The Principles of Teaching Writing

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d. Elements of Writing

This study performs error categorization. The researcher needs the theories related to elements of writing as sources to categorize and analyze the errors on Report texts produced by the ninth year students of SMP N 2 Yogyakarta. There are elements that should be considered in writing. Tribble 1996 divides the elements into five in terms of content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics. Some experts provide definitions of the five elements of writing. According to Zimmerman 1992, content displays all the necessary information incorporated in the writing, whereas, organization refers to the movement of arguments and the connectedness or ,logical links between the ideas. Stanley 1991 defined that grammar as a set of rules. It is the structure of our language, a field which merits study and invites analysis. Bram 1995 stated that vocabulary become the basic tool for writing. The words carry meaning; wrong words certainly do not get the writers messages across. An English word often has more than one meaning. The meaning of a word depends on the context. One reliable source to select the word choice in context is to consult a comprehensive dictionary that provides a lot of useful details about words listed alphabetically. Brown 2007 argues if there are problems in mechanics, such as spelling and punctuation, the readers may not enjoy reading. The meaning which writers want to convey may be differently perceived by the readers. As stated above, Tribble 1996 classified the elements into five which is elaborated in evaluative checklist. These five elements become the guidelines for 19 the researcher to categorize the students’ writing errors into these types. Since, each element fulfill some criteria. Below is the discussion of the five: 1 Content the features of chosen genre mostly adhered to. There are variety of ideas. Content relevant to the topic. 2 Organization The ideas should be clearly stated and supported. The writers organize texts or sections appropriately. Logically sequenced. The appropriate connectives used. 3 Grammar The writers should poduce hardly any errors of agreement, tense, number, word order, articles, pronouns, prepositions. 4 Vocabulary The appropriate word choice should be selected to convey the intended message contextually. 5 Mechanics The writers should demonstrate correct spelling, punctuation and capitalisation to achieve good writing. The elements of writing actually becomes the core of this study. Therefore, it is necessary to review further several aspects or terms related to organization, grammar, and mechanics. The researcher will find it useful for the analysis of this study since it provides suggestions about the usages. The detailed discussion of the three is as follows: 20 1 Organization This part mainly discusses some key aspects mentioned in the criteria of organization element above. They include topic sentence, coherence, and transitions. a Topic sentence Langan 2010 and Eliis 2003 explained that there are two basic parts of a paragraph. The point is usually expressed in one sentence called a main idea or topic sentence. The other sentences in the paragraph contain specific details that support or develop the main idea sentence. Since a paragraph should have only one main idea, the topic sentence keeps the writer on track and helps the readers to focus on what the writers are saying. We can have a paragraph without a topic sentence but it will be harder to organize so it is suggested to make a clear topic sentence for a paragraph as the summary of all information in the paragraph Bram 1995 noted that there are three positions of topic sentence. They are the first sentence of a paragraph, the middle sentence, or the last sentence of a paragraph. He viewed that it may be wiser to place the topic sentence at the beginning. If the writers do so, they will have good control over the contents. It is more about what relevant information to include as a guide to finish the the rest of the paragraph. It also benefits the readers to understand the content more easily since they can get the key point from the very beginning so that they will know what they can expect from the supporting sentences. 21 b Coherence Bram 1995 considered that a paragraph is coherent when the sentences are linked together in such a way that the reader can move easily from one sentence to another and read the paragraph as an integrated whole, rather than as a series of separate sentences. A paragraph that lacks orderly movement will not be coherent, because your reader will not see how two sentences are connected one another. Using transitions leads to coherence Bram, 1995. As the word implies, a transition connects ideas. A coherent paragraph consists of interelated sentences which move in such a way that they smooth the way, one for another. Without transitions, it is difficult to create a coherent paragraph. However, too many transitions can make the writing sounds unnatural. In addition, Langan 2011 argues that coherence plays a crucial role in making a paragraph read well. Every coherent paragraph contains smoothly- connected ideas. All the supporting evidence must be organized and connected smoothly from one bit of supporting information to the next. The key technique for tying together the ideas include transitional words. c Transitional words One of clear explanation about transitions is by Ellis 2003. She views that transitions signal the direction of a writer’s thought. They are like the road signs that help us to find way when driving. In writing, the transitions tell the readers what to expect as shown in the examples below: 22 a. Add an idea in addition to, similarly, also, furthermore, another, moreover b. Add description to give details that, what, whatever, which, who, whom, whose c. Give an example for example, for instance, such as d. Show contrast however, in contrast, but, yet, on the other hand, though, eventhough, although, on the contrary, otherwise, not only, unless, while, whether, instead, at the same time e. Compare ideas to examine or look for the difference between two or more things likewise, as if, in the same way, than f. Show cause and effect to show relathionships between ideas because, since, hence, if, so, so that, consequently, therefore, thus, as a result g. Summarize or conclude to express important ideas in a short and clear form in short, to summarize, to sum up, in conclusion, to conclude. h. Enumerate to name thingsideas separately first, second i. Show time to indicate time order finally, later, after a while, before, then, next, after that, since, eventually, again, until, when, whenever, while, during j. Show emphasis to give more particular importance indeed, in fact : : : : : : : : : :