The Reasons of Implementing Cue Card for Teaching Writing

1 Drills The teacher can asks students to work in pairs or groups and give them some cue cards. When a student picks up the top cue card in a pile he or she has to say sentence that the card suggests. 2 Communication games This activity can be creative writing. Teacher might tells students to invent a story using at least three of the images in front of the. 3 Understanding The teacher can use pictures for checking students understanding, especially in meaning of words. She or he can check students’ understanding of a piece of writing by asking them to select the picture which best corresponds to the reading text. 4 Ornamentation Pictures of various kinds are often used to make work more appealing. Pictures enhance the text and also give the students a view of outside world. 5 Prediction Pictures make the students feel interested. It is very useful for getting students to predict what is coming next in a lesson. Therefore, students might look at a picture and try to guess what it shows. 6 Discussion Pictures can stimulate questions. It can also be used for creative language use. The teacher might ask students to write a description of a picture. Harmer 2007: 136 suggests that the teacher can make cue cards in various ways. She or he can take pictures from magazines and stick them on card. She or he also can draw the pictures, buy reproductions, photographs, and posters from shops, or photocopy them from a variety of sources.

B. Relevant Research Studies

There are some previous research studies about cue cards. A study done by Nasikhatun Listya Atika Farah 2013 which investigated the use of cue card found that the use of this media in combination with other accompanying actions i.e. use of classroom English, listening activity and games improved students’ speaking skills. A research written by Gallis Nawang Ginusti 2014 entitled “Improving the Speaking Skills of Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 2 Godean through Pictures” proved that the use of picture improved the students’ skills in producing the language, especially in speaking ability. The actions made significant improvements of the students’ speaking skills. Another research study conducted by Halimatus Sa’diyah 2011 entitled “Improving Students’ Ability in Writing Descriptive Texts Through a Picture Series- Aided Learning Strategy”. This study proved that the students had a positive attitude toward the use of the picture-series to learn descriptive text writing. Moreover, it was found from the observation data that the students participated actively in the learning process.