47 The researcher also used two kinds of triangulations to obtain the
trustworthiness Burns: 1999. They are: 1.
Time triangulation The data were collected over a period of time in order to identify factors
that were involved in the actions. The researcher interviewed the students at the beginning, middle and end of the course. To get the data about the improvement
of the students’ writing skills, she conducted a pre-test and a post-test. 2.
Investigator triangulation Investigator triangulation was fulfilled by involving another party in the
research. The researcher used more than one observer in the same research setting. She conducted discussions with the collaborators to avoid biased interpretation.
Meanwhile, in order to ensure the reliability, the researcher took the scores
of the students’ writing. She also analysed the data in the form of interview transcripts and vignettes. To obtain the data about the teaching and learning
process, she interviewed the collaborators and the students after the class.
H. Research Procedures
The researcher used the procedure of action research proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart 1988: 11-14 in Burns 2010: 8 with some
modification. They are reconnaissance, planning, action and observation, and reflection.
48 1.
Reconnaissance The objective of this stage was to find facts and information on the
problems in the field about the students’ writing ability. In order to find the
information, the researcher conducted an observation and interviews with the English teacher and some of the students. The researcher then conducted a pre-
testto measure the students ’ writing skill. After identifying the problems gained
from the interview, observation, and pre-test, the researcher planned actions to overcome the problems related to the students’ writing ability.
2. Planning
The researcher and the collaborator worked together to find the solutions that were feasible to overcome the problems. They planned to use picture series as
media in teaching writing to over come the students’ writing ability problems.
3. Action and observation
In this step, the researcher implemented the action and the collaborators, who were also acted as the observers, observed, and took notes during the process.
She then collected the data based on what happened during the teaching and learning process. The researcher and collaborators then reviewed the materials,
reviewed the result of the action and did discussions for the next action. 4.
Reflection The researcher and the collaborators made reflections related to the
actions implemented. It was done by interviewing the students and the teacher about the action implemented. The reflections were used to know the successful
