THE EFFECT OF OUTLINING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ RECOUNT TEXT WRITING ABILITY AT THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF SMPN 13 BANDAR LAMPUNG

ABSTRACT

THE EFFECT OF OUTLINING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’

RECOUNT TEXT WRITING ABILITY AT THE SECOND YEAR

STUDENTS OF SMPN 13 BANDAR LAMPUNG

By

Achmad Yudi Wahyudin

Basically, writing is considered as the most difficult skill to master. The previous

studies found that students mostly had three serious problems in writing. The first

problem was that many students could not express their idea into written form

coherently because they were confuse how to link sentence and did not know how

to employ variety of transitional signals. It means that the students’ writing ability

is low in term of organization. The second problem was that students often did

errors of agreement, preposition, and tense so that it indicated that students’

writing ability is weak in term of grammar. At last, the problem mostly faced by

the students was that they often confuse to express their idea into appropriate

words which is relevant to the topic. It points out that students writing ability is

still low in term of vocabulary.

Due to the problem stated above, this study was designed to investigate the effect

of outlining strategy in improving students’ recount text writing ability in term of

organization, grammar, and vocabulary. One group pre-test post-test design was

used in this study. The population of the research was the students of the second

grade of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung in the academic year of 2011/2012. Class of

VIIIG was taken as the sample in which it consisted of 30 students. The result of

the study showed that there is a significant improvement of students’ writing

ability in term of organization, grammar, and vocabulary with the values of two

tailed significance are smaller than 0.05. The finding reveals that outlining

strategy gives a possitive effect on the students’ recount text writing ability

particularly in term of organization since it is an organizational strategy which

leads the students to express their ideas in logical order.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise to Allah SWT, the Almighty and Merciful God, for blessing the writer with

faith, health, and opportunity to finish this script. This script which is entitled

“The Effect of Outlining Strategy in Improving Students’ Recount Text Writing

Ability at the Second Year of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung” is presented to fulfill

one of the requirements in accomplishing the S-1 Degree at the Department of

Language and Arts of Teaching Training and Education Faculty in the University

of Lampung.

The writer would like to express his gratitude to many people who have given

their suggestions, and helps in writing this script. Firstly, he delivers his a

thousand gratitudes and respects to Drs. Sudirman M.Pd., and Drs. Basturi Hasan,

M.Pd., his advisors, who have given their best criticisms, suggestions, and

revisions during the accomplishment of this script. Then, he wants to express his

gratitude to his examiner, Budi Kadaryanto, S.Pd., M.A., for his input and

contribution.

His thankfulness is also due to M. Badrun, S.Ag, M.Ag., the Headmaster of

SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung, in which the writer did his research, and all beloved

students of class VIIIG for their participation in this research.

The writer grateful love is attributed to his mother and father for their pray,

patience, motivation and willingness to support the writer in accomplishing his

script.

The writer would also like to extend his appreciation to his beloved comrades of

English ’08, especially Ferdiansyah and his childhood friend, Ahmad Garda

Yustisia.

Hopefully, this script would give a positive contribution to the educational

development or to those who want to carry out further research.

Bandar Lampung, May 2012

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT ... ii

ADVISOR APPROVAL ... iii

ADMISSION ... iv

CURRICULUM VITAE ... v

DEDICATION ... vi

MOTTO ... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... viii

TABLE OF CONTENT ... ix

LIST OF TABLES ... xi

LIST OF FIGURES ... xii

I. INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 Background of the Problem ... 1

1.2 Formulation of the Research Questions ... 5

1.3 Objectives of the Research... 6

1.4 Uses of the Research ... 6

1.5 Scope of the Research ... 7

1.6 Definition of Terms ... 8

II. LITERATURE REVIEW ... 9

2.1 Concept of Writing ... 9

2.2 Concept of Recount Text ... 11

2.3 Concept of Effective Writing in Recount Text ... 19

2.4 Concept of Outlining Strategy in Relation to Recount Text ... 25

2.5 Concept of Teaching Writing ... 32

2.6 Procedures of Teaching Writing through Outlining Strategy ... 35

2.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Outlining Strategy... 38

2.6.1 Advantages of Outlining Strategy ... 38

2.6.2 Disadvantages of Outlining Strategy ... 39

2.7 Theoretical Assumption ... 39

2.8 Hypothesis... 40

III. RESEARCH METHODS ... 41

3.1 Research Design... 41

3.2 Subject of the Research ... 42

x

3.7 Validity and Reliability ... 50

3.7.1 Validity ... 50

3.7.2 Reliability ... 51

3.8 Hypothesis Testing... 53

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ... 55

4.1 Result of the Research ... 55

4.1.1 Result of the Pre-test ... 55

4.1.2 Result of the Post-test ... 58

4.1.3 Improvement of Students’ Ability in Writing Recount Text ... 61

4.1.4 Hypothesis Testing... 65

4.2 Discussion ... 67

4.2.1 Improvement of Organization ... 68

4.2.2 Improvement of Grammar ... 70

4.2.3 Improvement of Vocabulary ... 71

V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS... 74

5.1Conclusions ... 74

5.2 Suggestions ... 76

REFERENCES ... 78

APPENDICES ... 82

THE EFFECT OF OUTLINING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’

RECOUNT TEXT WRITING ABILITY AT THE SECOND YEAR

OF SMP NEGERI 13 BANDAR LAMPUNG

By

ACHMAD YUDI WAHYUDIN

A Script

Submitted in a partial fulfillment of

The requirements for S-1 Degree

In

The Language and Arts Departement of

Teacher Training and Education Faculty

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

LAMPUNG UNIVERSITY

BANDAR LAMPUNG

2012

THE EFFECT OF OUTLINING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’

RECOUNT TEXT WRITING ABILITY AT THE SECOND YEAR

OF SMP NEGERI 13 BANDAR LAMPUNG

(A Script)

By

ACHMAD YUDI WAHYUDIN

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

LAMPUNG UNIVERSITY

CURRICULUM VITAE

The writer’s name is Achmad Yudi Wahyudin. He was born in Bandar Lampung,

March 23

rd

, 1990. He is the second child of four children of a couple, Syafrudin

and Wahyuni Satiawati, S.Pd.

He began his study at SD Negeri 1 Beringin Raya in 1996. Having graduated from

the Elementary School in 2002, he went to SMP Negeri 2 Bandar Lampung and

graduated in 2005. He finished his High School at SMA Negeri 3 Bandar

Lampung in 2008. In the same year, he was registered as an S-1 college student

of Lampung University at English Department of Teacher Training and Education

Faculty.

From June 1

st

to August 4

th

, 2011 he carried on Teaching Practice Program (PPL)

at SMA 17 Pagelaran Pringsewu.

DEDICATION

This script is dedicated to:

My beloved parents: Syafrudin and Wahyuni Satiawati, S.Pd.

(Thanks for your affection, your prayers, your forbearance and everything)

My siblings: Fajar Ayu Syafriani, Octridinata Satia Adipura, Adinda Putri

Maharani

(Who make my spirit carried on)

My outstanding seniors, students of ’06: Jaka Dirgantara, Eka Setiawan, Setyo

Agung, Ahmad Sahlan

My brothers, students of ’07: Ferry Yun K, M. Kharisma, Dian Irawan, Harris

Tamzil, Romandani Adyan, and Noprisyah H.

My beloved comrades, students of ’08: Ferdiansyah and Ali Akbar M.

My best juniors, students of ’09 (Laskar Pelangi Family), ‘010, and ‘011

(Thanks for your supports and unforgettable companion)

My Almamater, Lampung University

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix

Page

1. Lesson Plan ... 82

2. Writing Test ... 100

3. Students’ Writing Score of Organization Aspect in Pre-test ... 104

4. Students’ Writing Score of Grammar Aspect in Pre-test ... 106

5. Students’ Writing Score of Vocabulary Aspect in Pre-test ... 108

6. Students’ Writing Score of Organization Aspect in Post-test ... 110

7. Students’ Writing Score of Grammar Aspect in Post-test ... 112

8. Students’ Writing Score of Vocabulary Aspect in Post-test ... 114

9. Students’ Work ... 116

10.

Surat Izin Penelitian

... 124

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Relationship of the Outline Strusture betweenEssential Paragraph

and Recount Text ... 29

Figure 2. Improvement of Students’ Writing Ability ... 67

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.Result of ReliabilityTest ... 53

Table 2.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Organization in Pre-test ...

56

Table 3.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Grammar in Pre-test

... 57

Table 4.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Vocabulary in Pre-test

... 58

Table 5.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Organization in Post-test

... 59

Table 6.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Grammar in Post-test

... 60

Table 7.

Distribution of Students’ Score of Vocabulary in Post-test

... 61

Table 8.Improvement of Organization Aspect ... 62

Table 9.Result of Paired Sample Test in Organization ... 62

Table 10.Improvement of Grammar Aspect ... 63

Table 11.Result of Paired Sample Test in Grammar... 63

Table 12.Improvement of Vocabulary Aspect ... 64

MOTTO

“

To me, life is such a complex sequence of habit formation in which we will be skilled

in something that we used to carry out

.

”

ADMITTED BY

1.

Examination Committee

Chairperson :

Drs. Sudirman, M.Pd.

………

Examiner

:

Budi Kadaryanto, S.Pd., M.A.

...

Secretary

:

Drs. Basturi Hasan, M.Pd

.

...

2.

The Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty

Dr. H. Bujang Rahman, M.Si.

NIP 19600315 198503 1 003

Research Title : The Effect Of Outlining Strategy in Improving Students’

Recount Text Writing Ability at The Second Year of SMP

Negeri 13 Bandar Lampung

Student’s Name

: Achmad Yudi Wahyudin

Student’s Number

: 0813042014

Depatment

: Language and Arts

Study Program

: English Education

Faculty

: Teacher Training and Education

APPROVED BY

Advisory Committee

Advisor I,

Advisor II,

Drs. Sudirman, M.Pd.

Drs. Basturi Hasan, M.Pd

.

NIP 19580704 198503 1 006

NIP 19540705 1986031003

The Chairperson of

Language and Arts Education Department

Drs. Imam Rejana, M.Si

.

NIP 19480421 1978031 004

I. INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, there are several points which give explanations of why this study should be conducted and how important it is. To be clearer, this chapter is divided into sub-points; they are background of the problem, formulation of research questions, objectives of the research, uses of the research, scope of the research, and definition of terms.

1.1 Background of the Problem

Basically, writing is the most complicated language skill to master. This is reasonable because writing involves fives aspects that should be considered. They are content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. Content is an aspect of writing that refers to unity of the paragraph, organization refers to the coherence, vocabulary deals with word selection, language use focuses on grammar, and mechanics refers to spelling, punctuation and capitalization.

It is clear that, this learning objective is really hard to achieve. Most of students’ writing ability is far away from the target language. It was noticed that students did know what they were going to write but they did not know how to put them into words. The students often got difficulties to express their ideas into appropriate words or sentences (Diharyono, 1990: 1). When their teacher asked to

make a composition, they were confused about expressing their ideas in written form because they were lack of vocabulary. Therefore, the students often did a kind of error in the selection of word on their composition. This indicated that students’ writing ability was still low in the aspect of vocabulary.

In addition, Yuniarsih (2008: 65) found that many students could not express their ideas smoothly in written form. Most of students tended to express their ideas in illogical order. Therefore, the ideas within sentences and paragraph were not closely related. The absence of transitional signals was moreover often noticed in the students paragraph writing. This made the transition unsmooth between one sentence to another. As the result, the students’ paragraph writing cannot achieve the good aspect of organization in writing paragraph because their ideas and thoughts were not presented in logical order. Many students complained that they did not know how to organize their ideas and link sentences into coherent ideas in the target language.

Furthermore, Wiliyanti (2007: 2) found that most students did not express their ideas properly in writing.The students often did errors of verb agreement, tense, pronoun, articles, and prepositions. The example of student’s error in the structure of the sentence can be seen in the following sentence, “In holiday, I with my family went to Bandung for visited my sister”. The underlined phrase shows the student has a problem in prepositional phrase. This kind of error indicates the student’s writing ability is still low in the aspect of grammar.

Moreover, Juwitasari (2005: 2) pointed out that nowadays, most of English teachers only emphasized teaching writing by using the traditional method in which the students were not encouraged to apply the theories given by the teacher on the paper. This made the students did not know how to express their ideas properly in written form. In addition, many English teachers only gave the students some topics without giving any guidelines and the words as hints related to the topics in order to help the students in writing paragraph. Consequently, the students were always confused when they are asked to write and could not express their ideas into good written form. As the result, the students failed to reach the objective of the learning.

Thus, all of the issues above were still indicating that writing is still the most difficult skill among the others. Considering the importance of writing skill for students to master, this study tried to find a strategy that was able to help students improving their writing ability by expressing their ideas and their prior knowledge about the topic given into written form coherently and accurately. It was therefore defined that the three aspects of writing, organization, grammar and vocabulary would be evaluated in this study since those aspects became the problems mostly faced by the students nowadays.

In order to solve the problem above, logically, the students should be taught how to plan and organize their ideas and supporting information before they start to write a paragraph or composition so that they are able to make an effective paragraph writing. In this case, the students should be given such kind of frame of

ideas as the guideline to help them not only making a coherent sentence and paragraph but also monitoring their errors in grammar and the selection of word.

Referring to the description above, it was assumed that outlining strategy was an appropriate strategy to solve the problem and improve the students’ writing ability. Theoretically, outlining strategy could facilitate the students to plan their ideas in systematical way (Oshima, 1983:155). An outline provided students a frame of ideas that guide the students to write. Therefore, outlining strategy could help the students to focus the idea that they intend to write in relation to the content and to link sentences into coherent ideas in the target language. In addition, making outline was an active process that also gave the students opportunities to monitor their writing in order to minimize grammar errors and inaccuracy of selection of words. Hence, it is assumed that outlining strategy can improve student’s writing ability specifically in terms of organization, grammar, and vocabulary.

In relation to outlining strategy, it was necessary to choose related text which would be used as the media to measure students’ writing ability. Due to its similar structure with the essential paragraph, recount text was chosen. The use of recount text was reasonable since the recent curriculum stated that recount text was the one of the texts that should be learnt by the second year students of Junior High School. It pointed out that the students should be able to understand and create a recount text coherently and accurately based on the social function and generic structure of the text. In this case, outlining strategy is considered as an alternative

strategy that can be used to develop students’ recount text writing ability in terms of organization, grammar and vocabulary.

Finally, this study was intended to find out the effect of outlining strategy in teaching recount text writing in terms of organization, grammar, and vocabulary in order to prove the assumptions above.

1.2 Formulation of Research Questions

In reference to the background of the research, the formulation of research questions can be presented as follows:

1. Is there any significant improvement of students’ recount text writing ability after being taught by using outlining strategy in term of organization?

2. Is there any significant improvement of students’ recount text writing ability after being taught by using outlining strategy in term of grammar? 3. Is there any significant improvement of students’ recount text writing

ability after being taught by using outlining strategy in term of vocabulary?

1.3 Objectives of the Research

In relation to the formulation of the research questions, the objectives of the research are as follows:

1. To find out whether outlining strategy can improve student’s recount text writing ability in term of organization.

2. To find out whether outlining strategy can improve student’s recount text writing ability in term of grammar.

3. To find out whether outlining strategy can improve student’s recount text writing ability in term vocabulary.

1.4 Uses of the Research

It is expected that this study can have the following uses:

1. Theoretically, the result of this study is supposed to give contribution to the theories in which outline strategy could be applied to improve students’ paragraph writing in term of effective paragraph.

2. Practically, the result of this study can also be used to inform readers, English teacher, language researcher, and other practitioners, about the effect of outlining strategy in improving students’ writing ability in order to develop English teaching method further.

1.5 Scope of the Research

This research was conducted at SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung. The subject of the research was one class of second year students in academic year 2011/2012 in the even semester where a class consists of 30 students. The class of 8G was chosen as the subject of the research. This subject was taken as the sample since they have studied grammar, vocabulary, and recount text in the previous semester. Hence, this study was focused on improving students’ ability in writing recount text through outlining strategy.

Furthermore, in teaching learning activities, the students were given instructions to make an outline before they write a simple personal recount paragraph. They were also directed how to make an effective paragraph. In this case, the student’s ability in writing recount text was evaluated based on three aspects of writing: organization which mainly deals with paragraph coherence, grammar which relates to the sentence struture, and vocabulary which refers to the word choice. In addition, the materials were adopted from the School Based Curriculum /Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan Junior High School 2006. The topics discussed by the students in writing recount text were an unforgettable moment, vacation, and visiting special place.

1.6 Definition of Terms

In relation to the use of this study, there are some definitions clarified in order to have similar understanding. The terms can be described as follows:

 Writing skill is a skill which deals with the ability to arrange the graphic systems such as, letter, word, and sentences of target language being used in writing communication in order that the reader can understand the message or information intended.

 Paragraph is group of sentences which develop one main idea containing five elements, i.e., a topic sentence, supporting sentences, a concluding sentence, unity and coherence.

 Recount paragraph is a kind of writing paragraph process that describes event or events in accordance to time or chronological order.

 Outlining strategy is an organization strategy in paragraph writing that provides a frame of ideas in order to make a well arranged paragraph.  Effective paragraph is a paragraph that consists of correct constructs of the

aspects of writing such as content, organization, vocabulary, language use (grammar), and mechanics.

III. RESEARCH METHODS

In order to answer the research question and achieve the objective of the research, research method should be constructed thoroughly. The research method consists of research design, population and sample of the research, data collecting technique, step in collecting data, scoring criteria, schedule of the research, validity and reliability of the test, data treatment, and hypothesis testing.

3.1 Research Design

This research was intended to find out whether there is a significant improvement of the students’ writing ability after being taught through outlining strategy. It was conducted based on the pre-experimental method which applied one group pre test-post test design modified from the idea suggested by Setiyadi (2006: 131). An experimental class was taken as the sample which got the treatment by implementing outlining strategy. In this case, the pre-test and post-test which consisted of three parts were administered in order to measure the improvement of students’ writing ability in terms of organization, grammar, and vocabulary respectively. The pretest was used to find out the students’ preliminary ability and the posttest was used to look how far the improvement of students’ writing ability after the treatments. The criteria whether outlining strategy can improve students’ writing ability was determined by the differences between the mean score of the

pre-test and post-test in each aspect of writing. The research design can be represented as follow:

K :

O1

X

O2

T G1 T G2

V1 V2

Note:

K is related to Experimental class

TO1 represents Pre-test of Organization

TG1 represents Pre-test of Grammar

TV1 represents Pre-test of Vocabulary

X is related to Treatment (teaching writing through outlining strategy)

TO2 represents Post-test of Organization

TG2 represents Post-test of Grammar

TV2 represents Post-test of Vocabulary

3.2 Subject of the Research

The population of this research was the second year students of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung in the year of 2011/2012. There were seven classes of second year students. Since SMPN 13 is regarded as the representative of National Standard School, the school authority rules that the distribution of students in each class has to fulfill the principle of equality. Thus, there is no leveling in the distribution of classes. In other words, second year students of SMP Negeri 13 Bandar Lampung have the same level of ability. As the result of purposive sampling, class VIIIG consisted of 30 students, 14 males and 16 females was taken as the subject of the research.

3.3 Data Collecting Technique

This research was aimed at gaining the data on the students’ writing ability score before the treatment (pretest) and after treatment (posttest). Therefore, writing test which is consisted of pre-test and post test was employed. Both tests provided three separated parts intended to measure students’ writing ability in terms of organization, grammar, and vocabulary. The description of pre-test and post test can be seen as follows:

1. Pre-test

The pre-test was conducted before the treatment was administered. It was used to know the students’ ability in writing simple recount text before they were being given the treatment. The pre-test consisted of three separated parts which measured three respective aspects of writing; organization, grammar and vocabulary. The students were asked to write a simple personal recount text based on the topic given. The pretest was conducted in 120 minutes. The pretest was administered once.

2. Post-test

The post-test was conducted after the treatment was administered. It was used to know the improvement of students’ ability in writing simple recount text. The post-test also consisted of three separated parts which measured the improvement of three respective aspects; organization, grammar, and vocabulary. The post-test has the same item as the pre-test. It was conducted in 120 minutes. The post-test was administered once.

3.4 Steps in Collecting the Data

In collecting the data, this study used the following steps: 1. Determining the subject of the research

The population of the research is the second year students of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung. Second year students were chosen because recount text material had been learned by them in the first semester based on 2006 English curriculum. It was chosen one class out of seven classes of 8th

grade students of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung as the research subject. The experimental class consists of 30 students. In determining the experimental class, simple probability sampling was used. In this research, Class 8G was chosen as the subject of the research

2. Preparing the Pretest Materials

In this research, there were once three pretests proper to 8th grade of Junior High School student. Each of pretest was used to measure the aspects of organization, grammr, and vocabulary respectively. The topics were “unforgettable moment, vacation, and special day”. The materials were taken from Wajar students’ handbook based on 2006 Junior high school English curriculum of KTSP.

3. Conducting the Pre-test

The pre-test was conducted to measure student’s preliminary ability before treatment. Here, the students in experimental class were assigned to write recount text which consists of orientation, series of events, and re-orientation. Three aspects were evaluated in separated parts. They were

organization, grammar, and vocabulary. The topics of the recount text were unforgettable moment, vacation and special day. The time was allocated for about 120 minutes.

4. Giving Treatments

There were three times treatments conducted in this research. Each treatment had been conducted for 2 x 45 minutes consisting of procedures of teaching writing through outlining strategy. It was assumed that three times treatment is enough to develops students’ recount text ability because, based on the 2006 English curriculum, recount text had been learned by them at the previous semester. Outlining strategy was implemented in teaching recount text in experimental class. The topics discussed by the students were an Unforgettable moment, Vacation, and Special Day. The topics were taken from Wajar based on the School Based Curriculum 2006 for the second year of Junior high school students. 5. Conducting the Post-test

In order to see the improvement of students’ writing ability, the post-test was conducted in experimental class after they were being given the treatment. The students were assigned to write recount text consisting of orientation, series of events, and re-orientation. The post-test also consisted of three parts which were conducted in 120 minutes to measure whether there is a significant improvement of students’ writing ability in terms of organization, grammar, and vocabulary after being given treatments.

6. Analyzing the Test Result (Pre-test and Post-test)

After scoring pretest and posttest, the data were analyzed by using SPSS software program. It was used to find out the means of pre-test and post-test and how significant the improvement was.

3.5 Scoring Criteria

The students can succeed in writing if their writing includes three aspects of writing. Therefore, three aspects of writing were evaluated in the students’ paragraph writing in the form of simple personal recount text. They were organization, grammar, and vocabulary.

The criteria of scoring were modified from Hughes (1989: 92) that can be described as follows:

Organization

80 Student’s writing ability is classified as Excellent if their paragraph writing is highly organized; topic sentences are well developed; sequencing of ideas is logic; the relationship within ideas flows smoothly because of sufficient transitional signals.

70 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Good if their paragraph writing is well organizaed; topic sentences are rather developed; sequencing of ideas is logic but incomplete; the relationship within ideas flows rather smoothly because transitional signals are sometimes used. 60 Student’s writing ability is classified as Good if their paragraph

developed; paragraph writing is lack of logical sequencing of ideas; re-reading required for clarification of ideas.

50 Student’s writing ability is classified as Fair if their paragraph writing has little or no attempt at connectivity; though reader can deduce some organization.

40 Student’s writing ability is classified as Poor if there is some individual ideas which may be clear but it is very difficult to deduce connection between them.

30 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Poor if their paragraph writing is lack of organization and it is so severe in which communication is seriously impaired.

Grammar

80 Student’s writing ability is classified as Excellent if students make effective complex constructions; there are few errors of agreement, tense, word order, articles, preposition in students’ paragraph writing.

70 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Good if students compose effective but simple constructions, some errors of agreement, tenses word order, articles, prepositions, but meaning seldom obscure. 60 Student’s writing ability is classified as Good if the student’s paragraph

wriitng has minor problem in complex/simple construction; fairly frequent errors of agreement, tenses, word order, articles, prepositions, and/or fragments are noticable which do not, however, interfere with comprehension.

50 Student’s writing ability is classified as Fair if the student’s paragraph writing has major problem in complex/simple construction; frequent

errors of agreement, tenses, word order, articles, prepositions, and/or fragments are noticable as to make occasional re-reading necessary for full comprehension.

40 Student’s writing ability is classified as Poor if there are very frequent errors of agreement, tenses, word order, articles, and prepositions; reader often has to rely on own interpretation.

30 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Poor if there is no mastery of sentence construction rules; paragraph writing is dominated by errors as to make comprehension virtually impossible.

Vocabulary

80 Student’s writing ability is classified as Excellent if students make effective selection of word which is relevant to the content in their paragraph writing so that meaning is clear .

70 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Good if they make occasional errors of word choice and usage in their paragraph writing so that meaning is sometimes confusing or obscured.

60 Student’s writing ability is classified as Good if there are frequent errors of word choice and usage so that meaning is confusing or obscured; expression of ideas may be limited because of inadequate vocabulary.

50 Student’s writing ability is classified as Fair if students make word by word translation in their paragraph writing; they has little knowledge of vocabulary which clearly hinders expression of ideas.

40 Student’s writing ability is classified as Poor if vocabulary is so limited and so frequently misused in their paragraph writing that reader must often rely on own interpretation.

30 Student’s writing ability is classified as Very Poor if vocabulary limitation is so extreme as to make comprehension virtually impossible in their paragraph writing.

3.6 Schedule of the Research

This research took five meetings with the following procedure:

1. The first meeting was used to conduct the pre-tests (120 minutes)

2. The second meeting was used to explain and remind the students about recount text which deals with generic structure, language future, purpose. The material is taken from student handbook Wajar for SMP. The topic used was “An Unforgettable Moment” (2 x 45 minutes)

3. The third meeting was conducted to teach students about outlining strategy before they wrote recount text. The topic was “Vacation” (2 x 45 minutes) 4. The fourth meeting was used to train students practice making outline in

order to write an effective recount text in different topic. The topic was “Special Day”. (2 x 45 minutes)

3.7. Validity and Reliability

A test can be said whether it is usable or not if it has fulfilled the criteria of validity and reliability. The writing test is the decisive instrument of this research. Hence, it is important to measure validity and reliability of the test in order to get valid and reliable data.

3.7.1 Validity of the Test

A test can be considered valid if the test measures the objectives to be measured and suitable with the criteria (Hatch and Farhady, 1982: 250). According to the Hatch and Farhady (1982: 281) there are two basic types of validity; content validity and construct validity. In order to measure whether the test has a good validity, those two types of validity will be analyzed.

Content validity is concerned with whether the test is sufficiently representative and comprehensive for the test. In the content validity, the material given was suitable with the curriculum. Content validity is the extent to which a test measures a representative sample of the subject meter content, the focus of content validity is adequacy of the sample and simply on the appearance of the test (Hatch and Farhady, 1982: 251). This study used recount writing test that was supposed to be comprehended by the second year of junior high school students. The test was considered as valid in content validity since the test of writing constitutes a representatives sample of the language skill and structure and also the material used were chosen based on 2006 English Curriculum of KTSP for second year junior high school.

Construct Validity is concerned with whether the test is actually in line with the theory of what it means to know the language that is being measured, it would be examined whether the test given actually reflect what it means to know a language. In this research, scoring criteria was based on the three aspects of writing; organization, vocabulary, and language use that were suggested by the notion suggested by Jacobs et al (1981: 90).

3.7.2 Reliability of the Test

Hatch and Farhady (1982:243) established that the reliability of a test can be defined as the extent to which a test produces consistent result when it administered under similar conditions. In order to ensure the reliability of scores and to avoid the subjectivity of the research, there will be inter-rater reliability. Inter-rater reliability was used when score on the test is independently estimated by two or more judges or raters. In this case, the first rater was researcher and the second writer was English teacher of SMPN 13 Bandar Lampung, Dharmayanti, S.Pd. Before scoring the students’ recount text writing, it is important to make sure that both raters used the same criteria of scoring. Hereby, the first and the second rater used scoring criteria devised from Jacobs et al (1981: 90).

To measure how reliable the scoring was, this study used Spearman Rank Correlation with the formula that can be described as follows:

r= 1 -

) 1 (

. . 6

2 2





N N

d

Notes:

r : Coefficient of rank correlation d : Difference of rank correlation

N : Number of students

(Sugiyono, 2006: 228)

In this case, the coefficient of rank correlation was analyzed with the standard of reliability as follows:

1. 0.80 - 1.0 : very high reliability 2. 0.60 - 0.79 : high reliability 3. 0.40 - 0.59 : medium reliability 4. 0.20 - 0.39 : low reliability 5. 0.0 – 0.19 : very low reliability (Arikunto, 1998: 260)

The writing tests are considered reliable if the tests reached the range of 0.60-0.79 (high reliability). The result of the calculation showed that the reliability coefficient of the pre-test and post-test was acceptable. It can be seen from the table below:

Table 1. Result of Reliability Test of Pre-test and Post-test

Aspect of Writing Organization

(r-value)

Grammar (r-value)

Vocabulary (r-value)

Pre-test 0.939 0.937 0.882

Post-test 0.896 0.943 0.872

According to the table above, it is found that the reliability coefficient of pre-test of organization, grammar and vocabulary are 0.939, 0.937, and 0.881 respectively. Meanwhile, the reliability coefficient of post-test of organization, grammar, and vocabulary were 0.896, 0.943, and 0.872 respectively. Based on the standard criteria list, all of those tests were considered as very highly reliable and, therefore could be used in this research.

3.8 Hypothesis Testing

The hypothesis testing was used to prove whether the hypothesis proposed in this research is accepted or not. SPSS was used to know the significance improvement of treatment effect. The hypothesis is analyzed at significance level of 0.05 in which the hypothesis is approved if Sig < α. It means that probability of error in hypothesis is only about 5%. The hypotheses are stated as follows:

1. H0 : There is no significant improvement of the students’ writing

ability in term of organization after being taught by using outlining strategy

H1 : There is a significant improvement of the students’ writing ability

in term of organization after being taught by using outlining strategy 2. H0 : There is no significant improvement of the students’ writing

ability in term of grammar after being taught by using outlining strategy H1 : There is a significant improvement of the students’ writing ability

in term of grammar after being taught by using outlining strategy 3. H0 : There is no significant improvement of the students’ writing

ability in term of vocabulary after being taught by using outlining strategy

H1 : There is a significant improvement of the students’ writing ability

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

In relation to this study, there are several points of theories and previous studies which should be reviewed. Some concepts are described in order to give similar understanding. Thus, this chapter discusses about concept of writing, concept of recount text, concept of recount text based on aspects of writing, concept of outlining strategy in relation to recount text, concept of teaching writing, procedure of teaching writing through outlining strategy, advantages and disadvantages of outlining strategy. By referring to those concepts theoretical assumption and hypothesis can be concluded.

2.1 Concept of Writing

Writing is a process of communication that uses conventional graphic system to convey a message to readers (Linderman, 1983:11). Writing skill deals with the ability to arrange the graphic system such as letter, words, and sentences of certain language being used in written communication in order that reader can understand the massage or information. This also means that writing is used for communicating ones idea in written form to readers. In other words, the form of communication by using written language such as: words, sentences, and punctuations is so that the readers can understand the information.

Moreover, according to Tarigan (1987:7), writing is the language skill that is used in the indirect communication. It implies that the students can communicate their ideas to the others through written form such as letter, message, or invitation for communication. Thus, writing is basically the process of expressing ideas and thoughts of the writer using knowledge of structure and vocabulary to combine the writer’s idea as means of communication. All of these activities can be done without face to face communication.

In addition, Finnocchiaro and Bonomo (1973:120) established the definition of writing as follows:

“When we say writing we mean primarily the carefully guided marks on paper that we assist our students in making unless we are teaching a course in creative writing or advanced composition”.

Based on the definition above, it can be suggested that writing is an activity in which a person express his or her ideas, thought, expressions, and feelings which is used for communicating to the readers in the form of written words. Hence, the teacher must guide the students in learning writing carefully, because the students are creative in expressing their ideas, thoughts, experiences, and feelings. Murcia (1978:129) said that there are principles of writing in order to write. They include what to say, how to sequence what to say and how to express what we say. Referring to the statement, it can be said that in writing, students must be able to express their idea and describe it in sequence and communicative way.

In short, it was concluded that writing is a way to produce language that comes from our thought in the written form. By using writing, we can share our idea, feeling or anything that exist in our mind to the others.

2.2 Concept of Recount Text

According to Derewianka (1990), the focus of recount text is on the sequence of the events, all of which relate to a particular occasion. Recount text is one of the texts that recalls and reconstructs events, experiences and achievements from the past in a logical sequence. All recounts reconstruct the past, but the purpose, audience and focus will vary according to the form used.

Recounts generally follow similar structure, but the students should be guided by the purpose for an audience of their text in their use of the following structure:

1. Orientation

The orientation provides all necessary background information to enable the audience to make sense of the text. To ensure that the orientation is

detailed and thorough, the wh- questions who, what, when, where, and why

are used. The author needs to gives information about what happened, who or what was involved, when and where the events occurred and why. An awareness of audience and purpose will assist the writer in selecting the amount of detailed information needed.

2. Series of events

Series of events relate to the set of what actually happened written chronologically based on the ideas given in the orientation. It begins from the first event, followed by the second event to the last event. The number of events depends on the creativity of the writer. Events should be selected carefully to provide the reader understanding of the topic. Students should be prepared to discard events and details that are unimportant or uninteresting. A recount, in most cases, is more than a ‘shopping list’ of every possible detail. Students should be guided to select only those events that are relevant and that can be expanded through the inclusion of specific details.

3. Re-orientation (optional)

The final section concludes the recount by summarizing outcomes or results, evaluating the topic’s importance of offering personal comment or opinion. It can be also look to the future by speculating about what might happen next. Nevertheless, not all of recount text was closed by re-orientation. It is optional.

According to Derewianka (1990) quoted by Miranti (2008: 16), there are five types of recount text as follows:

1. Personal Recount

It tells about activities whereas the writer or speaker involves or do by her or himself (e.g., oral anecdote, diary entry). This kind of recount uses the

first pronouns (e.g. I, we). Personal responses to the events can be

included, particularly at the end. Details are often chosen to add interest or humor. The following is the example of personal recount:

A Terrible Railway Station

This morning with my hands full of bags, I went to the railway station to catch my train at 10:00. I went there with a cab. To my surprise, when I just stepped my feet outside the cab, I could see a terrible huge crowd inside the railway station. As soon as I got myself into the crowd, I could smell millions of odor smells that were really horrible. I could not help myself to get rid of that because my hands were full with luggage. I just squeezed myself between two Chinese people and managed to pull myself out of the crowd onto the bridge to the railway station. I was luck as I have booked the ticked to Alor Seter. So I did not bother to queue up for a ticket.

Taken from (http://www.text-types.com/2011/03/example-of-recount-terrible-railway.html)

2. Factual Recount

It records the particulars of an incident (e.g. report of science experiment, police report, news report, historical account). A factual recount is concerned with recalling events accurately. It can range from everyday tasks such as school accident report to a formal, structured research tasks such as a historical recount. The emphasis is on using language that is precise, factual, and detailed, so that the reader gains a complete picture of the event, experience or achievement.

This type uses the third person pronouns (i.e. he, she, it and they). Details

accurately. Sometimes the ending describes the outcomes of the activity (e.g. science experiment). Details of time, place and manner may need to

be precisely stated (e.g. at 2.45 pm., between Kartini street and Sudirman

street, the man drove at 95 km/h). The passive voice may be used (e.g. the book was returned by him), it may be appropriate to include explanations and justifications. Here is the example of factual recount :

Bali Bomb

The bomb, in the resort of Kuta, destroyed the Sari Club and a crowded nightspot. Many people have fallen victims to this blast. Many of them were foreign tourists, especially from Australia. They were burner beyond recognition. Some tourist who were at the scene of the blast said there were two explosions around the nightclub. One bomb had exploded outside Paddy’s Bar before a Bar bomb hit the Sari Club which was located some meters away.

Hundred were injured in the explosion and about 220 Australians remain unaccounted for. The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said that 33 Britons were among those killed in the Bali attack. The Australian Primer Minister, John Howard, called its borders, saying it had been a problem for a long time.

Lists of missing people have been posted in Bali and official said that it could take days to identity all the victims, some of whom were trapped in the Sari Club by a wall of flames. A notice board at the hospital in Bali includes a section called “Unknown Identity” and detailed list on victims such as : “Young girl in intensive care, 11-14 years old, face burned, income, Causation,” or “Girl in intensive care, about 5 years old, 130 cm, fair skin, Caucasian with reddish brown hair. She has a purplish belly button ring.”

Many embassies, including the British and the American, are advising their people to cancel spending their planned holidays in Indonesia, and all U.S. citizens in the country have been told to leave including diplomats and non-essential government staff.

3. Imaginative Recount

Imaginative or literary recounts entertain the reader by recreating the events of an imaginary world as though they are real. Emotive language, specific detail and first person narration are used to give the writing impact and appeal. The following is the example of an imaginative recount:

A Day in My Life without Feminism

To imagine a day in my life without feminism is nearly impossible. I was born in 1991, and by the time I became an adult, decades had already passed since women in the United States gained their rights. I’ve been fortunate enough that I have not had to experience the full extent of the oppression of women. I’m a very opinionated, outspoken woman, and if I did not have feminism, there would be many limitations on my means of self expression. No female in this country would have any of the rights they have today.

As strong-willed as I am, I value my right to vote dearly. Not only am I pleased that I can vote, but also that I’m able to engage in serious political conversations or run for a political office, if I’d like. If the Women’s Rights Movement had not occurred, I would not be eligible to vote or run for office. Moreover, any opinions I may offer regarding politics would be instantly dismissed. I imagine that I would feel as if my government thinks I am not important, which would likely cause me to rebel, after which I would be imprisoned, as so many women were.

Taken from (http://community.feministing.com/2011/09/13/a-day-in-my-life-without-feminism/)

4. Procedural Recount

A procedural recount records the steps taken in completing a task or procedure. The use of technical terms, an accurate time sequence and first person narration (I and we), give credibility to the information provided. Examples include a flow chart of the actions required for making bread, a

story board of videotaped script or advertisement, the steps taken to solve mathematical problem. Here is the example of procedural recount:

Planting Beans

We wanted to grow beans, so we went to the shop and bought a packet of bean seeds. Then we brought them home and planted them in the garden. We watered them every few days and when they grew wee picked them. Then we sent them to the fruit market. Someone bought them and took them home and ate them.

Taken from (http:www.linglit.tu-darmstadt.de/fileadmin/linglit/teich/hs-reg-session3.pdf)

5. Biographical Recount

A biographical recount tells the story of person’s life by using third person

pronouns (he, she and they). In the case of an autobiography, first person

pronouns (I, we) are sometimes used. It is factually accurate and it records

specific names, times, places, and events. A purely factual, informative biography, however, would lack the appeal provided by personal responses and memorable anecdotes. There is often an evaluation of the subject’s achievements in the final section. Here is the example of biographical recount:

Biography of Marion Barber

Marion Barber was born on June 9, 1983, and growing up in Minnesota. He attended Wayzata High School in Minnesota, and excelled in football, baseball, and track. Then, he attended the University of Minnesota, where he majored in Business Marketing.

In his college football career, Marion Barber would earn myriad honors and broke numerous records to boot. Marion Barber’s 3,276 yards and 14 100-yard rushing games ranked third in Minnesota Golden Gophers history.

Marion Barber hit the big time when the Dallas Cowboys selected him as the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Fans with Dallas Cowboys tickets

watched Marion Barber emerge as a starter, rushing for 95 yards against the Seattle Seahawks and 127 yards against the Arizona Cardinals, which was the first 100-yard rushing game of the season for the Dallas Cowboys. He and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $45 million. His stats will continue to improve and impress his teammates, coaches, and fans with Dallas Cowboys tickets.

Taken from (http://understandingtext.blogspot.com/2011/07/example-of-recount-text-biohraphy-of.html)

From five types of recount text above, the focus of the research is on personal recount since it was considerably suitable for Junior High School level and fit to the recent Curriculum. In relation to this, the language features that are used in recount text can be described as follows:

1. Simple past tense is used in most recounts, but present tense may be used

to create immediacy. For example in diary and journal. Future tense is sometimes used in the conclusion of an imaginative or biographical recount to predict what might happen in the future, for example, “This great football team will no doubt win many more tournaments”.

2. Subject-specific terms (i.e., topography, economic, larva, etc.) are used to

record facts and events accurately. They also add authenticity and credibility to the tone of writing.

3. Specific descriptive words (i.e., the use of adjectives and adverbs) help the

audience visualize or imagine events. For instance, “The luxurious red car moved very slowly”. In a factual recount or accident report, adjectives provide necessary detail for an accurate recount.

4. A range of conjunctions (e.g., because, although, and, or) is used to link clauses within sentences.

5. Time connectives or transition signals (firstly, secondly, then, next, after,

finally) are used to link separate events or paragraphs into cohesive whole text.

6. Passive voice is used, particularly in factual recounts, to give objectivity to

the text. For example, “The girl was hit by car”.

7. Adverbs (yesterday, outside, slowly, quickly, etc.) and adverbial phrases.

For instance, “In 1990, on top of the mountain”. Adverbs are used to indicate specific times and places.

8. Specific participants (nouns and pronouns; i.e., Laguna Beach, Mr. John,

Susi, etc.).

Here is another example of personal recount text:

Hi, every body. Let me tell you something. Last night I went to my neighbour’s wedding party with my family. You know, it was the wedding party of my dad’s boss’ son.

Well, in the party I had rawon and sate madura. It’s really nice to have them in a traditional wedding like this one. Then I had, you know what, some dawet ayu. After that, I sang for the happy couple.

At about 09.15 we went home. We arrived home rather late. I felt really very happy.

(Taken from from Bahasa Inggris Book for Junior high School)

Orientation:

Hi, every body. Let me tell you something. Last night I went to my neighbour’s wedding party with my family. You know, it was the wedding party of my dad’s boss’ son.

Series of events:

Event 1:

Well, in the party I had rawon and sate madura. It’s really nice to have them in a traditional wedding like this one.

Event 2:

Then I had, you know what, some dawet ayu.

Event 3:

After that, I sang for the happy couple.

Event 4:

At about 09.15 we went home. We arrived home rather late .

Re-orientation:

I felt really very happy.

Apparently, recount text has some aspects of an essay such as introduction as seen in the orientation, supporting details reflected in the series of events, and then conclusion as seen in re-orientation.

2.3 Concept of Effective Writing in Recount Text

In the process of writing, the writer can be concluded successful if their writing contains some aspects of writing. Cali and Bowen (2003) highlighted that there

are five features which determine the effective writing. The five features can be represented in the following biographical recount text:

Biography of Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in a small town, Freiberg, Moravia. When he was four or five, the family moved to Vienna, where he lived most of his life. Freud founded the discipline of psychoanalysis. An early neurological researcher into cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy,

After spending a short time as a resident in neurology and director of a children's ward in Berlin, he came back to Vienna, married his fiancée of many years Martha Bernays, and set up a practice in neuropsychiatry, with the help of Joseph Breuer.

Freud later developed theories about the unconscious mind and personality development. Freud’s theory of personality development involved 5 stages, the oral period, the anal period, the phallic period, the latency period and the genital period, each of which the child must pass through in order to fully develop and if they did not pass through each stage successfully then they might become fixated, which can later be manifested as immature behaviour.

Taken from (http://writingworkshop.edtec.unsw.edu.au/style.html)

1. Focus is the foundation for constructing a piece of writing. Focus involves

more than just knowing what people story is about, but understanding why people are writing it in the first place. The focus of the biographical recount

above is Sigmund Freud.

2. Organization is the structural framework of writing. It deals with the logical

progression and the completeness of ideas in a text. The paragraphs above have a good coherence in which it is indicated by the transitional signal such as after, and later.

3. Support and Elaboration consists of the specific details and information

Theory on the last paragraph is supported and elaborated well as it’s seen in the next sentences,

“Freud’s theory of personality development involved 5 stages, the oral period, the anal period, the phallic period, the latency period and the genital period, each of which the child must pass through in order to fully develop and if they did not pass through each stage successfully then they might become fixated, which can later be manifested as immature behavior”.

4. Mechanics is considered as a style in which the way composition is written to

fit the specific context, purpose or audience. For examples, In order to write an effective paragraph the writer should avoid excessively long sentences by means of applying appropriate punctuation. Here is the following passage that consists of long sentences:

“Freud’s theory of personality development involves 5 stages, the oral period, the anal period, the phallic period, the latency period and the genital period, each of which the child must pass through in order to fully develop and if they do not pass through each stage successfully then they may become fixated, which can later be manifested as immature behavior”.

By shortening the sentence, and therefore writing separate sentences for each of the ideas, the above paragraph can be rewritten as follows:

“Freud’s theory of personality development involves 5 stages. These are the oral period, the anal period, the phallic period, the latency period and the genital period. The child must pass through each stage in order to fully develop. If they do not pass through each stage successfully then they may become fixated, which can later be manifested as immature behavior”.

5. Convention is the surface features of writing. It refers to usage and sentence

formation. Usage refers to convention of both written and spoken language that includes word order, verb tense, and subject-verb agreement. It can be seen from the paragraph above that every sentence has a correct subject-verb

town. Sentence formation refers to the structure of sentences, the way that

phrases and clauses are used to form simple and complex sentence.

Meanwhile, Jacobs et al (1981:90) pointed out that there are five aspects that should considered in assessing a composition. The five aspects can be described as follows:

1. Content refers to the substance of writing, the experience of the main idea

(unity), i.e., groups of related statements that a writer presents as unit in developing a subject. Content paragraph do the work of conveying ideas rather than fulfilling special function of transition, restatement, and emphasis.

2. Organization refers to the logical organization of the content (coherence).

It contains sentences that are logically arranged and flow smoothly. Logical arrangement refers to the order of the sentences and ideas.

3. Vocabulary refers to the selection of words those are suitable with the

content. It begins with the assumption that writer wants to express the ideas as clearly and directly as he or she can. As a general rule, clarity should be his or her primary objective. The selection of words that expresses his or her meaning precisely is considered much rather than skews it or blurs it.

4. Language use refers to the use of the correct grammatical and syntactic

pattern on separating, combining, and grouping ideas in words phrases, clauses, and sentences to bring out logical relationship in paragraph.

5. Mechanics refers to the use graphic conventional of the language. For instance, the steps of arranging letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, punctuation and capitalization.

Furthermore, Hedge (1999: 5) established the most important aspects that should be considered in order to make effective paragraph writing. Hedge stated:

“… effective writing requires a number of things: a high degree of organization in the development of ideas and information, a high degree of accuracy so that there is no ambiguity of meaning; the use of complex grammatical devices for focus and emphasis; and a careful choice of vocabulary, grammatical patterns and sentence structures to create a style which is appropriate to the subject matter and the eventual readers.”

In other words, a successful writing is decided by organization deals with development ideas and information, vocabulary refers to high degree of accuracy of word choice, and grammar deals with appropriate sentence structure.

Referring to the explanation above, It was decided that the evaluation of student’s paragraph writing are based on the idea suggested by Hedge (1999) because it’s considerably suited for Junior High School level. There were three aspects of writing that is considered as the criteria to evaluate students’ ability in writing recount text. To be clearer, here is the example of a recount text that reflects three aspects of writing proposed by Hedge (1981):

Dear Grandpa and Grandma,

Yesterday, we had an International day at my school. We had performances, food stalls, displays, raffle ticket draw, and some of us were dressed in costumes.

First of all, we started our day off with performances but the one I liked best was the one from fourth grade. We played games. The performance I was in was Labamba.

Straight after our performances we had our lunch. There were food stalls. They came from Australia, Asia, Arab, and Greece. Everyone had a job. These people were from sixth grade. I did my job after I had lunch. My job was to sell International Day Books.

Then, we had displays in the hall. These displays were good but I did not get to see them. The displays came from a lot of countries. There was also a Trash and Treasure stall where they sold toys. The school got these things by asking the children to bring them in.

Although I did not win anything, International Day was still fun.

(Adopted from Bahasa Inggris Book for Junior high School)

Referring to the example above, the reader can identify the three aspects of writing. Firstly, the term organization is related to the sentences that are logically arranged and flow smoothly. Logical arrangement refers to the order of the sentences and ideas. Smooth flow refers to how well the one idea or sentence leads into another. Smooth flow can be gained through combination of sentence and the use of certain expression called transitions which provide the links

between the ideas. Some transitional expressions include for example, first of all,

after, then. These bridge the gaps between the paragraphs. Some of the sentences have been combined as well. Combining sentences and adding transitions make the ideas and sentences easier to flow.

The second aspect is vocabulary which refers to suitable words choice or diction in order to convey ideas to the reader. The words choice used in the paragraph above communicate effectively and make favorable impression on the readers for

The last aspect is grammar. It is identified from the construction of well-formed sentences. All sentences that used in the paragraph above grammatically correct and understandable in the means of verb agreement and conjunction. For example: “These displays were good but I did not get to see them”.

In brief, it can be confirmed that in order to have an effective writing in the term of recount paragraph, the paragraph should contain three aspects of writing that is considered as the most important. They are organization, vocabulary, and grammar.

2.3 Concept of Outlining Strategy in Relation to Recount Text

An outline is an organizational strategy that provides a frame of the ideas one wants to communicate (Reid, 1994:86). Referring to this statement, it can be said that an outline facilitates writers to express ideas in written form. Thus, making an outline has a strong relationship with one’s writing ability in which this strategy is considered to improve one’s ability in writing.

Furthermore, Smalley and Reutten (1986: 154) stated about a concept that an outline is a skeleton of the essay; it is the structure around which the details and explanations are organized. Outlines are essentially topic sentences in general with the supporting sentences written out in separated lines. It can be said that making outline before writing is important in order to guide the paragraphs to be

well organized and each paragraph discusses only one topic sentence. In other words, the supporting sentences should be in line with the topic sentence.

In addition, Reid (1994:87) stated that there are two purposes of outlining the materials (fact, example, experience) for paragraph. First, the outline makes the focus and evidence of the paragraph clearer for the writer; it is therefore easier to determine whether or not the support for the opinions and/or information in the paragraph is sufficient. Second, organizing paragraph by using an outline makes the actual paragraph easier for the reader to comprehend.

In relation to the concept of outlining strategy, Oliver et al (1962: 129-131) defined two basic types of outline. They are:

a. Topical Outline

As its name implies, states all the points in the outlines as the topics, words, or phrases. This type of outline is adequate when the subject is not complex and the word or phrase readily makes clear the idea you are dealing with.

b. Complete-Sentence Outline

The complete-structure outline states all main points, major sub-points, and sometimes subsidiary sub-points as complete sentences. It represents the best structure for many ideas as well as the best means for analyzing the support relationship between your ideas.

This study focused on the use of topical outline as the strategy to improve students’ recount text writing ability since it is adequate to be used by junior high school students. Topical outline was considered suitable for beginner and intermediate level of foreign language learners.

In relation to the outline, again the use of recount text as the media was based on the reasonable consideration. Recount text consists of the structures which are called orientation, series of events, and re-orientation. Those are similar with the structure of outline form for the essential paragraph or an essay. Here is a suggestion for a topical outline form for planning a paragraph:

I. Topic Sentence:(The central idea that is stated in one sentence in paragraph. It has a function of introduction at the beginning of paragraph)

II. Supporting points: (They clarify, describe and explain the topic sentence) A. First Supporting Points

B. Second Supporting Points C. Third Supporting Points

III. Concluding Sentence: (To signal the end of the paragraph, it summarize the main point of the paragraph)

(Oshima et al, 1981 quoted by Saraka. 1988: 154) Here is a suggestion for an outline form for planning as essay:

Introduction: Write out the general thesis statement in a complete sentence. I. Write out the first developmental paragraph topic sentence

a. Identify the support. This can be detail or an idea that the paragraph will discuss.

b. If you have another details or example you are going to discuss in this paragraph. Mention it here.

II. Write out the second topic sentence. a. Support

III.Write out the third topic sentence. a. Support

b. Support

Conclusion: restate or summarize the thesis statement

(Smalley and Reutten, 1986:154) Here is the generic structure of Recount text:

I. Orientation : (the introduction of identifying person or thing acted or got involved in the event including the time, a certain place, the situation, etc. It is giving the reader the background information needed to understand the text (i.e., who was involved, where it happened, when it happened)

II. Series of Events : a. Event 1 b. Event 2 c. Event 3

III.Re-orientation : (it contains personal comments on the incident. It has a function as the conclusion of the text)

(Derewianka, 1990)

The principles of paragraph organization are similar to those for essay and recount text organization. If a paragraph contains a topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence, then an essay may consist of introductory paragraph, body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph, while recount text conveys orientation, series of events, and re-orientation in similar way. In essence, the paragraph, essay and recount text have the closely related structure.

Thesis statement of an essay is similar to topic sentence of the paragraph and orientation in recount text. Those are the most important sentence of an essay, a paragraph and recount text. Those should reflect the entire essay or paragraph. Furthermore, the topic sentences of the essay are the same as the supporting

(They explain what actually happened on the incident and they are ordered in chronological sequence)

sentences of paragraph and the series of events of recount text. The difference is that topic sentences of an essay support and develop thesis statement and supporting sentences of a paragraph support and develop the topic sentence, while the series of events of a recount text explain the orientation. The last part is conclusion. Both of essay and paragraph has a conclusion and recount text has re-orientation in the same way. In short, the thought presented among paragraph, recount text, and essay is closely related.

The relationship of the outline structure between essential paragraph and recount text can be illustrated by the following picture which was modified from idea suggested by Oshima (1981: 78) quoted by Saraka (1988: 192):

Figure. 1 Relationship of the Outline Structure between Essential Paragraph and Recount Text

PARAGRAPH

Topic Sentence

A. SUPPORT

B. SUPPORT

C. SUPPORT

Concluding Sentence Orientation

A.Event 1

B.Event 2

C.Event 3

Re-orientation

At a quick glance, the outline can reveal that the development of a paragraph will be coherent and unified. It can be seen from the following paragraph outline:

Topic sentence: I found three helpful people on my first day at State University. A. The first person was Mrs. Stanton who helped me register at the

dormitory, showed me around and explained of the dormitory rules. B. Another kind person was Robert Long who took me over to the

administration building to help me find an advisor.

C. The last helpful person was Dr. Torres, my advisor who gave me all necessary information.

Conclusion: In summary, these three people made me feel welcome and at home at my first day

The concrete paragraph based on the outline above may be like the following:

I found three helpful people who saved me from total confusing on my first day at State University. The first person was Mrs. Stanton who helped me register at the dormitory, showed me around and explained of the dormitory rules. Another kind person was Robert Long who took me over to the administration building to help me find an advisor. The last helpful person was Dr. Torres, my advisor who gave me all necessary information about registering for classes, purchasing books and International Students Association. In summary, these three people made me feel welcome and at home at my first day.

Here is the example of an outline of the essay:

Thesis statement: Three people saved me from total confusion.

I. The first person who helped me was the director of a dormitory, Mrs. Stanton.

a.Helped me register. b.Showed me around. c. Explain rules.

II. I met another kind person, Robert Long. a.Offered help.

b.Took me to the administration building. c. Gave me his phone number.

III. My advisor, Dr. Torres, proved to be extremely helpful. a.Explained how to register and what to expect at State. b.Told me about the International Students Association. c. Offered his help any time that I needed him.

Conclusion: These three people made me feel welcome and at home.

B. Suggestions

In reference with the conclusions above, the writer gives some suggestions as follow:

1. Suggestions for English Teachers

a. This study found that outlining strategy can significantly improve students’ ability in writing recount text particularly in term of organization. English teachers are therefore suggested to apply outlining strategy as the alternative way to improve students’ recount text writing ability because outlining strategy can help the students to express their ideas into written form coherently since an outline provides frame of ideas which leads students to sequence their ideas in systematical and logical way.

b. According to the result of the study, the lowest mean score was in the grammar aspect. It may be caused by the lack of exercise carried out by the teacher. Henceforth, it is suggested that the teacher should pay more attention to improve students’ writing ability in term of grammar by giving explanation and exercises about tense, verb agreement, prepositions and composing simple and complex construction.

c. The second lowest mean score was in vocabulary aspect. This is reasonable because the students were not used to consult dictionary when they encountered difficult or new words. Thus, it is suggested that the teacher should give more care to improve students’ writing

2. Suggestions for Further Research

a. Due to its similar outline structure with essential paragraph, recount text was employed as the media to measurestudents’ writingability by utilizing outlining strategy. Further research can try to investigate whether outlining strategy can be applicable with another kind of text, descriptive and report text for instances.

b. Since this study was conducted in the level of Junior High School, the focus of this study is mainly and restrictively on organization, grammar and vocabulary. Therefore, in order to get more comprehensive analysis, it may be much better for other researchers who intend to conduct similar research to focus on wider range aspects of writing such as content, style, and mechanic.

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