The Identification of the Problem

D. Formulations of the Problem

How can photographs enhance the students‟ writing performance of seventh grade students at SMP N 4 Magelang ?

E. The Objective of the Study

The objective of this research study is to improve the student s‟ writing performance of seventh grade students at SMP N 4 Magelang through photographs.

F. Significance of the Study

This study is expected to give some advantages to some parties 1. For the school principal of SMP N 4 Magelang, the result is expected to become the good inputs for implementing the same instructional media used in other relevant subjects. 2. For the English teacher in SMP N 4 Magelang, the result will be the reference how photographs can be used to enhance the student s‟ writing performance so that she could apply to her English class in future. 3. For the researcher, the result will give the experience for the researcher on how to use photographs in enhancing the student s‟ writing performance. 4. For the students, they could become motivate to express and write their idea without any difficulties again. 5. For other researchers in the same topic, they can use the result as the input to conduct other research. 6. Especially for material writers of textbook for seventh grade students in Junior high school, the result is expected to be beneficial references. While writing the textbooks, they will accommodate this kind of instructional media in order to make the textbooks looked more interesting. 9

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

A. LITERATURE REVIEW

1. The Teaching of Writing

a. The Nature of Writing

Before going further to the discussion of ways to enhance the students ‟ writing performance by using photographs, some experts‟ opinion about the writing skills will be presented here. Writing is classified as a productive skill especially in the written form. According to Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams 2003:26, writing involves the writers to convey their information or message into a text so that it will be understood by others. The information or messages which are conveyed should be well planned and organized so that the reader can get the point on what the writers‟ purpose in writing. It can be determined that writing reflects a form of communication to express experience, thoughts, and emotions in written form. Subsequently, Nunan 2003:88 adds that writing skills also involve a physical and a mental act. Mainly, the physical act of committing words or ideas is involved by writing through some media for instance an email message typed into a computer while the mental act is involved through the process of inventing ideas, thinking how to express them, even how to organize them becoming the right statement and paragraph so that the reader could get the ideas easily. This explanation seems to be in accordance