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their teacher’s questions and instructions. Instead, some students played their mobile phones and chit-chatted during the lesson. It could be concluded that their motivation
to join the lesson was quite low.
O ne of the causes of the students’ low motivation towards writing is writing
skills were less valuable to be used in their social interaction outside their schools. That is why only few children who could be proficient at writing This is in line with
Byrne 2002:5 who explains that many children simply do not enjoy writing, partly because, out of the school, it has little value for them as a form of social interaction.
Very few children succeed in becoming really proficient at writing and many cease to use this skill once they leave school.
Based on the situation, the writer thought that it is important to find ways to overcome the problem. One of the ways to solve the problem is by proposing a
teaching model that is suitable, effective, easy, interesting and helpful to the students. Therefore, according to the writer, one of the alternative models that might be able to
solve the writing problem is Quantum Learning. It is a comprehensive model that covers both educational theory and immediate classroom implementation. It
integrates the process of teaching and learning in education into a unified whole, making content more meaningful and relevant to students lives. This strategy is about
bringing joy to teaching and learning. It helps teachers to present their content in a way that engages and energizes students Reardon, et al, 2005:6.
When the students learn English, especially writing, it is expected that they can enjoy the learning process and get the point or the essential part of writing
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because writing is the key to enter the wider world. And as a part of writing, the descriptive text is one genre that must be taught to students at the junior high school.
Based on the concept and function of English stated in the 2006 curriculum known as the “Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan KTSP or School-Based Curriculum
SBC” for Junior High School Sekolah Menengah Pertama: 2 SMP, there are three genres of monolog texts that have to be taught in the teaching of writing for grade
VIII Junior High School students. Those text genres are descriptive, recount, and procedure. Each of those genres has different functions and features which may give
advantages and difficulties to the students. By learning writing descriptive text, the students can be more interested in learning and they can clarify their understanding of
new subject matter material more, especially for their real life. This is an important part of language teaching as it also functions as an essential tool for learning in which
students improve their knowledge of the language elements in real use” Taselin, 2010:104.
By seeing the problems, the benefits of descriptive text writing and see the way Quantum Learning works, the researcher proposed Quantum Learning Strategy
to improve the students’ writing skills especially in writing descriptive text.
B. Identification of the Problems
Based on the observation done in grade VIII A of SMP N 5 Sleman, there were some problems occurring during the teaching and learning process. To identify
the problems occurring in the classroom, the researcher tried to identify five different factors which influence the teaching and learning process. Those factors are the
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learning materials, the teaching methods and techniques used by the teacher, the teaching media, the teacher and the students.
The first factor is the learning materials. All the learning materials for grade VIIIA are taken from Lembar Kerja Siswa LKS. Based on the interview done with
the teacher, the LKS chosen has been adapted to the curriculum. That is why the teacher does not use other learning resources. The researcher considered it as a
problem because written texts exposed from an LKS is too limited. LKS contains only brief explanations, a few examples of text types being taught, and many
exercises. Whereas, junior high school students need to be exposed to as many texts as possible from different sources.
The second factor is the teaching methods and the techniques used by the teacher. The teacher used a conventional method in which he employed techniques
such as question-and-answer practices dominantly following the tasks provided in the LKS. The teacher just spoke all the time and the students just listened to him.
Besides, the activities were only in the classroom and the students never went out from the class. Based on the interview with the teacher, he said that he did not use
various techniques in teaching because he did not have more time to plan certain techniques to improve the students’ writing skill.
The third factor is the media. The media that used by the teacher for the teaching and learning process such as the whiteboard, boardmarker, and desks did not
not help the students much in writing. Those media did not attract the students’
attention towards the teacher explanation.
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The fourth factor is the teacher. In teaching, the teacher took roles both as a controller and a resource. The process of teaching and learning was in one line and
made the classroom interaction more teacher-centered. On one side, he acted as a controller such as giving explanation and organizing question and answer work, but
he also acted as a resource in which the students were free to ask questions related to the materials. This way does not give the students chance to improve their knowledge
by their own way. The last factor is related to the students. Students of grade VIIIA had some
problems in writing. The first problem was that they had something in their mind, but they could not express it on their paper. It was seen from many students who looked
frustrated to transfer their ideas into the writing form although they have ideas in their mind. They said that they did not know the meaning of many words. They tried to
develop the words into sentences but they got difficulties in vocabulary. Therefore, vocabulary became the next problem. The third
problem was the lack of the students’ enthusiasm during the teaching and learning process of writing. It was shown by the
fact that there were some students who did not pay attention to the teacher and were busy to talk to their friends. The last
problem was the lack of the students’ participation especially in asking questions and giving opinions or ideas during the
teaching and learning process of writing.
C. Limitation of the Problems
Based on the problems stated in the identification of the problems above, there were several problems occurring in the teaching and learning process. The
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researcher decided to choose the problems coming from the students and the condition in writing as this is very important and crucial to solve
. This limitation is
based on the researcher’s observation and interviews with the teacher. The students’
writing ability was still low because they were not motivated and tended to be passive because of the monotonous activity in the writing class. That is why the grade VIII A
students of SMP N 5 Sleman need a new strategy that can encourage them to be more interested in learning and be more active in the class. Thus, from the discussion in the
background of the study and the identification of the problems, the student’s low
writing ability can be improved through using Quantum Learning strategy. By
implementing this strategy, the process of learning will be more enjoyable and the students will be involved in the learning.
D. Formulation of the Problems
Based on the limitation of the problems above, the problem was formulated as fo
llows “How can the students’ writing skills in descriptive texts be improved through the use of Quantum Learning
strategy?”
E. Objectives of the Study
The study is carried out to improve the students’ writing skills especially in
descriptive texts by using Quantum Learning strategy.
F. Significance of the Study
The result of this study is expected to give some practical and theoretical significance for these following parties:
