commit to user 24
Language features: focus on generic human and non – human
participants, use of simple present tense, use of logical conjunctive relations, use of material, relational and mental
processes.
e. Writing Evaluation
Maley 1988: 161 states that one useful approach to evaluation is to borrow a notion from the field of testing, validity,
and apply it to materials; firstly, there is the question of internal validity. This means evaluating a task in relation to its immediate
and discernible aims and within the overall objectives of the textbook or set of learning materials.
a. Aspects of writing skills
Harris 1969: 56 states that there are five components which can be used to evaluate writing. They are: contents, grammar, word
choice, organization, and mechanics. According to Brown, 2001: 357, there are six categories or
aspects of writing evaluation, those are: The writing skill for Content: topic is defined and explained
clearly, information which is made related to the topic; it gives enough information, supports main ideas and opinions.
Organization: effectiveness of introduction, development, and
conclusion; logical sequence of ideas, appropriate length.
commit to user 25
Discourse: topic sentences, paragraph unity, cohesion, rhetorical
convention, reference, fluency, variation. Syntax: arranged words. Vocabulary: word choice, precise language, strong verbs,
specific, concrete nouns. Mechanics: spelling, punctuation,
citation of references of applicable, neatness and appearance.
b. Indicators of writing skill
The indicators of writing skill are as follows: a The pupils are able to
produce writing with the high degree of organization in the development of ideas and information
. b The pupils are able to produce writing with the control of
content. c The pupils are able to
use the complex grammatical devices for focus and emphasis syntax
. d The pupils are able to use
correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization mechanics.
e The pupils are able to use
careful choice of words vocabulary
.
2. Improving Writing Ability
Improving has several meanings. This verb means to advance to a more desirable, valuable, or excellent state. In Dictionary of English
language, fourth edition, the meanings of improving are: 1. to bring into a more desirable or excellent condition, for example:
He took vitamins to improve his health.
commit to user 26
2. to make land more useful, profitable, or valuable by enclosure, cultivation, etc.
3. to increase the value of real property by betterments, as the construction of buildings and sewers.
4. to make good use of; turn to account, for example He improved the stopover by seeing a client with offices there.
5. to increase in value, excellence, etc.; become better, for example The military situation is younger violinists have been able to improve on
his interpretation of that work. http:www.freedictionary.htm
. Malay states that improving in writing consists of several
activities, those are marking traditionally regarded as the responsibility of the teacher, redrafting the process that good writers go through as
they evaluate, rethink, and rewrite parts of their texts, and editing at the post – writing stage, which involves checking for accuracy and making
the final revisions Malay: 1988: 145. From the description above, it can be concluded that the term
improving in this study refers to the way to make something better than before. In this case, improving students’ writing ability means finding the
ways and making efforts to make students’ writing ability better than before. Teachers and learners work together to improve the clarity and
quality of writing. In the process of improving, the teacher involves students in revising and editing their own work so that the activity
becomes part of the writing process and a genuine source of learning for
commit to user 27
both students and teachers. The researcher used Task Based Language Teaching to improve students’ writing ability.
B. Task – Based Language Teaching
1. The Nature of Task – Based Language Teaching
Task-based language learning TBLL, also known as Task-based language teaching TBLT or Task-based instruction TBI is a method
of instruction in the field of language acquisition. It focuses on the use of authentic language to students in doing meaningful tasks using the target
language; for example, visiting the doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer services for help. Assessment is primarily based on task
outcome ie: the appropriate completion of tasks rather than on accuracy of language forms. This makes TBLT especially popular for developing
target language fluency and student confidence; retrieved from http:www.wikipedia,the free encyclopedia.htm.
Task Based Language Teaching TBLT is an approach which offers students material which they have to actively engage in the process
of teaching – learning in order to achieve a goal or complete a task. Much like regular tasks that people perform everyday such as making the tea,
writing an essay, talking to someone on the phone, TBLT seeks to develop students’ interlanguage through providing a task and then using
language to solve it Skehan, 1998: A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning, retrieved from
http:www.tbtl.htm.
commit to user 28
In short, TBLT is an approach which seeks to allow students to work somewhat at their own pace and within their own level and area of
interest to process and restructure their interlanguage. It moves away from a prescribed developmental sequence and introduces learner
freedom and autonomy into the learning process. The teacher’s role is also modified to that of helper.
Many language experts have different opinions about the definition of task. Willis 1996: 23 defines a task as an activity “where
the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose goal in order to achieve an outcome.” Here the notion of meaning is
subsumed in “outcome”. Nunan in Willis, 2000: 1 defines a task as “a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending,
manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form.”
Prabhu in Nunan 1989: 38 states that in Task – Based Learning, the tasks are central to the learning activity. It is based on the belief that
students may learn more effectively when their minds are focused on the task, rather than on language they are using. He explains further in his
definition about it that the term task – based learning mainly originates from the literature on language education Nunan, 1989: 38. It serves as
a contrast to the form – focused approach. In ‘task – based learning’, the learning activity focused on the meaningful use of language within a
social milieu. Learning activities are organized around tasks instead of
commit to user 29
around language items. The underlying assumption is that by engaging learners on a purposeful communication task, they would be able to learn
the structure of the language in a more natural and meaningful way. Breen in Ellis 2003: 4 defines a task as ‘a structured plan for the
provision of opportunities for the refinement of knowledge and capabilities entailed in a new language and its use during
communication’. Breen specifically states that ‘a task’ can be ‘a brief practice exercise’ or ‘a more complex work plan that requires
spontaneous communication of meaning’. Richards, Platt, and Weber define a task as an activity which is carried out as the result of processing
or understanding language, i.e. as a response, for example drawing a map while listening to a tape, and listening to an instruction and performing a
command, may be referred to as tasks. Tasks may or may not involve the production of language. A task usually requires the teacher to specify
what will be regarded as successful completion of the task. The use of a variety of different kinds of tasks in language teaching is said to make
teaching more communicative since it provides a purpose for classroom activity which goes beyond practice of language for its own sake’.
Bygate, Skehan, and Swain in Ellis, 2003: 5 define a task as an activity which requires learners to use language, with emphasis on
meaning to attain an objective. Long 1985: 89 frames his approach to Task – Based Language Teaching in terms of target tasks, arguing that a
task is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for
commit to user 30
some reward. The examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline
reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving test, typing a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, talking a hotel reservation,
writing a memo, finding a street destination and helping someone across a road. In other words, ‘task’ is the hundred and one thing people do in
everyday life, at work, at play, and in between. Then, Lee in Ellis, 2003: 5 also states that task consists of:
a. A classroom activity or exercise that has: 1 An objective obtainable only by the interaction among
participants, 2 A mechanism for structuring and sequencing interaction and
3 A focus on meaning exchange; b. A language learning endeavor that requires learners to comprehend,
manipulate, and or produce the target language as they perform some set.
Based on theories above, in this research a task is defined as follows: a task is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in
comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language, to focus on meaning rather than form, with the purpose of
facilitating language learner in the form of simple and brief exercise type to the more complex one, and it is usually resemble to the real – life
language use.
commit to user 31
2. The Features of Task – Based Language Teaching
Skehan 1998: 95 gives some main features of Task based language teaching. Here are some of the main features of TBLT:
a. Meaning is primary b. There are some communication problems to solve
c. There is some sort of relationship to comparable real world activities d. Task completion has some priority
e. The assessment is done in terms of outcomes On the other hand, tasks:
a. do not give learners other people’s meanings to regurgitate b. are not concerned with language display
c. are not conformity oriented d. are not practice oriented
e. do not embed language in materials so that specific structures can be focused on.
Skehan also gives some examples of tasks; those are completing one another’s family tree, agreeing on advice to give the writer of a letter
to an agony aunt solving a riddle, leaving a message on someone’s answering machine but which rule out:
a. Completing a transformation exercise b. Most Q and A with a teacher
c. Inductive learning activities where preselected material is conducive to the generation of language rules.
commit to user 32
3. The Teaching Procedure of Task – Based Language Teaching
Willis states that in TBLT the core of the class activity is the task 2006: 38. He suggests that each lesson is divided into several stages. In
a Framework for Task – Based Learning 1998: 38 Willis presents a three stage process:
a. Pre – task
