59
A. The Process of the Implementation
of Weekly Diary Assignment
1. Preliminary Study
The researcher came into SMPN 1 Wungu to conduct her research. After getting permission from the headmaster, Mr. Heri, the coordinator of English
teacher in this school gave a class, VIII D, to the researcher. The researcher observed the class once to know the condition of the students. At that time, they
were learning the materials of a recount text. The researcher found that the stud
ents‟ writing abilities in writing a recount text were very poor. They could not writing in English properly. They
even could not make a good sentence in English. Then, the researcher saw the results of
students‟ recount text writing from the teacher‟s assignment. It was not satisfied. Most of them could not made a sentence based on the basic sentence
pattern properly. After that, the researcher distributed questionnaire to convince what the
real problems faced by students were. 15 students 78.9 did not agree that their writing abilities were good. 12 students 63.7 who agreed and 7 students
36.8 who strongly agreed that they had some difficulties in writing a recount text. Almost all of them had difficulties in five major elements in writing a
recount text like the organization, the content, the grammar, the mechanics, and the vocabulary. The researcher also interviewed two students to convince the
problems. One of them said that they had difficulties to translate their ideas into some good sentences in English. They had many ideas in their mind but they
could not wrote their ideas into some grammatical sentences in English properly.
60
It was including into the five major elements in writing text as stated by Brown Bailey 1984 as cited in Brown, 2007, pp. 144-145. Their problems belonged to
those elements which were very poor. 2.
Determining the Solution of Students‟ problem After finding the problem faced by the students, the researcher concluded
that her duty was how to improve the students‟ writing abilities in writing a recount text. The students seldom wrote any text in English. Moreover, they did
not know where their mistakes were when they wrote and they suddenly got bad scores. Based on the behaviorism theories, the students needed an activity who
made them write as often as possible. The researcher used the weekly diary assignment to improve the
students‟ writing abilities in a recount text. It made them be accustomed to writing in English as habitual and continuous activity.
They also got some feedback from the teacher beside the scores. As a result, the researcher hoped that the
weekly diary assignment could improve students‟ writing abilities in writing a recount text.
3. The Implementation of Weekly Diary Assignment
In the next process, the researcher implemented the weekly diary assignment in VIII D to overcome the students‟ problem. The researcher
conducted classroom action research which consists of some stages. The researcher also had to teach the class to a
nalyze the students‟ progress. The researcher conducted classroom action r
esearch based on Margaret Riel‟s action research, progressive problem-solving action research. This research consisted of
four stages. They were planning, action, collecting analyzing data, and
61 reflection. The researcher conducted the research in three cycles. In each cycle,
the researcher conducted all of the stages above. The researcher conducted the implementation of weekly diary assignment
in four weeks 8 meetings. Each cycle consisted of one week except the first cycle, consisted of two weeks. This research began from March 26 until April 17.
The class meetings were on Tuesday and Wednesday and had 80 minutes for each meeting. In the third cycle, the
students‟ writing abilities had improved taken from some data during this research. Then, she decided to end the assignment.
a. The First Cycle
The first cycle consisted of three meetings on March 26, 27, April 2 and a little time on April 3. They were 19 students in VIII D. In the first and second
meetings, all of the students attended the class. In the third meeting, there was a student who was absent with alpha or without any permission letter.
The researcher used the genre-apporach which consists of building context, modeling the text, joint construction of the text, independent construction
of the text, and linking to related texts, as the base for teaching the class. As cited in Hyland 2003, p. 21, this is based on Vygotsky 1978 and the interpretation
by Bruner 1986. The researcher did not use linking to related texts because she only needed to know the improvem
ent of students‟ writing abilities in writing a recount text, as stated by Nugraha 2011,
However, the last stage of writing in genre-based approach did not really become the focus of this research so there was no linking to related text
explanation because knowing that the use of picture series helps the students write a recount text is enough for this research
62
Therefore, the researcher did not ask the students to link to related texts. The researcher conducted the first cycle by planning, action, collecting
analyzing data, and reflection. Although the stage did not consist of observation, the researcher had to collect and analyzed the data during the meetings. At the end
of the cycle, the researcher did reflection for the whole meetings of this cycle.
1 Planning
After doing the preliminary study, the teacher asked the researcher to continue the research. Then, after identifying the problems, the researcher began
to teach the class. Before teaching the class, the researcher prepared all of the materials for the first and the second meeting. The researcher provided some
recount texts for the activities. a
Building the Context In this step, the researcher would ask the students about some texts that
had been learned and asked them what they knew about a recount text. b
Modeling the Text In this step, the researcher would tell them her own horror experience, as
the topic of diary in this week. Then, she would ask some questions about the story. The researcher also prepared a text and asked them to read the text together.
The researcher also had prepared some questions related to the text which would be discussed in the next meeting March 27, 2013, as stated by Nugraha 2011,
“It was expected that the students got more sufficient knowledge of a recount text”. It would be followed by explaining the generic structure of the recount text,
the grammar used, etc.
63
c Joint Construction of the Text
This step would be conducted in the next meeting March 27, 2013. The researcher prepared a simple game for the students, ordering words into good
sentences and ordering paragraphs into a good recount text. It would be an additional knowledge for the students to write their horror experiences later.
d Independent Construction of the Text
In this step, the researcher would explain the students about the weekly diary assignment. Then, she would continue giving the feedback in class in
Tuesday April 2, 2013 and Wednesday April 3, 2013. In the meeting on Tuesday, she would give the students some exercises as enrichment following the
teacher‟s feedback. The exercises would be determined by the results of the first diary Friday submision.
2 Action
The action of the first cycle on March 26 and 27 consisted of four times of 40 minutes. The researcher conducted teaching activities in this stage.
a Building the Context
The first time the reseacher came to the class as a teacher, the researcher asked the students to tell what they had known about writing a text in English.
Then, the researcher also asked the students about a recount text and personal experience.
b Modeling of the Text
Then, the researcher continued telling the students her own horror experiences. The researcher also asked the students some questions to make sure
64 that they really listened to the reseacher‟s story. After that, the researcher also
distributed a recount text in the form of a diary with the topic of someone‟s horror
experience. The researcher asked the students to read the text together in the class and translated them into Indonesian.
The meeting continued to the next meeting March 27, 2013. In the next meeting, the researcher asked the students to answer some questions related to
text given before. Then, the researcher also explained the recount text, including in the generic structure of a recount text, the grammar, etc.
c Joint Construction of the Text
In this step conducted on Wednesday, March 27, the researcher asked the students to play a small game, such as ordering words into some good sentences
and ordering the paragraphs into a good recount text. It trained the students to make a good recount text in their diaries later. Then, the results were discussed
together. The teacher also explained the basic sentence pattern and the organization of a recount text to be their additional knowledge in writing a
recount text. d
Independent Construction of the Text After playing some games, the researcher began to give them an
instruction about the weekly diary assignment. All of them looked curious with this assignment. The researcher asked each of them to prepare a note book. The
note book would be the place where they had to write. The researcher asked them to write their own horror experiences in their note books as their diaries. They had
to write 100-150 words telling their own horror experiences twice on Friday and
65 Tuesday submission. Then, the researcher gave back their diaries on Saturday and
Wednesday. On Tuesday April 2, 2013, the researcher gave exercises which were including into the
teacher‟s feedback. Those exercises were given by analyz
ing the students‟ writing in their first diaries. Firstly, they had to analyze past form of the text given in the meeting on Tuesday March 27, 2013. Then, the
reseacher explained the students about past tense. The researcher conducted this activity based on the results of the students first writing.
The researcher found that they were still confused how to make sentences in past form. Then, the researcher brought the exercises about past form questions
which belonged to the teacher‟s feedback. The students submitted their second
diaries with the same topic also on that day Tuesday, April 2. Then, the researcher returned the diaries on the next day Wednesday, April 3.
3 Collecting and Analyzing EvidenceData
Almost in all meetings the researcher tried to collect and analyze them. In this research, the teacher of this class, Ms. Dwi helped the researcher to be the
observer to observe the class. The reseacher gave her the observation checklists for each meeting.
a Building the Context
In this stage, the researcher were not able to collect any data because the students only listened to the teacher‟s questions about a recount text.
b Modeling of the Text
66
In this stage, the researcher also could not collect some data because the students only listened to the teacher‟s horror experience and read a text and
answered some questions related to the passage. c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher analyzed
the students‟ work in the word order and the paragraph order games. There was only a group who could order the
words given into good sentences properly based on the basic sentence pattern in English. Moreover, there were two groups who could order the paragraphs into a
good recount text. Through those evidences, the researcher had to explain the basic sentence pattern and the organization of a recount text as their additional
knowledge to write their own experiences later. d
Independent Construction of the Text In this stage, there were many data which could be collected and analyzed
by the researcher. The most important data was the students‟ personal experiences
writing in their diaries because they were as the basic principal for the reseacher to do the next action.
On Friday March 29, 2013, the students submitted their first diaries with the topic of horror experiences. Then, the researcher analyzed their diaries and
wrote some comments as the feedback. The researcher gave them back on Saturday March 30, 2013. The researcher analyzed that they were still confused
about past tense. As a result, the researcher gave some exercises related to past tense on Tuesday meeting as a part of the
teacher‟s feedback for their diaries. After getting some explanation, the students did some exercises about past tense
67 and almost all of the students could asnwer correctly. On that day, the students
submitted their second diaries. Then, the researcher analyzed their writing and gave them back on the next day. There were 12 students whose scores improved.
Even though, all of the students were not able to pass the minimum passing grade, 70.
4 Reflection
In Riel‟s action research, this is the last stage of cycle one. In this stage, the researcher had to make reflection on what went well and what did not go well
during the implementation of weekly diary assignment in this cycle. a
Building the Context During the activity of building the context, the teacher had been able to
interest the students‟ attention. As a result, they listened to the teacher‟s
explanation. S ome students also answered the teacher‟s questions when the
researcher asked them about a recount text and their personal experiences. Unfortunately, the students were not brave to raise their hands and answered the
questions personally. Moreover, the class got more noisy. The researcher had to control the class in the next cycle.
b Modeling of the Text
In this stage, the students enjoyed listening to the teacher‟s stories. Even
though, they actually did not truly understand what the story told about. In the next cycle, it was better to the researcher to simplify her words when she wanted
to tell them some stories. The researcher also gave a text about someone‟s horror experience in the form of a recount text. The text consisted of more than 150
68
words. The researcher should had given a text which consisted of less than 150 words. The vocabulary of the text was rather difficult. It was good to increase the
students‟ vocabulary to write their own experiences later. c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher saw that the students were very happy with the
game of word order and paragraph order. Even though, the students were very noisy when they were doing those activities. In the next cycle, the researcher
should have been able to control the class condition. d
Independent Construction of the text In this stage, the researcher should had explained the instruction of weekly
diary assignment more clear. Some students did not know how long their writing should be. There were three students who did not submit their diaries in both
submission day of that week. In the next cycle, the researcher should have been able to urge these three students to write and submit their diaries. Even though,
the rest of the students really felt happy with this assignment. The students submitted their diaries punctually.
Besides, the feedback given by the researcher was not only in the written form in the students‟ diaries. The researcher also gave some spoken feedback in
front of the class but it was too general. The students were confused to analyze the teacher‟s feedback. In the next cycle, the researcher planned to give some oral
feedback direcly for each student. The researcher chose horror experience as the topik of this week through
the results of questionnaire in the preliminary study. There were 12 students who
69 chose horror as their most favourite topic. In class, many students said that they
did not like the topic. Then, the researcher concluded that she had to ask the students first for the next topic of the diary. On Tuesday April 2, 2013, the
researcher asked the students what their most favourite topics were and it worked. The researcher could do it for the next cycle.
From the scores of the students‟ diaries, all of the students could not pass
the minimum passing grade. As a result, the researcher should have continued the implementation of weekly diary assignment to the next cycle, cycle II.
b. The Second Cycle
The second cycle consisted of three meetings on Wednesday April 3, 2013, Tuesday April 9, 2013, and Wednesday April 10, 2013. On Wednesday
April 3, 2013, the second cycle began in the end of teacher‟s oral feedback in
front of the class for the last diaries included into first cycle. There was a student on Wednesday April 3, 2013 and there were two
students on Tuesday April 9, 2013 who were absent because they were sick. Meanwhile, a student was absent on Wednesday April 10, 2013 without any
permission letter. In the second cycle, the researcher still implemented the weekly diary
assignment twice a week followed by giving some feedback to the students, and gave some exercises as the enrichment which was included
into the teacher‟s feedback in the meeting on Tuesday.
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The teaching activities in class still used the genre-based approach. The researcher still conducted the activities which were divided into building the
context, modeling of the text, joint construction of the text, and independent construction of the text. The researcher did not link to the related text because the
researcher only needed the result of the implementation of weekly diary assignment until the stage of independent construction of the text only.
In this cycle, the researcher kept conducting all stages based on Riel‟s action research. They were planning, action, collecting analyzing evidence or
data, and reflection.
1 Planning
The research began this cycle by planning what the researcher would do in this cycle based on the reflection of the last cycle. This cycle should had been
better from the first cycle because the researcher should had known what went well and what did not go well.
a Building the Context
In this step, the researcher would ask the students whether they had embarrassing experiences or not. Then, the researcher would explain to the
students that telling embarrassing experience was an example of a recount text writing.
b Modeling of the Text
In this step, the researcher would give a recount text about someone‟s embarrassing experience. Then, the researcher would ask the students to read the
text together. After that, the students would answer some questions related to the
71 passage. The researcher would explain the generic structure of the text, the
language feature of the text, etc. c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher planned to ask the students to analyze the
sentences in the text, then divided each of the sentences into some phrases based on the pattern. After that, the researcher asked the students to circle five past verbs
and asked them to make their own sentences from each verbs. It would be the additional knowledge for them to write their own personal experiences later.
d Independent Construction of the Text
In this stage, the researcher would give the weekly diary assignment for this week with the topic of embarrassing experience. They would submit their
diaries twice on Friday and Tuesday and the researcher would deliver her feedback on Tuesday and next Wednesday. On Tuesday April 9, 2013, the
researcher would give some feedback to the students which was followed by some exercises as the enrichment based on the resulst of the
students‟ writing on Friday‟s submission.
2 Action
This stages began from Wednesday April 3, 2013 after the researcher delivered her feedback towards student
s‟ writing of the last diaries from the first cycle. The researcher was still as the teacher of this class.
a Building the Context
At the first time of the second cycle, the researcher only asked the students whether they had any embarrassing experiences or not. Then, the researcher
72
explained to the students that they could tell their embarrassing experiences in the form of a recount text. The researcher also asked them whether they still
remembered what the recount text was. b
Modeling of the Text In this stage, the researcher distributed a recount text which told
someone‟s embarrassing experience. Then, the researcher asked some students to read the text and translate the sentences into Indonesian one by one. After that, the
students answered some questions related to the passage. The researcher also explained the generic structure of the text and the language feature of the text.
c Joint Construction of the Text
The researcher asked the students to analyze the sentences in the text by dividing the paragraphs into each sentence. Then, the students divided each
sentence into some phrases based on the basic sentence pattern. The researcher asked the students to discuss this activity by cross matching of their work.
d Independent Construction of the Text
After that, the students circled five verbs in the past form to make their own sentences based on the words and checked them together. These activities
were aimed at adjusting and increase the students‟ knowledge about writing
sentences in the context of telling past experience. In this stage, the researcher explained the newest topic for the diary of this
week. It was embarrassing experiences. The students wrote their embarrassing experiences twice a week on Friday April 5, 2013 and Tuesday April 9, 2013.
The teacher gave the feedback to the students‟ diaries of Friday‟s submission on
73 Tuesday April 9, 2013. The researcher had written her feedback in each diary.
Moreover, the researcher also gave feedback orally in front of the class for each student directly one by one. The researcher also gave the feedback in the form of
some exercises as the feedback based on the results of students‟diaries on Friday‟s
submission. The students answered some questions about the spelling, the word order, the punctuation and the vocabulary. Then, they checked the answers
together. The researcher gave some
feedback for the students‟ diary of Tuesday‟s submission on Wednesday April 6, 2013. The researcher delivered her feedback
in the written form and orally one by one in front of the class.
3 Collecting and Analyzing EvidenceData
This stage was almost the same as the first cycle of this research. The teacher of the class still helped the researcher to be the observer during the
implementation of the second cycle. a
Building the Context In this stage, the researcher did not collect any data because the students
only answered the researcher‟s questions about the embarrassing experiences. b
Modeling of the Text In this stage, the researcher also did not need to take any data because the
students only read the passage and answered some question related to the passage. The researcher also did not need to take the data of the next activity, dividing
sentences based on the basic sentence pattern. The observer, Ms. Dwi stated that the students were still confused to do this activity. Then, the result was not
74
satisfying enough. There were some students who still made mistakes in analyzing the sentences based on the basic sentence pattern. Then, the researcher explained
how to analyze the sentences based on the basic sentence pattern so that the students could make their own sentences properly.
c Joint Construction of the Text
In this stage, the researcher still did not need to collect the data. The researcher only saw that most of the students had been able to write five sentences
based on the basic sentence pattern using past form verbs of the text. d
Independent Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher collected and analyzed the data from the
students‟ works in their weekly diaries. Looking at the data analysis of the students‟ diaries in this week, almost all of them had improved their writing
abilities. Some students actually had improved their abilities to write the sentences properly based on the basic sentence pattern, use the correct grammar using past
tense, put the punctuation correctly, and use the vocabulary properly. Even
though some of them still made some mistakes in spelling, and the word order. Two or three students still could not put the punctuation in the proper place.
As a result, in the meeting on Tuesday April 9, 2013, the researcher gave some exercises by looking at
what did not go well in their diaries of Friday‟s submission. It could be the enrichment exercise and increase their knowledge for
the students who had been able to improve their abilities. It was as the feedback for the students who had not improved in those abilities and the additional
75 knowledge for the students who had mastered. The results of the exercises were
satisfying enough. Besides, their scores improved. 16 students could improve their di
aries‟ average scores in this week submission. The three students who had never
submitted their works still did not want to conduct this assignment. At least, they still had some willingness to attend the class and did some exercises in the class
although the result was not satisfying enough.
4 Reflection
It was like the first cycle. This step consisted of what went well and what did not go well during this cyle.
a Building the Context
In this stage, the researcher directly pointed at some students to tell their embarrassing experiences briefly. The researcher did it by conducting a small
interactive dialogue with the students. She also translated her speech into Indonesian so that the students could understand what the researcher talked about.
It was effective because the students got more interested to the teacher‟s speech.
b Modeling of the Text
The researcher stated that this step was successful because based on the observer‟s checklists, the students actively asked if they had any difficulties. They
also provided dictionary to find out some difficult words. It helped them to write their diaries later. The students also actively answered the researcher‟s questions
related to the text.
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In the step of the second cycle, the researcher made the modeling text by her self because the researcher was the person who knew them well. As a result,
she adjusted the text based on their abilities, including how long the text was. Based on the observer‟s checklists, the students enjoyed the class and looked
happy with the text. c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher did not use any game to play. The researcher
only asked the students to analyze the sentences in the text by dividing each sentence into some phrases based on the basic sentence pattern. Even though the
students seemed that they did not enjoy the activity, the researcher prefered this activity to the game activity because the class would be very noisy. The researcher
planned to give the game activity for the next cycle. This activity was an additional knowledge for the students in writing personal experience in the form
of a recount text. d
Independent Construction of the Text In the third and fourth diaries, the students got more interested in writing.
Their writing abilities improved. On Tuesday‟s submission April 9, 2013,
students‟ writing abilities were getting better than the last diaries. At that time, they had been able to write sentences with the correct word order based on the
basic sentence pattern, put the punctuation properly, and diminish the misspelling words.
There were four students who still had problems in the grammar past tense and the punctuation. It would be the enrichment for the next cycle. In this
77 cycle, based on the researcher‟s experience from the last cycle, the researcher
delivered her oral feedback to each students one by one. It was very effective because the students were getting understand. They did not do the same mistakes
in the next writing. In this cycle, the researcher also asked the students about their favourite topic for the diary. In other words, the students and the researcher had
agreed the topic for the diary. As a result, the students felt happy to write their own experiences in the form of a recount text.
After analyzing the data, the results of the students ‟ diaries had not been
satisfying enough. Although their writing abilities had improved, their average scores had not reached the minimum passing grade. There were only 6 students
who could reach the minimum passing grade. Then, the researcher decided to continue this research to the next cycle, cycle III.
c. The Third Cycle
The third cycle consisted of three meetings. They were on Wednesday April 10, 2013, Tuesday April 16, 2013, and Wednesday April 17, 2013. In
the second meeting, all of the students came into the class and attended the meeting. In the first and last meeting, a student was absent with alpha reason
without any permisson letter. This cycle emphasized how to improve their writing abilities in order to
make them pass the minimum passing grade of this school, 70. The weekly diary
assignment was still in the same concept. The students wrote their personal experiences based on the topic decided together twice a week. The researcher
78
gave them some different exercises as the enrichment for the students who had mastered and as the feedback in the form of exercise to improve their abilities and
did not do the same mistakes in the next writing. The researcher still used the genre-based approach to teach the class. In
other words, the researcher had to teach through building the context, modeling of the text, joint construction of the text, and independent construction of the text.
the researcher did not use linking to related texts because she only needed to analyze the students‟ improvement until independent construction of the text.
The researcher conducted this third cycle using Riel‟s action research
consisting of planning, action, collectinganalyzing the data or evidence, and reflection. At the end of the cycle, the researcher would decide whether the
weekly diary assignment improved the students‟ writing abilities in writing a
recount text or not.
1 Planning
At the first time, the researcher planned and prepared for all of the things to conduct the third cycle. The researcher hoped that this cycle was the last cycle
and the students ‟ problems could be overcome.
a Building the Context
In this stage, the researcher planned to ask the students whether they had the happiest experience in their life or not.
b Modeling of the Text
In this stage, the researcher planned to give them a passage which told someone‟s happiest experience. The researcher prepared the text which was made
79 from the
student‟s worksheet on pages 30 and 31. Then, the researcher would ask them to answer some questions related to the text like the organization, the
content, etc. The researcher also prepared a game as the modeling of the text c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher planned to ask the students in group of three to
retell the text given in the game session. d
Independent Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher would explain the new topic of the diary for
this week‟s submission. It was the student‟s happiest experiences. In the meeting on Tuesday, the researcher would give some exercises which was such a part of
the teacher‟s feedback for the students‟ writing. In the last meeting of this
research, the researcher planned to ask the students to revise their last diaries based on their discussion with their friends
2 Action
This stage consisted of three meeting on Wednesday April 10, 2013, Tuesday April 16, 20131 and Wednesday April 17, 2013.
a Building the Context
First of all, the researcher asked the students whether they had experienced some exciting moments or not. Then, the researcher told them that they could tell
their happiest experiences in the form of a recount text. b
Modeling of the Text The researcher asked the students to read the passage in
the student‟s worksheet on pages 30 and 31. They discussed the content, the generic structure,
80
and the grammar feature of the text together. Then, the students did the exercises, answering some questions related to the text.
The next activity was playing a game in a group of three. They had to order some pieces of paragraphs into a good recount text.
c Joint Construction of the Text
The researcher continued teaching the class by asking each group to retell the passage with their own words. It was as the additional exercise for the next
diary. Then, they submitted their work. d
Independent Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher gave an instruction about the next weekly diary
assignment with the topic of the happiest experience in 100-150 words. They submitted their diaries on Friday April 12, 2013 and Tuesday April 16, 2013.
In the meeting on Tuesday, the researcher gave some exercises as the enrichment which belonged to the
teacher‟s feedback to the students. The exercises were made based on the results
of students‟ diaries on Friday‟s submission. The exercises were about making sentences based on basic sentence
pattern properly, translating Indonesian some sentences into some good sentences in English, and putting the correct punctuation of the text.
The researcher also still gave some written feedback in the students‟
diaries and the oral feedback in front of the class for each student on Tuesday and Wednesday. Usually, the teacher did not ask the students to revise their diaries
because they still had to write for the next diaries. Meanwhile, in the last meeting
81 of this research, the researcher asked them to discuss with the other friends to
revise their last diaries.
3 Collecting Analyzing the Data
In this stage, the researcher collected and analyzed the data as the evidence of this research.
a Building the Context
In this stage, the researcher did not collect the data because she only asked the students‟ opinions about their happiest experiences.
b Modeling of the Text
In this stage, the researcher also did not collect the data because the students only read the text and answered some questions. The researcher would
notice which groups made some mistakes in the game session. Fortunately, all of the group
‟s answers were right. c
Joint Construction of the Text In this stage, the researcher collec
ted the students‟ group work in retelling the text which told someone‟s happiest experience. The researcher analyzed the
work and found that their writing abilities improved. They sometimes still forgot giving some punctuations.
d Independent Construction of the Text
The researcher took the main data of weekly diary assignment in this stage. The students submitted their work twice on Friday and Tuesday. Their writing
abilities slightly improved in this week. They were able to write their personal
82
experiences with the topic of the happiest experience in the form of a recount text properly. They had been able to write with the correct word order and based on
the basic sentence pattern. Almost all of them could write their experiences with the understandable content and the good sequences
. Their grammar also improved. They also put the punctuation properly. None of them who had
misspelling words. Their vocabulary was in the correct use. The researcher still gave them some exercises as the enrichment to
convince and add their knowledge in writing a recount text. The result was satisfying enough.
The average score of each student had improved in this cycle. 16 students could pass the minimum passing grade of this school. There were three students
who did not pass the minimum passing grade of this school because they never submitted their diaries. The researcher had tried hard to urge them and there were
no result. The researcher could not help them anymore. Moreover, the researcher also collected the students‟ revision of their last
diaries. The researcher did not give the score for the revision. It was aimed at making sure that they could revise their writing properly.
4 Reflection
In this stage, the researcher reflected what went well and what did not go well during the third cycle. At the end of this stage, the researcher took the
conclusion whet her the students‟ problems in writing a recount text had been
solved or not. a
Building the Context
83
After teaching the students for several meetings, the researcher understood that she had to use Indonesian language to teach them. It was not good because
the researcher spoke in Indonesian more rather than in English. Meanwhile, it was better to make the students understand the materials well.
In this stage, the researcher was successful to ask the students to have an interactive dialogue about their happiest experiences in their life. The students
could follow the researcher and they did not feel bored. b
Modeling of the Text In this stage, the researcher gave the students the model of a recount text
with the topic of the happiest experience from the students worksheet LKS. It went well because the passage given was appropriate with the students level. The
story and the sentences were easy to understand. The students were also able to answer the researcher‟s questions about the text.
In the paragraph arrangement game, the students enjoyed the activity. It was as an additional knowledge for them to write their own happiest personal
experiences later. In this activity, the students showed that their abilities in organizing paragraphs into a good recount text were getting improved. They could
analyze where the orientation, events arrangement, and reorientation were. It was an example of effective text modeling which could be implemented in a class.
c Joint Construction of the Text
The activity of this stage was the extension of the paragraph arrangement game in the last stage. After arranging some paragraphs into a good recount text
which told someone‟s happiest experience, each group of students had to retell the
84
story with their own words. The students enjoyed these activities. All of them looked so happy that they did not feel bored in the class. It was effective because
they were getting know how to tell their own experiences properly. This activity could increase their knowledge about the recount text.
d Independent Construction of the Text
In this stage, the researcher asked them to write their happiest experiences in the diary submitted on Friday and Tuesday. When the students accepted the
instruction to write the next diaries, almost all of them looked very happy. They did not feel bored or sad. Moreover, they looked enthusiastic to conduct this
assignment. In the first submission of this week, the students showed that they were
interested in writing their experiences. They wrote more than the last diaries. From the result of the interview, a student said that it depended on the topic. The
students loved the topic of this week, the happiest experience. In other words, the topic also gave some effects toward
s the students‟ writing. In the meeting on Tuesday, the students looked very enthusiastic to listen
to the researcher‟s feedback for them. They did not feel afraid. They listen to all of the feedback carefully. It means that they were able to take the researcher‟s
feedback both in written form or orally. The researcher concluded that the feedback as a part of the weekly diary assignment could help the students to
overcome their problems in writing a recount text so that their writing abilities improved.
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Besides, on Wednesday , the researcher returned the students‟ diaries
followed by the feedback orally in front of the class. Almost all of them could pass the minimum passing grade. Their writing improved in the organization, the
content, the grammar, the vocabulary, and the mechanics. Now, they could write their own experiences in the form of a recount text properly. They could make the
sentences in English properly, use the suitable vocabulary, use punctuation properly, etc.
The researcher decided to not extend the cycle by analyzing their last diaries so she asked the students to revise their last diaries in the class. When the
students were asked to discuss and share their last diares with their friends, they felt a little bored. Their writing were actually good but they still made a little
mistakes. In this last diaries, the researcher wanted to make sure that they had been able to revise their writing properly because this was the last diaries. Later
on, they would not write recount text anymore. Finally, the researcher concluded that the weekly diary assignment
successfully improved the students‟ writing abilities in writing a recount text. In the third cycle, their problems were sucessfully overcome. Then, the researcher
decided not to extend the cycle. The researcher ended this research at the eighth meeting.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION