5 Building the Writing Habit
Some students might be hesitant to write as they do not come up with ideas. They find it difficult to get writing as a habit and feel
unconfident and unenthusiastic. Even they rarely write in their first language.
Building the writing habit would be done through some ways. Harmer 2007 proposes on way for a teacher to do this. Shehe should
provide some enjoyable and interesting tasks for students and give enough information to do the tasks. The teacher also has to be able to give students
ideas to complete the tasks. Some other ways to build students’ writing habit are promoting
instant writing by dictating half a sentence which students have to complete, getting them write Don’t sentences for a new school, responding
to music by writing what words or scenes a piece of music suggests, or describing the film scene. They can write whatever that comes to their
mind and how they feel. The teacher can also provide some pictures and ask students to describe them. Furthermore, students also can play games
in writing. The students are put in groups and they have to construct a story based on a set of pictures.
6 Writing-for-learning and Writing-for-writing
There is a distinction between writing for learning and writing for writing. Teachers should take into account that the difference when it
comes to promoting writing as a skill. A teacher helps students learn language or to test them on that
language. It means that the teacher carries out writing-for-learning in which the teacher does not aim at training the students to write but help
them to learn the grammar. For example, the teacher asks students to write sentences using ‘going to’ or four sentences about what they wish about
the present and the past. Meanwhile, writing-for-writing is aimed at training students to be
good at writing some kinds of text. For example, the students are assigned to write a narrative. They are not only taught how to construct a good
narrative story in terms of the content which is logical and coherent but also the grammar, the use of past tense. Harmer 2007 suggests that
writing-for-writing tasks are more appropriate to build the students’ writing skills.
e. Teaching Writing in Senior High School
Some experts argue that teaching English to young learners or teenagers can be considered the most challenging task as the students tend
to have limited knowledge of the target language Brown, 2001: 91. Students still lack vocabulary, grammar and expressions to produce
meaningful utterances.
Teaching English in senior high school in Indonesia is aimed at developing students’ communicative competence covering the four
language skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing SKKD, 2006. Students are driven to be able to communicate in English in daily
life both in written and spoken form. However, the teachers are supposed to give the right proportion of each language skill in order to improve both
students’ receptive and productive skill equally. Writing is categorized as one of the productive skills in which the
students should acquire. In the 2006 curriculum, the basic competence of writing states that the students have to be able to express meaning and
rhetorical steps in essay accurately, fluently and properly in the daily life.
1 Micro and Macro skill of Writing
Brown 2004: 220 proposed micro and macro skills of writing which are essential for the successful mastery of writing.
a Micro skills for writing
These are the micro skills for writing. First, students can produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English. Second, they are able to
produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose. Third, they are supposed to produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate
word order patterns, using acceptable grammatical systems e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization, patterns, and rules and express a particular
meaning in different grammatical forms, using cohesive devices in written discourse.
b Macro skills for writing
These are the macro skills for writing. First, students use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse. Second, they can
appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts according to form and purpose. Third, they are able to convey links and
connections between events and communicate such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization and
exemplification, distinguishing between literal and implied meanings when writing. Next, students correctly convey culturally specific references in
the context of the written text. After that, they can develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing the audience’s
interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in the first drafts, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor
feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.
3. Cooperative Learning
a. The Definition of Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning has been one of the appealing strategies implemented and used in schools and universities in every part of the
world, in every subject area, and every age student. It is now accepted and highly recommended instructional procedure Johnson Johnson, 1998.
Materials on cooperative learning have been translated into numerous of
languages as it is not difficult to find a text on instructional methods, a teacher’s journal, or instructional material that do not discuss cooperative
learning. Mandal 2009 proposes the notion of cooperative learning is an
instructional strategy based on the human instinct of cooperation. It is the utilization of the psychological aspects of cooperation and competition for
curricular transaction and student learning. There are some other definitions of cooperative learning made by
some eminent scholars. As cited in Syafini Rizan 2010, Slavin 1980 states cooperative learning is student working in small groups and are
given rewards and recognition based on the group’s peformance. Goodsell, Maher and Tinto 1992 define cooperative learning as a learning approach
which falls in the more general category of collaborative learning which is described as students in groups of two or more working together mutually
to find an understanding, solutions or meaning and create product. In the ideal classroom, students would learn how to work
cooperatively with others, compete for fun and enjoyment, and work autonomously on their own. Students are given some goals and
encouraged to work cooperatively to accomplish the goals. Cooperative learning can maximize their own and each other’s learning Johnson
Johnson 1998. Johnson Johnson 1988 describe a cooperative learning
situtation interaction is characterized by positive goal interdependence
