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Grammar Effective complex constructions • few errors of
agreement, tense, number, word orderfunctions, articles, pronouns, prepositions. ≤ 5 errors
Excellent 25 – 22
Effective but simple constructions • minor problems in complex constructions • several errors
of agreement, tense, number, word orderfunctions, articles, pronouns, prepositions but meaning
seldom obscured 6-10 errors
Good 21 – 18
Major problems in simple complex constructions • frequent errors agreement , tense, number, word
orderfunctions, articles, pronouns, prepositions andor fragments, run-ons, deletions • meaning
confused or obscured. 11-15 errors Fair
17 – 11 Virtually no mastery of sentence constructions
rules • dominated by errors • does not communicate • OR not enough to evaluate.
≥ 16 errors Poor
10 – 5
Mechanics Demonstrates mastery of conventions • few errors
of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing. ≤ 5 errors of using punctuation,
spelling, and capitalization Excellent
5 Occasional errors of spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, paragraphing but meaning not obscured. 6-10 errors of using punctuation,
spelling, and capitalization Good
4 Frequent errors of spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, paragraphing • poor handwriting • meaning confused or obscured.
11-15 errors of using punctuation, spelling, and capitalization
Fair 3
No mastery of conventions • dominated by errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization,
paragraphing • handwriting illegible • OR not enough to evaluate.
≥ 16 errors of using punctuation, spelling, and capitalization
Poor 2
Adapted from Jacobs et al., 1981 in Hughes, 2003:104
b. Observation
In this research, observation was conducted in each meeting to get the primary data of the students’ participation in the teaching learning process of writing a
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descriptive paragraph by using individual pictures. The detailed information about the observation will be explained in the research procedures.
3.4.2 Supporting Data a. Interview
According to Burns 2010:74, interview is a classic way in a research to conduct a conversation that can explore the focus area of the research. In this
research, interview was used to get the data about the curriculum used in teaching writing, the students’ problem in learning English writing, the technique and media
applied by the English teacher in teaching writing and the percentage of students’ active participation in the teaching learning process of writing. It was done with the
English teacher who teaches the seventh grade students at SMPN 2 Dringu. Dealing with the type of interview, guided interview was used by the researcher in which lists
of questions were prepared as a guide while interviewing the English teacher. b. Document
A document was used to get the supporting data from the written documents such as books, report, daily notes Arikunto, 2006:149. In this research, document
was used to get the supporting data about the lesson plan of English teacher at SMPN 2 Dringu and the previous scores of the students’ writing achievement from the
English teacher.
3.5 Operational Definition of Key Terms
The operational definition was a guide to understand the concept or the terms used in the research. It was used to avoid misunderstanding that happened between
the writer and the reader. The definitions of the terms which were necessary to be defined operationally were as follows:
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3.5.1 Writing Achievement Writing achievement in this research refers to the results of the students’
writing test after the students were taught descriptive paragraph writing by using individual pictures. It was indicated by the students’ scores of descriptive paragraph
writing test results in each cycle.
3.5.2 A Descriptive Paragraph A descriptive paragraph in this research means a very simple short essay
written by the students that visualizes a person by describing or picturing image through the words by telling what or how something looks like in details based on the
individual pictures followed by the generic structures and language features. There were four pictures provided in the writing test. The students were asked to choose one
of the pictures that they like to describe it into a descriptive paragraph. In writing a descriptive paragraph the students, were asked to write 8-10 sentences based on the
picture chosen.
3.5.3 The Students’ Active Participation The students’ active participation here means their active or passive
participants in teaching learning process of descriptive paragraph writing by using individual pictures in the classroom. The indicators were used to observe the
students’ participation during teaching learning process were as follows: 1 Paying attention to the teacher’s explanation by taking a note during the teaching
learning process of writing by using individual pictures. 2 Asking and answering questions from the teacher during the teaching learning
process of writing by using individual pictures. 3 Generating the ideas in the sentences to describe the individual picture chosen
4 Writing a descriptive paragraph based on the individual picture chosen,
The students were considered active students if at least 75 of the students fulfilled at least three or four indicators of observation and the students were
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considered as passive participants if they fulfilled one or two indicators of four indicators stated in the observation checklist.
3.5.4 Individual Pictures Individual pictures that were used in this research means pictures of single
objects, persons, or activities. The individual pictures were used as media in teaching descriptive paragraph writing. These individual pictures were chosen because they
could help the students to express their ideas in writing a descriptive paragraph.
3.6 Research Procedures
