Hasni Annisa, 2013 TEACHERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
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3.2.1 Research Design
This research attempts to investigate the kind of difficulties in teaching writing descriptive texts faced by the 10
th
grade teachers. The approach used in this research belongs to the qualitative approach because it fits perfectly with the following
description and explanation. According to Creswell 2007, in qualitative approach, a case is for a specific period of time using a detailed and in-depth data collection, and
produces the final result of a case description. In this research, descriptive case study is used as the research design. Yin
2003:13 defined case study as “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between
phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.” This research discussed one case teachers‟ difficulties and displayed a brief description of the phenomenon based on
the data collected. 3.2.2 Research Site and Participants
3.2.2.1 Research Site
This study was conducted in a senior high school in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung. The school was chosen mainly because of its accessibility to the researcher.
Although Pangkal Pinang was the capital of Bangka Belitung Province, the city itself was not as big and advanced as metropolitan cities like Bandung or Jakarta, yet it was
not too small or isolated. It was assumed that this condition would provide a unique
circumstance to the schools, which was another consideration to conduct the study
Hasni Annisa, 2013 TEACHERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
there. The school chosen for this study was not as advanced as other big cities in Indonesia, in terms of school facilities, other supporting facilities, and its social
environment. It meant that the students and teachers in the school might have a more difficult situation, in terms of supporting facilities, resources, and social context of
schooling, compared to other schools in big cities.
3.2.2.2 Participants of the Study
The participants in this study were two English teachers in a senior high school in Pangkal Pinang who taught the tenth grade students. Tenth grade students in
Indonesia typically face a new learning environment, which is more demanding and more complex than what they encounter in junior high school. Furthermore, the
students were supposed to have had some experiences and knowledge about English fro
m their study in junior high school, which might affect the teachers‟ level of expectation, and thus the teachers‟ strategies, in teaching them. The teachers were
chosen for this study for several reasons: first, they had experience as English teacher for several years; second, they were of different group age, which might provide
different views on the matter being studied; and finally, they were willing to fully participate as respondents in this study.
In order to keep the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents, a coding method was used to describe the teachers involved in this study. Table 3.1
contained the profile of the teachers.
Hasni Annisa, 2013 TEACHERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
Table 3.1 English Teachers’ Profile in a Senior High School in Pangkal Pinang
a. T1
