Table 1. Standard of Competence and Basic Competence of Writing for the VIII Grade Students in the First Semester
Standard of Competence Basic Competence
6. Expressing the meanings through functional written texts
and simple essays in the form of descriptive and recount text in
order to interact with the surroundings.
6.1 Expressing meanings through simple functional texts by using written language
accurately, fluently, and appropriately in order to interact with surroundings.
6.2 Expressing meanings and rhetorical steps through simple short essays in the form of
descriptive and recount texts by using written language
accurately, fluently,
and appropriately in order to interact with the
surroundings.
Table 2. Standard of Competence and Basic Competence of Writing for the VIII Grade Students in the Second Semester
e. Narrative Texts and How to teach them
According to Anderson and Anderson 1997:1 a text is created when words are put together to communicate a meaning. Therefore, when people speak
or write to communicate a message, they are constructing a text. Texts are divided Standard of Competence
Basic Competence 6. Expressing the meanings
through functional written texts and simple essays in the form of
recount and narrative text in order to interact with the
surroundings. 6.1 Expressing meanings through simple
functional texts by using written language accurately, fluently, and appropriately in order
to interact with surroundings. 6.2 Expressing meanings and rhetorical steps
through simple short essays in the form of recount and narrative texts by using written
language
accurately, fluently,
and appropriately in order to interact with the
surroundings.
into two categories, literary and factual. Narrative texts belong to literary texts as the texts are constructed to appeal the readers’ emotions and imagination.
To write a narrative text, the writer can use diagram which is called a scaffold. A scaffold is a guideline for constructing a piece of text. According to
Anderson 1997:8, there are four to five steps to construct a narrative text. 1
An orientation The narrator tells the audience who is in the story, when it is happening,
where it is happening and what is going on. 2
Complication This is the part of the story where the narrator tells about the rising
problems. These events will affect one or more of the characters. The complication is the trigger.
3 Sequence of events
The narrator tells about how the characters react to the complication. It includes their feelings and what they do. The events can be told in
chronological order the order in which they happen or with flashback.
4 Resolution
The complication is sorted out or the problem is solved. 5
Coda The narrator includes a coda if there is a moral or message to be learned
from the story.
Anderson and Anderson 1997: 8 also mention the language features of narrative texts which include the following.
1 Specific characters
A narrative writer introduces characters involved in the story. 2
The using of time words Time words, such as a long time ago, at the end of the days, connect events
when the action happens. 3
The using of verbs to show the actions that occur in the story A narrator uses the appropriate verbs to describe actions. For examples a
narrator prefers to write sentence “He whispered.” rather than “He said quietly.”
4 The using of descriptive words to portray the characters and settings
The using of adjectives and adverbs is to describe the characters and settings.
There are many different types of narratives including humor, romance, real life fiction, historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, diary-novels,
and adventure. There is also a combination of narrative within each of those different types.
Teachers can apply genre based approach in teaching and learning process in writing narrative texts. According to Richard 2006:36, genre based approach
involves the mastery of different text types. Feez and Joyce 1998:24 explain that genre based approach is based on three assumptions as the following:
1 Language learning is a social activity
2 Learning occurs more effectively if teachers are explicit about what is
expected of students 3
The process of learning language is a series of scaffold developmental steps which address different aspects of language.
Moreover, Feez and Joyce 1998:28 mention that there are four to five stages involved in genre based approach. Those stages are building knowledge of
field BKOF, modeling of the text MOT, joint construction of the text JCOT, independence construction of the text ICOT, and linking related text.
The first stage is building knowledge of field BKOF. The students are introduced to the social context of an authentic model of the text-type being
studied. The activities involve discussions, field-work and vocabulary building. All those activities build general cultural context and the understanding of social
purpose of the texts. The second stage is modeling of the text MOT. The students investigate
the structural patterns and language features of model of the text. The activity involves comparing the model with other examples of the same text type.
