45
48.8 – 55.6
Fair 14
41.9 – 48.7
Poor 7
Poor 27
65.85 35
– 41.8 Very poor
6
Mean 51.46
From the table of the students’ pre-test scores above, it could be concluded
that the results had not met the expectation yet as the mean value of students’
writing scores was below the ideal mean 51.46 55.5. This just indicated that there were still a lot of works ahead for the researcher to do.
4. Determining Actions to Overcome the Selected Problems
Once the field problems were found and formulated, the researcher as well as the English teacher collaboratively discussed the best solution for the matter at
hand. Even though it was best to try to solve all the problems in the field, the researcher also had to consider the restriction of time, finance, and her capability
to conduct the research so she could only focus on the four problems that had already been labeled as highly feasible and leave the others for the time being.
The researcher had found that the problems in writing which were faced by the students were complex. Therefore, considering the problems in the field, the
researcher proposed several plans to overcome them. For this study, the researcher had decided to apply cooperative learning
method. It had been proven that working in groups or teams could make people, especially children, be more active in thinking and doing things. Even though the
use of cooperative learning in writing activities could take so much time, it was considered well worth it for the benefits it could make.
46
There were many types of cooperative learning. In this case, the researcher specifically used Student Team Achievement Division STAD. This was the best
choice among some other cooperative learning structures as STAD would be very effective for learners with different levels of ability.
The above statement also became the reason why the pre-test results held an important part in this study for they were the base of how the researcher
divided the students into groups. By using STAD, it was easier for the researcher to divide the students equally so that each group could accommodate learners who
had different levels of writing skills. The students did a lot of writing activities whether they were in the form of
simple tasks such as getting information from a sample of descriptive text, arranging jumbled words, filling in the blanks, or in the form of more difficult
tasks like describing a picture in several simple sentences or a full paragraph. Furthermore, to increase students’ English language skills, the researcher
also gave them integrated materials containing things such as vocabulary, grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. The researcher also needed to
consult the plans to the teacher to get suggestions.
Table 3. Necessary Actions to Overcome the Selected Problems No.
Selected Problems Actions
1. The students had difficulties
in generating ideas during writing process.
STAD was used to stimulate students’
responses as their peers helped them in the process and prompt them to be more
active in thinking as well as doing things writing.
2. The s
tudents’ vocabulary mastery was low.
The students were required to bring and use proper dictionaries. They were also
given related vocabulary in several
