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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
This research was aimed to improve the writing skill of the seventh grade students of SMP Institut Indonesia through the implementation of Genre-Based
Approach. This chapter highlights the research setting, type of research, data collection techniques, research validity, and data analysis.
A. Research Setting
The research was carried out in SMP Institut Indonesia through May-June 2015. The school is located in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The
school has five classrooms two classrooms for each grade 7 and 8, and 1 classroom for grade 9, a library, a science laboratory, a multi-purpose room, an
OSIS room, a counseling room, a teacher room, a head master room, a canteen, a ceremony field, a basketball field, and a garden. There are also two parking lots
one for the teachers and one for the students. Adjacent to the school, there are some local amenities i.e. a traditional
market, movie theater, RRI Office, hotels, restaurants, etc. In relation to teaching and learning of English, the presence of public amenities can be linked to the
41 content of what to teach to the children, because learning is more meaningful
when the learners can relate what they learn to the surroundings. There are twenty two teachers in the school and two of them teach
English: A. Insani Bhuana, S.Pd and Uswati Aniroh, S.Pd.. A. Insani Bhuana, S.Pd teaches grade 8 and 9, while Uswati Aniroh, S.Pd., who is a graduate of
Yogyakarta State University, teaches two classes of grade seven. There are twenty four students in class VII A. The class consists of 15
males and 9 females. Most of them are from family of low economy class. The VII A classroom is big enough for twenty four students to study. The
students were seated in pairs. There are a whiteboard, a blackboard, two fans, a flag, and framed paintings made by the students.
Most students do not have dictionaries. While the school owns a number of dictionaries in the library, the students hardly use them because there is no staff
or teacher to be in charge as a librarian to help students borrow the books. This is also the reason why the students of SMP Institut Indonesia do not use the English
textbooks provided by the government.
B. Type of Research
This study employed Action Research which involved the implementation of Genre-Based Approach GBA. Action research is a type of research that has
been used in many disciplines, including education. Stringer 2007 defined action research as a systematic approach to investigation that enables people to find
42 effective solutions to problems they confront in their everyday lives. In addition,
according to Lodico, et. Al. 2010 action research is a type of research that aims to enact immediate changes in an educational setting. Furthermore, McCutcheon
and Jung 1990 argued that action research is a systematic form of inquiry that is collective, collaborative, self-reflective, critical, and undertaken by the
participants of the inquiry. The purpose of an action research is to improve the practices conducted
within the educational experience Hopkins, 1993. The process begins with the development of questions, which may be answered by the collection of data. The
word “action” in action research implies that the practitioner will perform some sort of actions to achieve the objective. In other words, action research in this
context refers to a study in the field of education which is carried out to make positive changes and improvements by conducting planned actions.
This study adapted Stringer‟s research design 2007 as illustrated in the following figure:
Figure 4. Action Research Cycles by Ernest T. Stringer
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1. Look
The first step in conducting action research is „look‟ that refers to gathering data and observing the activities in the classroom. This step is carried
out in order to collect the information about the real situation of the teaching and learning process at class VII A of SMP Institut Indonesia. In the implementation,
this step was realized by observing the teaching and learning process, and interviewing the teacher and the students.
2. Think
The second step is „think‟ which refers to reflecting and analyzing the classroom activities. This step is carried out to identify problems related to
English teaching and learning. The problems are then classified to find the most feasible problem to be dealt with.
3. Act
The „act‟ refers to planning, teaching and evaluating. In this step the research collaborators and I as a team collaboratively plan the actions to deal with
the problems occurring in the classroom while considering the factors contributing to the problems. The planned actions include the implementation of GBA and
followed by evaluation of the actions. As Lodico et al 2010 define, action research is an ongoing process of
reflecting on practice, identifying problems, and formulating new research questions and action plans to remedy the problems. Consequently, after the
planned actions are completed and evaluated, I need to reflect on my actions to later identify problems that still exist in the teaching and learning process.
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