meanings. Another problem was that the students still make some mistakes in spelling.
Based on those problems, the researcher considered that it is important to find an effective solution to be applied in the writing learning process to
improve students’ writing skill.
B. Identification of the Problems
Based on the observation during PPL teaching practice on July 2
nd
– September 17
th
, 2013 there were some problems in the writing-teaching learning process of Class VII in SMPN 2 Playen. The problems can be
classified into three aspects: 1 teacher 2 students 3 process. There were some identified problems related to the teacher. First, the
teacher mostly focused on the product of the writing skill. Based on the observation, the teacher did not tell the students the steps in writing a text. She
gave one example taken from the LKS, read it and asked the students to adapt the text and modify some of the parts based on their own ideas. It made the
students confused if they wanted to put another structure or ideas that were not in the text.
The next problem was that the teacher in the class only used LKS in the teaching learning process. She taught the students by drilling the students
the materials. Input from LKS was given in the small portion at the beginning of the class. Most of the time was spent for doing the tasks in the LKS. The
creativity of the students was rarely accommodated because the tasks in the
LKS are mostly in the form of practice, instead of production. The students had to follow the formulas verbatim without any specific context.
The lack of doing fun activities and using media made the students feel unenthusiastic. Ironically, the policy in the upcoming curriculum states that
there will be a reduction of teaching period for particular lessons. Insufficient allotted time to teach all materials before the end of the semester requires the
teacher to manage the time tightly. Such a fact was supported by the English teacher who said that she needs to spend much time if she uses media to teach.
Meanwhile, there were three problems related to the students. First, the students got difficulties in expressing their idea to write. It can be seen from
their writing works. They took much time to start writing. Some of them waited the other students to finish the text. Then, they only copied the other
students’ work and modified some part of the text. The second problem is they would easily forget what had been taught
and when they were given a new material the previous material would be gone easily. For example, they did not know how to start writing. They said that
everything was in their mind but it was difficult to write it down. In another case, when they had an idea, they would, first, write it in Indonesian language
and they translate it word by word by using a dictionary. However, the students still ignore the context. Choosing the most appropriate word is the
other problem faced by them; they would feel confused when they found out that a word may have some different meanings. Another problem was that the
students still make some mistakes in spelling.
The third problem is related to students’ cooperation. Some students were reluctant to share their understanding after the teacher revised the
mistakes they have done. The same case also happens when the students did not understand about something; they preferred asking the teacher directly to
asking their shoulder partner to tutor them. When the teacher gave the explanation about a mistake in order to make the others not do the same
mistakes, they did not pay their attention to it. They were busy with their work, so it made the teacher’s effort useless.
Related to the process, the use of drilling method made the students only focus on the beginning of the learning process. After that, they would be
bored and could not focus any longer. In the process of teaching writing, the teacher sometimes used pair
work activities for completing dialogue text, but it was not successful enough. One student usually the fast learner may do all the tasks while the weaker
students, who need more practice, did less activities or even nothing.
C. Delimitation of the Problems
