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3 Reflection
Kemmis and McTaggart 1988 reveal that a reflection step evokes action as it has been recorded in the observation step. They also state that the reflection
step has an evaluative aspect – it asks action researchers to weigh their experience
– to judge whether effects are desirable and to suggest the ways of proceeding p. 13. After the action step and the observation step have been conducted, the
researcher will analyze and evaluate what she has done and plan the development of next action.
According to Kemmis and McTaggart 1988, there are four fundamental aspects of action research as 1 developing a plan of critically informed action to
improve what is already happening, 2 doing the action to implement the plan, 3 observing the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it
occurs, and 4 reflecting the effects as a basis for further planning, subsequent critically informed action and so on, through a succession of cycles p. 10. Thus,
the researcher will pay more attention to those fundamental aspects in conducting this research.
By conducting Classroom Action Research, the researcher will obtain the situation that is happening in the classroom. Subsequently, the researcher can
collect the data, evaluate the teaching-learning process, and get the right solution to solve the students‟ problems.
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B. Theoretical Framework
The researcher conducts this research to help students of a particular vocational school in Yogyakarta to develop their writing skills in constructing
compound sentences. In this part, the researcher describes the main theories related to the focus of the study.
In this research, the researcher focuses on word order grammatical thing in writing since she found that X AK students of SMK Sanjaya Pakem
experienced difficulties to write sentences in correct word order. The researcher focuses on compound sentences since most of materials on the used book and the
reading texts contain many compound sentences. The researcher uses Gebhard
‟s 1996 theory of unscrambling muddled sentences as one of the methods to teach writing.
It is the same as one of Harmer‟s grammar games which had been discussed on Chapter I, namely putting sentences
back together Harmer, 2007, p. 223. It has the same idea as the jumbled-word game which is applied in this research to help students in constructing compound
sentences well. In this game, the students are asked to rearrange the jumbled-word into correct word order.
Before applying the game, the researcher will analyze compound sentences written by the students in order to find out their mistakes. The
researcher will refer to Mallery‟s 1957 and Curme‟s 1966 theories on compound sentences and coordinating conjunctions to analyze
students‟ drafts. Then the researcher will introduce examples of correct compound sentences
related to topic on the day. The researcher will also give explanation of sentence
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structure related to the topic on the day first, so the students can arrange jumbled- words based on their comprehension. Afterwards, the students will be involved in
learning activities using jumbled-word game. It is a game in which the students have to put the sentences back together in the right order Harmer, 2007, p. 223.
The researcher will give some sentences that are on the wrong order. Then, the students have to put those jumbled-words into correct sentences. The jumbled-
word game activity will be implemented as group work in two cycles. In the first cycle, the researcher conducts the research in the cycle of
planning, action, observation, and reflection. Before conducting the implementation of jumbled-word game in the learning process, the researcher will
make a planning first. After the planning has been made, the researcher will begin to conduct the action in three activities: pre-activities, main activities, and post-
activities. In the pre-activities, the researcher will recall previous material given by the English teacher. While in the main activities the researcher will distribute
copies of a dialogue to the students, and asks them to read the dialogue. Then, the researcher will discuss the dialogue with the students. After that, the researcher
will distribute a worksheet to the students. The next activity will be the implementation of jumbled-word game. The students will be divided into some
groups to play the jumbled-word game and discuss the results later on. In this cycle, the researcher only put the jumbled-words in a form of worksheet. Then,
the researcher will give another worksheet to the students, namely composing compound sentences about their future plan if they had a time machine. Finally,
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the researcher will close the meeting in the first cycle by summarizing the materials learned on the day.
While in the second cycle, the researcher will conduct the research in two meetings. The implementation of jumbled-word game will be conducted in the
first meeting only, while in the second cycle the researcher only focus on students‟ written product of compound sentences. The researcher will implement
the jumbled-word game after a reading section in the first meeting. In this cycle, the researcher will put jumbled-words in a form of small papers. The papers will
be given in the different color, for example the papers in red will be the sentence 1, the papers in blue will be the sentence 2, etc. The students have to rearrange the
same color of the small papers into correct word order. Then, the students will be asked to construct compound sentences related to the topic in this meeting. Before
implementing the jumbled-word game, the researcher will give explanation of sentence structure related to topic on the day. Thus, the students will be able to
arrange the jumbled-words in correct sentence structure, not only relying on their feeling or instinct. All theories related to the focus of the research have been
provided in this chapter. The next chapter will explain the research method.
