nature Harmer, Jeremy. 2002. How To Teach English An Introduction To The Practice In English LanguageTeaching. Malaysia: England and Associated Company Harmer, Jeremy. 2007. How To Teach Writing. Malaysia: Longman Herrell, Ardienne L & Jordan, Michael. 2002.Fifty Strategies For Teaching English Language Learner . United State Of Amerika: Pearson Education. Johnson, Andrew P. 2005. A Short Guide To Action Research. MinnesotaState University. Pearson. Klippel, Friederike. 1984. Keep Talking Communicative Fluency Activities For Language Teaching. London New York: Cambridge University Press. Kunandar. 2008. Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. Jakarta: PT Raja Grafindo Persada. Langan, John.1985. College Writing Skill With Reading. Atlantic Community College. McGraw-Hill, Inc. Library, Linguilinks. 1999. http://www.sil.org/linguilinks/literacy/reference material/glossaryofliteracyterms/whatarewriting skill.htm.

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Maleki, Ataollah. 2010. Technique to Teach Communication Strategy. Zanjan Medical Science University.Academy Publisher Manufactured in Finlandia. Marsudiono. 2008. Strive to Master Sentence Writing. Ponorogo. Muhammadiyah University of Ponorogo. Miura, Shintaro. 2012.Strategic Communication Games: Theory and Aplication. Washington University in ST.Louis. Nunan, David. 1999. Second Language Teaching & Learning. University of Hong Kong: Heinle & Heinle Publihers. Nurmansyah,Dudie.2009.http://dudienurmansyah.blogspot.com/2009/09/descripti ve-text-definition-and-purpose.html Priyanto, Agus D. 2009. http://www.soloeducenter.com/component/content/article/47-factual genre-48 description. Random House Websters College Dictionary. http://www.definitions.net/definition/text. Reid, Stephen. 1994. Purpose And Process:A reader For Writer. United State of Amerika. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Richards, Jack C & Renandya, Willa A.2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. United State of Amerika. Cambridge University Press. Saukah, Ali. 1994. Language Testing II. Jakarta. Universitas Terbuka. Thimmer, Joseph F. 1995. Writing With A Purpose. Ball State University. Houghton Mifflin Company.