51 Respondent 41 complained that the problem faced was she had to browse through
the Internet all the time to post her writing and to know the information given in the blog.
“Kesulitannya..yaitu karena kurang pengetahuan mendasar tentang menulis yang benar ya tentang itu seperti preposition itu meski followed by verb –
ing, plus verb one, dulu kan kita nggak tahu yang kayak gitu jadi asal nulis aja dan nggak ada feedback dari dosennya itu. Terus, nggak bisa memberi
komentar ke teman-teman juga karena kita sendiri nggak tahu yang benar dan yang salah yang mana.” R34
The difficulty is because I have lack of basic knowledge in writing such as the preposition which is followed by verb-ing and plus verb one. When we
were in Basic Writing class, we did not know what we should write in our writing. The lecturer also did not give us feedback. Then, we could not give
comments on others’ writing because we did not know what we should correct.
From the results of the questionnaire and the interview, the researcher drew
a conclusion that general problems faced by the respondents were the slow Internet connection, the technology illiterate, and the respondents’ inner problems
such as their lack of basic knowledge in writing. Besides, the problems were also lack of the feedback from the lecturer and also the limitation in connecting to the
Internet. It was also apparent that the major problem faced by the respondents in using blogs in Basic Writing class was the slow Internet connection.
B. Students’ Suggestions to Improve the Use of Blogs in Basic Writing Class
This second part of this chapter answered the second research question stated in the problem formulation. This part consists of students’ suggestions to
improve the use of blogs in Basic Writing class based on the questionnaire and the interview. In the questionnaire section, the researcher discovered the result based
52 on the open-ended questionnaire. The particular number related to this section was
number 3. The answers also can be seen in Table 4.6.
Table 4.6 The Students’ Suggestion in Solving the Problems Faced in the Use of Blogs in Basic Writing Class
No. Statements
N Percentage
1.
The speed of internet connection in Basic Writing class should be increased.
14 27.45
2.
The lecturer should give feedback to the studentsThe lecturer should pay more attention to the students.
11 21.56
3.
The use of blog should be easier to operate and open
4 7.84
4.
The students suggested not to use blog in Basic Writing class
3 5.88
5.
The students did not give any suggestions
11 21.56
6.
Other suggestions continuing to use blog, trying to learn more about blog, asking questions to the lecturer
when needed
5 9.8
7.
Unrelated answer
3 5.88
Table 4.6 showed that the major suggestion suggested by the students was the speed of Internet connection in Basic Writing class should be increased. It was
also indicated by 27.45 of the respondents who stated this. Another suggestion was the lecturer should give the feedback to the students 21.56 of the
respondents suggested this. The same percentage 21.56 also appeared in the percentage of the respondents who did not have any suggestions on the problems
faced in the use of blogs. Then, there were 9.8 of the respondents who suggested various suggestions such as continuing to use blogs, trying to learn more about
blogs, and asking questions to the lecturer when needed. It was also followed by 7.84 of the respondents who recommended that the use of blogs should be easier
to operate and to open. There were merely 5.88 of the respondents who
53 suggested that the blog should not be used in Basic Writing class. This percentage
also coincided with the participants 5.88 who provided unrelated answer to this section.
Then, in supporting the questionnaire data, the researcher also conducted an interview. There were two questions in the interview section. The questions
related were about students’ suggestions in solving their difficulties in the use of blogs in Basic Writing class and students’ suggestions towards the
implementation of blogs in Basic Writing class. Related to the students’ suggestions in solving their difficulties in the use of
blogs in Basic Writing class, the researcher found that Respondents 6 and 27 suggested that the lecturer explain the material and explain the use of blogs in
detail. Respondent 6 added that it could be better if there was a computer lesson for the students to support them in using blogs well. Then, Respondents 7 and 13
recommended that the speed of the Internet connection in Basic Writing class should be increased. Respondent 13 even added that it could be better if Basic
Writing class was provided by the special network connection in order to make the connection faster.
“Diperbaiki aja koneksinya biar lebih cepat, jadi kan nggak menghambat kita waktu ngerjain tugas, kita juga lebih cepat kalau mau ngerjain tugas,
nggak usah nunggu yang lainnya selesai dulu baru kita bisa ngepost.” R7
The Internet connection should be increased, so it cannot disturb us when we carry out our assignments. Moreover, we can be faster in completing our
assignments because we do not need to wait for others to finish their assignments in advance to post the writing.
54 On the other hand, Respondent 34 had difficulty in writing. To overcome
her difficulty, she suggested that she should learn more about the components of writing skills. Furthermore, Respondents 41 and 50 expected and suggested that
the lecturer should be more attentive to the students. Respondent 50 really expected that the lecturer could give more explanation about basic writing skill.
Respondent 30 also provided the suggestion that the students should give comments to each other so that each individual could know the mistakes made in
their writing. “Teman-temannya juga disemangatin gitulah buat kasi komen biar kita juga
sadar kekurangan kita di mana gitu.” R30 Our friends should give comments on our writing, so we can know our
mistakes in writing. Then, discussing further to the students’ suggestions towards the
implementation of blogs in Basic Writing class, Respondents 7, 27 and 30 suggested that the lecturer should give them feedback. They also added that other
students should give feedback to each other so that they could know the mistakes they made.
“Bagaimana kalau dosennya diwajibkan juga buat kasih feedback setiap kali kita ngepost-ngepost gitu. Terus teman-teman satu kelas juga harus
kasih komen biar komennya itu merata gitu loh.” R30 I think the lecturer should give feedback to our writing every time we post
it. Then, our friends also should give comments to each others’ writing, so the comments can be evenly given to all students.
Meanwhile, Respondents 13 and 34 suggested that the lecturer post the
material related to Basic Writing skill in the blogs. Respondent 34 also added the suggestion that blogs should be used in Basic Writing class as alternative media,
55 not as primary media. First of all, the students should be provided the basic
knowledge about Basic Writing skill. Then, they could publish their writing in blogs when they had mastered the basic knowledge of writing.
Moreover, Respondents 6 and 41 suggested that the rules and procedures of using blogs in Basic Writing class such as how to give comments in a blog should
be explained in more detail. Respondent 41 even suggested that the students should choose the topics of their writing by themselves. Then, Respondent 50
proposed that the use of blogs in Basic Writing class should be more effective. From the results of the questionnaire and the interview, the researcher
concluded that there were two major suggestions proposed by the respondents. The first, the respondents suggested that the speed of the internet connection in
Basic Writing class should be increased. The second, they suggested that the lecturer in Basic Writing class should give feedback to the students’ writing.
Other minor suggestions revealed were such as simplifying the use of blogs, explaining the material and the use of blogs in detail, continuing to use blogs in
Basic Writing class, trying to learn more about blogs, asking questions to the lecturer when needed, and using blogs as alternative media. Besides, the students
also suggested that the lecturer post the learning materials in the blogs.
56
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In this chapter, the researcher is going to present the conclusions and the recommendations. The conclusions will summarize the major findings of this
research. Then, the recommendation is the recommendations for students of Basic Writing class, Basic Writing lecturers and future researchers.
A. Conclusions
Before the researcher concludes this research, the researcher will restate the objectives of this research. This research has objectives to know the students’
perception on the use of blogs in Basic Writing class and to identify the students’ suggestions to improve the use of blogs in Basic Writing class in the English
Education of Sanata Dharma University. Therefore, there are two major conclusions of this research.
Based on the results of the questionnaire and the interview, it was apparent that the majority of the students of Basic Writing class had positive perception on
the use of blogs. The blogs were used as media for the students to submit and post their writing assignments. Blogs were also the media for them in improving their
skills using technology. The students could give comments to each other in blogs. They also could use the features provided in blogs freely. Then, the blogs also
give the positive impacts on the students’ writings. They perceived that using blogs in Basic Writing class could develop their creativity of writing skills. Blogs
