31 variety of guided and non-guided free writing exercises. A set of parallel pictures
or pictures series that show a similar scene or tell a similar story can be used as a material that helps the students on vocabulary, sentence structure, and
organization yet lets the students write about new subject matter in teaching writing.
Moss in Davison and Dowson 2003: 150 also says that picture series can be used in teaching retrospective writing such as diary and journal writing. This
type of writing can lead the students to freely choose what they are going to write. This retrospective writing can be as coherent as a series of reflections a photo or
series of pictures that can be used by the students as guidance in writing. In addition, Harmer 2007 says that all kinds of pictures can be used in multiple
ways in language teaching. For example, drills, communication games, understanding, ornamentation, prediction, and discussion. From what the experts
say above, it can be concluded that picture series is very useful in teaching writing, especially in teaching recount text. Picture series can guide the students
not only in finding ideas but also in sequencing the events in correct order. It also can be an interesting media and can be used in a variety of tasks in teaching
writing.
B. Reviews of Related Studies
There are many kinds of media that can be used by the teacher in teaching writing. One of them is a picture series. Using picture series as the media in the
teaching and learning process of writing can help the students to generate and develop the ideas. The order of the series of pictures can be a clue for the students
32 in organizing their idea in writing. There are some previous studies related to the
use of picture series in teaching writing that had been conducted before. Nurjanah 2012 conducted an action research to improve students’
writing skills on grade X of SMA Prambanan by using picture series. On her research, she provided the students with various tasks and activities using picture
series in the teaching and learning process. The result of her study showed that the students’ writing skills improved. It could be seen from students’ writing
score that improved continuously from the pre-test until post-test. By implementing picture series the students also became highly motivated in the
teaching and learning process of writing. Mayasari 2014 also conducted another action research on grade VIII of
SMP N 2 Wonosari. In her research, she tried to improve the students’ writing
ability through the use of picture series. The target research was students of VIII D class of SMP N 2 Wonosari. In this research, she drove the students to be
active in classroom activities by using picture series. She also provided the students with some supporting actions to improve their grammar and vocabulary
mastery. Through picture series the students were able to guess the meaning of some words that were related to the pictures. The students could also see the
actions of the characters in the pictures. The picture series also improved students’ motivation in learning. By applying picture series and some supporting
actions the students’ writing score improved in the final post-test.
33
C. Conceptual Framework
Writing is one of the four English language skills which is taught in Junior and Senior High School in Indonesia. The same as other language skills, writing
is an important skill that has to be mastered by the students. Writing takes important roles in students’ future since writing skill influenced students’ future
career. Moreover, writing is often used in daily life activities. That is why the students have to master writing skills.
However, the goal of teaching and learning writing is not accomplished by the students yet. It can
be seen from the students’ writing performance and achievement. Most of the students say that writing is a difficult skill to be
mastered. Based on the information from the observation and interviews with the
English teacher the researcher found that similar problem related to teaching and learning writing has found in SMP Pembangunan Piyungan, particularly in class
VIII A. The students do not achieve the learning goals of writing skill set by the government and stated on 2013 Curriculum. Most of the students feel reluctant to
write. The students’ grammar and vocabulary mastery is very low. Besides, based on the observation the students seem less-motivated in the writing teaching and
learning process. Then, the researcher and the English teacher decided to use picture series
in teaching and learning writing process in order to improve students’ achievement in writing skill. Picture series was chosen to be used in this because
they have several benefits that considered can improve students’ writing ability.
34 According to Wright 1989: 188-192 pictures have three functions that
can be used by the teacher. First, pictures can be used to get students’ personal response. Pictures can encourage students to have questions in their mind about
the pictures which are displayed. Second, pictures can be used to illustrate an object, action, quality, and etc. Third, pictures can be used by the students to
imply an idea. Another benefit of using picture series in teaching and learning writing states by Raimes and Moss. Raimes 1983: 36 says that picture series
provides a variety of guided and non-guided free writing exercises. Moss in Davison and Dowson 2003: 150 says that picture series can be used in teaching
retrospective writing such as diary and journal writing. Pictures series is one of the media that can be used in teaching and
learning to improve students’ writing ability. For the students, Picture series is very helpful. It can be used to generate their ideas and lead the students to write
in correct sequences. Moreover, picture series is one of interesting media that can raise students’ motivation in learning. For the teacher, picture series is very
useful in teaching writing particularly in teaching recount text, because picture series contains a sequence of events. By using picture series the teacher can make
and develop various tasks, for example, drill, communicative game, discussion, free-writing, etc. In conclusion, picture series is a suitable media that can be used
in teaching and learning process to improv e students’ writing ability.
