9
intelligibly, to make sense with each sentence, a learner should know the grammar of the target language. According to Penny Ur Grammar does not only affect how
units of language are combined in order to ‘look right; it also affects their meaning.
7
Supporting his opinion, Knapp and Watkins state that Grammar is a name for the resources available to users of a language system for producing texts.
A knowledge of grammar by a speaker or writer shifts language use from the implicit and unconscious to a conscious manipulation of language and choice of
appropriate text.
8
From that statement, it is clear that grammar is one of the important things in English because it is not just to make the sentence good but
also it will refers to its meaning. A knowledge of grammar in this sense is not just concerned with rules for what can and cant be done with the organization and
use of words in English sentences, but also with the way written English function.
9
Therefore, to write or speak in a clearer and more effective manner, people have to study grammar. For the people who have unconscious knowledge
of grammar, it may be sufficient for simple language use. But the people who wish to communicate in the artistic manner with well-defined structures must go
for the greater depth of understanding and proficiency what the study of grammar offers.
3. Types of Grammar
Some linguists have their own perspective about different varieties of grammar - that is, different ways of describing and analyzing the structures and
functions of language. According to George Yule, there are three types of grammar.
10
Those are: 1.
Mental Grammar
7
Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching; practice and Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 76.
8
Peter Knapp and Megan Watkins, Genre, TEXT, grammar; Technologies for teaching and assessing writing, p. 32
9
Ibid., 33
10
George Yule, The Study of Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, p. 69.
10
Mental grammar is a form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured expressions. And
this is not the result of any teaching purely skill. 2.
Linguistic Ettiquette Linguistic etiquette is the identification of the proper or best structures to be
used in a language. 3.
Traditional grammar Traditional grammar involves the analysis study of the structures found in a
language. On the other hand, Kolln and Funk divided the types of grammar into two,
namely; Structural and Transformational Grammar.
11
1. Structural Grammar
The structuralists recognize the importance of describing language on its own terms. Instead of assuming that English words could fit into the traditional
eight word groups of Latin, the structuralists examined sentences objectively, paying particular attention to how words change in sound and spelling their
form and how they are used in sentences their function. Another important feature of structuralism, which came to be called new grammar, is its
emphasis on the systematic nature of English. 2.
Transformational Grammar Unlike the structuralists, whose goal was to examine the sentences we actually
speak and to describe their systematic nature, the transformationalists wanted to unlock the secrets of language; to build a model of our internal rules, a
model that would produce all of the grammatical - and no ungrammatical - sentences. It might be useful to think of our built-in language system as a
computer program. The transformationalists are trying to describe that program. The several important concepts of transformational grammar are:
first, the recognition that a basic sentence can be transformed into variety of forms, depending on intent or emphasis, while retaining its essential meaning;
for example, questions and exclamations and passive sentences. Another
11
Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, op. cit., p .6-7.
11
major adoption from transformational grammar is the description of our system for expanding the verb.
Grammar is still an important component in English no matter how many experts classified it into several types. In conclusion, the most important thing in
learning language is the learners have to know the language structure as well as possible in order to increase their ability in using the target language itself.
4. Grammar Test
The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing. A basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express
meaning, and so grammar tests have an important part in language program. This is in line with Madsens opinion that Grammar tests are designed to measure
student proficiency in matters ranging from inflections in syntax. Syntax involves the relationship of words in a sentence, including matters such a word order, use
of the negative, question forms and connectives.
12
Madsen presents two basic ways to measure the grammar skills of the beginning-level students:
a. Individual Testing
Individual testing is a test that designed for testing students individually by using oral test. These requests can ask for easy spoken replies or simply for
nonverbal actions. This tests should use the familiar vocabulary in the test question as well as structures those students have been taught.
b. Group Testing
In group testing, the teacher gives the students test by using directed physical responses. First, the teacher explains and illustrates any new vocabulary
words. Then, he or she asks the students to make a drawing according to teachers spoken instruction.
Moreover, in testing grammar, there are also some types that could be used by the teacher to measure students achievement in grammar subject. And
12
Harold S. Madsen, Techniques in Testing, New York: Oxford University Press, 1983, p. 34.
12
according to Heaton, there are some of the most common types that used to test of the grammatical features of the language. The types of the test such as:
13
a. Multiple- choice
Probably the most common way of testing grammatical knowledge is the multiple choice test. These tests have the advantage of being easy to grade and
being able to cover a lot of grammatical points quickly. b.
Error correction Error correction items are also useful for testing grammar. An error correction
item is one in which the student is given a sentence with an error. Four words or phrase in the sentence marked by letters, and the students need to decide
which of the words or phrases has the error. c.
Completion items Completion items are items in which the testees are asked to fill in blanks in
sentences. The advantage of completion items is that they test production, not just recognition. The disadvantage is that they need to be marked by hand and
there will be some cases where the marker needs to make judgments about whether a response is correct.
d. Transformation items
The transformation type of item is extremely useful for testing ability to produce structures in the target language and helps to provide a balance when
included in tests containing multiple-choice items. e.
Items involving the changing of words Another type of item is one in which testees are given a sentence and a word
which they need to fit into the sentence by changing the form of the word. This type of grammar test item tests students knowledge of different word
forms and how they are used in sentences. f.
‘Broken sentence item This type of item tests the students ability to write full sentence from series
of words and phrases, and thus does not allow the test writer to concentrate
13
J. B. Heaton, Writing English Language Test, New York: Longman Group, 1988, p. 34.
13
exclusively on testing those particular grammatical features which may have just been practiced in class. When setting this item, make sure that the
instructions are very clear indeed and provide one or two examples. g.
Pairing and matching items This type of item usually consists of a short conversation; a stimulus in the
form of a statement or question followed by a response often in the form of statement. The item is more useful for testing students sensitivity and their
awareness of the functions of language rather than their knowledge of grammar. Students are simply required to write the letter of the correct
response in the space provided. h.
Combination items and Addition items These objective-type items have long been used in past tests. They should
used, sparingly, however, as they involve largely mechanical responses on the part of students. Note that although the separate sentences are linked to one
another by theme, the items can hardly be described as being contextualized in any real way.
B.
Writing
1. General Meaning of Writing
It can be said that writing is a crucial part in our global society. Through writing, we can learn a lot of things, from the simplest one such as how to make a
glass of milkshake until how this earth is formed, for example. In short, writing plays a significance role in our life.
The statement above is from the writer points of view. To the writer, in addition, writing also means as one of communication tools. Through writing,
people can express their ideas, experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Moreover, through writing, people can communicate over long distance and period.
Writing is an expression of ideas, thoughts, and stories on a piece of paper. For some people, writing might be hard even in their first language. It could be
more difficult for them to write in foreign language. As Oshima and Hogue state that writing is the action that needs the some process such as thinking, writing,
14
reading, correcting and revising. Those are not the simple steps in writing because people have to realize that what they write is what they want to say or express.
14
Writing is not only a symbol on a piece of paper but it should be arranged into good sentences or paragraph by using some grammatical rules.
Writing as a skill: by far the most important reason for teaching writing, of course, is that it is a basic language skill, just as important as speaking,
listening, and reading.
15
And according to Ramsey, Writing is a process of synthesis. As you write, you used words and information to express your
viewpoint in a coherent whole, an essay. But writing draws on intuition as well as reasoning, on sensation and emotion as well as fast and memory.
16
According to Heaton, there are five skills necessary for writing. They are:
17
Language use: the ability to write correct and appropriate sentences; Mechanical skills: the ability to use correctly those conventions peculiar
to the written language; Treatment of content: the ability to think creatively and develop
thoughts, excluding all irrelevant information; Stylistic skills: the ability to manipulate sentences and paragraphs, and
use language effectively; Judgment skills: the ability to write in appropriate manner for a
particular purpose with a particular audience in mind, together with an ability to select, organize and order relevant information.
Based on the description above, the writer assumes that writing is the most difficult skill of language because there are many rules and aspects that should be
considered by learners in order to the readers comprehend about the text.
14
Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Introduction to Academic Writing, New York: Pearson Longman, 2007, p.15.
15
Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2000, p.79.
16
H. Ramsley Fowler, The Little Hand Book. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001, p. 3.
17
Heaton, op. cit., p. 135.
15
2. Importance of Writing Skill
Undoubtedly, writing has become a prominent part in peoples everyday life. In almost all aspects of life, writing in whatever form it be, is proved to be an
effective way of communication. For example, people should understand about written works in their life such as simple notices at shopping centers, printed
media such as newspaper and magazine; educational and scientific sources like books, journals, and encyclopedia, and literary works such as poem and novel.
They show us that writing serves in any different forms and gives essential function in day-to-day activities. We can imagine how hard people carry out their
duties without writing. Surely, there will be too much information untold and lots of knowledge will be left.
Moreover, as the societies grew larger and more industrialized, people need to be able to write and read well because it is very important for bureaucratic
organizations to be successful. In other words, writing skill can be a ticket to better college grades and greater academic achievement since good writing skill is
so much needed in the academic context. Besides, most jobs nowadays as well as future jobs will require writing skill; even to apply for a job, good writing skill is
demanded. Meanwhile in the smaller scope of educational setting, i.e. at schools, most
of examinations require students to use their writing skill. Students success at school is partly determined by their writing skills. Furthermore, it is commonly
known that good writing will foster good thinking. When students are trying to write, they should automatically think because they develop their ideas and
sometimes revise what they have written. On the other hand, good thinking, if being properly applied, gives rise to what so-called good writing.
The fact that writing skill clearly gives many advantages to people, it suggests that having good writing skill will give many benefits to them. In
addition, being able to take part in todays information culture, writers can express themselves well through writing; they can communicate their ideas, thoughts,
feelings, and experiences and at the same time, let it known by others.
16
As a closing remark of this section, the writer quotes Chris Tribbles statement in Harmer, 2004:3:
To be deprived of the opportunity to learn to write is.......... to be excluded from a wide range social roles including those which the majority of people in industrialized societies
associate with power and prestige.
18
This shows that writing is closely related to the society. To be successful in whatever field we are in, having writing skill is very much helpful. Thus, writing,
especially in a foreign language is one skill which all teachers or educational practitioners should pay attention to.
3. Process of Writing
Teaching writing focuses not only on a product of writing itself but also on the process of writing. Writing process is a process which writer begins to write
down their ideas on the paper which is valuable aid to the whole learning process. Oshima and Hogue state that the process of writing consists of four steps, those
are: prewriting, organizing, writing a draft, and the last step are polishing the draft by editing and revising.
19
The various processes of writing need various skills to meet the aims in a writing activity. The prewriting stage encourages the writers to
generate ideas, which can happen in various ways, such as, reading a passage, conducting some research, brainstorming, listing, clustering, discussing a topic
and free writing. Meanwhile, organizing and drafting stages are the core process of writing in which the actual writing activity happens. And the last step is
polishing. Polishing is most successful if the writer do it in two steps are by editing and revising. Revision is needed to improve writing work, especially for
improving books. On the other side, editing is needed to check on the smaller issues of
grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. Frodesen wrote some techniques for editing.
1. Read-Aloud Technique: many students find that slowly reading their drafts
aloud to listen for errors can help them in making corrections. For shorter
18
Harmer, How to Teach Writing, London: Longman, 2004, p. 3.
19
Oshima and Hogue. Op.cit. p. 15.
17
papers, some students who are of their error patterns read through the paper several times, listening for different kinds of errors each time.
2. Pointing to Words: some writers use a pencil, pen, or finger to point to words
one by one.
3. Slow-Down Techniques: This involves reading a draft in some way that is
in contrast to the normal linear process, such as starting with the last sentence in each paragraph and reading in reverse. Such a technique may help writers
detect certain kinds of morphological errors such as missing plural endings, but would not work well for others, such as reference words or subject-verb
agreement.
4. Word Processing Grammar Checkers: Grammar checkers in word
processors can flag certain kind of errors. As long as writers do not blindly follow the suggestions since grammar checkers can often create errors rather
than correct them if suggestion are taken indiscriminately, checkers can be helpful in getting writers to pay attention to potential errors. If students do not
understand the suggested corrections, they should make the change. In addition, Kane states that writing which is an activity that put
something on a paper has three steps. First is thinking that involves choosing a subject, second is doing as known as drafting and the last is doing again that
means revising.
20
From the explanation above, the writer concludes that writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising and editing.
Prewriting is anything the writers do before write a draft of their document. Drafting occurs when the writers put their ideas into sentences and paragraph.
Revising is the key to effective writing because here the writers think more deeply about their readers need and expectation. And the last is editing which means the
process of checking for such things as grammar, mechanics and spelling. The last thing the writers should do before printing their work.
20
Thomas S. Kane, The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing, New York: Barekley Books, 1988, p. 17.
18
4. Writing Assessment
Evaluating students performance is a crucial aspect of teaching. A formative process related to the planning, design, and teaching strategies.
Assessment is not simply a matter of setting exams and giving grades. Scores and evaluative feedback contribute enormously to the learning of individual students
and to the development of an effective and responsive writing course. As a result, an understanding of assessment procedure is necessary to ensure that teaching is
having the desired impact and that students are being judged fairly. There are many kinds of writing tests. The reason for this is fairly simple:
A wide variety of writing tests is needed to test the many kinds of writing task that we engage in. For one thing, there are usually distinct stages of instruction of
writing, such as pre-writing, guided writing, and free writing. Another reason for the variety of writing tests in use is the great number of factors that can be
evaluated; mechanics including spelling and punctuation, vocabulary, grammar appropriate content, diction or word selection, rhetorical matters of various
kinds organization, cohesion, unity; appropriateness to the audience, topic and occasion; as well as sophisticated concerns such as logic and style.
21
According to Hyland there are some methods that used in scoring writing test and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Scoring guides,
called rubrics, are used to aid raters by providing bands of descriptions corresponding to particular proficiency or rhetorical criteria. Rubrics are designed
to suit different contexts and seek to reflect the goals of the course and what its teachers value as good writing. Rubrics need to be carefully written to avoid
over reliance on ambiguously subjective terms, but tend to fall back on such description as fairly, quite, and reasonably to describe writing features in
intermediate bands.
22
The most familiar rubrics that used by teacher to assess students writing are holistic scoring and analytic scoring methods.
21
Harold S. Madsen, op.cit., p. 101.
22
Ken Hyland, Second Language Writing, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 227-230.
19
A holistic scale is based o a single, integrated score of writing behavior. This method aims to rate a writers overall proficiency through an individual
impression of the quality of a writing sample.
Table 2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of holistic scoring
23
Advantages Disadvantages
Global impression not a single ability
Emphasis on achievement not deficiencies
Weight can be assigned to certain criteria
Encourages rater discussion and agreement
Provides no diagnostic information
Difficult to interpret composite score
Smooths out different abilities in subskills
Raters may overlook subskills Penalizes attempts to use
challenging forms Longer essays may get higher
scores One score reduces reliability
May confuse writing ability with language proficiency
Analytic scoring procedures require readers to judge a text against a set of criteria seen as important to good writing. Analytic scoring more clearly
defines the features to be assessed by separating, and sometimes weighting, individual components and is therefore more effective in discriminating
between weaker texts. Widely, used rubrics have separate scales for content, organizations, and grammar, with vocabulary and mechanics sometimes added
separately, and these are assigned a numerical value. Appendix … provides an example of analytic scoring method.
23
Ibid., p. 227.
20
Table 2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of analytic scoring
24
Advantages Disadvantages
Encourages raters to address the same features
Allows more diagnostic reporting Assists reliability as candidate
gets several scores Detailed criteria allow easier rater
training Prevents conflation of categories
into one Allows teachers to prioritize
specific aspects May divert attention from overall
essay effect Rating one scale may influence
others Very time consuming compared
with holistic method Writing is more than simply the
sum of its parts Favors essays where scalable info
easily extracted Descriptors may overlap or
Ambiguous
C.
Grammar and Writing
In the area of English as a foreign language learning, writing has been the most difficult and complex skill to acquire. It is normal if the process of teaching
and learning in the classroom reflects that written cycle should be given after the spoken cycle has been done. The assumption that the students are ready to write is
after they have prepared with a certain amount of vocabulary or words so that they can arrange the words into sentences that represent the purpose of communication.
Besides, it is in line with the reason that they have had it in mind and they have practiced it when they are doing the spoken cycle. Thus, when they have to write,
they can communicate and develop their ideas through their writing. Moreover, this also implies that in order to master the four language skills
i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing, mastering language components is a must. That is why the teaching of language components, namely grammar,
vocabulary, and sound system pronunciation, intonation, etc should be targeted as much as possible to enhance the mastery of language skills.
Again, the writer here would like to point out that in order to be able to write well, meaning that we can convey our ideas and opinions to the readers well
without leaving misunderstanding and misinterpretation. In some way, this
24
Ibid., p. 230.
21
indicates the relation between grammar and writing does exist. As Frodesen said that in the second language writing classroom, grammar is a source to make
effective communication. But, it does not mean all kinds of grammar instruction are useful in the EFLESL class, the students will automatically be able to
transform input received through explicit grammar instruction into productive output.
25
Meanwhile, concerning the nature of written communication, Harmer 2004:6-7 explains:
When we are engaged in spoken communication, we often decide what to say as the conversation continuous on the basis of what our co-participant are saying.......instead of
being able to get our points across unhindered, we may be constantly interrupted and so have to proceed in a less structured way than we had anticipated.........writing, however, is
as we have seen, significantly different.
26
The statements indicate that in speaking, sometimes, it is fine to use ungrammatical expression since clarifications and repetition are possible. Besides,
spoken communication is usually supported by its context such as the speakers tone, gestures, and facial expression so that saying everything in an exact
grammatical way is unnecessary. In written communication, however, the case is different. The readers are totally dependent upon what they read without being
able to ask something weird or confusing they come across in a piece of written work.
Hence, grammar and writing, however, are dependent each other. The writing teachers need to be aware in making decision about grammar in the
writing classroom. Nevertheless, it seems that, in some form, the role of grammar remains as an essential component of effective written communication.
25
Marianne Celce Murcia ed, Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Boston: Heinle Heinle, 2001, p. 234.
26
Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach Writing, op. cit., p. 6-7.
22
D.
Previous Studies
Several studies were conducted by some experts about grammar knowledge and writing skill. Moreover, the researcher made a correlation between
the both of it. And the research findings of them can be elaborated briefly to give foundation and support for this research.
First, the study entitled The Relationship between Writing Competence, Language Proficiency and Grammatical Errors in the Writing of Iranian TEFL
Sophomores. It had written by Mohammad Ali Fatemi from University Sains Malaysia in 2008. This research investigated the relationship between writing
competence, language proficiency and grammatical errors in the writing of Iranian TEFL sophomores. This research consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the
objectives were to assess the writing competence of the Iranian TEFL sophomores, measure their language proficiency, and examine the relationship
between their writing competence and language proficiency and its sub skills including listening, reading, and grammatical competence. The second phase was
mainly descriptive and error analysis of the subjects writing was done. The objectives of second phase found the most frequently occurring categories of
grammatical errors, establish a rank order of these errors, establish if their L1 was the source of their grammatical errors and establish the probable interference of
grammatical errors with communicative purposes of their writing. A quantitative approach was used to analyze the data collected from the first phase and
qualitative approach was employed for the second phrase. The findings of the first phase showed that the significant correlations were found between the
subjects writing competence and their language proficiency, between their writing competence and the sub-skills of language proficiency. In sub-skills, the strongest
correlation was found to be between writing and grammatical competence. The result of second phase indicated that their L1 was a source of grammatical errors
and in general grammatical errors interfered with communicative purposes among which errors of miss-selection accounted for the major source of communicative
23
failure in their writing and that the majority of grammatical errors which were rooted in their L1 led to communicative failure.
27
Another study was conducted by Ulul Azmi entitled A Correlation between Students Mastery of Past Tense and Their Ability in Writing Recount at
Eleventh Grade Students of MA Hassamussholihat in the academic year of 20102011. The objectives of the study are to find out the correlation between the
students mastery of past tense and their ability in writing recount text. The method of this research is correlational study and applied a purposive sampling
technique, with the total number of the sample is 40 students. The data were gained through tests, namely grammar test and writing test that were analyzed by
using product moment pearson. The findings of the research showed that there is a significant correlation between students mastery of past tense and their ability in
writing recount. From the result of his research, the researcher showed that the better the students mastery in past tense, the better they ability in writing recount.
It also means describe that there is a significant correlation between students grammar knowledge and their ability in writing.
And then, the study entitled Does EFL Students Grammatical Ability Account for Writing Ability? was conducted by Yun Hsuan Huang from
Department of Apllied Foreign Languages, Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan. The objective of this study is to examine whether
grammar instruction could promote the students grammatical ability, thereby further helping their writing. In this study, the tests are divided into grammar
subset and writing subset. The research was administered to ten senior high school students in a lower-intermediate English class at a cram school in Southern
Taiwan. The research findings implied that there was no strong relationship between the knowledge of grammar and usage that means the ability in writing
among lower-intermediate learners.
28
From her research, it was found that
27
Mohammad Ali Fatemi, The Relationship between Writing Competence, Language Proficiency and Grammatical Errors in the Writing of Iranian TEFL Sophomores, A Thesis
Presented to the University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, 2008, pp 1-24, not published.
28
Ulul Azmi, A Correlation between Students Mastery of Past Tense and Their Ability in Writing Recount at Eleventh Grade Students of MA Hassamussholihat, a Skripsi Presented to
the Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers Training in UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Jakarta, 2011, pp. 24-36, not published.
24
statistically, grammar mastery has no strong effect for making a good writing. This is because there are some other factors such as about the quality and quantity
of test takers and test items, the instruction in writing test that should more informative, and then about the rubric for the writing test itself.
29
Those previous studies above used as references for the researcher in comparing between those relevant studies with the study conducted by the
researcher this time. This study was the correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability. Some differences appeared between this study and previous
study were obviously the method of the study. The first previous study used two phases and it was conducted more complex than this study because it used two
methods that were quantitative for the first phase and qualitative for the second phase. For this study used just one phase so the writer used quantitative method
namely correlational study. Besides, the first previous study is connecting about writing competence, language proficiency and also language sub skills such as
listening, reading and grammatical competence. In the second previous study, the researcher connecting only past tense as a part of grammar and the ability of
students in writing recount. It is clearly different with this research; in this research the researcher connecting between writing ability and the grammar
knowledge generally. The researcher took some areas of grammar that usually appeared in TOEFL test and did the test to the participants. Moreover, the
differences also found for the data collection and sample of research. In the second and third previous researches, the data got from two tests namely grammar
test and writing test. And sample that used in the second previous study was 40 and in the third previous study were 10 students. It is different with this research;
in this research the data got from doing the test but only one test. The researcher did grammar test and asked for writing score from the subjects lecturer. The
sample was 30 students that took from one class. Although there are a lot of differences, those previous studies has a similar
in the objectives with this research. The objective from the previous researches and this research is to know the relationship between grammar and writing ability.
29
Yun Hsuan Huang, Does EFL Students Grammatical Ability Account for Writing Ability?, CHIA-NAN ANNUAL BULLETIN, 2011, pp. 505-5011.
25
E.
Theoretical Thinking
According to writer, Grammar is one of the Language components, which plays very important roles for people who want to learn English language.
Students are taught about grammar in their English class because the teacher knows that grammar still takes an important role in learning English. To learn and
to be able to communicate in English, students have to know how people usually use this language; put words into sentences and use them in communication. This
related to the Huddleston and Pullum theory that grammar helps speakers to communicate their emotions and purpose more effectively because grammar deals
with the form of sentences and smaller units such as clauses, phrases and words. Therefore, the writer assumes that people who can use grammar properly is
considered having good English. Meanwhile, writing is one of skills in a language. Writing skill deals with
the ability to arrange the graphic system such as letter, words, and sentences of certain language that is used in written communication in order to understand the
message or the information. This also means that writing is used for communication in written form. Writing refers to a process in which its activities
are not produced immediately. Oshima and Hogue state that writing is the action that needs the some process such as thinking, writing, reading, correcting and
revising the words or the sentences that have been written. In language learning, writing is a productive skill. When students produce
language into written form, they will get feedback from the reader either teachers or their friends whether their writing is good or not. Without practicing of writing,
students will have no chance to improve their writing skill because the skill will not be seen by the teacher or their friends to be evaluated. The teacher will assess
it by using rubric scale for assessing writing. There are many interrelated factors that must be taken into consideration when designing tasks and scoring
procedures for writing assessment. One of the criteria in rubric scale, the teacher should check students grammar in their product of writing to minimize
ungrammatical features that can make the readers confused. Therefore, it indicates that, the relation between grammar and writing does exist.
26
As the topic of this study, is attempted to reveal whether or not there is a significance correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability.
Therefore, it is conducted to find out the possible relations between the two variables through correlational statistics.
F.
Hypothesis
A Hypothesis in the research is a basic assumption of how the result of the research will be. It is a prediction of a phenomenon. Moreover, in formulating
hypothesis, the researcher has to ensure that the hypothesis is real or based on fact. There are two kinds of hypothesis:
30
a. Alternative Hypothesis H
A
: There is a significant correlation between
grammar mastery and writing ability.
b. Null Hypothesis H
O
: There is no significant correlation between
grammar mastery and writing ability.
30
Etta Mamang Sangadji, Metodologi Penelitian, Yogyakarta: Andi Yogyakarta, 2010, p.92.
27
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A.
Time and Place of the Research
This research was conducted at English Education Department of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University that is located on Jl. Ir. Haji Juanda no 95,
Ciputat, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15412. The research was carried out on 24 February 2014 to 14 May 2014.
After getting an agreement of the EEDs chairman and then consult to advisors who guided the writer about her research, the researcher chose this place
for her study because she is one of college students at English Education Department. Therefore, it easier for her to get the data that she need. Besides, the
writer knew well about the grammar and writing subject which were taught in this major and it was relevant for her research.
. B.
Research Design
The writer used the quantitative method in conducting this research. It means that the writer collected and analyzed the data statistically from the
students scores of variables to find out the correlation between grammar knowledge and writing ability of 6
th
semester students of English Education Department of UIN Jakarta. This research categorized into correlative type. As
Gay stated that Correlational research involves collecting data in order to determine whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more
quantifiable variables.
1
So that, the writer correlated two variables of this research; they were grammar knowledge as X variable and writing ability as Y
variable of 6
th
semester students of EED.
1
L. R. Gay, Educational Research; Competencies for Analysis and Aplication Third Edition, Ohio: Merril Publishing Company, 1987, p. 230.
28
C.
Population and Sample
1. Population
Arikunto states that Population is all subjects of the research.
2
It means that the population of this research was the whole students of 6
th
semester in EED. Whereas, the total numbers of them are 120 students. They were divided into three
classes 6A, 6B and 6C.
2. Sample
According to Arikunto Sample is the representative the population to be research. If the total population is less than 100, it is better to take all of them as
the sample but if the total population is more than 100 students, the sample can be taken between 10-15 or 20-25 or more.
3
Besides, Gay states that The sample for a correlational study is selected using an acceptable sampling method, and 30
subjects are generally considered to be a minimally acceptable sample size.
4
Based on the quotation above, in this research, the sample of the population is taken through purposive sampling. The B class of the 6
th
semester was chosen for the sample of this research. The writer took 30 students as sample
from the population.
D.
Instrument of the Research
In a study, instrument as a tool for collecting data plays a very significant role. Thus, constructing research instrument carefully and in an appropriate
manner is greatly fundamental. With regard to the different desired data, research instrument may be different from one study to another. Research instrument may
be in the forms of test, questionnaire, observation sheet, document analysis, records of interview and interview sheet, etc.
2
Suharsimi Arikunto, Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktek Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 1996, p. 173.
3
Ibid., p. 174.
4
Gay, op. cit., p. 231.
29
Because there were two variables that the writer observed namely grammar mastery and writing ability, the instrument that used in this research was
test and documentation score of sixth semester students in the subject of Writing. The score of this subject was taken from available document from the subject
lecturer.
E.
Try Out
Having finished constructing the instrument, the writer then consulted it to the advisor. The next step was the tryout the instrument. Try out was intended to
measure validity and reliability of the test items. The tryout of the test was held on May, 6
th
2014. It was administered to different students that were students of 6C. 20 students were taken as the subjects
of the try out. The analysis of the validity and reliability were the next step conducted
after the tryout had been administered.
1. Validity
The validity was tested using ANATES 4. The test contained 50 numbers of multiple choices. After the calculation by using ANATES 4, it was found that
19 number items of tests were very significant, 3 items were significant, 25 items were adequate, and 3 items were insignificant.
2. Reliability
Reliability of test was measured using ANATES 4, the result was: Mean = 25, 65
Standard deviation = 5, 32 Correlation = 0.72
Reliability of tests = 0.83
30
The test which has reliability coefficient among 0,81 - 1,00 has been very reliable.
Table 3.1 Category of Reliability
5
Value Remark
0,00 - 0,20 Unreliable
0,21 - 0,40 Less Reliable
0,41 - 0,60 Sufficient
0,61 - 0,80 Reliable
0, 81 - 1,00 Very Reliable
F.
Technique of Data Collection
1. Grammar Test
The researcher conducted the grammar test to 6
th
semester students. The writer chose the material of Grammar 5 for the test because she knew that the
subject of Grammar 5 at EED of UIN Jakarta was more focus on TOEFL preparation. Therefore, the researcher chose this subject because the 6
th
semester students had already learned about this material at previous semester. The writer
gave the students the multiple choice and error identification test. It consisted of 15 items for multiple choice and 15 items number for error identification. The
total number of the test is 30.
2. Documentation of Score
The researcher collected the data from the lecturer at English Education Department. The researcher chose Writing 3 because it was taught in line with
Grammar 5.
5
Zainal Arifin, Evaluasi Pembelajaran, Bandung: PT REMAJA ROSDAKARYA, 2009, p. 257
