The Implementation of the Use of Pictures to Increase the Students’
36 the recount text and by giving the reading text as the recount example, the
handout, the worksheet, and the writing guidance, and also some pieces of paper for writing recount.
In the first meeting of cycle 1, while the researcher entered the class with three observers, the English teacher greeted the students and introduced the
researcher and the observers to the students. The researcher started the lesson by greeting the students to grab their attention. However, the students were still busy
and they were not paying attention to the researcher. So, the researcher greeted the students again by raising her voice volume. Next the researcher showed several
pictures about some tourism objects in Indonesia. The first picture was the mountain in Lombok. After showing the picture, the researcher asked the students
whether they had already been to mountain. Then most of students raised their hands and the researcher asked several students about what mountain that they
had visited before. Next, the researcher showed the picture of two tents near the mountain.
Next, the researcher asked the students whether they had ever gone camping or not. Some of the students answered yes and some of the students started to lose
their concentration especially for the girls. The girls were busy talking to the other girls and some others only kept silence. Next, the researcher showed the picture of
the paddy field and a Pura in Bali. Then, the researcher asked the students who had ever been to Bali. Many students answered yes and they seemed excited about
Bali. Since the students showed their excitement, the researcher asked some students about their experience while they were in Bali.
37 After showing some pictures and doing the set induction, the researcher
asked the students about what they were going to learn in that meeting. The researcher gave some clues based on the tourism object pictures. After that, some
students mentioned about holiday. Then, the researcher answered that they were true. Next, the teacher asked the students about what kind of text discussed related
to holiday. Then, two students answered “recount text”. Thereafter, the researcher
continued the lesson by giving the explanation about recount text from the purpose, the types, the generic structure, the language features and also the
example of recount text entitle My Holiday. After giving the example of recount text, the researcher asked all students
for reading each sentence one by one until all of the students got the chance to read. At that time, the researcher wanted to listen the
students‟ pronunciation. Many students made mispronunciation. Then, the researcher corrected the
pronunciation. Next, the researcher asked the students to find the past form verb which indicated the tense used in recount text. The researcher asked the students
to do the task individually. When the students did the task, the bell rang and the time of their lesson was over. So, the researcher closed the lesson by asking the
students about what they had learned on that day related to the recount text. Next, the researcher thanked the student
s for the students‟ participation during the class, Then, the researcher let the students enjoy their break time. Finally, it was the
learning activity of the first meeting in the first cycle. After the class was over, the researcher had a discussion with the observers related to the teaching and learning
38 activity. The observers gave some comments and also gave the observation sheet
to the researcher. On Thursday, April 9, 2015 the researcher continued the research by
teaching writing in class 8A. At that time, the researcher only gave limited time since the school would have an Easter Mass on the next day. Therefore, the
students should prepare the Mass by following the choir rehearsal. Thus, the school reduced the class hours from 40 minutes become 30 minutes per class
hour. Although the class hour was reduced, the researcher could make the writing activity in the class.
First the researcher began the lesson by greeting the students. The researcher asked about their feeling and the students answered it enthusiastically
compared to the students‟ answer on the previous meetings. Second, the
researcher reminded the students about the recount text by asking some questions to several students. Some pointed students could not answer the question given by
the researcher. Therefore, the researcher asked the students to choose one of their friends to help them. This activity made the students more active in answering the
question from the researcher. After giving some questions, the researcher gave some slides about the
recount text. Next, the researcher gave a recount handout which consisted of some columns based on the generic structure of the recount text to the students. The
researcher gave the instruction to the students about the writing activity. While giving the instruction, the male students at the back left part of the class were
39 noisy. So, the English teacher warned them to pay attention to the researcher since
the English teacher did not want to repeat the explanation about the recount text. Then, the class became more quite after the English teacher
‟s warning. Thus, the researcher repeated the explanation about the writing instruction. The researcher
asked the students to write some points about their unforgettable holiday experience in the writing handout. Then, the students could continue writing the
sentences in the blank paper provided by the researcher. In the process of writing, some students liked to ask the teacher about
some vocabularies used in the recount text. They also had discussions with their friends. However, some male students were busy talking to each other. So, the
researcher should remind them to do their task until the bell rang. The writing task for the second meeting should be submitted to the researcher. So in the end of the
class, the students submitted their writing, and the researcher asked them to fill the questionnaires for the first cycle.
After the students filled the questionnaires, the researcher thanked the students and let the students enjoy their break time. After that, the researcher and
the observers went out from the class and had the discussion about the teaching and learning activity at that day.
4.1.2.3. Observation In this step, the researcher observed the students with the help from three
peer observers from the students of the eighth semester of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. While conducting the
40 observation, the observers employed the observation sheets.
In addition, the researcher also conducted the direct observation to the students. In this step, the
researcher tried to see the progress of the students from the teaching steps that had been planned in the lesson plan based on what the teacher usually did.
Based on the observation sheet and the direct observation done by the researcher, in the first meeting of cycle 1 the students were so noisy, and they
could not create a good atmosphere in their learning. Three observers were having consistent opinion that the researcher “had low voice volume”. Consequently,
“50 of the students do not pay attention”. In addition, the researcher also realized that some students were busy playing with their friends, and some
students were trying to grab the researcher‟s attention by asking questions that they already knew. These actions by the students were recorded by the observers.
The second observer wrote that the students, who sit on the left side, do not pay attention to the teachers‟ greetings, and the third observer wrote that some
students played with their clothes, their bag, and they were having fun with themselves. Some students also played with pencil case. The third observer also
found that the male students were had better behavior than the female students as he wrote “the four girls seat on the middle of second line from the door are
“bandit” of the class” and “the boys are being engaged to the class but no for the four
girls”. Additionally, “they boys are more active than the girls”. This could be seen when the researcher explained the generic structure of the recount text, the
male students were more active in answering the questions. In contrast, some
41 female students were busy talking to their friends, and some other girls only kept
silent. After 5 minutes, the researcher showed some pictures in the screen and
this seemed to be “good picture as a trigger”. After showing the picture, the students gave more attention to the researcher. “Students pay attention, they give
good respond of the teacher‟s questions.” In addition, “students actively give comments
towards the teacher‟s question, the students talk about the pictures with big enthusiasm”. “Students pay attention, they give good respond of the teacher‟s
question”. Nonetheless, the pictures were less engaging. As what the third wrote, “Good picture as a trigger, but seems less engaging. They didn‟t concentrate their
attention on the topic under discussion.”
The students become less engaged after giving some comments and answe
rs. “The class becomes so noisy” and “the class is too noisy”. At that time, t
he researcher‟s voice was too soft compared with the students‟ voice. “The teacher‟s voice volume is low. Teacher‟s voice is covered by students‟ crowd
voice” and “your voice is too soft”. As soon as the students getting so noisy, the researcher made an ag
reement with the students to control over the students‟ noise. “The teacher makes agreement with the students. The agreement works, the
students become quite and actively involved”.
After the agreement, the students began to pay their attention again to the researcher. Thereafter, the researcher asked the question related to the topic to the
students. In addition, “most of the students guess that the topic is about holiday”
42 and “the students actively answer the question although the answers are not
correct but the teacher can make a link to the correct answer and directing leading students to the right answer”. After getting the students‟ attention, the researcher
began to explain the material. While the researcher explained the material, the students were
calm and they took some notes about the material. “Some students pay attention to the teacher‟s explanation, and some students take note” “the
students actively note the material of recount text description, purpose and ask the teacher to translate the
sentences”. ”The students are still in the level of note- taking”.
Subsequently, the researcher distributed the example of recount text to the students. “Teacher distributes the recount text to the students and asks students to
read together. The students read the text orderly. The students pay attention to other students who read the text.” Thereafter, the students read the text and the
researcher asked some questions related to the generic structure of the text. “When the teacher asks students about the difference of eventseven, the students pay
attention”. In addition, “Students pay attention to the information that they do not know yet”. However, the classroom situation began noisy again “when the teacher
explains for about more than five minutes, the students become more noisy ”
“students become active, some of them want to read the explanation on the screen, but the class still crowded”.
When some students were engaged in the discussion, three observers consistently observed the same thing. ”One student is busy with the
computer”,“one student open his laptop, browsing about clothes” and “there is a
43 student named Viko who is busy with the laptop. So the teacher asks him some
questions related to the topic”. After the researcher asked some questions to Viko, “teacher asks students to group the paragraph according to the generic structure”.
Nevertheless, when the students began to work on their assignment, “the „bule girl‟ and the boys are having trouble with the pencil case” In addition, ”when the
teacher approach the students, the student become more quiet and they pay attention to t
he teacher.” Finally, after the students finished the assignment, the bell rang and that was the end of the English class. So, the researcher said thank
you to the students and reminded them to follow the English class on the next day. The second meeting of the first cycle was on the ninth of April 2015. On
that occasion, the English class began earlier than the previous meeting. It began at 08.00 A.M. It made the students more spirited. However, when the researcher
and the observers came to class, “students still busy with their own business”. Therefore, the researcher greeted the s
tudents to get their attention. “Your voice is loud enough, great, so you easily get their attention, even though some of them
little aren‟t engaged yet”. After greeting the students, the researcher asked the students by using “how‟s life” phrase. Next,”the students don‟t know what the
meaning of “How‟s life?” So, the students pay their attention when the researcher explained about the meaning of this greeting. Next, the researcher asked the
students about the previous material “teacher discusses the last day‟s material and
text”.
When the English teacher came to the class, “the class turned to be easily
controlled, but after a while, the class still too noisy”. Hence, the researcher
44 showed some pictures to stimulate the student and asked them to give the opinion
about the pictures related to the topic discussed. “The class is less noisy compare
to yesterday, the teacher asks the students to guess and identify the pictures, the students actively involved”. Yet, there were two students who talked to each
other. Thus, the researcher asked them to pay attention to the discussion “appreciate you to tell two boys who were busy with their own chatting, and asked
them to pay attention to the discussion”
After showing some pictures and discussing the previous material, the researcher distributed a new recount text to the students. An observer wrote that
“while you are giving the text and discussed it with them, they are more engaged”. For the following activity, the researcher discussed the recount text along with the
students “teacher asks students about the V2 used in the text and the grouping of paragraph according to the generic structure.” At that time most of the students
were engaged with the researcher‟s way of teaching as an observer wrote “students can answer the question”. Subsequently, the researcher explained the
materials again to the students “teacher gives the example of the orientation and asks the
students about „personal recount‟”.
The teaching and learning process in the second meeting was going well. After explaining the material, the researcher asked the students to write their
recount text. Moreover, the researcher gave the holiday theme for the writing. Then the student should make the writing individually. “Teacher distributes the
„Recount Plan‟ paper, and asks students to remember their best holiday memories.
45 The teacher explains the direction to use „Recount Plan‟ paper. Teacher gives
example of the content of recount plan.” When the researcher explained about the „Recount Plan‟ paper, some boys
were very noisy. Two observers consistently wrote the same thing “the boys at the back are talking to each other and do not pay attention to the instructions” and
“the right side of the class is noisy”. For this reason, the English teacher helped the researcher to control the students based on the record of two observers in their
observation report “the teacher another teacher – English teacher warns students to be quite” and “the teacher helped you to warn the students”. It seemed that the
English teacher had good control of the students “after the English teacher asks
the students to be quite, they become quite and pay attention to Miss Ana”. After giving the explanation about the „Recount Plan‟ paper, the researcher
asked the students to do the free writing and it will be submitted at the end of the class. As a result, the researcher was turning around the class to see the students‟
progress “the teacher goes around the class to help the students”. The researcher distributed the questionnaire and asked the students to fill the questionnaire based
on their own perception before their break time. After the students finished filling the questionnaire, they submitted their writing. Due to the preparation of the
school Easter mass, the class hour was reduced by the school authority. Thus, some students filled the questionnaire in their break time “the teacher asks
students to fill the questionnaire during the break time”.
46 After conducting the first meeting, the researcher had the discussion with
the three observers. In the interview, the observers repeated what they wrote in the observation sheet and also added some information related to the teaching activity
in the first meeting. The observers told that the researcher‟s voice was too soft for a class with thirty four students. The observers
also told that the researcher‟s gesture looked so tense. So it could make the students less engaged.
In the second meeting of cycle 1, the students ‟ behavior was better than the
previous meeting. There were some changes in the students – teacher researcher
interaction and vice versa. In this meeting, the students were more active, more relax, and more cooperative. In connection with this, most of the students were
paying more attention to the researcher. They were more active in answering the questions given by the researcher - both of female and male students. Most of the
students could finish writing their recount text. These changes made the learning and teaching activities could run well.
After conducting the first cycle, the researcher checked the questionnaire and the students‟ writing. The researcher employed the questionnaire as the main
data of this research. The questionnaire was used to note th e students‟ perception
about the students‟ writing difficulty and also about the students‟ engagement. The other research instruments were needed to confirm and check the data.
47
Chart 4.1: Questionnaire result in cycle 1 In the first cycle, all students who consist of thirty seven students, filled all
of the questions items. Most of the students had good perception for the use of picture to increase the students‟ engagement in writing recount text. The
questionnaire consisted of fifteen questions which was divided into three parts: writing proficiency questions 1
– 7, using picture as the teaching media questions 8
– 10, and the students‟ engagement questions 11 – 15. In the first cycle, the researcher wanted to analyze the total mean score from the
questionnaire. The questionnaire provided four 4 scales for fifteen 15 questions. From
1 totally disagree, 2 disagree, 3 agree, 4 totally agree. Therefore the highest mean is 60, and the lowest mean is 15 and the median mean is 30. From the
questionnaire result, the researcher found that most of the students agree with the statements in the questionnaire since many students chose number 3 in several
questions. The data showed that the total mean score of the first cycle was 44,65.
48 Thus, the position of the total mean score from cycle 1 had already above the
median. Therefore, from the first cycle the researcher concluded that the students
had already had good engagement in writing a recount text. However, this conclusion had not been the final conclusion since the researcher should compare
to the questionnaire result in the second cycle. In connection with this result, the researcher saw the questionnaire result from each question which represented the
writing proficiency, the use of picture as the teaching media, and the st udents‟
engagement. In this data analysis step, the researcher noted that the questions 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 7 which obtained the low scores got 1 or 2 scale.
In addition to the writing proficiency, the researcher tried to analyze the students‟ writing from the task given by the researcher. In cycle 1 most of the
students‟ score on the writing test were low. The researcher assessed the students‟ work by using the assessment rubric adapted from Brown 2004. There were five
aspects in this assessment. They were the organization, the content, the grammar, the mechanic, and the vocabulary.
In cycle 1, all students did the free writing task related to their holiday experience in the form of a recount text see Appendix F. This task was given in
the second meeting of cycle 1 and the students should submit the task whether. In this writing task, most of the students got low scores.
In this step, the questionnaire result, the observation report and the writing score represented the writing proficiency and the students‟ engagement. Thus,
49 from this analysis, the researcher got the sufficient data to make the lesson plan in
the second cycle. Then, the researcher would employ some other ways in teaching the students according to their needs which were represented in the questionnaire
result. 4.1.2.4.Reflection.
After conducting the first cycle, the researcher found several things related to the students
‟ engagement including the questionnaire result, the observation reports, and from
the students‟ writing scores. Based on the questionnaire result, there were several points of the
students‟ perception from the questions 2, 7, 11, 12, and 13 see Appendix E which obtain lower scores than the other numbers.
First, the researcher found that writing in English was a long process. It was proved when couple of students only wrote one until three lines in their recount
paper. They required more time to do the writing task. In the second meeting of the first cycle, the researcher only gave the students 30 minutes to make their
recount text. In addition, there were also many students who could finish their writing but the scores were not satisfying.
Next, the students acknowledged that they did not follow the learning process actively from the beginning until the end of the classroom activity. This
was proved from the observers‟ reports and also the classroom situation. From the
observation report, the researcher found that the class was so dynamic. The students could be calm, but they could be very noisy after a while. It described the
students‟ length of attention.
50 Next, the students rarely asked the questions to the teacher in the writing
class. In this point, the researcher had same opinion with the English teacher experience. In the interview the English teacher said that one problem in the
implementation of Curriculum 2013, the students were almost never ask the teacher in the discussion session.
After summing up the questionnaire result, the researcher found some important points from the observation reports. The researcher divided them into
two main points. First was about the researcher ‟s way of teaching the students,
and seco nd was about the students‟ role in the teaching and learning process. For
the first point, the observers noted the researcher‟s low voice, the researcher‟s
power in controlling the students learning behavior, the researcher ‟s body
language which was tense while teaching the students. Afterwards, from the students‟ role, the observers found that the students
liked speaking to their friends in the middle of learning process. In addition, the students had short span of attention. They were also still in the level of note
taking. However, they were very excited to learn something new from the researcher.
Thus, from cycle 1, the researcher got some crucial things that should be improved in cycle 2. They were:
1. Students needed more time in making their writing 2. Students needed the realistic pictures to make stronger stimulus in order
to build their imagination and dig their experience to inspire them making their recount writing.
51 3. The researcher should provide more activities in order to keep the
students‟ attention in the learning and teaching process. 4. The researcher should be more relax and higher her voice to grab
students‟ attention. 5. The researcher should provide the summary of the material for the
students, so the students do not have to take notes in the middle of learning and teaching process.
6. The researcher should add more discussion in the learning and teaching process, so the students can either ask or answer more questions in the
learning and teaching process. 4.1.3. Cycle 2
The researcher conducted the second cycle in one meeting on Wednesday, April 15,
2015. In this cycle there are four steps similar to the previous cycle. The steps are: the planning, the action, the observation, and the reflection.
4.1.3.1. Planning In this step, the researcher made the lesson plan based on the first cycle
result which could be seen from the questionnaire result, the observation sheet and the observers‟ interviews. Based on those results, the researcher found that there
were still many problems in the classroom activity. The problems were not only from both the teacher and the students, but also from the class hour which were
reduced because of the school authority. Therefore, in the second cycle, the researcher tried to make a flexible lesson plan. However, the lesson plan could
52 still achieve the learning goal and could make changes for the writing proficiency,
the use of picture as the teaching media, a nd also the students‟ engagement.
In making the lesson plan in cycle 2, the first thing that the researcher did after analyzing the problems, was contacting the teacher to make sure about the
time schedule. Unfortunately, the time schedule was changed in order to the TPM Tes Penjamin Mutu for all students in the ninth grade. In connection with the
TPM, the students of the seventh and the eighth grades would begin their school at 11.00 A.M. for a week. Then, the teacher also said that the second meeting of
cycle 2 which had already planned on Thursday, April 16 should be postponed because there was no English class for 8A. In line with the school authority, the
researcher was trying to make a lesson plan for only one meeting in the second cycle to see the
students‟ changes using more realistic pictures. In the end of the class, the researcher would also give the same questionnaire for the students.
4.1.3.2.Action In connection with the plan of cycle 2, the researcher would only conduct
this step in one meeting. It was on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. The class started at 10.40 A.M. In this meeting, the researcher started the lesson by asking some
questions about the students‟ feelings. Next, the researcher tried to remind the
students about the previous recount material. The students looked enthusiastic since they answered the questions correctly. From the observation sheets, some
observers also wrote that some students answered the questions actively, and the students were spirited.
53 Next, the researcher showed some realistic pictures in the screen. In this
cycle, the researcher used several realistic pictures of a cow farm, a strawberry garden and a tea plantation. The observer also wrote that the students are
interested in the realistic pictures. The students were full of enthusiasm. They guess the pictures enthusiastically. Another observer also wrote that the students
were active. The students made some jokes but they were also focus on the topic about the tea planation.
After doing the opening activity, the researcher gave another example of the recount text f
or the students entitled “My Holiday”. The researcher asked the students to read the text by themselves. After some minutes, the researcher asked
the students to find the generic structure of the text. In this time, the students could find the generic structure easily since they had already learned about it in
two previous meeting. After reminding the students about the materials, the researcher asked the
students to make groups of four or five. The researcher offered the students to decide the way of making the group. After a short discussion, the students agreed
to count one until five to make the group. Next, the students should be grouped with other students which have same number.
After getting along with the groups, the researcher explained the direction of the assignment. The researcher gave five themes to each group. The themes are
“going to the grandparents‟ house”, “going to the beach”. “going to the mountain”, ”going out of town”, “holiday in my house”. Each member in the
54 group could choose the theme according to their own experience. In this time, the
researcher let the students decide their own theme by discussing with their groups. Thereafter, every student got their own theme, they started to write their
own recount text in their own groups. The researcher asked the students to help each other in the group. However, the researcher was also going around to see the
students‟ work and helped the students if they found any difficulties. In the end of the class, almost all of the students had not finished their writing. So, the
researcher decided to give extra time to finish the students‟ work as their
homework. However, before leaving the class, the researcher asked the students to fill the questionnaire which is similar with the first questionnaire. After the
students finished filling the questionnaire, the researcher said thank you to the students.
4.1.3.3.Observation In this step, the researcher asked for help from the same previous
observers. In this meeting, the most difficult problem to be solved was the time allotment. The researcher planned two meetings in cycle 2. However, in the reality
the class in the second meeting was off because of the school authority. So, the researcher should compress the activity from two meetings into one meeting.
Therefore, it made the activity ran faster than what had planned before. This meeting began at 10.30 A.M and all students attended the class. The observation
in this cycle focused on the changes that were made by the students. The observers could see the changes
from the student‟s behavior, gesture, their
55 attention, concentration, the students‟ perception about writing recount from the
questionn aire result and also the students‟ writing score in cycle 2.
Based on the observation sheet in the first meeting of cycle 2, the students were more cooperative compared to two previous meetings. The teacher greeted
the students, and the students were full of spirit. They made some jokes but they also focused on the topic about a tea plantation and the next topic. Two observers
were having consistent opinion that the students “still remember about last
materials ”. Consequently, “the students remember the topic of recount verbs well,
they can describe the last topic in detail. They didn‟t only say that the last topic is about the recount text but they also said that the last topic of recount is about
holiday”. Additionally, two observers also recognized that “students are interested with the pictures, they guess the English terms of the
pictures” and “the pictures were really engaging”. This is consistent with Barkley 2010, who notes that
when students want to learn, they do several habits such as pay attention in class, take notes during a lecture, study when they get home, and monitor their own
progress and ask questions when they don‟t understand.
By showing some realistic pictures, the researcher asked some questions related to the pictures and “some students answer the question actively”. This is
consistent with Schlechty 2001, who states that engagement is active which requires the student to be committed to the task then find several basic values in
what he or she is being asked to do. Students also demonstrated their interest in the picture:
“the students are full of enthusiasm, they guess the pictures enthusiastically
”. This is consistent with Kreidler 1968 who states that pictures
56 as the visual aids could support the teacher add variety, clarity, and, especially,
reality to the classroom situation. In this meeting, the students were more active in the discussion session. “They are active” and “they were more students involved
into the discussion even though not all of them meaningful”. Hence, in this meeting, the students were still noisy similar with the previous meetings
especially when the researcher tried to group the students “the class is very crowded” “the students are crowded but some students still follow the material”.
Along with the noisy students, an observer wrote “it‟s okay if the class is a bit
noisy as long as the noisy is meaningful”.
After the opening activity, the researcher planned to group the students and gave jumbled words assignment. However, in dealing with the time allotment,
the researcher should omit the jumbled words assignment. Thereafter, the researcher directly asked the students to make groups of four until five. In making
the group, the researcher offered the students to make their own groups. Hence, in this time “the students have their own opinion about the way to divide the
groups”. An observer had another point of view that “you just made the group, just let the discussion is yours, don‟t give it to them, you got big trouble when you
group them”.
However, the researcher could handle the discussion and the students should count one until five and they gathered with the friends who had the same
numbers. After the students were in their own group, the researcher distributed the recount paper and explained the writing direction for the second recount text
57 assignment
. In addition, a researcher recorded that “the class is conducive enough; almost all groups do the task effectively”.
After some minutes, the time was almost over. The researcher asked the students to fill the questionnaire which was similar with the first questionnaire.
Next, the researcher let the students to finish their writing as their homework. After the students finished filling the questionnaire, the researcher said thank you
for the students‟ cooperation in the research and the students continue their
activity. After conducting a meeting of cycle 2, the researcher discussed the
teaching and learning process with the observers. In the interview, the observers repeated what they had written in the observation sheet. They also added some
information related to the teaching learning activity, and the students and researcher interaction in the class. The observers told that this meeting was better
than two previous meetings. The students were more engaged with the picture showed in the beginning of this meeting. So, the situation and condition in the
class made the students engaged with the pictures and also the teaching and learning process.
In cycle 2, only 35 students filled all questionnaire items. Most of the students had good perception toward
the use of picture to increase the students‟ engagement in writing recount text. From the questionnaire result, the researcher
found that most of the students agree about the statements in the questionnaire since many students chose number 3 in several questions. The data showed that
58 the total mean score of cycle 2 was 45.08. Thus, the total mean score of cycle 2
was increased compared to cycle 1. After conducting two cycles, the researcher found the total mean scores of
cycle 1 and cycle 2. The total means score of cycle 1 was 44.65 and the total means score of cycle 2 was 45.08. The researcher found that the change of total
mean score was 0.71 . Therefore, the researcher tried to analyze the mean score from three groups of question which represented the writing proficiency, the use
of pictures as the teaching media and the students‟ engagement.
The writing proficiency were in the questions 1 to 7. The mean score of writing proficiency in cycle 1 was 20.71 and the mean score of cycle 2 was 20,94.
The highest score of the writing proficiency in this section was 21 and the lowest score was 7. The change of writing proficiency from the first cycle and the second
cycle was about 1.08 . Next, the use of pictures as the teaching media showed from the questions 8
– 10. The mean score between cycle 1 and cycle 2 were same. Surprisingly, the total mean score was 9.54 in each cycle. The highest score
of this section was 12 and the lowest score was 3. Aft er that, the students‟
engagement showed in the questions 11 – 15. The mean score of the students‟
engagement in cycle 11 was 14.48 and the mean score in cycle 2 was 14.6. So, in this section, the total mean score had the increasing for about 0.6 . The highest
score of this section was 20 and the lowest score was 5.
59
Chart 4.2 : Questionnaire result in cycle 1 and cycle 2 After analyzing tree main sections from the questionnaire, the researcher
analyzed that the changes were not too convincing. Therefore the researcher tried to analyze each item from all the questions in the questionnaire. The researcher
did this analysis in order to see the changes in each question.
Chart 4.3 : Questionnaire result in each number from cycle 1 and cycle 2 From the table above, the researcher could see the increase and also
decrease of each number in the questionnaire. There were three questions which
60 decreased. They were question 1, 10 and 15 which represented tree sections of the
main questions in this research. The decreasing was also significant if it was compared to the increasing from the other questions. From question 1, the
decrease was about 1.4 , next the decrease in 10 was about 3.57 and the decrease in question 15 was about 5 . Although the percentage were still below
10 percent, but they were already sufficient decrease in this research result compared to the other changes in each question items that would be discussed in
the next paragraph. Based on the percentage result, there were some questions which had good increase from the question 5,9, 12 and 13.
Based on the findings, the researcher found that the changes in the second cycle did not improve much. This could be seen from the change of the total mean
score between the first cycle 44.65 and the second cycle 45.08 which only raised 0.71 . Therefore the researcher tried to discrete the data according to the
three sections from the questionnaire. They were writing proficiency questions 1 – 7, the use of picture as the teaching media question 8 – 10, and the students‟
engagement question 11 – 15. Based on the questionnaire result, the researcher
found that the changes made from these three sections were also not too significant. The change in writing proficiency was 1.08. There was no change in
the use of picture as the teaching media since the questionnaire result from the first and second cycle had the same scores 9.54, and the change of
students‟ engagement was 0.6.
In addition to the questionnaire result in each section, the researcher did not find the sufficient changes yet. Therefore, the researcher tried to discrete the
61 questionnaire from each question items. This made the researcher could see the
increasing and also the decreasing of each question items. From the result, the researcher found that there were three question items which got decreased and the
other twelve question items got increased.
Question Mean Score in Cycle 1
Mean Score in Cycle 2
Change Percentage
Increasing Decreasing 1
2.94 2.88
1.4
2 2.77
2.85 2.14
3
3.22 3.25
0.71
4 3.08
3.14 1.42
5
2.91 3
2.14
6 3.05
3.08 0.71
7
2.7 2.71
0.21
8 3.2
3.25 1.4
9
3.05 3.14
2.14
10 3.28
3.14 3.57
11
2.8 2.82
0.71
12 2.71
2.85 3.57
13
2.62 2.74
0.71
14 3.02
3.05 3.57
15
3.31 3.11
2.85
Table 4.1 : Change percentage from the total mean scores in cycle 1 and cycle 2 From the table of the mean score of each question items, the researcher
found that the students‟ perception about writing skill is difficult. The first
question form the questionnaire was “writing in English is not difficult”. From the first cycle, the students found that writing was difficult since the change of mean
score was from 2.94 to 2.88. This result represented that the students still felt difficult in writing with English. Therefore, based on the data proved, the students
still felt the difficulties in writing with English in the context of recount text. Next,
the finding was about the students‟ perception of using picture as the teaching media did not have sufficient result from the questionnaire since the
62 questionnaire result was same between the first and second cycle. Moreover, the
researcher found the evidence about th e students‟ engagement based on the use of
picture from the observation sheet. In the first cycle, the use of picture was not engaging the students. It showed from the students‟ participation while the
researcher showed the picture. In contrast, from the second cycle, the students looked enthusiasm while the researcher showed some pictures about a cow farm, a
strawberry garden and a tea plantation. They were more engaging and they could be more active by asking and answering some questions related to the realistic
pictures. In c
onnection with the students‟ engagement, the researcher also found the increasing data for the positive change from the first cycle and the second cycle in
questions 11 – 15 in the questionnaire. Although question number 15 had negative
change that represented the decreasing of the data, the other four questions related to the students‟ engagement showed positive changes especially from questions
12 increase 3.57 and question13 increase 2.85 . In this cycle, the researcher also gave the same task to write a recount text.
However, the task should be done in the group and the researcher had provided five different topics for each member of the group. Next the researcher let the
members in the group choose one topic. Since the class hour was reduced by the school authority, the students could not finish the task at that time. So, the
students could finish the task as their homework. The English teacher helped the researcher to collect the task and gave back the task two weeks after the class.
63 However,
there were 13 students‟ works which could not be used as the research data because of the school authority. Thus, the researcher could only get
24 students‟ work in this cycle. The table presented below shows the students‟ achievement score on writing recount from cycle 1 and cycle 2 which shows in
the table 4.2
No Name
Cycle 1 Cycle 2
1 Student 1
75 90
2 Student 2
50 85
3 Student 3
70 80
4 Student 4
25 90
5 Student 5
60 80
6 Student 6
40 60
7 Student 7
50 80
8 Student 8
50 90
9 Student 9
85 90
10 Student 10
50 85
11 Student 11
70 80
12 Student 12
25 85
13 Student 13
55 85
14 Student 14
85 90
15 Student 15
50 80
16 Student 16
50 90
17 Student 17
65 80
18 Student 18
60 80
19 Student 19
50 80
20 Student 20
75 75
21 Student 21
25 80
22 Student 22
50 80
23 Student 23
50 80
24 Student 24
60 80
Table 4.2 : Students‟ writing achievement result
64 The table showed that the writing skill of class 8A had improved since 23
students got better score than the previous scores. However, one student did not make any changes in the score.
In conclusion, the researcher found that although the use of picture only gave the same perception among the students, the students still made
improvement from their engagement in writing recount text. 4.1.3.4.Reflection
In cycle 2, the students indicated the improvement of their engagement. Starting from the opening activity the researcher greeted them, and showed some
realistic pictures which made the students so excited and so enthusiastic to follow the learning process. The use of realistic pictures was consistent with Schunk
2008, who argued that eye-catching displays or actions at the start of lessons engage student attention. Moreover, the students were also actively involved to
the discussion related to the picture. The used of realistic pictures could also facilitate the students to associate the learning material with the context of
language learning. Also, the researcher found that the discussion could bridge the students to their own experience. It made the students had more ideas to make
their own writing about recount. The researcher realized that the students were so active that they were
almost always noisy in the middle of the learning and teaching process. In cycle 1, the researcher found that their noise disturbed the class activity. In cycle 2, the
researcher also saw a good interaction between the students after the students ‟
65 group work. This is consistent with Schunk 2008, who stated that teacher must
design some activities that provide social interactions. Nevertheless, in cycle 2, the students‟ noise was different with the students‟ noise in cycle 1. In cycle 2, the
noise could be controlled and the students could enjoy their learning and teaching process actively. They were still able to speak, had a chit chat with their friends in
order to make their writing. Hence, in cycle 2, the students had improved their engagement. The
improvement occurred from the way the students paid their attention to the pictures showed in the beginning of the teaching and learning process. Moreover,
when the researcher showed the pictures, the students were more enthusiastic and more spirited. By the use of realistic pictures in cycle 2, the students could make a
meaningful discussion situation. They were active in answering the questions from the researcher, and most of the students saw the pictures with their bright
eyes. Furthermore, the students were more likely to be engaged when they work on their writing assignment in their groups. This is consistent with Schunk,
Pintrich, and Meece 2008, who state that the students are more likely to be engaged in tasks that take advantage of their backgrounds, interests and
experiences. The improvement of the
students‟ engagement also affected their writing scores. Many of them got the better scores and it could indicate their improvement
in their writing ability. The observers also analyze the students‟ improvement
based on the students‟ cooperation in the classroom activity from the beginning until the end of the second cycle. On the other hand, the observer also saw the
66 improvement made by the researcher while teaching the students in cycle 2. The
researcher could be more relax and the researcher could adjust easily when she found some problems such as the time allotment from the school authority.
Furthermore, the researcher learned how to conduct research in the school, made a link to the school, got the permission, and met the English teacher.
Thereafter, the researcher also learned how to deal with the school authority. The examples were when the researcher dealt with the time allotment,
the writing score in the second cycle, and also the omitted meeting for the researcher. Moreover, in this research, the researcher also learned how to face a
big class consisted of thirty seven 37 students which needed more energy. In addition, the researcher also learned how to manage her gesture to be more
relaxed in the students‟ interaction. The researcher also realized that the students‟
characteristics affected their performance in the learning and teaching activity. The students were still in the second year of junior high school and they were in
the formal operational stages of Piaget‟s theory of cognitive development where they started to think about the multiple dimensions and the abstract properties
hence also got their egocentrism. In the learning and teaching process, the researcher also realized that the
students should enhance their social aspect. The students could work together with their friends in pairs or groups in order to improve their level of thinking in the
cognitive aspect along with the development of their brain. The students could also enjoy their learning with the help of good environment such as from their
parents, their teachers, their friend, and also the students‟ surroundings in the
67 classroom yet in the school. This is consistent with Schunk, 2008, who stated
that the students were dealing with their cognitive development in terms of a personal, a behavioral, and an environmental interactions.
4.2. The Students’ Difficulties in Writing Recount for the Students in Class 8A of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta
This part is presented to answer the second research question about the writing difficulties of recount for the students in class 8A of SMP Pangudi Luhur
1 Yogyakarta. The researcher answered this research question along with the process of answering the first research question about the implementation of using
picture to improve the students‟ engagement. Based on the implementation in cycle 1, the researcher found that the students had several writing difficulties
dealing with the students‟ perception about writing in English, time allotment, and also the insufficient content knowledge of the students.
From the first difficulty, the researcher found that the students had negative perception about writing in English. In the first cycle, most of the
students disagree that writing in English is easy as what is stated in the questionnaire
one 1. From the students‟ point of view, the students experienced that writing especially in English language was difficult. Furthermore, the
researcher also noted the students‟ writing achievement result in the first cycle. The result of students‟ writing achievement in the first cycle was less
satisfied. The researcher found that 27 from 36 students got the score below 70. In addition, most of the low-achievement students did not finish their writing. Some
68 of them only wrote the title and add one line of writing in their writing paper. The
writing result represented several reasonable justification related to the students‟ dif
ficulties and also the students‟ obstacle dealing with the writing in English.
Next, the researcher found that the time allotment was important in dealing with writing activity. In this research, the researcher had measured the suitable
time for whole teaching and learning process based on the regular class hour schedule. In contrast, the researcher had to deal with the school authority about
the class hour reduction. Consequently, the researcher should adjust the writing activity and the time allotment in every meeting.
In the research, writing activity was closely related to time allotment because in making a piece of recount writing, the students should remind their
memorable holiday in the past. The researcher found that the remembering process needed more time to explore their past experience. Then after
remembering their past event, they should arrange their experience into a good story in English, whereas their first language is Bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, the
students needed more time to translate their stories from Bahasa Indonesia into English. Moreover, the students should accommodate the English grammatical
pattern to follow the rules of writing recount and to make the convenient flow of their stories.
In this research, another writing difficulty was about the insufficient content knowledge of the students. The researcher found that the students did not
get insufficient content knowledge in the first cycle. This is consistent with
69 MacArthur, Graham, and Fitzgerald 2013, who stated that individuals may have
problems writing if they do not have sufficient content knowledge. In addition, the researcher limited the content knowledge which was related to the students‟
background knowledge of recount, past tense, and also their knowledge about their past event experience. In the writing result, the researcher found that most of
the students made mistakes in the use of past tense, the use of past participle and also about several unsuitable dictions in their writing. Hence, the researcher also
found that some of the students did not use the recount plan paper to create their mind map for their past experience. Therefore, in their writing, the student could
not write their past experience story with a good plot. In conclusion, the researcher found that several difficulties faced by the
students in writing were about their negative perception about writing, the limited time allotment in the writing activity, and also about their insufficient content
knowledge from the students.