Based on the researcher and teacher’s discussion on how to solve the students’ problem in writing, picture series was chosen as one of the effective efforts used
to deal with the students writing difficulties in the teaching and learning process of writing. A picture series was recommended because it had many benefits in the
teaching and learning in the eighth grade students of SMP N 3 Pakem. The first advantage of using a picture series was that it made the students interested and
stimulated in participating in the process of teaching and learning writing Smaldino et al, 1995. Another benefit was that a picture series stimulated the
students to develop and use their imagination so that they were able to write well. It also helped the students expressing the ideas they have in mind into readable
writing works. Hence, in this study the researcher used picture series to improve the
students’ skill in writing recount texts of the eighth grade students of SMP N 3 Pakem.
B. Identification of the Problems
To identify the existing problems, the researcher observed the English teaching and learning process in class VIII A of SMP N 3 Pakem and then
interviewed the English teacher. After doing the observation and interviews, the researcher gained information about sources of the problems related to the
teaching and learning process of writing in the classroom. The sources of the problems found in the classroom that contributed to the students’ low
performance in writing were classified into three categories. They were the teacher, students and media.
Teacher’s techniques in providing learning materials and steps in delivering the lesson were the problems affecting the teaching and learning of
writing. Firstly, LKS lembar Kerja Siswa and students’ course book were only used by the teacher as the main reference. As the result, most activities of writing
were based only in those sources. She rarely continued the activities with other interesting activities. Then, in reference to the information gained in the
observation, teacher’s teaching steps in presenting the material did not reflect the teaching sequence recommended in the language teaching and learning process
which teacher ideally had to give students input texts as models before discussing more on the specific items of a particular text type. However, in this school, the
teacher did not give them input text as the model. She directly asked the students to analyze the specific features, the communicative purpose and the tenses of the
text. After that, the students were asked to rewrite the story they have learnt using their own language. This way of presentation could not yet accommodate the
students to learn the language and write effectively. The second factor contributing to the low students ‘writing competence
was the students’ low enthusiasm in composing story and lack of vocabulary. Enthusiasm is one of the important factors that contribute to the success of
learning writing coming from the students’ intrinsic aspects. Being enthusiastic in learning makes the students able to improve their writing ability. However, during
observation the researcher found that the students had lack of involvement in
learning. This condition could be found when the teacher was explaining the materials. Some of the students gave less attention to the explanation. They spent
their time talking to friends and doing other activities unrelated to the lesson, for example checking their mobile phones.
Another problem found in relation to the teaching and learning process of writing was the students’ inability in composing the ideas into a unity text. This
was shown when the students were asked to rewrite a story. They were not able to finish their work because basically they did not know what to write and how to
write the story. They also had problems in using the correct tenses in composing their works. Having lack of vocabulary was the last problem that made the
students found it hard to write. Although the students’ vocabulary mastery was not sufficient yet, most of the students were still reluctant to bring the dictionary
in the classroom. The last was related to the media used to sustain the students’ behaviour in
learning English and improving the quality of the teaching and learning process. Teaching media is not only important factors that determine the success of the
teaching and learning but also effective tool to draw students’ attention and interest in learning. However, in this school, the media used by the teacher to
support the teaching and learning process of writing were not sufficient yet. The writing activity was done in an old-fashioned way, for example the students were
simply asked to rewrite the text or story. This made the students found it difficult in expressing their ideas in written form.
In conclusion, the students writing ability in this school was not satisfied yet due to several factors related to the teacher, students and teaching media.
Therefore, to enable the students develop their ability in writing, problems involving the teacher, students and media must be solved.
C. Limitation of the Problems
