9 1.6.3. Writing Skill
MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald 2013 illustrate that writing is a complex activity involving the cognitive, the metacognitive processes and the
affective components. Writing also involves the environment interaction Schunk, 2008. In this research the researcher is going to improve the students writing skill
by using pictures as the particul ar stimuli to build the students‟ engagement. So,
the researcher could make the meaningful writing learning related to the school environment, classroom atmosphere and the way teacher teach the students.
1.6.4. Recount Text According to Hyland 2008, a recount is a text that tells about past
experiences or events. It can be based on the author‟s personal experience or historical events. Thus, the language features used in the recount text are the use
of past tense, time conjunction and also the use of first person as the subject. In this research, the researcher will ask the students to write the recount text based on
the suitable tenses, the suitable diction and also based on the students‟ holiday experiences.
1.6.5. The Students of Class 8A of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta Academic Year 20142015
The students of Class 8A of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta Academic Year 20142015 are the most cooperative students from the other eighth grader
students in SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta. However, the students are still talkative and noisy. The students are likely to talk to their friends in the middle of
10 the teaching and learning process. This fact proves an evidence of students‟
disengagement in the teaching and learning activity. There are thirty seven 37 students consisting of sixteen 16 female students and twenty one 21 male
students. Moreover, based on the extracurricular program, the students have better speaking, listening and reading skill than the writing skill. The students should
learn more to develop their writing skill. Moreover, the students come from the middle to high economic level. Therefore most of the students have already been
in many vacations to spend their school holiday. This situation could build the students‟ background knowledge to write the recount text.
11
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher synthetizes several theories related to the issue of this thesis. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is the
theoretical description and the second one is the theoretical framework. The first part discusses the theories related to limited scope of the research in this thesis.
Thereafter, the second part illustrates the several theories as the framework to answer the research questions.
2.1. Theoretical Descriptions
In this part, the researcher discusses several theories related to the thesis issue. The researcher limits the theories from three specific theoretical
descriptions. They are the importance of writing skill for junior high school students, the benefits of pictures to improve students‟ engagement for writing
recount, and the studen ts‟ engagement in learning and teaching process.
2.1.1. The Importance of Writing Skill for Junior High School Students
Writing is one of four English skills that should be mastered by English language learners. In connection with this idea, Walvoord 1985 states that
writing is an effective tool for discovering and thinking. There is a close connection between writing and thinking that makes writing become a valuable
part of any language courses Raimes, 1983. Writing could also be the essential connection of education, culture, and commerce in the society Walvoord 1985.
12 Writing is closely related to increase the development of education and culture.
Therefore writing is a compulsory subject in the education curriculum. People could produce many kinds of text by writing. As what Kress 1994
states that only writing which requires the production of new texts. In connection with Kress‟ opinion, Raimes 1983 states that writing supports the students learn
the grammatical structures, idiom and vocabulary. Besides, they could explore the language with their effort to express their ideas. Students could explore their
writing skill in many ways. Kress 1994 notes that there are several considerations for learning how to write well: based on the learning of the forms,
the demands and the potentialities of different genres. Students could learn how to write from their early age after they learn new language. In addition, Kress 1994
also states that the kind of writing most widely taught and most highly prized in schools
– such as essays, narratives, poetry – is engaged by several members in the society. Yet, the students should have suitable writing strategy. MacArthur,
Graham, and Fitzgerald 2013 state that better writing strategy stimuli could be the significant aid for everyone who writes.
Writing is a complicated skill for the learners. MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald 2013 illustrate that writing is a complex activity involving the
cognitive processes, the metacognitive processes and also the affective components. Moreover, MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald 2013 state that
writing is a complex activity that requires a long probation from preschool children‟s scribbles to high school compositions in which students are expected to
elaborate on concepts and ideas in an appropriate form. As well as the affective
13 components, Bruning and Horn 2000 in MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald
2013 argue that creating a positive emotional classroom environment is one of the situations that determine the students‟ motivation to write. Writing also
involves the interaction with the environment Schunk, 2008. In this way, the school environment, the classroom atmosphere and the way the teachers teach the
students are really matter in achieving the goal and context of writing. Nevertheless, the students could also find many difficulties in writing.
MacArthur, Graham and Fitzgerald 2013 state that the people might have several problems in writing if they do not have sufficient content knowledge. The
students should have the sufficient knowledge before they work on their writing. Hyland 2002 also states that the process of writing is rich combination of
cognition elements include the writer‟s experiences and background.
2.1.2. The Benefits of the Use of Pictures to Increase the Students’
Engagement for Writing Recount
There are many ways to teach writing for students. One of the ways to teach writing for students is by using pictures. According to Boggs 1956,
pictures have long been used as an aid in language teaching. A picture is one of several visual aids as the teaching media. Kreidler 1968 states that pictures as
the visual aids could support the teacher add variety, clarity, and, reality to the classroom situation. This idea could guide the teacher to be more creative in using
the pictures as the teaching media for the students.
