23 practitioners; and thirdly, the improvement of the situation in which the practice
takes place. According to Mills 2011, one of the goals of the action research is to
generate the participants‟ opportunities in order to improve the lives of children and to learn about the craft of teaching. Mills 2011 adds that all of the action
researchers, regardless of their specific school of thought or theoretical position, are committed to a critical examination of classroom teaching principles and the
effects teachers‟ actions have on the children in their concern. In connection with this goal, the teachers have to be the professional problem solvers, who are
committed to enhance both their own practice and student outcomes, provides a powerful reason to practice the action research Mills, 2011.
Since the action research is a simple form of the self-reflective enquiry, there are several models of the classroom action research which could be applied
to achieve the changes inside the class. This research is also identically with the use of the cycle-based research. In addition, Gall, Gall, and Borg 2007 state that
the action research is more likely to be ongoing and typically cyclical in nature. As cited in McNiff Whitehead 2009, the Kemmis‟s model of the action
research process shows a self-reflective spiral of planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning as the basis for understanding how to take the action to
improve an educational situation. Moreover, Gall, Gall, and Borg 2007 state that the action research emphasizes the reflection part as an important part of the
research cycle.
24
3.2 Research Setting
The research is conducted into two cycles. The first cycle was conducted in two meetings. It was on Wednesday, April 8, 2015, and continued on Thursday,
April 9, 2015. The research is conducted in SMP PANGUDI LUHUR 1 YOGYAKARTA. SMP PANGUDI LUHUR 1 YOGYAKARTA is located in Jl.
Timoho II, Yogyakarta. After conducting the first cycle the researcher tried to see the problem arouse in the classroom related t
o the students‟ difficulty in writing recount and about their writing engagement. Therefore, after getting the core of
the problem, the researcher conducted the second cycle which was on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. The detail schedule is presented in the table 3.1.
Table 3.1: Kemmis‟s model of the action research
25
No Day Date
Meeting Time
Materials Cycle
1 Wednesday
April 8, 2015 1
09.30 –
10.40 -
Recount text -
Purpose of recount text
- Generic structure of
recount text -
Language features of recount text
1
2 Thursday
April 9, 2015 2
07.50 – 9.00
- Recount text
- Writing recount text
in writing guidance worksheet
- Writing Recount text
3 Wednesday
April 15,
2015 3
10.30 –
11.40 -
Reading the example of recount text
- Discussing
about simple past tense
- Writing Recount text
in groups 2
Table 3.1: Teaching Schedule The researcher followed several steps in conducting the classroom action
research starting from the preliminary study, the first cycle, the second cycle and the processing of the data collected. As cited in McNiff and Whitehead 2009, the
Kemmis‟s model of the action research process shows a self-reflective spiral of planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning as the basis for
understanding how to take action to improve an educational situation. However, in each cycle of this research, the researcher followed four steps: planning, action,
observation, and reflection.
3.3 Research Participants Subjects
The participants of this research are thirty seven 37 students of class 8A in SMP PANGUDI LUHUR 1 YOGYAKARTA, the English teacher from the
school, the researcher, who teach while doing the research, and also three
26 observers, who help the researcher to observe the classroom situation, the
students‟ engagement, the changing of both students‟ and teacher‟s behavior in the classroom.
3.4 Instruments and Data Gathering Technique
In conducting the research, the researcher employed certain research instruments to help the researcher collecting the data. The action researchers also
develop other instruments or materials developed for their practice to measure student performance in either quantitative or qualitative ways Lodico, Spaulding,
Voegtle, 2006. Therefore, the researcher had the autonomy to develop the research intruments.
Therefore, the researcher would obtain several instruments such as the observation, the interview, the questionnaire, and also the achievement test. The
first one is the observation form which has specific information in each point of the learning activities based on the lesson plan. Next, the researcher would
employ the interview for the English teacher. Then, the researcher would utilize the questionnaire to see the students‟ perception. The researcher would also use
the achievement tests for checking the students‟ understanding. In using the test
method, the researcher would give one assignment to write recount text on each cycle to the students.
3.4.1. Observation
The researcher employed the naturalistic observation with the help of three observers. The naturalistic observation involves observing people in their natural
