Students’ Writing Habit That all are the reason why this regulations are make. SW6.1
68 2. I write in English by consulting a
dictionary for words I am not familiar with.
26 74
100
The result shows that apparently most students still write in Indonesian and translate their writing. This is a matter of concern as that kind of habit does
not help improve their writing skill since English and Indonesian are quite different. By doing this, they tend to produce English sentences that sound like
sentences in Indonesian. Apart from producing un-English sentences, their habit tends to make them spend more time in writing because they then think twice, in
Indonesian and in English. Table 4.7. Result of after-writing survey
After-writing: Yes
No Total
1. I check my writing to make sure that I have made the writing correctly
2. I add more information or take out unnecessary information
3. I check the spelling, punctuation, capital letters, and grammar in my
writing 29
17 29
71 83
71 100
100 100
It is shocking to know that most students do not check their work after they finish, or to make sure that their spelling, punctuation, capitalization and
grammar are at least acceptable in English. It can be said then that after they have finished writing their composition, they submit it at once to get away from it.
Only 16 actually make revisions to their work to ensure that they meet the intended purpose. Thus it becomes obvious why many writings produced by
students do not get better. Most of the students are apparently unaware of the
69 importance of checking their writing, and that writing requires constant exercise
to be better.
Table 4.8. Result of writing interest and awarenes survey Writing interest and awareness:
Yes No
Total 1. I enjoy my time in writing course.
2. In my opinion, it is not difficult to write in English.
3. My writing skill is getting better. 4. I communicate in written English via
SMS, Whatsapp, Line, etc with friends.
5. I write personal journal diary in English.
6. I often access English written sites in the internet.
7. I watch movies with English subtitle. 8. Writing activities that I do outside
claassroom help me in my writing course.
9. I often use google translate to do my writing
assignment I
write in
Indonesia, put it in the translation engine, and print it out
64 50
57 64
17 57
24 57
7 36
50 43
36
83 43
76 18
93 100
100 100
100
100 100
100 100
100
The writing habit and interest questionnaires reveal the fact that more than half of the students regard writing activity as something bearable, fun even. They
enjoy the course, communicate in written English with friends, access internet sites written in English, and find that their ability gets better. There is only 16 of
the students who are dilligent enough to write journal in English, and 24 to watch English-subtitled movies. On the other hand, 7 3 students admit the
usage of translating engine. This is releaving because it means most students write
70 by themselves, although there is no guarantee that the other students do the same
thing. There is possibility that other students who did not participate in this study actually use translating engine. This also explains why many sentences produced
by the students are un-English. Their sentences are in Indonesian, and even worse, their Indonesian might also in incomplete forms. Thus, the translating program
translates them in word by word. Students’ habit in writing has apparently influenced their achievement in
writing. The many errors they made when writing a composition can be traced back to their lack of attention in the process. Most of the respondents involved in
this study did not make a review on their writing after they finished. They also tend to write in Indonesian first, and then translate their work into English. This
alone has great influence in the appearance of errors as Indonesian structure of a sentence is different from that of English. This also forced them to think twice, in
Indonesian and in English, and thus may lead to errors because they might get tired in the process. Their lack of practice also contributes in the appearance of
errors. It is said that practice makes perfect. By practising their writing, students should be able to recognize the difference of the acceptable and unacceptable
sentences in writing. They should be able to identify the correct form of the grammar applied in their writing.
71