From the analysis, the researcher found that three participants or 8.33 of the respondents obtained GOOD grade, twenty-four participants or 66.67 of the
respondents obtained FAIR grade, and nine participants or 25 obtained POOR grade.
The score of the participants could be tabulated in table 4.4 below: Table 4.4 Tabulation of the participants’ score
SCORE PARTICIPANTS
21 20
19 1
18 17
2 16
4 15
11 14
7 13
1 12
1 11
3 10
4 9
8 2
7
From the research findings, it could be said that there were only a small number 8.33 of the total participants, as the representative of the fourth semester
students of English Language Education Study Program, who had GOOD
competence in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph. From the range of GOOD grade, between 17 – 21, there was only one
person who obtained score 19 which was the best score of all participants. The other two persons who were also included in GOOD grade obtained score 17. It could be
concluded that there were only a few of the fourth semester students of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University who were really
competent to write a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph.
The participants who obtained the FAIR grade were twenty-four persons or 66.67. It took the biggest part of the whole thirty-six participants. From those
twenty-four persons, four persons obtained score 16, eleven persons obtained score 15, seven persons obtained score 14, one person obtained score 13, and one person
obtained score 12. It could be concluded that most of the fourth semester students in English Language Education Study Program knew how to write a topic sentence and
the supporting sentences, but they did not write them in a good organization to make an argumentative paragraph. Thus, it caused them to obtain lower score.
There were nine persons or 25 of the whole participants who obtained POOR grade. From those nine persons, three persons obtained score 11, four persons
obtained score 10, and two person obtained score 8 as the lowest score of all. It could be concluded that a few of the fourth semester students of English Language
Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University still did not understand how to write a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph.
From all of the findings, the first question of the research question i.e. in what level is the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic
sentence and developing supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph? could be answered. The answer was that 66.67 of it could be said that most of the fourth
semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph was in FAIR level, then the other were 25
in POOR level and only 8.33 in GOOD level.
4.1.3. The Fourth Semester Students Strength and Weaknesses in Writing a
Topic Sentence and Supporting Sentences in an Argumentative Paragraph
The second question of the research question i.e. what are the fourth semester students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and
supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph? could be answered by analyzing each item stated in the rubric. There were seven items in the rubric. Thus
there would be seven analyses of them.
1. Item no 1: Subject and Attitude
Table 4.5 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 1: Subject and Attitude
Most of the students or 86.11 of the participants had the competency in writing a topic sentence by deciding the subject of the topic sentence and giving the
attitude or the border of the paragraph. Thirty-one of thirty-six participants were able
Score Number of
Participants Percentage of
the Number of Participants
1 2
5.56
2 3
8.33
3
31 86.11
to formulate the subject and the attitude of the topic sentence correctly. It showed that the fourth semester students of English Language Education Study Program had
the competency in writing a topic sentence based on the ability to formulate the subject and the attitude of the topic sentence. There were only five persons or
13.89 of all who could not write the topic sentence correctly. Three of them or 8.33 of the participants were only able to decide the subject of the paragraph
without giving the attitude of it, and two of them or 5.56 of the participants could not make the subject and the attitude of a topic sentence. It could be concluded that
the first strength of the fourth semester students of English Language Education Study Program was the ability to make the subject and the attitude of the topic
sentence.
2. Item no 2: Debatable Statement
Table 4.6 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 2: Debatable Statement
Score Number of Participants
Percentage of the Number of
Participants
1 4
11.11
2 8
22.22
3 24
66.67 This item focuses on the debatable statement of the topic sentence. When
writing an argumentative paragraph, a debatable topic sentence is needed. Thus, the debatable statement of a topic sentence was included in the measurement. As it was
stated in the theoretical review Chapter II, a debatable statement is a statement that can make the reader give another argument on it. From the debatable statement item,
it could be seen that twenty-four persons or 66.67 from thirty-six persons were able to make a clear and debatable topic sentence. It decreases from the total
participants that were able to formulate the subject and attitude of the topic sentence. It could be said that if someone has the competency in making a complete topic
sentence with the subject and the attitude, it does not guarantee that the person will be able to make a debatable topic sentence. The other twelve persons were included
in score 2 and 1. Eight persons or 22.22 obtained score 2 and four persons or 11.11 obtained score 1. Even though the number of the participants who obtained
score 3 was lower than in the previous item, it still could be included as the strength of the fourth semester students because it took the biggest portion, that was 66.67
of the whole participants. Thus, the second strength of the fourth semester students was the ability to state the debatable topic sentence.
3. Item no 3: Supporting the Topic Sentence
Table 4.7 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 3: Supporting the Topic Sentence
Score Number of Participants
Percentage of the Number of
Participants
1 8
22.22
2
26 72.23
3 2
5.56
In this item, the researcher wanted to know the students ability in writing the supporting sentences based on the topic sentences stated. The participants will
obtain score 3 when the supporting sentences clearly and completely developed the topic sentence. Score 2 was given when the supporting sentences were
unclear or incomplete in developing the topic sentence. The participants obtained score 1 when the supporting sentences totally did not support the topic sentence.
Thus, the participants who did not state the topic sentence would automatically
