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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEWS
A. Theoretical Review
This sub-chapter discusses some relevant theories which are related to the study. Those are divided into five parts. They are writing, teaching writing, teaching
writing in junior high school, factors influencing writing ability, and cue cards media. The discussion of each part will be presented below.
1.
Writing a. The Nature of Writing
In learning English, students will deal with four skills. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Those four skills are integrated in teaching English as
foreign language. Most of students think that writing is the most difficult skill. Westwood 2008: 56 asserts that written language becomes the most difficult skill
because its development involves the effective coordination of many different aspects such as cognitive, linguistic, and psychomotor process.
Writing is a productive skill that means it involves producing language rather than receiving it Spratt et al., 2005: 26. Speaking is also a productive skill. Yet they
are different. Westwood 2008: 56 asserts that speaking and written works are different in some ways. One of them is a written work cannot be understood well by
the reader if it does not use appropriate language use and mechanics such as tense, spelling, punctuation, an so on. Langan 2005: 4 also says that speaking does
not always require specific reasons or details. On the other hand, writing, specially the academic one, demands the writer to use appropriate pattern, to write as clear as
possible to minimize ambiguity and much more. Specific reasons or details are also needed to support main idea or main sentence. Without giving details, a piece of
writing would not suffice to be a piece of good writing. Schunk 2008: 424 states that writing refers to translating ideas into linguistic
symbols in print. He also said that writing has been viewed as a way to improve learning capabilities and academic achievement Schunk, 2008: 430. For Junior High
School students, they need more efforts to produce a good writing product. Writing requires the writer to be able to form letters and words, and join there together to
make words, sentences or a series of sentences that link together to communicate that message Spratt et al., 2005: 26.
In writing process, students can express their feelings. Hyland 2004: 09 states that writing is a way to share personal meanings. The people construct their
own views on topic. They will share their views on a topic to each other. A person’s views maybe different from other people’s views. It depends on their belief.
Therefore, when constructing their views ideas, the people have to make it understandable and acceptable.
b. The Micro- and Macro- Skills of Writing
Some experts identify two skills related to writing. They are micro and macro- skills. Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams 2005: 26 state that writing involves several
sub-skills micro-skills that include those which are emphasized on the accuracy and
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