c. Cause-Effect Writing This structure relates events to each other. Unlike the chronology writing,
cause and effect writing relates each other by explaining problem’s cause and the effects that result.
d. CompareContrast Writing This structure shows similarities and differences between two things. In other
words this type of structure explains that two things are similar in some ways but different in others. When similarities and differences are reflected, a
deeper understanding of the items, like their relationship to each other and what is most important about them, is gained.
e. Summary Writing This structure presents briefly about someone says. This is necessary because
a lot of university writing is specifically about discussing what the authors have said about a topic. In other words this type of structure needs a large
reading. Summary writing does not mean rewriting the original one, instead it aims to present basic ideas of the original reading.
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There are many kinds of structure in producing a text as mentioned above. In summary, the way writers choose the structure depends on the purpose and
writers’ point of view of the topic itself. In choosing the structure, writers have to choose the appropriate one so the reader can see clearly what the writers try to
present.
4. The Process of Writing
Writing, as a product, does not appear all in a sudden. As there are ideas that will be delivered there, there are some steps that a writer goes through in order to
produce a text and make the ideas delivered to the reader. According to Harmer, there are four elements in the process of writing. Those elements are planning,
drafting, editing, and final draft.
7
Phyllis Crème and Mary R. Lea, Writing at University: A Guide for Students, New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2008, pp. 77-80.
a. Planning Planning helps writers think more clearly about a topic. Planning effectively
also helps writer to write effectively, which means writer will have less editing to do later on. Making detailed notes, jotted down few words or plan in their
heads are some ways in doing planning which can be done by writers. In planning, there are three main issues. First, the purpose of the writing.
Considering the purpose of writing becomes important because it will influence not only the type of the text which will be produced, but also
language used, and information provided. Second, writers also need to think of the audience or the reader. They have to consider the target audience as it will
influence the shape of the writing and the choice of language. Third, writers also have to consider the content structure of their writing. This means that
writers have to choose accurately the best way of delivering their ideas, arguments or facts which are become the contents of the writing.
b. Drafting Many students, when they are asked to make writing for assignment, submit
their first draft to their teacher. The draft is often written the night before the assignment is due. Consequently, when they see comments or feedback from
the teacher, some of them regret that what they writer should not be that way –
structure chosen, words used, etc. This happens because writers sometimes change their mind on one or more occasion. First version of a piece of writing
called draft. But in writing, it is possible to have more than one draft before final version of the writing is produced.
c. Editing In editing, writers make sure whether it works. They re-read their writing to
see whether the information is not clear, there is something ambiguous, some words are incorrectly spelled, or even grammatically error. Usually, editing is
along with drafting. Besides, writers do editing continuously until the final version is reached.
d. Final Version After doing three steps above, students are expected to make the final version
of their writing. The final version is written text which is ready to be shown to the audience.
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From the explanation above, the writer concludes that writing is a process that involves several steps: planning, drafting, editing, and final version. Planning is
when the writers set up the outlines of their writing which can be in a form of detailed notes, and jotted down few words. The next process, drafting, is along
with editing. Writers make drafts as they edit their works. And the last one, final version, is the writing which has gone through those steps and intended to the
reader or audience.
5.
Writing Achievement
Achievement, according to Pearson Education in Longman Dictionary of American English, is success in doing or getting what you worked for.
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In other words, achievement is the result that students get in the end of a learning process.
According to Brown, there are some types of test and one of them is achievement test.
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Achievement test is a test which the purpose is to determine whether course objectives addressed in a curriculum within a particular time have been met. With
achievement test, teachers get the evidence of the measurement of students’ ability from the class that they have taught.
Students’ achievement in writing can be measured by many kinds of writing assessment. According to Brown, there are many types of writing assessment.
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The types of writing assessment are divided into four based on the types of writing performances; imitative, intensive, responsive, and extensive writing.
8
Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach Writing, Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2007, pp. 4-6.
9
Pearson Education, Longman Dictionary of American English, Harlow: Pearson Education, 2009, p.9.
10
Brown, op. cit., p. 219.
11
Brown, op. cit., p. 220.
Imitative writing intends students to be able to produce written language in the fundamental basic tasks including writing letters, words, and punctuation. In
this stage, students focus on the form, therefore meaning and context become secondary concern. In this category there are some designs of assessment which
can be used like copying, and form-completion tasks. In copying, students will be provided examples of letters, words or
punctuations. Then the students will copy the letter or words or punctuation using their own handwriting. While in form-completion tasks, students will be provided
pictures of simple form which asks for name, address, phone number and other data. Then, they will be asked to write their name and address.
Intensive writing intends students to produce appropriate vocabulary and be aware to grammatical features up to a length of a sentence. In this category of
writing performance, students focus on the form still, but unlike the imitative one, correctness and appropriateness of every words being written is more concerned
since it determine the context and meaning of a sentence. In assessing intensive writing, there are some designs of assessment that is
appropriate. Some of them are; picture-cued tasks and ordering tasks. In using picture-cued tasks, teacher will provide some pictures and students will be asked
to write a brief sentence related to the pictures. In ordering tasks, students will be provided some disordered sentences and what they have to do is to arrange those
sentences into the correct ones. In the next type of writing performance, responsive writing, the tasks require
students to connect sentences into paragraph and develop the paragraphs and make them logically connected. Or in other words, students have mastered basic
sentence level and become more focus to make a written text. The last one, extensive writing, requires students to be able to manage
process and strategies of writing for many purposes, up to the length of an essay, a term paper, research project report or even a thesis. Multiple drafts are used by the
students in order to get the best final product they can make. Best final products are achieved since students edit and do the proofreading several times to make
sure that the organization of ideas, grammatical forms and many of small errors that might occur are minimized.
There are many designs which can be used by teachers in assessing students’ responsive and extensive writing. One of them is paragraph construction tasks. In
this assessment, students develop a topic into paragraphs. In writing the paragraphs, students have to make sure that every paragraph has a topic sentence,
the topic is developed and connected within paragraphs, and every paragraph has main idea and some supporting ideas.
Responsive and extensive writing has three major approaches for scoring writing performance which are; holistic, primary trait, and analytical scoring:
a. Holistic Scoring Each point on a holistic scale is given systematic set of descriptors and the
reader-evaluator matches an overall impression with the descriptors to arrive at a score. In other words, teacher or test maker reads the writing quickly then
judged the score against a rating scale or a scoring rubric that outlines the scoring criteria.
b. Primary Trait Primary trait scoring focuses on particular aspect of writing and allows the
test-maker to focus on the feedback specifically. For example if test maker asks students to make a text which the purpose is to entertain the reader, then
the score will depends on the accomplishment of that function. c. Analytical Scoring
In using analytic scoring, test maker will evaluate students’ writing based on five major elements of writing; organization, logical development of ideas,
grammar, punctuationspellingmechanics, and style and quality of expression. By evaluating the writing specifically, students are enabled to identify their
weaknesses and strengths.
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In short, rubrics or scoring guides can help teachers assess or evaluate students’ writing. Besides, it also can help students know what they have to do in
12
Ibid., p. 242.
order to achieve success in writing. This happens because rubrics or scoring guides consists of a list of criteria relevant to the specific assignment.
In conclusion, achievement is the accumulative result of learning process which can be seen in a form of score. So, writing achievement can be described as
the result of learning process of writing in a form of score. In getting the score, many types of assessment which is used by test-taker depends on the needs. In
addition, as the types of assessing are vary, the scoring style are also vary and are also chosen depends on the needs.
B. Vocabulary
