Junior High School Students Applications of Real Things as Media in Teaching Writing

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2.9 Junior High School Students

Junior high school students have special characteristics that make them different from younger and older students. As a teacher, it is essential to understand their characteristics, so that we will be able to design appropriate and adequate programs to fit the particular requirements of individuals in this age group. It is widely accepted that one of the key issues in teenagers is the search for individual identity. Identity has to be forced among classmates and friends. Peer approval may be considerably more important for the students, which for younger children is so crucial. In addition, Harmer 1998: 39 states that “teenager, if they were engaged, had a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity and a passionate commitment to things which interested them”. From the characteristics of youngsters as stated above, the writer concludes that the age of students in junior high school 11 to 14 years old has a period of changing from children to adult. So, they need something special in education. Schools and teachers should provide opportunities for them to explore and experiment in a stable and supportive atmosphere, because they learn new experiences, new roles, and this range of age is one of the most challenging times in life.

2.10 Applications of Real Things as Media in Teaching Writing

of Procedure Writing The teaching-learning process should be viewed as a system. Any organization of 28 people or things is a system, which students are made up of elements in teaching procedure writing. As system, teaching-learning process consists of several elements. Each element has its own function and goal. So, it implies that teaching- learning process is a collective effort of several forces or elements procedure writing to achieve a certain goal. The final result of teaching is not determined by a single element but by all elements involved. The goal is attained only when all the elements are integrated in effective and efficient pattern. In this study, the writer asks students to observe the object of real things directly. Then, the students write in their books about the process of how to do something or how something works.

2.11 Action Research