Grade VIII Students of SMPN 11 Magelang be improved by project-based learning?”
E. Objective of the Study
From the background, the identification, and the delimitation of the problems above, the objective of this study was to improve the writing skill of
grade VIII students of SMPN 11 Magelang through project-based learning.
F. Significance of the Study
The result of this study was expected to bring two kinds of significance in teaching and learning English i.e. theoretical significance and practical
significance. Theoretically, the result of the research could be useful to other researchers who want to conduct the same theme, i.e. improving the writing skill.
Besides, it would give a clear description on the implementation of using project- based learning in teaching writing.
Practically, the result of the research was expected to bring some benefits for the English teacher, the students, and the researcher. For the English teachers,
the result of this research could be used as a reference in order to improve the writing learning process. For the students, it could be useful for them to improve
their learning and ability of writing. For the researcher herself, she got the clear description of the implementation of improving the writing learning process
using project-based learning.
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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter presents theories which underlie this research. The discussion of this chapter is divided into two main parts: theoretical review and conceptual
framework. In the theoretical review, the researcher discusses some theories which are relevant to the topic. In the conceptual framework, the researcher
relates the theory to the study.
A. Literature Review
The theoretical review presents the relevant theoris of the study. It is presented in two subheadings. The first part discusses the nature of writing and
the second part discusses project-based learning.
1. Writing a. Definition of Writing
Sokolik in Linse 2005: 98 states that writing is all about a set of processes and products. According to Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams 2005:26,
writing is one of the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Writing is also one of the productive skills which involves communicating a
message in the form of letters and symbols. Communicating means sending certain information to others, therefore, a message must have a purpose. In other
words, writing produces a written product which has certain information. Hyland 2004: 09 explains that writing is a way to share personal meanings. People
construct their own views on topic. They will share their views on a topic to each other then.
Brown 2001 also states that a writing is a product of thinking, drafting, and revising that requires specialized skills on how to generate ideas, how to
organize them coherently, how to use discourse markers and rhetorical conventions to put then cohesively into a written text, how to revise a text for
clearer meaning, how to edit a text for appropriate grammar, and how to produce a final product. Wallace 2004 states that writing is the final product after students
learn several stages of writing separately before. From the definition above, it can be concluded that writing is one of the
productive skills which involves communicating a message, therefore, a message must have a purpose. Writing can be used to communicate the writer’s ideas to the
readers. And it requires specialized skills on how to generate ideas, how to organize them coherently, how to use discourse markers and rhetorical
conventions to put then cohesively into a written text, how to revise a text for clearer meaning, how to edit a text for appropriate grammar, and how to produce a
final product.
b. Characteristics of Written Language
Written language has some characteristics. According to Brown 2001, here are seven characteristics of written language.
1 Performance
Written language can be read and reread for many times. Writing works such as literart works, important documents, and letters from many years ago still
can be read at present.
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