23 5.
Real writing Real writing aims at the genuine communication of messages to an
audience in need of the message. Real writing can be in the forms of an academic writing, vocational or technical, and personal scope.
Based on the theory above, it can be concluded that there are five types of classroom writing performances which have different levels of difficulty. In
writing class, the teacher can teach the students the five types of classroom writing performances from the easiest one to the most difficult one.
e. The Roles of Teachers in Writing
Teachers have important roles in teaching writing. There are many kinds of teachers’ roles in different types of classroom writing performances. According
to Brown 2001:340, the role of teachers must be as facilitators and coaches, not authoritative directors and arbiters. As facilitators, teachers should offer guidance
on helping the students to engage in the thinking process of composing but still respect their opinions. In this role, teachers have to be able to guide the students
on understanding their writing and help them in every stage of the processes of making a good writing. In giving them guidance, teachers still have to give the
students opportunities to speak out their ideas and opinions so that they can learn to develop their ideas. Furthermore, Reid 1993:273 points out that instead of
entering the conversation of composing, drafting, their interests and experiences, it is better for teachers to provide
feedback that respects students’ values and
24 beliefs. Based on the theory, teachers should not act as the only ones who control
the activity and the writing process in the class because the students also have to develop their own ideas and their critical thinking. Teachers should provide
guidance and feedback for the students in the process of writing. Teachers have to realize that they have important roles in every stage of
the writing processes to help the students to produce a good piece of writing. In relation to teachers
’ roles, Harmer 2001:261-262 adds some of the teachers’ roles in teaching writing. They are 1 teachers as motivators, 2 teachers as
resources, 3 teachers as feedback providers. For the first role, as motivators,teachers should be able to motivate the
students in learning. They also have to create a comfortable classroom atmosphere that will make the students feel comfortable in order to help them to generate the
ideas. Teachers also should persuade and tell the students about the importance of the activities that are done. They also have to encourage the students to always put
much effort and work hard in order to get maximum result. A creative writing activity can be one of interesting activities that can be used by teachers in order to
motivate students in learning writing. The second role is teachers as resources. As resources, teachers are one
of students’ sources during the processes of writing. Teachers should be able to supply students with information that they do not know yet or information that
can be the topic of the writing. Besides providing information, teachers also should be ready to supply language because students need various vocabulary to
25 write their work. In this role, teachers are available for giving advice and
suggestions for the students in a constructive and tactful way during the process. It can be said that teachers should provide enough knowledge for the students to
help them in each stage of writing processes. They also should always be available in the process of writing to help students and give them advice.
The third role is as feedback providers. Giving feedback is very important in writing as students can reflect from the feedback given by teachers.
Teachers should respond and comment positively and encouragingly to the content of what the students have written. In giving feedback, teachers should
know and choose what and how much to focus on what students need at this particular stage of their studies and on the tasks they have undertaken. In
conclusion, teachers should give useful feedback for the students that still respect their opinions.
As summary, teachers have important roles in teaching writing. Teachers have to realize and be responsible to their roles as facilitators, motivators,
resources, and feedback providers.
f. Teaching Writing in Junior High School
According to the school-based curriculum that is developed by BSNP 2006 the purposes of teaching English in Junior High School in Indonesia are:
1 developing the stu dents’ oral competence and writing competence in order to
achieve functional literation level,
