11
drafting process focuses primarily on what the writer wants to say.
14
It means that the content that’s important for a draft to produce the final
writing. c.
Revising After drafting the paper, the next step in the writing process is
revising. Revising means rewrite the paper, building upon what has already been done, in order to make it stronger.
15
Stronger means the paper needs to be successful not only in the grammatical structure, but
also in the content of the writing, so the writer’s purpose fulfills the reader’s expectation. So, it can be stated that revising a paper to correct
any weaknesses is an important part of the writing process. d.
Editing The last major stage in the writing process is editing. At this
stage, the writer checking a paper for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling.
16
Richards also states that in the editing stage, the students engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare the final draft
for evaluations by the teacher. They edit their own or their peer’s work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, diction, and sentence structure.
17
Based on the definition above, editing within process writing is meaningful because the students can see their ideas on the paper during
the writing process has been written as clear as possible to the reader.
3. Purpose of Writing
When the writers do their writing, they certainly have some purpose. They have to consider the purpose of their writing since this will
influence, not only to the type of text they wish to produce, but including the language they use, and the information that they choose.
14
Tricia Hedge, Writing …p. 23
15
John Langan, English Skill …p.29
16
John Langan, English Skill …p.33
17
Jack C. Richards and Willy A. Renandya, Methodology …p. 318
12
In general, the purpose of writing includes: a to clarify a thought, a feeling, an impression, or an experience for a reader or yourself; b to
provide a reader with information; c to persuade a reader to accept an idea; d to create a piece of imaginative literature that a reader might enjoy.
18
Furthermore, Jakobson provide a model of the written communication in six types of purpose, they are:
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a. Expressive purposes. One may write simply to express ones feelings,
attitudes, ideas, and so on. This type of writing doesnt take the reader into consideration; instead, it focuses on the writers feelings,
experience, and needs. Expressive writing may take the form of poetry, journals, letters, and, especially, free writing.
b. Persuasive purposes. Persuasive writing seeks to persuade the reader or
affect the reader emotionally. c.
Informative purposes. Informative writing refers to something external to the writing itself, with the purpose of informing the reader.
d. Poetic purposes. Poetic literary purposes focus on the message itself—
on its language, on the way the elements of language are used, on structure and pattern both on the level of phrase and of the overall
composition. e.
Phatic purposes. Phatic language nonverbal communication establishes and maintains contacts between writer and reader. Phatic
purposes are intended to establish and maintain friendly contact. f.
Metalinguistic purposes. Comments on a piece of writing are metalinguistic. An authors preface to a book is an example of
metalinguistic purpose in writing.
18
Rise B. Axelord and Charles R. Cooper, The St. Martin’s Guide to Write, New York:
St. Ma rtin’s Press, 1985, p.13
19
http:web.mst.edu~gdotyclassesconcepts-practicespurposes.html
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4. Problems of Writing
There are many problems of teaching learning writing skill. The problems appear not only from the students, but also from the teacher. The
problems come from the students’ side because writing is a complex process which requires number of things, such as in using grammar correctly. This
problem usually can cause some difficulties for the students in learning writing. According to Rozakis,
the most common writing errors are:
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a Grammar and Usage such as wrong verb tense, and subject-verb
agreement b
Sentences fragments and run-ons, c
Spelling, d
Punctuation, e
Capitalization, and f
Proofreading missing words. The six common errors of writing above usually make some
problems for the students . The first problem area is the students’ difficulties
in using subject-verb agreement. Warriner states that some of the most common mistakes in speaking and writing are made when verb and subject
do not agree.
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One of the mistakes in subject-verb agreement is sometimes made in the situations when a singular subject takes a plural verb or a plural
subject takes a singular verb. For example, ―There is wild dogs in our neighborhood,” a verb in this sentence doesn’t agree with its subject in
number. So, the right sentence is, ―There are wild dogs in our neighborhood.”
Next, the second errors in student writing are the sentence fragment and the run-on sentence. A sentence fragment is a group of words
that do not express a complete thought. Most times, a fragment is missing a subject, a verb, or both.
22
One types of fragments is a sentence that begin with a dependent-word. For exa
mple, ―I won’t leave the house. Until I hear
20
Laurie Rozakis, English Grammar for the Utterly Confused, New York: McGraw Hill, 2003, p. 78-79
21
John E. Warriner, English Grammar and Composition, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publisher, 1982, p. 117
22
Laurie Rozakis, English Grammar …p. 122
