42 1. It mirrors real-world writing situations where professionals often cooperate on
presentations, reports, and projects. 2. Group work provides instant feed back and a sense of audience- elements often
missing from the writing experience. 3. The reactions of peers help student writers understand they are writing for
community of readers, not merely for their instructor. http:www.swc.utexas.eduassignmentscollaboration.shtml
E. Collaborative or Not, Write
This is the characteristic of Indonesian people that they are better in speaking than in writing. This condition is different from the tradition of people from western
countries. For them the skills in speaking and writing are balance. I can not give a contra version to what is stated by Bacon; reading makes a full man, conference a
ready man, and writing is an exact man. Some one who is skilled in speaking is good. However it is better if he or she is also skilled in both speaking and writing.
Actually it is also my experience that speaking is easy than writing. Spontaneously through speaking we can express our ideas. I don’t know whether it
is caused by the failure of our education in the past. As a matter of fact, when I was a student at school my language teachers hardly taught me writing. I used to be
trained to speak rather than to write. I feel that expressing the ideas orally is easier than writing.
The stressing of this chapter is that the writers invite the reader in this case is the students and the intellectuals to try to write. They may try to write anything
collaboratively or not. Both of the techniques have the advantages. For the beginner writers it is better for them to write collaboratively since they can ask others to
check their writing. If we ask our colleagues to read our writing, we have opportunities our writing to be criticized. As a human being sometimes we are
careless in writing and it can be checked by others.
There are seven solutions give by the writers to make the students write: 1 stop teaching grammar, change with assignment to read fiction and writing report,
2 make the students feel confident to write, 3 give the example how to write, not theoretically, 4 teach the students to improve their faults, 5 involve the students in
the process of writing, 6 practice writing collaboratively, 7 give corrective feedback to the students writing.
F. It’s Started from ‘Iqra’
Writing is started from ‘Iqra’. Especially for Moslems, it is not a new thing. A good writer is a diligent reader. Like what the writers states in this chapter that a
writer produces knowledge and the raw materials need to be searched everywhere. Searching the raw materials of knowledge means a writer has to read first. Without
reading we can write but has no advantages. Through reading someone can search many information and knowledge. He or she can transfer his or her analysis and
synthesis after a lot reading through writing activities.
Actually, writing is one of the ways in expressing ideas. However the ideas will not come up without reading a lot. There is no different between someone who
doesn’t read with someone who can’t read, as Twain says that the man who doesn’t read books has no advantage over the man who cannot read. Someone who reads a
lot will have much information and knowledge. They may know everything so that
43 when he or she wants to express the ideas through writing, it is not too difficult
because he or she have the ideas. I agree that reading is the main stream of a writing ability. A reading activity
can mean thinking. When we read a book or anything, as a matter of fact, we are thinking. When we see the phenomena happened in our environment, the natural
scenery, or anything, and then we think, we use our mind to think. The product of thinking process is the ideas expressing.
In this chapter the writers provide the materials and guidance how to practice writing such as writing a short story, a narrative essay and so on. Anyone who
thinks that writing is valuable may try to write, try to start writing by now and from whit and never give up.
G. Digging Ethnical Literature Grave
Indonesian country is well known with its cultures and arts. Many foreigners come to Indonesia because they want to know and to see the beauty of Indonesian
cultures and arts. Unfortunately, as a matter of fact, not all Indonesian people care of the cultures and arts. Nowadays many people have left behind their cultures.
In this chapter the writers analogize the ethnical literatures have been died and buried. If we want to make our cultures especially literatures and arts to be
always exist in our life, we have to dig the grave. It is a fact that Indonesian youngster do not know their ethnical literatures and arts. The youngster may know
western literatures better than the literatures of their own.
Actually there are some matters caused these problems. The first, there is a less attention from government toward the literature, generally arts. The
governments do not seriously pay more attention in advancing the literature especially ethnic literature and arts. The second, Educational systems in Indonesia
do not give the students much appreciation to the local arts and literatures. When I was student at SMU, I got nothing about local arts especially literatures. I agree with
Alwasilah, that at least there are four mistaken in educating local arts and literatures at school. They are 1 miss perception about arts that is art involves music and
dancing only; 2 the assumption that a language teacher is able to teach literature; 3 mostly the teachers teach the theory rather than the practice; 4 the assumption that
western arts are better than ethnic arts.
H. From Narration to Exposition
