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Andrian Permadi, 2014 Investigating students’ writing process
in descriptive writing A case study in one state university in Bandung Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
al. 1975, Murray, 1980; 1982, Graves 1983; 1991, Bailey 2003, Walsh 2004, Hyland 2009, among others.
Moreover, previous studies on process of foreign language writing e.g. Sasaki Hirose, 1996; Roca de Larios et al., 1999; Machon et al., 2000; Richards
Renandya, 2002; Chen, 2002; Watskins, 2004; Widodo, 2008; among others have shown that different writers perform different strategic behavior in their
process of writing a second language essay. Furthermore, those studies have also indicated that the level of language proficiency influence the process which is
used in writing an essay in a foreign language. Therefore, this study investigates the process which is used by students in their secondforeign language writing,
specifically in descriptive writing. In addition, this study also analyzes the descriptive texts which are made by three students that represent the classification
of low, middle and high achievers.
1.5 Definition of Key Terms
1.5.1 Writing process
Writing process, in this study, corresponds to stages which are gone through by writers as they compose. Those stages are pre-writing stage,
writingdrafting stage, and post-writing stage, as suggested by writing experts i.e., Emig, 1971; Britton, et al. 1975; Murray, 1980; 1982;
Graves, 1983; 1991; Richards, 1990; Friedlander, 1990; Grabe Kaplan, 1996; Gibbons, 2002; Bailey, 2003; Walsh, 2004; Tompkins, 2008 and
many others.
1.5.2 Descriptive Writing
Descriptive writing, in this study, is defined as a clear description of people, places, objects, or events using appropiate details. An effective
description will contain sufficient and varied elaboration of details to communicate a sense of the subject being describe. Details that are used
are usually sensory and selected to describe what the writer sees, hears,
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Andrian Permadi, 2014 Investigating students’ writing process
in descriptive writing A case study in one state university in Bandung Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
| repository.upi.edu
| perpustakaan.upi.edu
smells, touches, and tastes i.e., Gerot and Wignell, 1995, Derewianka, 2003; Holliway, 2004; Emilia, 2005; 2010; 2014 and many others.
1.6 Organization of the Thesis
The thesis consists of : 1.6.1 Chapter I: Introduction; it includes background of the study, research
questions, the aims of the study, significance of the study, limitation of the study, methods of the study, data collection procedure, clarification of the
key terms, and organization of the paper.
1.6.2 Chapter II: Literature review; it provides some theories from expert related to the study.
1.6.3 Chapter III: Research Methodology; it explores the methodology in conducting the research that includes overview of methodology,
participants, data collecting methods, data analysis methods, and triangulation or validity.
1.6.4 Chapter IV: Data Presentation and Discussion; it consists of all data from the study and interpretation of the writer towards the data.
1.6.5 Chapter V: Conclusion and Suggestion; it presents the conclusion of the study and suggestion to other researchers who have the same intention with
the writer to conduct the same study in the future.
