The correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability (a correlational study at 6th semester of english education students of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta)

Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta)

“Skripsi”

Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata I (S1)

BY:

RENI SEPTIANI NIM: 109014000199

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS TRAINING STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY (UIN) SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA 2014

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RENI SEPTIANI, 2014, The Correlation Between Grammar Mastery and Writing Ability (A Correlation Study at the 6th Semester of English Education Department Students of UIN Jakarta),

Skripsi, English Education Department, The Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, 2014.

Key Words : Grammar Mastery, Writing Ability, Grammar and Writing.

The purpose of this study is to know whether there is a significant correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability at the 6th of English Education (EED) students of UIN Jakarta. The sample of this study is 30 students taken from B class of sixth semester of EED of UIN. The method used in this study was a quantitative method and the technique used in this study was a correlational technique. In collecting the data, the documentation of students’ writing scores and the test of grammar are used. The scores of writing were collected from the lecturer of writing subject at EED of UIN Jakarta. Besides, in assessing students’ mastery of grammar, this study conducted multiple choice and error identification test to the students. The result of this study shows that there is a very low correlation between students’ grammar mastery and writing ability. It is proved by the rxy (0.165) is lower than rtable in the degree of significance 5% (0.374) and 1%

(0.478). It is considered that the null hypothesis (Ho) is accepted and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is rejected. In conclusion, there is a negative correlation between students’ grammar mastery and writing ability. Students who have minimum level of grammar, it does not mean that the students also get poor achievement in writing.

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RENI SEPTIANI, 2014, The Correlation between Grammar Mastery and Writing Ability (Penelitian korelasi di Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Skripsi, Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2014.

Key Words : Grammar Mastery, Writing Ability, Grammar and Writing. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah ada korelasi antara penguasaan terhadap aturan tata bahasa (Grammar) dan kemampuan menulis (Writing) pada mahasiswa semeseter 6 Jurusan PBI (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris) UIN Jakarta Tahun Ajaran 2013/2014. Sampel yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini berjumlah 30 responden diambil dari mahasiswa semester 6 kelas B. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kuantitatif melalui teknik korelasi. Dalam pengumpulan data, peneliti menggunakan dokumentasi nilai writing dan tes grammar. Nilai writing didapat dari dokumentasi dosen mata kuliah yang bersangkutan. Kemudian, untuk mengukur penguasaan terhadap aturan tata bahasa (Grammar) siswa, penelitian ini menggunakan tes berupa pilihan ganda dan identifikasi kesalahan grammar. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat korelasi yang sangat rendah antara penguasaan siswa terhadap aturan tata bahasa (gramma) dan kemampuan menulis (writing). Terbukti dari besarnya rxy

0.165 < rtable pada signifikan 5% (0.374) dan 1% (0.478). Itu dianggap bahwa null

hypothesis (Ho) diterima dan alternative hypothesis (Ha) ditolak. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapat korealsi negatif antara pengetahuan grammar siswa dengan kemampuan menulisnya. Siswa yang memiliki kemampuan minimum dalam aturan tata bahasa, mereka masih mungkin mendapat pencapaian yang baik dalam kemampuan menulisnya.

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

All praised is due to Allah, Lord of the world, who has given the writer

love and blessing to finish her last assignment in her study, “Skripsi”. Peace and

salutation be upon to the prophet Muhammad SAW, his family, his companion, and his adherence.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help and contributions to all of lecturers, institution, family and friends who have contributed in the different

ways hence this “Skripsi” is processed until it becomes a complete writing which

will be presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree S.Pd (Bachelor of Arts) in English Language Education.

The first, she would like to give her sincere thanks to her advisors Dr. Ratna Sari Dewi, M.Pd, and M. Teguh Khaerudin, MAppLing who have given the writer precious help, the guidance, and the advices patiently during the completion and the development of the study.

Secondly, the writer also would like to express her thanks and gratitude to her beloved parents, Udin Saadi and Royani and also her brother Yovan Hadi who have given the greatest love, prayer, moral, and financial support to her. It also will be expressed to the whole members of her family for their biggest love and kindness to support her in finishing this ‘skripsi’.

Thirdly, the writer also realized that she never finish this paper without the help of some people around her. Therefore, the writer would like to give her gratitude and appreciations to:

1. Nurlena Rifa’i, MA.Ph.D, as the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.

2. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd, as the Head of English Education Department. 3. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum, as the Secretary of English Education

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5. Mr. Dr. Atiq Susilo, M.A, as the lecturer of Gammar V of English Education Department.

6. Mrs. Maya Defianty, M.Pd, as the lecturer of Writing III of English Education Department.

7. All Classes of the sixth semester of English Education Department Academic Year 2013/2014.

8. All of her friends in English Education Department 2009 academic year, especially E class and her best friends (Sari, Bayyini, Hayyin, Trianti, Erna, Agung Sdayu, Zaki, Arif, Hari, and Zen).

The words are not enough to say any appreciation for their help and contribution in this paper. May Allah, the Almighty bless them all. Moreover, the writer also realized that this paper is far from perfect. It is a pleasure for her to get critiques and suggestions to make this paper better.

Ciputat, 10th July, 2014

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TITLE ...i

APPROVAL ...ii

ENDORSEMENT SHEET ...iii

SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI ...iv

ABSTRACT ...v

ABSTRAK ...vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...ix

LIST OF TABLE ...xi

LIST OF APPENDICES ...xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...1

A. Background of the Study ...1

B. Problem Identification ...3

C. Limitation of the Problem ...4

D. Formulation of Problem ...4

E. Purpose of the Study ...4

F. Significance of the Study ...4

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ...6

A. Grammar ...6

1. Definition of Grammar ...6

2. Importance of Grammar ...8

3. Types of Grammar ...9

4. Grammar Test ...11

B. Writing ...13

1. General Meaning of Writing ...13

2. Importance of Writing ...15

3. Process of Writing ...16

4. Writing Assessment ...18

C. Grammar and Writing ...20

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CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOG ...27

A. Time and Place of the Research ...27

B. Research Design ...27

C. Population and Sample ...28

D. Instrument of the Research ...28

E. Try Out ...29

F. Technique of Data Collection ...30

G. Technique of Data Analysis ...31

H. Statistical Hypothesis ...33

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING ...34

A. Data Description ...34

B. Data Analysis ...39

C. Data Interpretation ...43

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ...45

A. Conclusions ...45

B. Suggestions ...45

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...47

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Table 2.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Holistic Scoring ... 19

Table 2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Analytic Scoring ... 20

Table 3.1 Category of Reliability ... 30

Table 3.2 The Interpretation of Correlation “r” Product Moment ... 32

Table 4.1 Grammar Scores ... 34

Table 4.2 Statistical Scores of Grammar... 36

Table 4.3 Writing Scores... 36

Table 4.4 Statistical Scores of Writing ... 38

Table 4.5 Data Analysis Table ... 39

Table 4.6 SPSS Correlation Table ... 41

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APPENDIX 2 Students’ Writing Scores ... 52

APPENDIX 3 Research Instrument ... 54

APPENDIX 4 Grammar Test ... 56

APPENDIX 5 Output Anatest4 of the Result of Try Out ... 61

APPENDIX 6 Output SPSS of Students’ Grammar Scores ... 63

APPENDIX 7 Output SPSS of Students’ Writing Scores ... 64

APPENDIX 8 Output SPSS of Correlation between X variable and Y variable .. 65

APPENDIX 9 Grammar Syllabus ... 66

1

A.

Background of the Study

Grammar is the structure and meaning system of language. All languages have grammar, and each language has its own grammar. People who speak the same language are able to communicate because they intuitively know the grammar system of that language - that is, the rules of making meaning. Students who are the native speakers of English have already knew about English grammar and how to use it properly. They recognize the sounds of English words, the meanings of those words, and the different ways of putting words together to make meaningful sentences. However, no matter how good the students in English, they still need to learn how to transfer their knowledge of grammatical concept from spoken to written language.

Written language means the representation of a language by writing system. Writing itself is a method of representing language in visual form through the signs and symbols. Writing is also one of language skill that is always taught in school. Writing skill is more complex and difficult than the other skills which not only require the mastery of linguistic competence such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, punctuation, intonation, etc. but also it requires the conceptual judgment. This is indicated by Heaton's statement that "The writing skills are complex and sometimes difficult to teach, requiring mastery not only of grammatical and rhetorical devices but also of conceptual and judgmental elements".1

Based on the description above, the writer assumes that grammar is one of language components which take a role in writing ability. Having strong skills in writing and grammar, it allows writers to deliver their message to their readers in a clear and understandable way. On the contrary, writing in grammatical incorrect manner is only confusing the readers. It is important to use words properly in

1

order to get the point directly, and to practice good basic grammar to add credibility in writing.

Realizing that grammar is inescapable in writing process, people, especially teachers, could encourage the students to examine grammatical errors in their own writing. Although the students are good in grammatical concept, they still get guidance to become effective writers. Effective grammar instruction begins with what students have already known about grammar, and it helps them to use this knowledge as they write. By connecting the mastery of grammatical concept to writing strategy, the students can know that grammatical concept give effect in their ability to write effectively.

In English Education Department (EED), the college students as pre-service teachers are taught many subjects and two of them are grammar and writing. Grammar subject is taught from grammar 1 up to grammar 5. In learning grammar 1 up to grammar 4, students learn more about basic grammar rules. But in learning grammar 5, the lecturer more focuses on TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) preparation because TOEFL is one of graduation requirements of English Education Department. In TOEFL, students get all the aspects of grammatical rules in structure test. That is why, before taking grammar 5, they have to pass the grammar 1 up to grammar 4. The other skill that is taught is writing. In writing subject, it starts from writing 1 up to Academic writing. Students are taught about the first steps to write; such as learn about sentences, punctuations, write a paragraph, make an essay outline, until make an essay and research paper.

In writer's experience as a college student that also as a pre-service teacher at English Education Department "Syarif Hidayatullah" State Islamic University, the most problem appear in learning English is about comprehending the grammar rules and the difficulties to write. This is because in grammatical rules, it is regarded not as something interesting in its own right, but also as a necessary function of language, and it is therefore taught by way of rules and structures. Besides, the difficulties arise from the nature of the system itself and from the

differences between English and students' native language. Nevertheless, students have to be concerned about grammar rules because they will always find it in order to be able to communicate effectively in English, either spoken or written. On the other side, in writing process, students often find it hard even to write in their native language. The students cannot write well if they do not have a good grammar competence. It happens because they have lack of confidence that make them feel hard to write. Besides, the students sometimes get stuck to develop the topic in their writing. On the contrary, the students who have good competence in grammar, they could be more confident than those who are not, because they know how to make good and proper sentences.

Based on the description above, the writer conducted an investigation on the correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. Based on the background above, the writer is intended to research about:

"The Correlation between Grammar Mastery and Writing Ability (A Correlational Study at 6th Semester of English Education Department Students of UIN Jakarta".

B.

Problem Identification

Based on the background of the study above, the writer found some problems which are developed into the following statements:

1. When learning English, grammar is one of the English components that give effect in writing competence because that is the rules of making meaning.

2. Students who have good competence in grammatical concept still need a guidance to become effective writers.

3. Students feel difficult in learning grammar because it is a necessary function of language and taught by way of rules and structures.

4. The students cannot write well if they do not have a good grammar competence because they have lack of confidence to make a good text even a sentence.

5. Students feel hard to write because they do not know how to develop the topic and they get stuck in the middle of writing.

6. Students' mastery of grammar has more or less influence in improving their ability in writing.

C.

Limitation of the Study

As the topic suggests, this study is conducted to prove whether or not there is a significant systematic relations between grammar mastery and the ability in writing. Therefore, this study is limited to analyze the correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability.

D.

Formulation of the Problem

In order to make systematic approach to solve the problem, the writer conducted the research on the correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. The research question can be formulated as "Is there any significant correlation between students' grammar mastery and their ability in writing?"

E.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to know whether there is a significant correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. Moreover, the study conducted to get the empirical data from the both scores. Those are grammar 5 scores and writing 3 scores.

F.

Significance of the Study

The study is expected to give some contributions to English language teaching and learning.

1. For writer, this research can find whether there is a significant correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. Some people assume that without a working knowledge of good grammar, good writing is impossible. So, the extent to which grammar mastery affects the students' ability in writing.

2. For the English teachers and learners, the finding of the research can inform them about the relations between grammar and writing. The researcher also hopes that the result of this study will become input to English teachers and also English learners for their teaching and learning. The students will know whether the grammar mastery will help them much or not in making a good writing.

3. For Further researchers who are interested in correlation research, they can get basic information from this research. So, they can do their research deeper and better than this research.

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A.

Grammar

1. Definition of Grammar

In the context of education especially in the learning and teaching of a foreign language, grammar is usually considered one of the language components beside the vocabulary and sound system which students should acquire. Knowing grammar means understanding what the text means correctly. The experts Stewart and Vailette point out that "The word grammar means the sort of thing they learned in English class or in other language classes, when they were taught about

subjects and predicates and part of speech, …".1 _{The statement indicates that the}

students were taught about the rules of target language in their school. They learn about it because the teacher aware that as foreign language learners, students should know about the language rules that native speaker use as a communication tool. Students commonly do not realize that when they express themselves through writing or speaking, what they write or speak have its patterns and they keep subconsciously applying the patterns in their communication.

Grammar gives language users the control of expression and communication in everyday life. . "Grammar deals with the form of sentences and smaller units such as clauses, phrases and words".2 _{Mastery over words helps}

speakers to communicate their emotions and purpose more effectively. Otherwise, communication can sound like a toddler getting frustrated because he or she does not have many words to express his or her thoughts well. Moreover, grammar also gives effect in written communication. Written communication skills with grammatical precision evince professionalism. Employing inappropriate grammar in a written communication in a letter or email - such as using "LOL" or flawed

1

Thomas W. Stewart and Jr. Nathan Vailette, Language Files; Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics, (Department of Linguistics The Ohio State University), p. 8.

2

Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 1

subject-verb agreement like "we was" - makes the message less effective because the errors will distract from the intent. Understanding basic principle of word, sentence and paragraph structures bestows writers with the flexibility to plan how they communicate a message, from a simple text to a presentation. If people cannot successfully speak or write to one another, they cannot share their thoughts to other people.

In "Scientific Writing; Easy When You Know How", Peat states that "Grammar is about knowing why something reads badly and knowing how to fix it. It is impossible to write well without using words correctly".3 _{It means that,}

when people want to write something, they should know about grammar because it shows the meaning and relation with every single word that becomes a sentence. On the other hand, Harmer on his book says that

"Real language use is often very untidy and cannot be automatically reduced to simple grammar patterns. Students need to be aware of this, just as they need to be aware of all language possibilities. Such awareness does not mean that they have to be taught each variation and linguistic twist, however. It just means they have to be aware of language and how it is used".4

From Harmer's statement means that the students should aware about these rules that they learn as a target language, however, these enable them to communicate each other without creating misunderstanding and misinterpretation. They should not learn it deeply because when they communicate to other people especially in spoken, they just need to know how people understand about what they say.

According to Radford, "grammar is traditionally subdivided into two different but interrelated areas of study morphology and syntax. Morphology is the study of how words are formed out of smaller units (called morphemes). And syntax is the study of the way in which phrases and sentences are structured out of

3

Jennifer Peat, Scientific Writing; Easy When You Know How, (London: BMJ Books, 2002) p. 214.

4

Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, (New York: Longman Group, 1991), p. 23.

words."5 _{In learning grammar means learning of morphology and syntax because}

both of them are the components of language.

In addition Kolln and Funk point out three definitions of grammar. First,

grammar is the system of rules in our heads. Second, Grammar is the formal description of the rules. And the third, grammar is the social implications of usage, sometimes called "linguistic etiquette".6

Grammar is the system of rules in our heads. It means that the study of grammar a lifetime of "knowing" how to produce sentences. This subconscious system of rules is your "language competence". It is important to recognize that these internalized rules vary from one language community to another. Grammar is the formal description of the rules. This definition refers to the branch of linguistic science concerned with the formal description of language, the subject matter of books like this one, which identify in an objective way the form and structure, the syntax of sentences. Grammar is the social implications of usage, sometimes called "linguistic etiquette". This definition could be called do's and don't's of usage, rather than grammar.

Considering those definitions and explanation, the writer shows that grammar is a set of rules derived from a language that enable people to understand what they read or what they construct in sentences or expressions when they communicate. Grammar is the way of the spoken and written language to be organized. It is concerned with the order of word groups, clauses and sentences and morphemes in words. It is closely related to generic structure and cohesion.

2. Importance of Grammar

When teaching a language, teachers actually have two purposes; insure fluency and accuracy in all language skills. Fluency is the ability to speak fluently whereas accuracy is ability to speak with correct grammar structures, such as the using of verb forms correctly, phrasal verbs, prepositions, etc. To communicate

5

Andrew Radford, An Introduction to English Sentence Structure, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 1.

6

Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar: Eight Edition,(New York: Pearson, 2010), p. 3.

intelligibly, to make sense with each sentence, a learner should know the grammar of the target language. According to Penny Ur "Grammar does not only affect how

units of language are combined in order to ‘look right'; it also affects their

meaning".7 _{Supporting his opinion, Knapp and Watkins state that "Grammar is a}

name for the resources available to users of a language system for producing texts. A knowledge of grammar by a speaker or writer shifts language use from the implicit and unconscious to a conscious manipulation of language and choice of appropriate text".8 _{From that statement, it is clear that grammar is one of the} important things in English because it is not just to make the sentence good but also it will refers to its meaning. "A knowledge of grammar in this sense is not just concerned with rules for what can and can't be done with the organization and use of words in English sentences, but also with the way written English function".9 _{Therefore, to write or speak in a clearer and more effective manner,}

people have to study grammar. For the people who have unconscious knowledge of grammar, it may be sufficient for simple language use. But the people who wish to communicate in the artistic manner with well-defined structures must go for the greater depth of understanding and proficiency what the study of grammar offers.

3. Types of Grammar

Some linguists have their own perspective about different varieties of grammar - that is, different ways of describing and analyzing the structures and functions of language.

According to George Yule, there are three types of grammar.10 Those are: 1. Mental Grammar

7

Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching; practice and Theory, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 76.

8

Peter Knapp and Megan Watkins, Genre, TEXT, grammar; Technologies for teaching and assessing writing, p. 32

9

Ibid., 33 10

George Yule, The Study of Language, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), p. 69.

Mental grammar is a form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured expressions. And this is not the result of any teaching (purely skill).

2. Linguistic Ettiquette

Linguistic etiquette is the identification of the proper or best structures to be used in a language.

3. Traditional grammar

Traditional grammar involves the analysis study of the structures found in a language.

On the other hand, Kolln and Funk divided the types of grammar into two, namely; Structural and Transformational Grammar.11

1. Structural Grammar

The structuralists recognize the importance of describing language on its own terms. Instead of assuming that English words could fit into the traditional eight word groups of Latin, the structuralists examined sentences objectively, paying particular attention to how words change in sound and spelling (their form) and how they are used in sentences (their function). Another important feature of structuralism, which came to be called "new grammar", is its emphasis on the systematic nature of English.

2. Transformational Grammar

Unlike the structuralists, whose goal was to examine the sentences we actually speak and to describe their systematic nature, the transformationalists wanted to unlock the secrets of language; to build a model of our internal rules, a model that would produce all of the grammatical - and no ungrammatical - sentences. It might be useful to think of our built-in language system as a computer program. The transformationalists are trying to describe that program. The several important concepts of transformational grammar are: first, the recognition that a basic sentence can be transformed into variety of forms, depending on intent or emphasis, while retaining its essential meaning; for example, questions and exclamations and passive sentences. Another

11

major adoption from transformational grammar is the description of our system for expanding the verb.

Grammar is still an important component in English no matter how many experts classified it into several types. In conclusion, the most important thing in learning language is the learners have to know the language structure as well as possible in order to increase their ability in using the target language itself.

4. Grammar Test

The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing. A basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express meaning, and so grammar tests have an important part in language program. This is in line with Madsen's opinion that "Grammar tests are designed to measure student proficiency in matters ranging from inflections in syntax. Syntax involves the relationship of words in a sentence, including matters such a word order, use of the negative, question forms and connectives".12

Madsen presents two basic ways to measure the grammar skills of the beginning-level students:

a. Individual Testing

Individual testing is a test that designed for testing students individually by using oral test. These requests can ask for easy spoken replies or simply for nonverbal actions. This tests should use the familiar vocabulary in the test question as well as structures those students have been taught.

b. Group Testing

In group testing, the teacher gives the students test by using directed physical responses. First, the teacher explains and illustrates any new vocabulary words. Then, he or she asks the students to make a drawing according to teacher's spoken instruction.

Moreover, in testing grammar, there are also some types that could be used by the teacher to measure students' achievement in grammar subject. And

12

Harold S. Madsen, Techniques in Testing, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 34.

according to Heaton, there are some of the most common types that used to test of the grammatical features of the language. The types of the test such as:13

a. Multiple- choice

Probably the most common way of testing grammatical knowledge is the multiple choice test. These tests have the advantage of being easy to grade and being able to cover a lot of grammatical points quickly.

b. Error correction

Error correction items are also useful for testing grammar. An error correction item is one in which the student is given a sentence with an error. Four words or phrase in the sentence marked by letters, and the students need to decide which of the words or phrases has the error.

c. Completion items

Completion items are items in which the testees are asked to fill in blanks in sentences. The advantage of completion items is that they test production, not just recognition. The disadvantage is that they need to be marked by hand and there will be some cases where the marker needs to make judgments about whether a response is correct.

d. Transformation items

The transformation type of item is extremely useful for testing ability to produce structures in the target language and helps to provide a balance when included in tests containing multiple-choice items.

e. Items involving the changing of words

Another type of item is one in which testees are given a sentence and a word which they need to fit into the sentence by changing the form of the word. This type of grammar test item tests students' knowledge of different word forms and how they are used in sentences.

f. ‘Broken sentence item'

This type of item tests the student's ability to write full sentence from series of words and phrases, and thus does not allow the test writer to concentrate

13

J. B. Heaton, Writing English Language Test, (New York: Longman Group, 1988), p. 34.

exclusively on testing those particular grammatical features which may have just been practiced in class. When setting this item, make sure that the instructions are very clear indeed and provide one or two examples.

g. Pairing and matching items

This type of item usually consists of a short conversation; a stimulus in the form of a statement or question followed by a response often in the form of statement. The item is more useful for testing students' sensitivity and their awareness of the functions of language rather than their knowledge of grammar. Students are simply required to write the letter of the correct response in the space provided.

h. Combination items and Addition items

These objective-type items have long been used in past tests. They should used, sparingly, however, as they involve largely mechanical responses on the part of students. Note that although the separate sentences are linked to one another by theme, the items can hardly be described as being contextualized in any real way.

B.

Writing

1. General Meaning of Writing

It can be said that writing is a crucial part in our global society. Through writing, we can learn a lot of things, from the simplest one such as how to make a glass of milkshake until how this earth is formed, for example. In short, writing plays a significance role in our life.

The statement above is from the writer' points of view. To the writer, in addition, writing also means as one of communication tools. Through writing, people can express their ideas, experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Moreover, through writing, people can communicate over long distance and period.

Writing is an expression of ideas, thoughts, and stories on a piece of paper. For some people, writing might be hard even in their first language. It could be more difficult for them to write in foreign language. As Oshima and Hogue state that writing is the action that needs the some process such as thinking, writing,

reading, correcting and revising. Those are not the simple steps in writing because people have to realize that what they write is what they want to say or express.14

Writing is not only a symbol on a piece of paper but it should be arranged into good sentences or paragraph by using some grammatical rules.

"Writing as a skill: by far the most important reason for teaching writing, of course, is that it is a basic language skill, just as important as speaking, listening, and reading".15 _{And according to Ramsey, "Writing is a process of}

synthesis. As you write, you used words and information to express your viewpoint in a coherent whole, an essay. But writing draws on intuition as well as reasoning, on sensation and emotion as well as fast and memory.16

According to Heaton, there are five skills necessary for writing. They are:17

 Language use: the ability to write correct and appropriate sentences;  Mechanical skills: the ability to use correctly those conventions peculiar

to the written language;

 Treatment of content: the ability to think creatively and develop thoughts, excluding all irrelevant information;

 Stylistic skills: the ability to manipulate sentences and paragraphs, and use language effectively;

 Judgment skills: the ability to write in appropriate manner for a particular purpose with a particular audience in mind, together with an ability to select, organize and order relevant information.

Based on the description above, the writer assumes that writing is the most difficult skill of language because there are many rules and aspects that should be considered by learners in order to the readers comprehend about the text.

14

Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Introduction to Academic Writing, (New York: Pearson Longman, 2007), p.15.

15

Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, (England: Pearson Education Limited, 2000), p.79.

16

H. Ramsley Fowler, The Little Hand Book. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001), p. 3.

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2. Importance of Writing Skill

Undoubtedly, writing has become a prominent part in people's everyday life. In almost all aspects of life, writing in whatever form it be, is proved to be an effective way of communication. For example, people should understand about written works in their life such as simple notices at shopping centers, printed media such as newspaper and magazine; educational and scientific sources like books, journals, and encyclopedia, and literary works such as poem and novel. They show us that writing serves in any different forms and gives essential function in day-to-day activities. We can imagine how hard people carry out their duties without writing. Surely, there will be too much information untold and lots of knowledge will be left.

Moreover, as the societies grew larger and more industrialized, people need to be able to write and read well because it is very important for bureaucratic organizations to be successful. In other words, writing skill can be a ticket to better college grades and greater academic achievement since good writing skill is so much needed in the academic context. Besides, most jobs nowadays as well as future jobs will require writing skill; even to apply for a job, good writing skill is demanded.

Meanwhile in the smaller scope of educational setting, i.e. at schools, most of examinations require students to use their writing skill. Students' success at school is partly determined by their writing skills. Furthermore, it is commonly known that good writing will foster good thinking. When students are trying to write, they should automatically think because they develop their ideas and sometimes revise what they have written. On the other hand, good thinking, if being properly applied, gives rise to what so-called good writing.

The fact that writing skill clearly gives many advantages to people, it suggests that having good writing skill will give many benefits to them. In addition, being able to take part in today's information culture, writers can express themselves well through writing; they can communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings, and experiences and at the same time, let it known by others.

As a closing remark of this section, the writer quotes Chris Tribble's statement (in Harmer, 2004:3):

"To be deprived of the opportunity to learn to write is... to be excluded from a wide range social roles including those which the majority of people in industrialized societies associate with power and prestige".18

This shows that writing is closely related to the society. To be successful in whatever field we are in, having writing skill is very much helpful. Thus, writing, especially in a foreign language is one skill which all teachers or educational practitioners should pay attention to.

3. Process of Writing

Teaching writing focuses not only on a product of writing itself but also on the process of writing. Writing process is a process which writer begins to write down their ideas on the paper which is valuable aid to the whole learning process. Oshima and Hogue state that the process of writing consists of four steps, those are: prewriting, organizing, writing a draft, and the last step are polishing the draft by editing and revising.19_{The various processes of writing need various skills to}

meet the aims in a writing activity. The prewriting stage encourages the writers to generate ideas, which can happen in various ways, such as, reading a passage, conducting some research, brainstorming, listing, clustering, discussing a topic and free writing. Meanwhile, organizing and drafting stages are the core process of writing in which the actual writing activity happens. And the last step is polishing. Polishing is most successful if the writer do it in two steps are by editing and revising. Revision is needed to improve writing work, especially for improving books.

On the other side, editing is needed to check on the smaller issues of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. Frodesen wrote some techniques for editing.

1. Read-Aloud Technique: many students find that slowly reading their drafts aloud to listen for errors can help them in making corrections. For shorter

18

Harmer, How to Teach Writing, (London: Longman, 2004), p. 3. 19

papers, some students who are of their error patterns read through the paper several times, listening for different kinds of errors each time.

2. Pointing to Words: some writers use a pencil, pen, or finger to point to words one by one.

3. "Slow-Down" Techniques: This involves reading a draft in some way that is in contrast to the normal linear process, such as starting with the last sentence in each paragraph and reading in reverse. Such a technique may help writers detect certain kinds of morphological errors such as missing plural endings, but would not work well for others, such as reference words or subject-verb agreement.

4. Word Processing Grammar Checkers: Grammar checkers in word processors can flag certain kind of errors. As long as writers do not blindly follow the suggestions (since grammar checkers can often create errors rather than correct them if suggestion are taken indiscriminately), checkers can be helpful in getting writers to pay attention to potential errors. If students do not understand the suggested corrections, they should make the change.

In addition, Kane states that writing which is an activity that put something on a paper has three steps. First is "thinking" that involves choosing a subject, second is "doing" as known as drafting and the last is "doing again" that means revising.20

From the explanation above, the writer concludes that writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising and editing. Prewriting is anything the writers do before write a draft of their document. Drafting occurs when the writers put their ideas into sentences and paragraph. Revising is the key to effective writing because here the writers think more deeply about their readers' need and expectation. And the last is editing which means the process of checking for such things as grammar, mechanics and spelling. The last thing the writers should do before printing their work.

20

Thomas S. Kane, The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing, (New York: Barekley Books, 1988), p. 17.

4. Writing Assessment

Evaluating students' performance is a crucial aspect of teaching. A formative process related to the planning, design, and teaching strategies. Assessment is not simply a matter of setting exams and giving grades. Scores and evaluative feedback contribute enormously to the learning of individual students and to the development of an effective and responsive writing course. As a result, an understanding of assessment procedure is necessary to ensure that teaching is having the desired impact and that students are being judged fairly.

There are many kinds of writing tests. The reason for this is fairly simple: A wide variety of writing tests is needed to test the many kinds of writing task that we engage in. For one thing, there are usually distinct stages of instruction of writing, such as pre-writing, guided writing, and free writing. Another reason for the variety of writing tests in use is the great number of factors that can be evaluated; mechanics (including spelling and punctuation), vocabulary, grammar appropriate content, diction (or word selection), rhetorical matters of various kinds (organization, cohesion, unity; appropriateness to the audience, topic and occasion); as well as sophisticated concerns such as logic and style.21

According to Hyland there are some methods that used in scoring writing test and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Scoring guides, called "rubrics", are used to aid raters by providing bands of descriptions corresponding to particular proficiency or rhetorical criteria. Rubrics are designed to suit different contexts and seek to reflect the goals of the course and what its teachers value as "good writing". Rubrics need to be carefully written to avoid over reliance on ambiguously subjective terms, but tend to fall back on such description as "fairly", "quite", and "reasonably' to describe writing features in intermediate bands.22 _{The most familiar rubrics that used by teacher to assess}

students writing are holistic scoring and analytic scoring methods.

21

Harold S. Madsen, op.cit., p. 101. 22

Ken Hyland, Second Language Writing, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 227-230.

 A holistic scale is based o a single, integrated score of writing behavior. This method aims to rate a writer's overall proficiency through an individual impression of the quality of a writing sample.

Table 2.1

Advantages and disadvantages of holistic scoring23

Advantages Disadvantages

Global impression not a single ability

Emphasis on achievement not deficiencies

Weight can be assigned to certain criteria

Encourages rater discussion and agreement

Provides no diagnostic information

Difficult to interpret composite score

Smooths out different abilities in subskills

Raters may overlook subskills Penalizes attempts to use challenging forms

Longer essays may get higher scores

One score reduces reliability May confuse writing ability with language proficiency

 Analytic scoring procedures require readers to judge a text against a set of criteria seen as important to good writing. Analytic scoring more clearly defines the features to be assessed by separating, and sometimes weighting, individual components and is therefore more effective in discriminating between weaker texts. Widely, used rubrics have separate scales for content, organizations, and grammar, with vocabulary and mechanics sometimes added

separately, and these are assigned a numerical value. Appendix … provides an

example of analytic scoring method.

23

Table 2.2

Advantages and disadvantages of analytic scoring24

Advantages Disadvantages

Encourages raters to address the same features

Allows more diagnostic reporting Assists reliability as candidate gets several scores

Detailed criteria allow easier rater training

Prevents conflation of categories into one

Allows teachers to prioritize specific aspects

May divert attention from overall essay effect

Rating one scale may influence others

Very time consuming compared with holistic method

Writing is more than simply the sum of its parts

Favors essays where scalable info easily extracted

Descriptors may overlap or Ambiguous

C.

Grammar and Writing

In the area of English as a foreign language learning, writing has been the most difficult and complex skill to acquire. It is normal if the process of teaching and learning in the classroom reflects that written cycle should be given after the spoken cycle has been done. The assumption that the students are ready to write is after they have prepared with a certain amount of vocabulary or words so that they can arrange the words into sentences that represent the purpose of communication. Besides, it is in line with the reason that they have had it in mind and they have practiced it when they are doing the spoken cycle. Thus, when they have to write, they can communicate and develop their ideas through their writing.

Moreover, this also implies that in order to master the four language skills i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing, mastering language components is a must. That is why the teaching of language components, namely grammar, vocabulary, and sound system (pronunciation, intonation, etc) should be targeted as much as possible to enhance the mastery of language skills.

Again, the writer here would like to point out that in order to be able to write well, meaning that we can convey our ideas and opinions to the readers well without leaving misunderstanding and misinterpretation. In some way, this

24

indicates the relation between grammar and writing does exist. As Frodesen said that in the second language writing classroom, grammar is a source to make effective communication. But, it does not mean all kinds of grammar instruction are useful in the EFL/ESL class, the students will automatically be able to transform input received through explicit grammar instruction into productive output.25

Meanwhile, concerning the nature of written communication, Harmer (2004:6-7) explains:

"When we are engaged in spoken communication, we often decide what to say as the conversation continuous on the basis of what our co-participant are saying...instead of being able to get our points across unhindered, we may be constantly interrupted and so have to proceed in a less structured way than we had anticipated...writing, however, is as we have seen, significantly different".26

The statements indicate that in speaking, sometimes, it is fine to use ungrammatical expression since clarifications and repetition are possible. Besides, spoken communication is usually supported by its context such as the speakers' tone, gestures, and facial expression so that saying everything in an exact grammatical way is unnecessary. In written communication, however, the case is different. The readers are totally dependent upon what they read without being able to ask something weird or confusing they come across in a piece of written work.

Hence, grammar and writing, however, are dependent each other. The writing teachers need to be aware in making decision about grammar in the writing classroom. Nevertheless, it seems that, in some form, the role of grammar remains as an essential component of effective written communication.

25

Marianne Celce Murcia (ed), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, (Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 2001), p. 234.

26

D.

Previous Studies

Several studies were conducted by some experts about grammar knowledge and writing skill. Moreover, the researcher made a correlation between the both of it. And the research findings of them can be elaborated briefly to give foundation and support for this research.

First, the study entitled "The Relationship between Writing Competence, Language Proficiency and Grammatical Errors in the Writing of Iranian TEFL Sophomores". It had written by Mohammad Ali Fatemi from University Sains Malaysia in 2008. This research investigated the relationship between writing competence, language proficiency and grammatical errors in the writing of Iranian TEFL sophomores. This research consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the objectives were to assess the writing competence of the Iranian TEFL sophomores, measure their language proficiency, and examine the relationship between their writing competence and language proficiency and its sub skills including listening, reading, and grammatical competence. The second phase was mainly descriptive and error analysis of the subjects' writing was done. The objectives of second phase found the most frequently occurring categories of grammatical errors, establish a rank order of these errors, establish if their L1 was the source of their grammatical errors and establish the probable interference of grammatical errors with communicative purposes of their writing. A quantitative approach was used to analyze the data collected from the first phase and qualitative approach was employed for the second phrase. The findings of the first phase showed that the significant correlations were found between the subjects' writing competence and their language proficiency, between their writing competence and the sub-skills of language proficiency. In sub-skills, the strongest correlation was found to be between writing and grammatical competence. The result of second phase indicated that their L1 was a source of grammatical errors and in general grammatical errors interfered with communicative purposes among which errors of miss-selection accounted for the major source of communicative

failure in their writing and that the majority of grammatical errors which were rooted in their L1 led to communicative failure.27

Another study was conducted by Ulul Azmi entitled "A Correlation between Students' Mastery of Past Tense and Their Ability in Writing Recount" at Eleventh Grade Students of MA Hassamussholihat in the academic year of 2010/2011. The objectives of the study are to find out the correlation between the students' mastery of past tense and their ability in writing recount text. The method of this research is correlational study and applied a purposive sampling technique, with the total number of the sample is 40 students. The data were gained through tests, namely grammar test and writing test that were analyzed by using product moment pearson. The findings of the research showed that there is a significant correlation between students' mastery of past tense and their ability in writing recount. From the result of his research, the researcher showed that the better the students' mastery in past tense, the better they ability in writing recount. It also means describe that there is a significant correlation between students' grammar knowledge and their ability in writing.

And then, the study entitled "Does EFL Students' Grammatical Ability Account for Writing Ability?" was conducted by Yun Hsuan Huang from Department of Apllied Foreign Languages, Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan. The objective of this study is to examine whether grammar instruction could promote the students' grammatical ability, thereby further helping their writing. In this study, the tests are divided into grammar subset and writing subset. The research was administered to ten senior high school students in a lower-intermediate English class at a cram school in Southern Taiwan. The research findings implied that there was no strong relationship between the knowledge of grammar and usage that means the ability in writing among lower-intermediate learners.28

From her research, it was found that

27

Mohammad Ali Fatemi, "The Relationship between Writing Competence, Language Proficiency and Grammatical Errors in the Writing of Iranian TEFL Sophomores", A Thesis Presented to the University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, 2008, pp 1-24, not published.

28

Ulul Azmi, "A Correlation between Students' Mastery of Past Tense and Their Ability in Writing Recount at Eleventh Grade Students of MA Hassamussholihat", a Skripsi Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers Training in UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Jakarta, 2011, pp. 24-36, not published.

statistically, grammar mastery has no strong effect for making a good writing. This is because there are some other factors such as about the quality and quantity of test takers and test items, the instruction in writing test that should more informative, and then about the rubric for the writing test itself.29

Those previous studies above used as references for the researcher in comparing between those relevant studies with the study conducted by the researcher this time. This study was the correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability. Some differences appeared between this study and previous study were obviously the method of the study. The first previous study used two phases and it was conducted more complex than this study because it used two methods that were quantitative for the first phase and qualitative for the second phase. For this study used just one phase so the writer used quantitative method namely correlational study. Besides, the first previous study is connecting about writing competence, language proficiency and also language sub skills such as listening, reading and grammatical competence. In the second previous study, the researcher connecting only past tense as a part of grammar and the ability of students in writing recount. It is clearly different with this research; in this research the researcher connecting between writing ability and the grammar knowledge generally. The researcher took some areas of grammar that usually appeared in TOEFL test and did the test to the participants. Moreover, the differences also found for the data collection and sample of research. In the second and third previous researches, the data got from two tests namely grammar test and writing test. And sample that used in the second previous study was 40 and in the third previous study were 10 students. It is different with this research; in this research the data got from doing the test but only one test. The researcher did grammar test and asked for writing score from the subject's lecturer. The sample was 30 students that took from one class.

Although there are a lot of differences, those previous studies has a similar in the objectives with this research. The objective from the previous researches and this research is to know the relationship between grammar and writing ability.

29

Yun Hsuan Huang, "Does EFL Students' Grammatical Ability Account for Writing Ability?", CHIA-NAN ANNUAL BULLETIN, 2011, pp. 505-5011.

E.

Theoretical Thinking

According to writer, Grammar is one of the Language components, which plays very important roles for people who want to learn English language. Students are taught about grammar in their English class because the teacher knows that grammar still takes an important role in learning English. To learn and to be able to communicate in English, students have to know how people usually use this language; put words into sentences and use them in communication. This related to the Huddleston and Pullum theory that grammar helps speakers to communicate their emotions and purpose more effectively because grammar deals with the form of sentences and smaller units such as clauses, phrases and words. Therefore, the writer assumes that people who can use grammar properly is considered having good English.

Meanwhile, writing is one of skills in a language. Writing skill deals with the ability to arrange the graphic system such as letter, words, and sentences of certain language that is used in written communication in order to understand the message or the information. This also means that writing is used for communication in written form. Writing refers to a process in which its activities are not produced immediately. Oshima and Hogue state that writing is the action that needs the some process such as thinking, writing, reading, correcting and revising the words or the sentences that have been written.

In language learning, writing is a productive skill. When students produce language into written form, they will get feedback from the reader either teachers or their friends whether their writing is good or not. Without practicing of writing, students will have no chance to improve their writing skill because the skill will not be seen by the teacher or their friends to be evaluated. The teacher will assess it by using rubric scale for assessing writing. There are many interrelated factors that must be taken into consideration when designing tasks and scoring procedures for writing assessment. One of the criteria in rubric scale, the teacher should check students' grammar in their product of writing to minimize ungrammatical features that can make the readers confused. Therefore, it indicates that, the relation between grammar and writing does exist.

As the topic of this study, is attempted to reveal whether or not there is a significance correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability. Therefore, it is conducted to find out the possible relations between the two variables through correlational statistics.

F.

Hypothesis

A Hypothesis in the research is a basic assumption of how the result of the research will be. It is a prediction of a phenomenon. Moreover, in formulating hypothesis, the researcher has to ensure that the hypothesis is real or based on fact. There are two kinds of hypothesis:30

a. Alternative Hypothesis (HA): There is a significant correlation between

grammar mastery and writing ability.

b. Null Hypothesis (HO): There is no significant correlation between

grammar mastery and writing ability.

30

Etta Mamang Sangadji, Metodologi Penelitian, (Yogyakarta: Andi Yogyakarta, 2010), p.92.

27 A.

Time and Place of the Research

This research was conducted at English Education Department of "Syarif Hidayatullah" State Islamic University that is located on Jl. Ir. Haji Juanda no 95, Ciputat, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15412. The research was carried out on 24 February 2014 to 14 May 2014.

After getting an agreement of the EED's chairman and then consult to advisors who guided the writer about her research, the researcher chose this place for her study because she is one of college students at English Education Department. Therefore, it easier for her to get the data that she need. Besides, the writer knew well about the grammar and writing subject which were taught in this major and it was relevant for her research.

.

B.

Research Design

The writer used the quantitative method in conducting this research. It means that the writer collected and analyzed the data statistically from the students' scores of variables to find out the correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability of 6th semester students of English Education Department of UIN Jakarta. This research categorized into correlative type. As Gay stated that "Correlational research involves collecting data in order to determine whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more quantifiable variables".1

So that, the writer correlated two variables of this research; they were grammar knowledge as X variable and writing ability as Y variable of 6th semester students of EED.

1

L. R. Gay, Educational Research; Competencies for Analysis and Aplication Third Edition, (Ohio: Merril Publishing Company, 1987), p. 230.

C.

Population and Sample

1. Population

Arikunto states that "Population is all subjects of the research".2 _{It means}

that the population of this research was the whole students of 6th semester in EED. Whereas, the total numbers of them are 120 students. They were divided into three classes 6A, 6B and 6C.

2. Sample

According to Arikunto "Sample is the representative the population to be research. If the total population is less than 100, it is better to take all of them as the sample but if the total population is more than 100 students, the sample can be taken between 10-15% or 20-25% or more".3 _{Besides, Gay states that "The sample}

for a correlational study is selected using an acceptable sampling method, and 30 subjects are generally considered to be a minimally acceptable sample size".4

Based on the quotation above, in this research, the sample of the population is taken through purposive sampling. The B class of the 6th semester was chosen for the sample of this research. The writer took 30 students as sample from the population.

D.

Instrument of the Research

In a study, instrument as a tool for collecting data plays a very significant role. Thus, constructing research instrument carefully and in an appropriate manner is greatly fundamental. With regard to the different desired data, research instrument may be different from one study to another. Research instrument may be in the forms of test, questionnaire, observation sheet, document analysis, records of interview and interview sheet, etc.

2

Suharsimi Arikunto, Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktek (Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 1996), p. 173.

3

Ibid., p. 174. 4

Because there were two variables that the writer observed namely grammar mastery and writing ability, the instrument that used in this research was test and documentation score of sixth semester students in the subject of Writing. The score of this subject was taken from available document from the subject lecturer.

E.

Try Out

Having finished constructing the instrument, the writer then consulted it to the advisor. The next step was the tryout the instrument. Try out was intended to measure validity and reliability of the test items.

The tryout of the test was held on May, 6th 2014. It was administered to different students that were students of 6C. 20 students were taken as the subjects of the try out.

The analysis of the validity and reliability were the next step conducted after the tryout had been administered.

1. Validity

The validity was tested using ANATES 4. The test contained 50 numbers of multiple choices. After the calculation by using ANATES 4, it was found that 19 number items of tests were very significant, 3 items were significant, 25 items were adequate, and 3 items were insignificant.

2. Reliability

Reliability of test was measured using ANATES 4, the result was: Mean = 25, 65

Standard deviation = 5, 32 Correlation = 0.72

The test which has reliability coefficient among 0,81 - 1,00 has been very reliable.

Table 3.1

Category of Reliability5

Value Remark

0,00 - 0,20 Unreliable

0,21 - 0,40 Less Reliable

0,41 - 0,60 Sufficient

0,61 - 0,80 Reliable

0, 81 - 1,00 Very Reliable

F.

Technique of Data Collection

1. Grammar Test

The researcher conducted the grammar test to 6th semester students. The writer chose the material of Grammar 5 for the test because she knew that the subject of Grammar 5 at EED of UIN Jakarta was more focus on TOEFL preparation. Therefore, the researcher chose this subject because the 6th semester students had already learned about this material at previous semester. The writer gave the students the multiple choice and error identification test. It consisted of 15 items for multiple choice and 15 items number for error identification. The total number of the test is 30.

2. Documentation of Score

The researcher collected the data from the lecturer at English Education Department. The researcher chose Writing 3 because it was taught in line with Grammar 5.

5

G.

Technique of Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, the researcher used correlation product moment which developed by Carl Pearson. "Correlation product moment is used to show whether there is a correlation between X variable and Y variable."6 _{The symbol of}

the correlation product moment is "r".7

Data operation technique is done though the steps below:

a. Finding the number of correlation using formula:

rxy =

N = Number of Participants X = Students' Grammar Scores Y = Students' Writing Scores

∑X = The Sum Scores of Grammar

∑Y = The Sum Scores of Writing

∑X2

= The Sum of the Squared Scores of Grammar

∑Y2

= The Sum of the Squared Scores of Writing

∑XY = The Sum of Multiplied Score between X and Y

This formula is used in finding index correlation "r" product moment between X variable and Y variable (rxy)

b. To know the significance between two variables, the formula of the significance test is:8

tcount =

6

http://eprints.undip.ac.id/6608/1/Korelasi_Product_Moment.pdf 7

Drs. Anas Sudijono, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, (Jakarta: Rajawali, 2006), p.27. 8

Ridwan and H. Sunarto, Pengantar Statistika Pendidikan, Sosial, Ekonomi, Komunikasi, dan Bisnis, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2011), p.81.

tcount = t value

r = value of correlation coefficient n = number of participants

c. To interpret the index scores of "r" correlation, product moment (rxy)

usually used the interpretation such as bellow9_:

Table 3.2

The Interpretation of Correlation "r" Product Moment The score of "r"

product moment (rxy)

Interpretation

0.00 - 0.199

There is a correlation between X and Y, but the correlation is very weak or little. So it is considered no significant correlation in this rating.

0.20 - 0.399 There is a correlation between X and Y, but it is weak or little.

0.40 - 0.599 There is a correlation between X and Y. The value is medium.

0.60 - 0.799 There is high correlation between X and Y.

0.80 - 1.000 There is a very high correlation between X and Y.

9

Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif Kualitatif dan R&D, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2011), p.184.

H.

Statistical Hypotheses

1. If ro as same as or higher than rt, the Ha is accepted. It means that there is a

significant correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. 2. If ro is lower than rt, the Ha is rejected. It means that there is no significant

34

A.

Data Description

The researcher conducted the research at State Islamic University Jakarta (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah in which the 6th semester students of EED were chosen to be the participants of this research. There was one test that was given to the participants. It was grammar test. The test of grammar was conducted by the researcher using multiple choice and error identification tests. However, the researcher did not conduct the test of writing itself. She collected the writing scores from the lecturer of the writing of EED of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah. The data that were gotten are:

Table 4.1 Grammar Scores

Participants Grammar Scores (X)

Student 1 63

Student 2 57

Student 3 60

Student 4 73

Student 5 60

Student 6 73

Student 7 57

Student 8 60

Student 9 63

Student 11 50

Student 12 80

Student 13 47

Student 14 67

Student 15 60

Student 16 70

Student 17 73

Student 18 70

Student 19 50

Student 20 53

Student 21 60

Student 22 63

Student 23 53

Student 24 60

Student 25 63

Student 26 67

Student 27 60

Student 28 70

Student 29 77

Student 30 57

From the scores that were collected above, the researcher needed to know the statistical score of the data including the mean, median, mode, maximum score, minimum score, and standards deviation of the scores. To

find out those mean, etc… the researcher used SPSS. The finding can be

described such as bellow:

Table 4.2

Statistical Scores of Grammar Statistics

Grammar Score

N Valid 30

Missing 0

Mean 62.3000

Median 60.0000

Mode 60.00

Std. Deviation 8.33418

Variance 69.459

Minimum 47.00

Maximum 80.00

From the calculation of SPSS, the average score of grammar is 62.3. The median score of grammar is 60. The mode or the score that appear the most is 60. The highest score of grammar test is 80.00 while the lowest score is 47.00. The standard deviation is 8.33 with variance 64.459.

Table 4.3 Writing Scores

Participants Writing Scores (Y)

Student 1 77

Student 2 80

Student 4 81

Student 5 80

Student 6 71

Student 7 74

Student 8 76

Student 9 80

Student 10 79

Student 11 75

Student 12 75

Student 13 64

Student 14 73

Student 15 74

Student 16 78

Student 17 77

Student 18 79

Student 19 79

Student 20 69

Student 21 76

Student 22 78

Student 23 76

Student 24 75

Student 25 73

Student 26 80

Student 28 70

Student 29 72

Student 30 69

From the scores that were collected above, the researcher counted the statistical scores using SPSS, such as bellow:

Table 4.4

Statistical Scores of Writing Statistics

Writing Scores

N Valid 30

Missing 0

Mean 75.3000

Median 76.0000

Mode 80.00

Std. Deviation 4.05267

Variance 16.424

Minimum 64.00

Maximum 81.00

From the statistic table, the mean of writing score is 75.3. Median 76, and mode 80. The highest score of writing is 81.00 and the lowest one is 64.00. The standard deviation is 4.05 with variance 16.424.

B.

Data Analysis

Table 4.5 Data Analysis Table

Participants X Y XY X2 Y2

Student 1 63 77 4851 3969 5929

Student 2 57 80 4560 3249 6400

Student 3 60 77 4620 3600 5929

Student 4 73 81 5913 5329 6561

Student 5 60 80 4800 3600 6400

Student 6 73 71 5183 5329 5041

Student 7 57 74 4218 3249 5476

Student 8 60 76 4560 3600 5776

Student 9 63 80 5040 3969 6400

Student 10 53 79 4187 2809 6241

Student 11 50 75 3750 2500 5625

Student 12 80 75 6000 6400 5625

Student 13 47 64 3008 2209 4096

Student 14 67 73 4891 4489 5329

Student 15 60 74 4440 3600 5476

Student 16 70 78 5460 4900 6084

Student 17 73 77 5621 5329 5929

Student 18 70 79 5530 4900 6241

Student 19 50 79 3950 2500 6241

Student 21 60 76 4560 3600 5776

Student 22 63 78 4914 3969 6084

Student 23 53 76 4028 2809 5776

Student 24 60 75 4500 3600 5625

Student 25 63 73 4599 3969 5329

Student 26 67 80 5360 4489 6400

Student 27 60 72 4320 3600 5184

Student 28 70 70 4900 4900 4900

Student 29 77 72 5544 5929 5184

Student 30 57 69 3933 3249 4761

N = 30 X=1869 Y=2259 XY=140897 X2=118453 Y2=170579 N = 30

X = 1869 Y = 2259 XY = 140897 X2

= 118453 Y2

= 170579

r

xy =

=

=

=

=

= 0.165

To make sure the result of the calculation above, the researcher used SPSS program. The using of SPSS is to know whether the calculation that the researcher did manually was correct and to make sure that there is no mismatching calculation between scores that the researcher counted. The calculation of SPSS was described such as follow:

Table 4.6

SPSS Correlation Table Correlations

Grammar Scores Writing Scores

Nilai grammar

Pearson Correlation 1 .165

Sig. (2-tailed) .385

N 30 30

Nilai writing

Pearson Correlation .165 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .385

N 30 30

The results of those two calculations (manual calculation and SPSS calculation) are same, in which show the value of rxy 0.165. It means that

there is no mismatch in the process of calculating the data.

From the calculation above, it is found that rxy is 0.165. The next step

is to find the significance of variables by calculating rxy is tested by

significance test formula:

In which: tcount = t value

R = 0.165 n = 30 Therefore, it is calculated that:

t

count

=

=

=

=

=

= 0.89

Before testing the tcount, the writer made two hypotheses of

significance; they are:

Ha : There is a significant correlation between two variables Ho : There is no significant correlation between two variables The formulation of test:

1. If tcount> ttable, it means that the null hypothesis is rejected and there is

a significant correlation.

2. If tcount< ttable, the null hypothesis is accepted and there is no significant

correlation.

Based on the calculation above, the result is compared by ttable in the

significant of 5% and 1% and n=30, the writer found the Degree of Freedom (Df) with the formula:

Df = N – nr = 30 - 2 = 28

From Df = , it is obtained ttableof 5% = 2.05 and 1% = 2.77. It means

alternative hypothesis (Ho) is accepted. In other words, there is no significant correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability.

C.

Data Interpretation

Based on the calculation above, it shows that the correlation value is rxy 0.165 and the degree of freedom (Df) is 28. In the table of

significance shows if Df value is 28, the table of significance 5% and 1% are 0.374 and 0.478.

The statistical hypotheses state:

1. If ro as same as or higher than rt, the Ha is accepted.

2. If ro is lower than rt, the Ha is rejected.

Based on the score of rxy 0.165, it indicates the score of ro < rt, in

which 0.165 < 0.374 and 0.165 < 0.478. It means that Ha is rejected; or in other word there is no significant correlation between Grammar mastery and Writing ability.

To interpret the gravity of rxy 0.165, the table of “r” product

moment shows that the correlation value is on the very low size, in which between 0.00-0.20. The table of “r” interpretation is such as follow:

Table 4.7 Pearson Correlation1

The score of “r”

product moment (rxy)

Interpretation 0.00 – 0.199 Very low 0.20 – 0.399 Low 0.40 – 0.599 Medium

1

Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif Kualitatif dan R&D, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2011), p.184.

0.60 – 0.799 High 0.80 – 1.000 Very high

The very low correlation indicates that if students only have minimum level of grammar mastery does not mean they also get poor achievement in writing. There were some students who got low scores in grammar but they got high scores in writing. It can be inferred that the

students’ mastery of grammar features did not have a significant role in writing. Grammar might be a source to make effective communication but it does not mean all kinds of grammar are useful for students. However, there were other possible factors resulting in a worse performance in the grammar test but a better performance in writing. For the worst performance on the grammar test, this might be because the students have low comprehension about the grammatical areas and have limited time in doing the test. They might be confused in putting the right words to make the correct sentences. As for the writing, there were some other factors that influence students to make their writing better such as the ability to think creatively and develop thoughts, the ability to choose excellent vocabulary, the ability to write with good spelling and punctuation, etc. It simply illustrated that, students who did not have good grammar in their writing might be good in other aspects that usually used in rating scale of writing assessment.

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A.

Conclusions

According to the statistical calculation which was analyzed in the previous chapter, a conclusion can be sum up that there is no significant correlation between grammar mastery and writing ability. The data showed that most of students got the minimum score of grammar but they got good score in writing. Therefore, the writer summarizes that grammar mastery gives less contribution and has very low correlation to the ability of writing. Students who have minimum level of grammar mastery, does not mean that they also get poor achievement in writing. It was affected by some relevant factors such as students’ motivation in learning grammar and writing, their frequency of practice, and the writing assessment that was not only focus on grammatical area but also some other factors such as content, organization, vocabulary and mechanics.

B.

Suggestions

1. For Teachers or lecturers

Knowing the result, the English teacher as a motivator and stimulator can explain that some students are still weak in their mastery of grammar. The teacher should explain about grammar rules and increase the students’ comprehension by using a good method. Besides, the teacher should explain to the students that there is some criteria to assess writing subject in order to the students are not only focus on grammatical aspects in writing but also learn more about how to organize the text well by considering the content, vocabulary, spelling and also punctuation.

2. For Students

For language learners, even though students’ mastery of grammar has less contribution to their writing, the students should pay attention to the

language structures. Grammar is one of language components which interacts with other components. Knowing about grammar rules is very helpful for them to communicate effectively either spoken or written.

3. For the Further Researcher

This research can be a contribution to the research in education which is intended to find out the correlation of two variables, in this case grammar and writing. This research may also be a relevant previous study that can be used by other researchers to conduct a further research relating to the correlation between language skills and language components.

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APPENDIX 10

SYLLABUS WRITING III Course Description

There are two main important elementsof writing, communication and message. To get the message accross writers need to have the skill on how to communicate in written form. Consequently, writers should have the knowledge on how to express their ideas on paper. This course is designed to enable students to write effectively by exposing the students through the writing process commonly taken by writers.

Specifically,topics to be discussed are as follow

SESSION TOPICS

1 Introductory Remarks

2 Writing process: Generating Ideas 3 Writing Process: Drafting

4 Writing Process: Editing and Proofreading

5 Overview

6-9 Writing Project 1 10-13 Writing Project 2

14 Final Examination

Attendance

Students are required to be present in the classroom at least 80%. Those who cannot meet the requirement will not be able to join the final exam.

Assignment

 Sharing Session

Assessment

Students are assessed based on the following criteria  Formative score 20%

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 Midterm exam 40%  Final exam 40%

References

Belcher, Wendy Laura.(2009). Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. Sage Publications Inc,. USA

Hopper, Vincent F, et.al. (2000). Essentials of Writing. Barron’s Educational Series. Troyka, Lynn Quitman.(1987). Simon&Schuster: Handbook for Writers. Self

Published

Wishon, George E.and Burks, Julia M. (1980). Let’s Write English. American Book Company

Lecturer Maya Defianty, M.Pd Contact Mobile 081321657868 (sms only) Email mayadefianty@gmail.com