Writing involves some language component spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation. Moreover, Harmer 2004 states that writing is the only skill which
enables learners to produce a real product, in which the product is touchable, readable, as well as keep able for a long period of time.
Furthermore, Perkins 2005 states that writing is a process that requires writers to develop a cognitive awareness of the writing choices available to them.
In order for writers to make choices about their content and style, they need to be reminded and further informed about those choices open to them.
From some definitions above, it can be concluded that writing is a process of discovering ideas and discovering how to organize them. It involves critical
thinking to communicate one’s thoughts. It is products of thinking, drafting, and revising which needs some mental efforts that must be combined and arranged. It
is a combination of processes and products. It has to be deliberately cultivated. It means at the time of collecting the ideas that create text that can be read by
readers who is a product of the activities undertaken by the author.
b. Micro skills and Macro skills in Writing
According to Brown 2001 there are two categories of writing skills. They are micro and macro skills. Micro skills and macro skills assist us in defining the
ultimate criterion of an assessment procedure. Micro skills of writing are appropriate applied to imitative and intensive types of writing task, while macro
skills of writing are essential for the successful mastery of responsive and extensive writing.
Micro skills:
a. Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.
b. Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.
c. Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order
patterns. d.
Use acceptable grammatical systems. e.
Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms. f.
Use cohesive devices in written discourse.
Macro skills:
a. Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.
b. Appropriately accomplish the communicative function of written texts
according to form and purpose. c.
Convey links and connections between events and communicate relations such as main idea, supporting details, new and given information,
generalizations, and exemplification. d.
Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing. e.
Develop and use a battery of writing in the context assessing the audience’s interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in
the first drafts, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.
c. The Process of Writing Richards and Renandya 2002: 316 state that the process of teaching
writing consists of four basic stages. They are planning, drafting, revising, and
editing. 1. Planning
Planning or pre-writing is the first step in the writing process.
It is an activity of writing that aimed to encourage and stimulate the students to write. Since its
function is to stimulate students to write, the writing activities must be prepared to provide them learning experiences of writing. At this stage, it is spent on
generating ideas, reading, and talking about the topic that they are going to write.
2. Drafting
Harmer 2004 states that drafting is a form of raw writing which needs to be revised before the final product is completed. At this stage, students with their
groups make a rough draft of their writing based on the ideas that they have discussed before. They focus on the fluency of their writing without devoting their
thoughts on the grammatical accuracy and the neatness of their draft of their writing. During the process of writing, the students must also focus on the content
and the meaning of the writing. The function of drafting itself is to make the people state the points clearly.
3. Revising
Revising is not a simply activity of checking language errors but it is done to improve global content and organization of the ideas so the writer’s intention is
clearer for the reader. In this step, the students read the draft first. The teacher gives a chance to the students to correct the draft and revise it. It is important to
check what ideas have already been included, to keep the coherence and flow of the writing, to stimulate further ideas, and to look for errors Nation, 2009:119-
120. The students in groups look at their writing and consider what improvement might be made.
4 Editing
At this stage, they prepare their final draft of their writing that then their writing will be evaluated by the teacher. They tidy up their writing. The main
activity at this stage done by the students is editing their mistakes on grammar,
