Woods 2002 discovered that the students in their study perceived mind mapping as a fun, interesting and motivating approach to learning.
B. Identification of the Problems
To identify the existing problems, the researcher conducted an observation, interviews and test. The researcher did an observation at 8 A of
SMPN 4 Sleman. Then, the researcher also conducted some interviews towards the English teacher and the students. Subsequently, he administered a
test before the implementation of the action. Based on those actions, the researcher found out that there were some problems in teaching and learning
process. The problems were related to the teacher, the students, the teaching media and the activity.
1. Problems related to the teacher The teacher seemed to use a more Bahasa Indonesia in explaining
the materials and communicating with the students. It would be a good input and motivating for students to use written or spoken English if the
teacher used more English in giving explanations of writing skill. 2. Problems related to the students
The students did not master some aspects of writing such as grammar, vocabulary, mechanics and organization so the writing process
did not run effectively. Also, there were only a few students who brought a dictionary to help them when they found difficult words.
Furthermore, the students had difficulties in gathering ideas. They took too much time to think of what to write and they were still confused
of how to develop the idea and organize it to become a good sentence and paragraph. As a result, they could not finish their writing in allocated
time. In addition, most of the students were not motivated in learning
process. Some of them did not say a word when the teacher asked them a question. They also frequently made noises and talked to their friends
without paying full attention to the teacher. It distracted either the teacher’s or other students’ concentration.
3. Problems related to the teaching media The teacher used a whiteboard and realia in the form of medicine
bottle to explain the materials to the students. However, the media used by the teacher did not attract students’ attention to the lesson for a long
time. As a consequence, the students did not pay their attention to the lesson.
4. Problems related to the learning activity The teacher rarely gave writing practice to the students. The
writing activities were frequently in the form of note-taking or writing in groups. The lack of writing practice might cause some difficulty for the
students in producing a written text.
C. Limitation of the Problems
