THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
09360223
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve
Sarjana Degree in English Education
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
09360223
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
MOTTO AND DEDICATION
“| Do What You can Do now | Don’t Waste the Time |
Don’t Think too Long | Just Do It | Be Yourself |”
Rizka Maulina Wulandari
“| Life is 10 Percent What You Make It and 90 Percent How You Take It |”
Irving Berlin
“| The Roots of Education are Bitter, but the Fruit is Sweet |”
Aristotle
DEDICATION:
I dedicated this thesis to:
My beloved and wonderful late father and mother,
My twin brothers,
My friends,
And my lovely Mbuul.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, the Merciful and Charitable. Because of the
guidance, blessing, and effection, the researcher finally can finish this thesis. Also
may sholawat and salam always be given to the last messenger Muhammad SAW.
The researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to Dr. Masduki,
M.Pd and Drs. Mas'udi, M.Ed for their kindness in giving suggestions, invaluable
guidance and advice during the consultation period, and their comments and
corrections during the completion of this thesis.
Her sincere gratitude and appreciation are also extended to the A class of the
fifth semester students at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang
who had given her the opportunity to conduct the research.
Moreover, she would like to dedicate this research to her beloved and
wonderful parents, (Alm) Dwiko Rahardjo and Titik Indarwati, who always become
her inspiring people to do the best in every chance she gets, and also her naughty twin
brothers (Aditya Rahmansyah and Dimas Rahmawan).
Finally, a special thank goes to her lovely Mbuul (Njhienjhie) who always
accompany her in doing the thesis, DPPM’s staffs (Bu Ririn, Pak Amir, Pak Adi,
Mbak Luluk, Mbak Dea, Mbak Maya, Mbak Olif, Mbak Desi, etc), her closest friends
(Siska’Kampret’,
Warda’Klompen’,
Olive’Peak’,
Yanuardana,
Zulfa),
63’s
companions (Putri, Mita, Diqka, Wulan, Tiwi, Mbak Kristy, etc), and all of D class
buddies (Baim, Efi, Wima, Lela, etc) for their encouragement, love, care, and pray so
that she can finish this thesis.
The Researcher,
Rizka Maulina Wulandari
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL .......................................................................................................... i
LEGALIZATION ................................................................................................ ii
MOTTO AND DEDICATION ........................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ v
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURE ............................................................................................. xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study ................................................................................. 1
1.2 Statement of Problem ................................................................................ 4
1.3 Purpose of Study ....................................................................................... 5
1.4 Significance of Study................................................................................. 5
1.5 Scope and Limitation ................................................................................ 6
1.6 Definition of Key Terms............................................................................ 6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Concept of Writing Skill............................................................................ 8
2.1.1 The Writing Process ........................................................................ 9
2.1.1.1 Prewriting ............................................................................ 9
a. Generating Ideas .............................................................. 9
b. Invention Techniques .................................................... 10
a. Brainstorming ............................................................ 10
b. Freewriting................................................................. 10
c. WH-Questions ........................................................... 10
d. Clustering................................................................... 10
c. Planning ......................................................................... 12
2.1.1.2 Drafting .............................................................................. 12
2.1.1.3 Revising ............................................................................. 12
2.2 Paragraph Development .......................................................................... 13
2.2.1 General Concept of Paragraph ....................................................... 13
2.2.1.1 Paragraph Structure ........................................................... 13
a. The Three Parts of a Paragraph...................................... 13
b. Two Additional Elements .............................................. 14
2.2.1.2 The Topic Sentence ........................................................... 14
2.2.1.3 The Concluding Sentence .................................................. 14
2.2.2 Unity and Simple Outlining ........................................................... 15
2.2.2.1 Unity .................................................................................. 15
2.2.2.2 Simple Outlining................................................................ 15
2.2.3 Coherence ...................................................................................... 15
2.2.3.1 Coherence from Transition Signals ................................... 15
2.2.3.2 Coherence from Logical Order .......................................... 17
2.2.4 Concrete Support ........................................................................... 18
2.2.5 Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Footnoting ................................ 18
2.3 Essay Writing .......................................................................................... 19
2.3.1 The Introductory Paragraph ........................................................... 20
2.3.1.1 The Thesis Statement......................................................... 21
2.3.2 The Developmental (Body) Paragraphs ........................................ 21
2.3.3 The Conclusion Paragraph............................................................. 22
2.4 Organization of Ideas in Essay Writing ................................................... 23
2.5 The Problems Faced by Students in Organizing Ideas in Essay Writing:
The Previous Study .................................................................................. 24
A. Limited Ideas ..................................................................................... 25
B. The Difficulty to Choose Appropriate Ideas ...................................... 25
C. No-one to Check the Student’s Writing ............................................. 26
D. The Students’ Low Motivation to Write............................................ 26
E. The Difficulty to Share Ideas ............................................................. 26
F. The Difficulty to Understand the Materials ....................................... 26
2.6 The Students’ Solutions to the Problems in Organizing Ideas in Essay
Writing: The Previous Study ................................................................... 27
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design ...................................................................................... 29
3.2 Research Subject...................................................................................... 30
3.3 Data ......................................................................................................... 31
3.4 Data Collection Technique ...................................................................... 31
A. Documentation .................................................................................... 31
B. Interviews ............................................................................................ 32
3.4.1 Research Instrument ................................................................. 33
3.4.1.1 Documents .................................................................... 33
3.4.1.2 Interviews ..................................................................... 34
A. Structured Interviews ............................................... 34
B. Unstructured Interviews ........................................... 34
C. Semi-structured Interviews ...................................... 35
D. Informal Interviews ................................................. 35
3.5 Steps of Collecting Data ......................................................................... 36
3.6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Research Findings ................................................................................... 38
4.1.1 The Way Students Organize Ideas in Essay Writing ..................... 38
4.1.1.1 The Introductory Paragraph Introduced the Topic of the
Essay ................................................................................. 38
4.1.1.2 The Introductory Paragraph Contained the General
Statement ........................................................................... 39
4.1.1.3 The Introductory Paragraph Contained the Thesis
Statement ........................................................................... 41
4.1.1.4 The Introductory Paragraph was Inviting ......................... 43
4.1.1.5 The Thesis Statement was Expressed in a Complete
Sentence ............................................................................ 44
4.1.1.6 The Thesis Statement Expressed an Opinion, Attitude, or
Idea .................................................................................... 44
4.1.1.7 The Thesis Statement Expressed only One Idea toward
One Topic ......................................................................... 45
4.1.1.8 The Thesis Statement Listed the Subtopics ...................... 46
4.1.1.9 Each Developmental Paragraph Discussed One Aspect of
the Main Topic .................................................................. 47
4.1.1.10 The Controlling Idea in the Developmental Paragraph
Echoed the Central Idea in the Thesis Statement ............ 49
4.1.1.11 The Developmental Paragraph Had Coherence and
Unity................................................................................ 51
4.1.1.12 The Conclusion Restated the Main Points (Subtopics)
which is discussed ........................................................... 52
4.1.1.13 The Conclusion Restated Briefly .................................... 53
4.1.1.14 The Conclusion Restated the Thesis Statement .............. 54
4.1.1.15 The Conlusion Restated the Thesis Statement in Different
Words .............................................................................. 55
4.1.1.16 The Conclusion Brought Up a New Topic ...................... 56
4.1.2 The Students’ Problems in Organizing Ideas in Essay Writing ..... 57
A. The Difficulty to Find the Ideas............................................... 57
B. The Difficulty to Choose the Ideas .......................................... 57
C. No-one to Check the Student’s Essay Writing ........................ 58
D. The Students’ Low Motivation to Write the Essay ................. 58
E. The Difficulty to Share Ideas ................................................... 58
F. The Difficulty to Understand the Materials ............................. 58
G. The Problems with the Grammar and Vocabularies ................ 59
H. Limited Time to Think, Plan, Write, Revise, and Rewrite the
Essay Writing .......................................................................... 59
I. The Difficulty to Write the Thesis Statetment .......................... 59
J. The Difficulty to Organize the Ideas......................................... 59
K. Essay Writing As an Unenjoyable Activity ............................. 60
4.1.6 The Students’ Solutions to the Problems in Organizing Ideas in
Essay Writing ................................................................................. 60
4.2 Discussion ............................................................................................... 61
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 64
5.2 Suggestion .............................................................................................. 65
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 67
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Samples of Students’ Essay Writings............................................... 69
Appendix 2: Interview Guide ................................................................................ 80
Appendix 3: Interview Transcript ......................................................................... 82
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 2.1 Example of Clustering ......................................................................... 11
REFERENCES
Arikunto, Suharsini. 1992. Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta:
Rineka Cipta.
Ary, Donald et. al. 2006. Introduction to Resesarch in Education. USA: Wadsworth
Thomson Learning
Bodgan & Biklen. 2007. Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to
Theory and Methods. USA: Pearson Education Inc.
Leo, Sutanto et. al. 2007. English for Academic Purpose: Essay Writing. Yogyakarta:
C.V Andi Offset.
Mahendra, Yudho. 2011. The Students Writing Strategy in Developing Essay at The
English Department of UMM. Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
Mayhud. 2010. The Problems Faced by Students in Writing Essay Both in Individual
Work and In Group Work. Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
McDougal. 1985. Building English Skill. United States of America: Maqcmillan
Company.
Milasari, Noor Aprilya. 2005. A Study on The Students’ Ability in Writing The Introduction
of Argumentative Essay at Sixth Semester of English department in MUM.
Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. 1984. Quantitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New
Methods. London: Sage Publication, Ltd.
Oshima, Alice & Ann, Hogue. Writing Academic English: a Writing and Sentence Structure
Workbook for International Students. USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
Inc.
Raimes, Ann. 1983. Techniques in Teaching Writing. USA: Oxford University Press.
Rosa, Alfred & Eschholz, Paul. 1992. Models for Writers. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Smalley, L. Regina et. al. 2001. Refining Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar. USA:
Heinle & Heinle.
University, St. John’s. 2013. 10 Commons Writing Problems.
http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/centers/iws/writingcenter/commonpros
stj. Accesed on Tuesday, 26 February 2013. 09.30 pm.
Wahyuni, Sari. 2012. Qualitative Research Method: Theory and Practice. Jakarta
Selatan: Salemba Empat.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses about the background of the study, the statement of
problem, the purpose of study, the significance of study, the scope limitation, and the
definition of key terms.
1.1 Background of the Study
Writing , like speaking, is such a common part of our everyday lives that we
take for granted the writing we do on a daily basis. It can be a most frustating task for
anyone, particularly when cisrcumstances interfere with it. Smalley et al. (2001)
states that sometimes we are frustated because we cannot think of anything to say
about a topic. In line with this idea it can be stated that writing becomes one of the
four language skills that play a vital role in this global community but many people
still hate to do writing activities. They assume that writing is the difficult skill
because they can not develop their ideas into a good writing.
Furthermore, Leo et al. (2007) states that writing as a process of expressing
ideas or thoughts in words should be done at our leisure. Writing can be very
enjoyable as long as we have the ideas and the means to achieve it. From that
explanation, we can conclude that people can be enjoyable to make a good writing by
finding ideas and write it into good sentences and arrange those to be paragraph
which has main idea and supporting sentences. It will make the reader easier to
understand what the main topic / main idea is about.
1
2
According to Smalley et al. (2001, p.105), essay is a group of paragraphs that
develops one central idea. An effective essay has a clear purpose, often provides
useful information, has an effect on the reader’s toughts and feelings, and is usually a
pleasure to read but the fact, many students assume that make an essay writing is the
harder one. The data from Masyhud (2010) on his thesis, The Problems Faced by
Students in Writing Essay Both in Individual Work and In Group Work, mentioned
that there were six problems faced by students in individual work in essay writing, (1)
The limited ideas (70%), (2) The students’ difficulty to choose appropriate ideas
(7%), (3) No one checked the students’ writing (4%), (4) The students’ low
motivation to write (2%), (5) Unable to share ideas with the others (2%), and (6) The
students’ difficulty to understand the materials (2%). From those evidences, the
limited ideas becomes the most problem that students face in essay writing which
reaches 70% almost 100%. It shows that people have difficulty in developing their
ideas into a good writing because they do not want to try to make the draft of their
ideas so it will make their ideas are gone by the wind.
An essay has several elements on it such as thesis statement, unity,
organization, bodies, endings, paragraphs, transitions, and effective sentences. From
all of those elements, Rosa and Eschholz (1992) state that the concepts of thesis
statement, unity, and organization underlie all the others and so come first in our
sequence. Moreover, according to Masyhud (2010) on his thesis, he states that there
are five components of writing essay; the topic, grammar, usage, mechanic, and the
organization. Hence, organization of ideas becomes one of the important parts in the
3
essay writing process because it will establish the good arrangement of the welldeveloped essay. According in this matter about organization of ideas, McDougal
(1985) states:
One very common problem in longer compositions and speeches is weak
organization. You may have collected a wealth of interesting information on your
subject. Unless your facts, examples, and other information are carefully
organized, however, your reader or listener may have difficulty understanding
you. From the beginning to end, your ideas should flow smoothly. One point
should lead logically to the next, rather than be presented in a random order.
Regarding the finding so far, there are two research that study on writing,
those are Milasari (2005) and Mahendra (2011). Milasari (2005) on her thesis “A
Study on The Students’ Ability in Writing The Introduction of Argumentative Essay at
Sixth Semester of English department in MUM ”. concluded that the students’ ability
in writing an introduction of an argumentative essay was generally good while
Mahendra (2011) on his thesis “The Students Writing Strategy in Developing Essay at
The English Department of UMM gave the conclusion based on his research finding
that the most commonly used strategy was combination between one to another
strategy such as (1) composition strategy, (2) self-regulation strategy, and (3) processbased strategy.
All of those researchers made their research about writing but no-one study
about the organization of ideas in essay writing. Milasari only studied about the
students’ ability in writing the introduction of argumentative essay while Mahendra
focused on students writing strategy in developing essay, they did not realize that
organization of ideas becomes the important part to make a good essay. Related to the
4
fact, the people who write essay writing often make mistakes in organizing their ideas
into a good order. They do not be aware of the three parts of essay, introduction,
body, and concluding pargraph, which are related each other in one central idea.
Regarding the findings above, the researcher is interested in making a study
on the students essay writing especially for the fifth semester of English Department
University of Muhammadiyah Malang because they have already gotten the
explanation how to make an essay. So, this study is done to know their organization
of ideas in making an essay writing.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Based on the background of the study, the researcher formulates the problem
of research as follow:
1.
How do the students organize ideas in essay writing of the fifth semester
at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang?
2.
What are the students’ problems in organizing ideas in essay writing of
the fifth semester at English Department University of Muhammadiyah
Malang?
3.
What are the students’ solutions to the problems in organizing ideas in
essay writing of the fifth semester at English Department University of
Muhammadiyah Malang?
5
1.3 Purpose of Study
1.
To investigate how the fifth semester students organize ideas in essay
writing at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
2.
To discover the students’ problems in organizing ideas in essay writing of
the fifth semester at English Department University of Muhammadiyah
Malang.
3.
To investigate the students’ solutions to the problems in organizing ideas
in essay writing of the fifth semester at English Department University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
1.4 Significance of Study
The result of this study will give contributions to some people such as
university students, writing lecturers, and the next researchers. First, for the university
students, especially English Department who want to make essay writing, they can
know how to arrange the good organization of ideas, introduction, developmental
(body) paragraphs, and conclusion, from this research. Second is for writing lecturers.
They can get the early information about their students in developing the organization
of ideas in their essay writing. The last is for the next researchers. They can use this
study as a reference or background knowledge in doing some researchers about
6
organization of ideas in essay writing of university students especially English
Department.
1.5 Scope and Limitation
The scope of this study is the essay writing of the fifth semester students at
English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Moreover, this study is
limited to the organization of ideas in essay writing of the fifth semester students at
English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
There are several key terms, which are clarified in this study. The researcher
defines the key terms as follows:
1. Idea s
: thoughts or insights that come to mind (Smalley et al.
2001). In this study, ideas mean collection of
thoughts that generate in the mind.
2. Organization of ideas : thoughts process of moving back and forth from
general statements to specific details, of finding
appropriate and relevant details and arranging
them in the most effective order (Raimes 1983, p.
115). Organization of ideas in this study intends as
thought generates in the mind which will be
written in the effective order.
7
3. Essay
: a group of paragraphs that develops one central
idea (Smalley et al. 2001, p.105). Essay in this study
denotes as a piece of writing several paragraphs
long more than two paragraphs which consists of
three main parts; introductory, body, and
concluding paragraph and all of them are related
each other in one topic.
4. Essay Writing
: a relatively activity to write short piece of
nonfiction in which a writer attempts to develop
one or more closely related points or ideas (Rosa
and Eschholz, 1992). In this study, essay writing
defines as an activity to write several paragraphs
long more than two paragraphs which consists of
three main parts; introductory, body, and
concluding paragraph and all of them are related
each other in one topic.
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
09360223
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS IN ESSAY WRITING OF THE
FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
THESIS
This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve
Sarjana Degree in English Education
By:
RIZKA MAULINA WULANDARI
09360223
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
MEI 2013
MOTTO AND DEDICATION
“| Do What You can Do now | Don’t Waste the Time |
Don’t Think too Long | Just Do It | Be Yourself |”
Rizka Maulina Wulandari
“| Life is 10 Percent What You Make It and 90 Percent How You Take It |”
Irving Berlin
“| The Roots of Education are Bitter, but the Fruit is Sweet |”
Aristotle
DEDICATION:
I dedicated this thesis to:
My beloved and wonderful late father and mother,
My twin brothers,
My friends,
And my lovely Mbuul.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, the Merciful and Charitable. Because of the
guidance, blessing, and effection, the researcher finally can finish this thesis. Also
may sholawat and salam always be given to the last messenger Muhammad SAW.
The researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to Dr. Masduki,
M.Pd and Drs. Mas'udi, M.Ed for their kindness in giving suggestions, invaluable
guidance and advice during the consultation period, and their comments and
corrections during the completion of this thesis.
Her sincere gratitude and appreciation are also extended to the A class of the
fifth semester students at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang
who had given her the opportunity to conduct the research.
Moreover, she would like to dedicate this research to her beloved and
wonderful parents, (Alm) Dwiko Rahardjo and Titik Indarwati, who always become
her inspiring people to do the best in every chance she gets, and also her naughty twin
brothers (Aditya Rahmansyah and Dimas Rahmawan).
Finally, a special thank goes to her lovely Mbuul (Njhienjhie) who always
accompany her in doing the thesis, DPPM’s staffs (Bu Ririn, Pak Amir, Pak Adi,
Mbak Luluk, Mbak Dea, Mbak Maya, Mbak Olif, Mbak Desi, etc), her closest friends
(Siska’Kampret’,
Warda’Klompen’,
Olive’Peak’,
Yanuardana,
Zulfa),
63’s
companions (Putri, Mita, Diqka, Wulan, Tiwi, Mbak Kristy, etc), and all of D class
buddies (Baim, Efi, Wima, Lela, etc) for their encouragement, love, care, and pray so
that she can finish this thesis.
The Researcher,
Rizka Maulina Wulandari
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL .......................................................................................................... i
LEGALIZATION ................................................................................................ ii
MOTTO AND DEDICATION ........................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ v
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURE ............................................................................................. xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study ................................................................................. 1
1.2 Statement of Problem ................................................................................ 4
1.3 Purpose of Study ....................................................................................... 5
1.4 Significance of Study................................................................................. 5
1.5 Scope and Limitation ................................................................................ 6
1.6 Definition of Key Terms............................................................................ 6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Concept of Writing Skill............................................................................ 8
2.1.1 The Writing Process ........................................................................ 9
2.1.1.1 Prewriting ............................................................................ 9
a. Generating Ideas .............................................................. 9
b. Invention Techniques .................................................... 10
a. Brainstorming ............................................................ 10
b. Freewriting................................................................. 10
c. WH-Questions ........................................................... 10
d. Clustering................................................................... 10
c. Planning ......................................................................... 12
2.1.1.2 Drafting .............................................................................. 12
2.1.1.3 Revising ............................................................................. 12
2.2 Paragraph Development .......................................................................... 13
2.2.1 General Concept of Paragraph ....................................................... 13
2.2.1.1 Paragraph Structure ........................................................... 13
a. The Three Parts of a Paragraph...................................... 13
b. Two Additional Elements .............................................. 14
2.2.1.2 The Topic Sentence ........................................................... 14
2.2.1.3 The Concluding Sentence .................................................. 14
2.2.2 Unity and Simple Outlining ........................................................... 15
2.2.2.1 Unity .................................................................................. 15
2.2.2.2 Simple Outlining................................................................ 15
2.2.3 Coherence ...................................................................................... 15
2.2.3.1 Coherence from Transition Signals ................................... 15
2.2.3.2 Coherence from Logical Order .......................................... 17
2.2.4 Concrete Support ........................................................................... 18
2.2.5 Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Footnoting ................................ 18
2.3 Essay Writing .......................................................................................... 19
2.3.1 The Introductory Paragraph ........................................................... 20
2.3.1.1 The Thesis Statement......................................................... 21
2.3.2 The Developmental (Body) Paragraphs ........................................ 21
2.3.3 The Conclusion Paragraph............................................................. 22
2.4 Organization of Ideas in Essay Writing ................................................... 23
2.5 The Problems Faced by Students in Organizing Ideas in Essay Writing:
The Previous Study .................................................................................. 24
A. Limited Ideas ..................................................................................... 25
B. The Difficulty to Choose Appropriate Ideas ...................................... 25
C. No-one to Check the Student’s Writing ............................................. 26
D. The Students’ Low Motivation to Write............................................ 26
E. The Difficulty to Share Ideas ............................................................. 26
F. The Difficulty to Understand the Materials ....................................... 26
2.6 The Students’ Solutions to the Problems in Organizing Ideas in Essay
Writing: The Previous Study ................................................................... 27
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design ...................................................................................... 29
3.2 Research Subject...................................................................................... 30
3.3 Data ......................................................................................................... 31
3.4 Data Collection Technique ...................................................................... 31
A. Documentation .................................................................................... 31
B. Interviews ............................................................................................ 32
3.4.1 Research Instrument ................................................................. 33
3.4.1.1 Documents .................................................................... 33
3.4.1.2 Interviews ..................................................................... 34
A. Structured Interviews ............................................... 34
B. Unstructured Interviews ........................................... 34
C. Semi-structured Interviews ...................................... 35
D. Informal Interviews ................................................. 35
3.5 Steps of Collecting Data ......................................................................... 36
3.6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Research Findings ................................................................................... 38
4.1.1 The Way Students Organize Ideas in Essay Writing ..................... 38
4.1.1.1 The Introductory Paragraph Introduced the Topic of the
Essay ................................................................................. 38
4.1.1.2 The Introductory Paragraph Contained the General
Statement ........................................................................... 39
4.1.1.3 The Introductory Paragraph Contained the Thesis
Statement ........................................................................... 41
4.1.1.4 The Introductory Paragraph was Inviting ......................... 43
4.1.1.5 The Thesis Statement was Expressed in a Complete
Sentence ............................................................................ 44
4.1.1.6 The Thesis Statement Expressed an Opinion, Attitude, or
Idea .................................................................................... 44
4.1.1.7 The Thesis Statement Expressed only One Idea toward
One Topic ......................................................................... 45
4.1.1.8 The Thesis Statement Listed the Subtopics ...................... 46
4.1.1.9 Each Developmental Paragraph Discussed One Aspect of
the Main Topic .................................................................. 47
4.1.1.10 The Controlling Idea in the Developmental Paragraph
Echoed the Central Idea in the Thesis Statement ............ 49
4.1.1.11 The Developmental Paragraph Had Coherence and
Unity................................................................................ 51
4.1.1.12 The Conclusion Restated the Main Points (Subtopics)
which is discussed ........................................................... 52
4.1.1.13 The Conclusion Restated Briefly .................................... 53
4.1.1.14 The Conclusion Restated the Thesis Statement .............. 54
4.1.1.15 The Conlusion Restated the Thesis Statement in Different
Words .............................................................................. 55
4.1.1.16 The Conclusion Brought Up a New Topic ...................... 56
4.1.2 The Students’ Problems in Organizing Ideas in Essay Writing ..... 57
A. The Difficulty to Find the Ideas............................................... 57
B. The Difficulty to Choose the Ideas .......................................... 57
C. No-one to Check the Student’s Essay Writing ........................ 58
D. The Students’ Low Motivation to Write the Essay ................. 58
E. The Difficulty to Share Ideas ................................................... 58
F. The Difficulty to Understand the Materials ............................. 58
G. The Problems with the Grammar and Vocabularies ................ 59
H. Limited Time to Think, Plan, Write, Revise, and Rewrite the
Essay Writing .......................................................................... 59
I. The Difficulty to Write the Thesis Statetment .......................... 59
J. The Difficulty to Organize the Ideas......................................... 59
K. Essay Writing As an Unenjoyable Activity ............................. 60
4.1.6 The Students’ Solutions to the Problems in Organizing Ideas in
Essay Writing ................................................................................. 60
4.2 Discussion ............................................................................................... 61
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 64
5.2 Suggestion .............................................................................................. 65
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 67
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Samples of Students’ Essay Writings............................................... 69
Appendix 2: Interview Guide ................................................................................ 80
Appendix 3: Interview Transcript ......................................................................... 82
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 2.1 Example of Clustering ......................................................................... 11
REFERENCES
Arikunto, Suharsini. 1992. Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta:
Rineka Cipta.
Ary, Donald et. al. 2006. Introduction to Resesarch in Education. USA: Wadsworth
Thomson Learning
Bodgan & Biklen. 2007. Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to
Theory and Methods. USA: Pearson Education Inc.
Leo, Sutanto et. al. 2007. English for Academic Purpose: Essay Writing. Yogyakarta:
C.V Andi Offset.
Mahendra, Yudho. 2011. The Students Writing Strategy in Developing Essay at The
English Department of UMM. Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
Mayhud. 2010. The Problems Faced by Students in Writing Essay Both in Individual
Work and In Group Work. Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
McDougal. 1985. Building English Skill. United States of America: Maqcmillan
Company.
Milasari, Noor Aprilya. 2005. A Study on The Students’ Ability in Writing The Introduction
of Argumentative Essay at Sixth Semester of English department in MUM.
Unpublished Thesis. Malang: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. 1984. Quantitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New
Methods. London: Sage Publication, Ltd.
Oshima, Alice & Ann, Hogue. Writing Academic English: a Writing and Sentence Structure
Workbook for International Students. USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
Inc.
Raimes, Ann. 1983. Techniques in Teaching Writing. USA: Oxford University Press.
Rosa, Alfred & Eschholz, Paul. 1992. Models for Writers. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Smalley, L. Regina et. al. 2001. Refining Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar. USA:
Heinle & Heinle.
University, St. John’s. 2013. 10 Commons Writing Problems.
http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/centers/iws/writingcenter/commonpros
stj. Accesed on Tuesday, 26 February 2013. 09.30 pm.
Wahyuni, Sari. 2012. Qualitative Research Method: Theory and Practice. Jakarta
Selatan: Salemba Empat.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses about the background of the study, the statement of
problem, the purpose of study, the significance of study, the scope limitation, and the
definition of key terms.
1.1 Background of the Study
Writing , like speaking, is such a common part of our everyday lives that we
take for granted the writing we do on a daily basis. It can be a most frustating task for
anyone, particularly when cisrcumstances interfere with it. Smalley et al. (2001)
states that sometimes we are frustated because we cannot think of anything to say
about a topic. In line with this idea it can be stated that writing becomes one of the
four language skills that play a vital role in this global community but many people
still hate to do writing activities. They assume that writing is the difficult skill
because they can not develop their ideas into a good writing.
Furthermore, Leo et al. (2007) states that writing as a process of expressing
ideas or thoughts in words should be done at our leisure. Writing can be very
enjoyable as long as we have the ideas and the means to achieve it. From that
explanation, we can conclude that people can be enjoyable to make a good writing by
finding ideas and write it into good sentences and arrange those to be paragraph
which has main idea and supporting sentences. It will make the reader easier to
understand what the main topic / main idea is about.
1
2
According to Smalley et al. (2001, p.105), essay is a group of paragraphs that
develops one central idea. An effective essay has a clear purpose, often provides
useful information, has an effect on the reader’s toughts and feelings, and is usually a
pleasure to read but the fact, many students assume that make an essay writing is the
harder one. The data from Masyhud (2010) on his thesis, The Problems Faced by
Students in Writing Essay Both in Individual Work and In Group Work, mentioned
that there were six problems faced by students in individual work in essay writing, (1)
The limited ideas (70%), (2) The students’ difficulty to choose appropriate ideas
(7%), (3) No one checked the students’ writing (4%), (4) The students’ low
motivation to write (2%), (5) Unable to share ideas with the others (2%), and (6) The
students’ difficulty to understand the materials (2%). From those evidences, the
limited ideas becomes the most problem that students face in essay writing which
reaches 70% almost 100%. It shows that people have difficulty in developing their
ideas into a good writing because they do not want to try to make the draft of their
ideas so it will make their ideas are gone by the wind.
An essay has several elements on it such as thesis statement, unity,
organization, bodies, endings, paragraphs, transitions, and effective sentences. From
all of those elements, Rosa and Eschholz (1992) state that the concepts of thesis
statement, unity, and organization underlie all the others and so come first in our
sequence. Moreover, according to Masyhud (2010) on his thesis, he states that there
are five components of writing essay; the topic, grammar, usage, mechanic, and the
organization. Hence, organization of ideas becomes one of the important parts in the
3
essay writing process because it will establish the good arrangement of the welldeveloped essay. According in this matter about organization of ideas, McDougal
(1985) states:
One very common problem in longer compositions and speeches is weak
organization. You may have collected a wealth of interesting information on your
subject. Unless your facts, examples, and other information are carefully
organized, however, your reader or listener may have difficulty understanding
you. From the beginning to end, your ideas should flow smoothly. One point
should lead logically to the next, rather than be presented in a random order.
Regarding the finding so far, there are two research that study on writing,
those are Milasari (2005) and Mahendra (2011). Milasari (2005) on her thesis “A
Study on The Students’ Ability in Writing The Introduction of Argumentative Essay at
Sixth Semester of English department in MUM ”. concluded that the students’ ability
in writing an introduction of an argumentative essay was generally good while
Mahendra (2011) on his thesis “The Students Writing Strategy in Developing Essay at
The English Department of UMM gave the conclusion based on his research finding
that the most commonly used strategy was combination between one to another
strategy such as (1) composition strategy, (2) self-regulation strategy, and (3) processbased strategy.
All of those researchers made their research about writing but no-one study
about the organization of ideas in essay writing. Milasari only studied about the
students’ ability in writing the introduction of argumentative essay while Mahendra
focused on students writing strategy in developing essay, they did not realize that
organization of ideas becomes the important part to make a good essay. Related to the
4
fact, the people who write essay writing often make mistakes in organizing their ideas
into a good order. They do not be aware of the three parts of essay, introduction,
body, and concluding pargraph, which are related each other in one central idea.
Regarding the findings above, the researcher is interested in making a study
on the students essay writing especially for the fifth semester of English Department
University of Muhammadiyah Malang because they have already gotten the
explanation how to make an essay. So, this study is done to know their organization
of ideas in making an essay writing.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Based on the background of the study, the researcher formulates the problem
of research as follow:
1.
How do the students organize ideas in essay writing of the fifth semester
at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang?
2.
What are the students’ problems in organizing ideas in essay writing of
the fifth semester at English Department University of Muhammadiyah
Malang?
3.
What are the students’ solutions to the problems in organizing ideas in
essay writing of the fifth semester at English Department University of
Muhammadiyah Malang?
5
1.3 Purpose of Study
1.
To investigate how the fifth semester students organize ideas in essay
writing at English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
2.
To discover the students’ problems in organizing ideas in essay writing of
the fifth semester at English Department University of Muhammadiyah
Malang.
3.
To investigate the students’ solutions to the problems in organizing ideas
in essay writing of the fifth semester at English Department University of
Muhammadiyah Malang.
1.4 Significance of Study
The result of this study will give contributions to some people such as
university students, writing lecturers, and the next researchers. First, for the university
students, especially English Department who want to make essay writing, they can
know how to arrange the good organization of ideas, introduction, developmental
(body) paragraphs, and conclusion, from this research. Second is for writing lecturers.
They can get the early information about their students in developing the organization
of ideas in their essay writing. The last is for the next researchers. They can use this
study as a reference or background knowledge in doing some researchers about
6
organization of ideas in essay writing of university students especially English
Department.
1.5 Scope and Limitation
The scope of this study is the essay writing of the fifth semester students at
English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Moreover, this study is
limited to the organization of ideas in essay writing of the fifth semester students at
English Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
There are several key terms, which are clarified in this study. The researcher
defines the key terms as follows:
1. Idea s
: thoughts or insights that come to mind (Smalley et al.
2001). In this study, ideas mean collection of
thoughts that generate in the mind.
2. Organization of ideas : thoughts process of moving back and forth from
general statements to specific details, of finding
appropriate and relevant details and arranging
them in the most effective order (Raimes 1983, p.
115). Organization of ideas in this study intends as
thought generates in the mind which will be
written in the effective order.
7
3. Essay
: a group of paragraphs that develops one central
idea (Smalley et al. 2001, p.105). Essay in this study
denotes as a piece of writing several paragraphs
long more than two paragraphs which consists of
three main parts; introductory, body, and
concluding paragraph and all of them are related
each other in one topic.
4. Essay Writing
: a relatively activity to write short piece of
nonfiction in which a writer attempts to develop
one or more closely related points or ideas (Rosa
and Eschholz, 1992). In this study, essay writing
defines as an activity to write several paragraphs
long more than two paragraphs which consists of
three main parts; introductory, body, and
concluding paragraph and all of them are related
each other in one topic.