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and also picture are not just an aspect of method but through their representation of places, objects and people, they are an essential part of the overall experiences we
must help our students to solve it.
Pictures are drawings, photographs, posters, slides, cartoons, magazine advertisements, diagrams, graphs, tables, charts, and maps can be valuable resource
for teaching writing Raimes, 1983:27. She further states by looking at the pictures the teacher can find valuable resource in the pictures. Pictures provide a shared
experience for the students in the classroom that leads to a variety of language activities. Furthermore, she states because everybody likes to look at picture, it can
provide a stimulating focus for the students’ attention. A picture brings the outside world into classroom in vividly concrete way. Moreover, not all pictures can be used
in the teaching learning process. It means that, the teacher should be selective in choosing the pictures that appropriate with the topics discussed in the class. Based on
the statement above, the use of pictures in teaching writing could make the students interested and helped them to express the ideas easily to write a descriptive
paragraph.
2.5 Types of Pictures Used in Writing
There are some kinds of picture that can be used as media in teaching writing in the classroom. The picture can be taken from drawings and paintings. It also can be
taken from newspapers, magazines, textbooks or photographs. Yunus 1981:49-53 classifies three kinds of pictures that can be used as media in teaching writing
namely, individual pictures or single pictures, composite pictures, and picture in series. Those three types of pictures will be explained in detail in these following
parts.
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2.5.1 Individual Pictures Pictures as media used in the teaching and learning process of writing play an
important role to help the students to express the ideas. Individual pictures are pictures of single objects, people, or activities. According to Wright 1989:193, the
individual pictures such as pictures of single people, objects and actions can help the students to think about the pictures and get their ideas and easy to interpret. In this
research, individual pictures were used as the instructional media in teaching writing and appropriate for the beginners to practice their descriptive paragraph writing.
The individual pictures were chosen as the media to make good descriptive paragraph writing because pictures were easier to describe by the students for seventh
grade of junior high school than composite pictures and picture in series. It was because there was only one activity, object, animal or person. Individual pictures
were one of media that could help the students to memorize and understand about the material quickly.
According to White and Arndt 1992:31, although individual pictures may be used as a prompt, each student will bring a different perception and interpretation.
Thus, individual pictures also helped students to produce different vocabulary depending on the students fancy. There are many sources to get individual pictures
easily. It can take from magazines, catalogues, greeting cards, advertisement, and etc Wright, 1989:182. The pictures must be suitable and appropriate with the level of
students and the topic that would be discussed in the classroom. Because of that, it should be giving more attention and selective in choosing good pictures, not all
pictures can be applied in teaching learning process. The students would be interested in writing if they looked at the individual pictures which were provided by the teacher
and the students could imagine what they should write about. It was mentioned clearly that individual pictures were good for the students to begin their writing.
Finally, it was assumed that the students would be able to produce a short simple descriptive paragraph writing based on the individual pictures. Below is the example
of individual pictures.
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a. Picture of person:
Figure 2.2 The example of individual picture
Retrieved from, httpwww.google.com [February 17,2014]
The pictures above are called as individual picture of person. Here is the example: Audi Marissa is my favorite movie star. She is a
famous movie star in Indonesia. She is quite an interesting person. Audi is still young, beautiful and
talented. She has an oval face with thick eyebrows. She also has a pair of dark eyes which are neither too big
nor too small and a pointed nose. Audi is tall and slim, with tan skin and straight dark hair. She is a fashionable
actress. Now, she is wearing a pink blazer with a white t-shirt and white trousers. She gets many kinds of
achievement as the best movie star. Identification
Description
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b. Picture of animal:
Retrieved from, httpwww.google.com [January 18,2015]
That picture above is called as individual picture of animal. Here is the example: Lion
Lion is my favorite animal. Lion is a kind of wild animal. It belongs to carnivore. Lion has big eyes.
The jaws are short and strong that are used to kill the prey quickly. The tongue’s upper surface has small
bumps on it which enables the lion to hold on the meat while eating. Its legs are short with very powerful
muscles that are used to sprint and bring down large prey. We can find it in the jungle or zoo. The lion can
eat zebras, buffaloes, and deer. The male lion has a mane. Lion is known as the King of the Jungle.
Source: Zaida, 2013:50
In this research, individual pictures were used as the instructional media in teaching writing a descriptive paragraph. These pictures were chosen because it was
simple and appropriate applied in teaching writing a descriptive paragraph for the beginners in seventh grade students.
Identification
Description
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2.5.2 Composite Picture According to Yunus 1981:49, a composite picture is a picture that shows a
sense of people, place, or thing in which a number of people can be seen doing things. In line with that statement, Wright 1989:98 confirms that a composite picture is a
picture which gives detail information. Thus, a composite picture is a picture that provides many different activities or information in it. The students can see places,
people and events in one picture with detail information.
Figure 2.3 The example of composite picture
Source: Kumalarini et al., 2008:41
The picture above tells us about some activities of the people in the supermarket. On Sunday morning, my grandpa and I go to supermarket. This is my first
experience to go to supermarket. There are so many people in the supermarket. The old woman who wears glasses is buying a kilogram of carrots. A woman who has
short blond hair is paying the bill in the cashier. A couple of husband and wife are choosing a pack of beef for their dinner. The officer of supermarket arranges many
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tins of coke in the refrigerator. A boy who wears a cap is playing code machine. A girl wearing a blouse is angry because of her friend who hiding behind her. A young
man is buying a cup of instant noodle for his lunch. My grandpa buys a kilogram of carrots, some fruits and some vegetables in his trolley. I really enjoy shopping in the
supermarket.
Kumalarini et al., 2008:41
2.5.3 Picture Series Picture series is a picture which shows the activities related or connected
each other that has a function to tell a sequence of events in a story. In line with this idea, Wright 1989:201 confirms that picture in series shows sequences of pictures.
This statement is supported by Yunus 1981:50 who states that picture in series are a number of related composite pictures link to form a sequence.
Figure 2.4 The example of picture in series
Source: Zaida, 2013:36
Based on the picture series above, it can be written a story of a monkey and a turtle based on the series of pictures as follows.
Once upon a time, there was lived a naughty monkey, Zippo that lived in the jungle with his best friend, who is a kind hearted turtle, Nico. One day, Zippo was
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very hungry. Then, he saw Nico walking alone on the seashore. He asked Nico to help him cross the river. The naughty monkey and his best friend crossed the river.
Zippo saw there was a banana tree behind that house. He told his best friend that he would take that banana for them. Finally, the naughty monkey climbed the banana
tree. He ate the banana by himself on the tree. He forgot about his friend. Unluckily, there was Mr. David who had a banana tree and saw Zippo on the tree eating his
banana. He was angry. He brought a stick and pocked it into the naughty monkey. The naughty monkey fell down and he forgave to Mr. David.
Zaida, 2013:36-37.
2.6 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Individual Pictures as Media in Teaching Writing
