Coherence problems in academic essay writing.

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Mali, Yustinus Calvin Gai. 2014. Coherence Problems in Academic Essay Writing. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies: Sanata Dharma University.

Writing has become an essential part in English language learning. Dealing with its essential part, people start to concern with the issue on writing as well as its challenges specifically in the context of academic writing. In that case, coherence, as a logical arrangement of ideas that can help readers understand meaning and value of a written work and as the most essential element in an academic writing, is regarded as the answer toward the challenges. In a local context, I could observe how coherence in students’ writing becomes an essential issue to consider, specifically in the teaching and learning process at ELESP of Sanata Dharma University. It strongly implies that ELESP students should be able to consider the coherence issue that they have learnt in the study program. It aims to make them, regarded as future English teachers’ candidate, be able to produce a good written work, to guide as well as to educate other people or their future students to do so. Therefore, finding out the coherence problems would significantly help the students minimize the problems and eventually help the students achieve those goals.

This qualitative research attempted to answer a research question. It was what coherence problems do the students’ analytical exposition essays contain? In order to answer the research question, I employed a document analysis as my research method. The documents to analyze were the analytical exposition essays written by students in class D of Academic Essay Writing class at ELESP in the 2013/2014 academic year.

From the data analysis, I revealed three major coherence problems in the essays written by the students. The first problem was unclear idea relationships, which revealed the difficulties in recognizing the relationships of ideas in eighteen essays that I analyzed. The second problem was irrelevant topic sentences to support the thesis statement stated in the students’ essays. The last problem was irrelevant supporting evidence. Dealing with this problem, I found the jumping ideas among the supporting evidence written to support a topic sentence in a paragraph.

The results of the research would provide both scientific contributions to the development of theory in English education as well as practical contributions to the students in the academic essay writing class and me, as a student in the graduate level and as an English teacher. Scientifically, the results of the research would contribute to the development of theories dealing with coherence problems in academic essay writing. Practically, the research would help the students in the class and me to keep being aware of the occurrence of these coherence problems in an academic essay. Finally, I proposed suggestions for students in the Academic Essay Writing class, for lecturers teaching Academic Essay Writing classes, and for future researchers who are interested in following up this research.

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Mali, Yustinus Calvin Gai. 2014. Coherence Problems in Academic Essay Writing. Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Menulis telah menjadi salah satu bagian penting dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut, orang-orang mulai memberi perhatian terhadap pokok persoalan tentang menulis dan tantangannya khususnya dalam konteks menulis akademik. Dalam hal ini, pertalian-ide, sebagai susunan logis suatu ide yang dapat membantu para pembaca memahami makna dan nilai suatu tulisan dan juga sebagai elemen terpenting dalam suatu tulisan akademik, dianggap sebagai suatu jawaban terhadap tantangan yang ada. Pada suatu konteks lokal, saya dapat mengamati bagaimana pertalian-ide dalam tulisan siswa menjadi pokok persoalan penting untuk diperhatikan, khususnya dalam proses belajar mengajar di Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma. Secara meyakinkan, hal tersebut menyiratkan bahwa para siswa di Program Studi tersebut harus mampu untuk memperhatikan isu pertalian-ide yang telah mereka pelajari. Hal ini bertujuan untuk membuat para siswa, sebagai calon Guru Bahasa Inggris, mampu untuk menghasilkan suatu tulisan yang baik, menuntun dan mengedukasi orang lain atau anak didik mereka di masa mendatang untuk juga dapat menghasilkan suatu karya tulis yang baik tersebut. Oleh karena itu, menemukan permasalahan-permasalahan pada pertalian-ide akan secara menguntungkan membantu para murid untuk meminimalisir permasalahan tersebut dan pada akhirnya membantu para murid untuk dapat mencapai tujuan-tujuan tersebut.

Penelitian kualitatif ini mencoba untuk menjawab suatu pertanyaan yaitu apakah permasalahan-permasalahan pertalian-ide yang terdapat di esei exposisi analitis para siswa? Untuk menjawab pertanyaan dalam penelitian ini, saya menggunakan suatu metodologi analisis dokumen dalam penelitian ini. Dokumen yang dianalisis ialah esei exposisi analitis yang ditulis oleh para mahasiswa di kelas Academic Essay Writing D pada Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris di Universitas Sanata Dharma tahun pelajaran 2013/2014.

Dari analisa data, saya mengungkap tiga permasalahan utama yang berkaitan dengan pertalian-ide di esei akademik yang ditulis oleh para siswa. Permasalahan yang pertama adalah ketidakjelasan hubungan ide yang mengungkap kesulitan dalam mengenali hubungan ide pada kedelapan belas esei yang saya analisa. Permasalahan yang kedua adalah kalimat utama yang tidak relevan untuk mendukung pernyataan-tesis yang ditulis di esei para siswa. Permasalahan yang terakhir adalah bukti pendukung yang tidak relevan. Berkaitan dengan permasalahan terakhir ini, saya menemukan beberapa ide yang tidak saling berkaitan diantara bukti pendukung yang ditulis untuk mendukung suatu kalimat utama di suatu paragraf.

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perkembangan teori pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dan juga memberikan kontribusi praktis kepada para siswa di kelas akademik esei dan kepada saya sebagai seorang siswa program Pasca Sarjana dan seorang guru Bahasa Inggris. Secara keilmuan, saya berharap bahwa hasil dari penelitian ini akan berkontribusi kepada perkembangan teori yang berhubungan dengan permasalahan-permasalahan yang terkait pada pertalian-ide di esei akademik. Secara praktis, penelitian ini akan membantu para siswa di kelas dan juga saya untuk tetap sadar akan adanya permasalahan-permasalahan pada pertalian-ide ini dalam suatu esei akademik yang ditulis oleh para siswa. Akhirnya, saya mengusulkan beberapa rekomendasi bagi para siswa di kelas Academic Essay Writing, bagi para dosen pengajar kelas Academic Essay Writing, dan bagi para peneliti di masa yang akan datang yang ingin melanjutkan penelitian ini.

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COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

A THESIS

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) Degree

in English Language Studies

Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali Student Number: 12 6332 045

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2014

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COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

A THESIS

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) Degree

in English Language Studies

Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali Student Number: 12 6332 045

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2014

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ii A THESIS

COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali Student Number : 12 6332 045

Approved by

F.X.Mukarto, Ph.D. _________________________

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iii A THESIS

COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

Presented by Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali Student Number : 12 6332 045

Defended before the Thesis Committee and Declared Acceptable

THESIS COMMITTEE

Chairperson : Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. _______________

Secretary : F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D. _______________

Members : 1. Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. _______________

2. Dr. J. Bismoko _______________

Yogyakarta, 7 February 2014 The Graduate Program Director Sanata Dharma University

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Temukan tujuan hidupmu

Capailah itu

dan

JANGAN PERNAH BERHENTI

Sebelum kamu mencapainya...

This thesis is dedicated for my family members;

“PAPA” YAKOBUS YOHANES MALI

“

MAMA

”

LUSIA KRISTIANI

“KAKAK” PETER CHRYSOLOGUS LANDO MALI

-They are my great family, faithful friends, and nice listeners-

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full

consequences including degree cancellation if he took somebody else’s ideas,

phrases, or sentences without proper references.

Yogyakarta, 27 January 2014

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali

Nomor Mahasiswa : 12 6332 045

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal : 27 Januari 2014 Yang menyatakan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ. He has given His grace and love, so I could finish this thesis. I thank you Lord! Then, I would like to express my million thanks to people who have helped me a lot during the accomplishment process of this thesis.

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor, F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D. I thank him for his time, guidance, and advice given to me during the writing process of this thesis. Besides, he encouraged me to finish this thesis soon and told me not to much worry about this long process. Without his help, I would have never been able to finish this thesis.

Secondly, I would like to thank lecturers in the Graduate Program of English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University. I thank Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A, Dr. J. Bismoko, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., Fransiscus Widya Kiswara, S.Pd., M.Hum., Prof. Dr. C. Bakdi Soemanto, Dr. Patrisius Mutiara Andalas, SJ. In fact, I have learnt a lot from everything they have shared and discussed during my study in this Graduate Program.

Thirdly, I am greatly indebted to C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd, the Chairperson of English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University. I thank her for giving me the permission to conduct this research in the Study Program. My gratitude also goes to the lecturer of class D of Academic Essay Writing, Fidelis Chosa Kastuhandani, S.Pd., M.Hum. He gave the permission to access the data I needed and helped me a lot during the data gathering process for this research.

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Fourthly, I am also greatly indebted to Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. and Dr. Patrisius Mutiara Andalas, SJ for their willingness to fill in the inter-rater form of this research. Their participation and constructive suggestions for this research helped me a lot in finishing the data analysis process.

Fifthly, I would like to send my deep appreciation for Mbak Lely. She helped a lot to process the permission letters that I used to conduct this research. I also thank Mas Mul for his assistance and sincere warmth.

Sixthly, my deepest gratitude and love go to my beloved family members. I thank Papa Yakobus Yohanes Mali and Mama Lusia Kristiani, for their magnificent love, never-ending support, and motivation. I also thank them because they always ask me to finish my study as soon as possible and boost my motivation when I sometimes want to discontinue this study. Without them, I could not achieve this dream. I also thank my beloved brother, Peter Chrysologus Lando Mali, S.E. I thank him so much for his advice and financial support for my study. Then, my sincere appreciation goes to my aunt, Jessica Christiana Pattinasarany, M.A., for her sharing and some references that really supported my thesis. Profound gratitude is also addressed to Om Florentinus Ari Mursodo. I thank him very much for his precious help and valuable advice.

Seventhly, my prayers go to my grandfathers (r.i.p), Gabriel Gai and Liem Siok An (Santoso), as well as to my grandmothers (r.i.p), Martina Ngura and Liem Kiok Nio (Wiasih). Even though we are now apart, I do believe that all of you there always support me without your prayers. This thesis is to show my never-ending love to you.

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Eighthly, my special thanks go to all my beloved friends in KBI: Ms. Ririn, Deny, Mbak Delfin, Mas Karman, Mbak Dinar, Botie, Leonie, Pak Yoseph, Pak Yulianus, Mbak Sofie, Mbak Yustin, Mbak Ades, Mas Wawan, Mbak Lesly, Mbak Pepy, Mbak Putri, Mbak Paulina, Mbak Indry, Mbak Mayang, Indes, Mbak Rina. I thank them for the nice togetherness that we have. I do hope our friendship will last forever.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all people and friends whose names I could not mention here. I thank them very much for their support and prayers. Without them all, I could have never reached this dream. Once again, I personally thank them all!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE... ... i

APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ... iii

DEDICATION PAGE ... iv

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ... v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... x

LIST OF TABLES ... xii

LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ... xiv

ABSTRACT... xv

ABSTRAK... ... xvi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

A.Background ... 1

B.Problem Identification ... 7

C.Limitation of the Research ... 8

D.Problem Formulation ... 10

E. Research Goal ... 11

F. Research Benefits ... 11

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 14

A.Theoretical Review ... 14

1. Coherence ... 14

a. Definition of Coherence ... 15

b. Idea Relationships ... 18

c. Coherent Structure ... 28

d. Coherence Analysis ... 28

e. Ways in Developing Coherence... 30

f. Importance of Coherence ... 35

2. Academic Writing ... 35

a. Writing ... 36

1) Definition of Writing ... 36

2) Key Characteristics of Writing ... 37

b. Academic Writing ... 37

1) Definition of Academic Writing ... 38

2) Key Characteristics of Academic Writing ... 38

c. Academic Writing Class at ELESP... 40

3. Essay ... 41

a. Definition of Essay ... 41

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c. Argumentative Essay ... 44

1) Definition of Argumentative Essay ... 45

2) Organization of Argumentative Essay ... 46

3) Importance of Argumentative Writing ... 51

4) Challenges in Argumentative Writing ... 52

B.Theoretical Framework ... 53

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 62

A.Research Design ... 62

B.Research Setting ... 66

C.Types of Data and Data Sources ... 68

D.Data Collection Technique ... 71

E. Data Analysis Technique ... 76

F. Trustworthiness ... 83

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 86

A.Research Results ... 86

B.Discussions ... 92

1. Unclear Idea Relationships ... 93

2. Irrelevant Topic Sentences ... 103

3. Irrelevant Supporting Evidence ... 113

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ... 127

A.Conclusion... 127

B.Suggestions... 129

1. For Students in the Academic Essay Writing Class ... 130

2. For Lecturers Teaching Academic Essay Writing ... 131

3. For Future Researchers ... 132

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 134

APPENDICES ... 139

Appendix A. The Letter of References from ELS ... 140

Appendix B. An Initial Permission Letter Sent to the Lecturer ... 141

Appendix C. The Lecturer’s Instructions ... 142

Appendix D. The Inter-Rater Form ... 147

Appendix E. An Initial Permission Letter Sent to the Observers ... 163

Appendix F. The Letter of References from ELS to the Observers ... 165

Appendix G. The Observers’ Personal Data and Feedback ... 167

Appendix H. Samples of the Students’ Essays ... 172

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xii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Jointly Constructed of an Analytical Exposition Text ... 48

Table 2.2 Jointly Constructed of a Hortatory Exposition Text ... 50

Table 3.1 The Abbreviation System in Data Analysis ... 80

Table 3.2 The Criteria in Analyzing Coherence Problems in the Essays ... 81

Table 4.1 The Distribution of Unclear Idea Relationships in the Essays ... 87

Table 4.2 The Distribution of Irrelevant Topic Sentences in the Essays ... 89

Table 4.3 The Distribution of Irrelevant Supporting Evidence within Paragraphs of the Essays... ... 91

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xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 The Exemplification Relationship in a Written Work ... 19

Figure 2.2 The Contrast Relationship in a Written Work ... 20

Figure 2.3 The Comparison Relationship in a Written Work ... 21

Figure 2.4 The Comparison and Contrast Relationship in a Written Work ... 22

Figure 2.5 The Enumeration Relationship in a Written Work ... 23

Figure 2.6 The Chronology Relationship in a Written Work... 24

Figure 2.7 The Causality Relationship in a Written Work... 25

Figure 2.8 The Process Relationship in a Written Work ... 26

Figure 2.9 A Scheme in a Five-Paragraph Essay ... 28

Figure 2.10 Chain Structure Illustration in a Paragraph ... 33

Figure 2.11 A Diagram of Three Essential Parts in an Essay ... 44

Figure 2.12 A Suggested Format to Plan an Analytical Exposition Text ... 47

Figure 2.13 A Suggested Format to Plan a Persuasive Exposition Text ... 49

Figure 2.14 The Relationships among Coherence, Essay, and Argumentative Essay... 57

Figure 2.15 Research Construct Map ... 61

Figure 3.1 Steps in Sampling ... 69

Figure 3.2 The Forwarded Files from the Lecturer ... 74

Figure 3.3 The Analytical Exposition Outline Converted in the Software ... 78

Figure 3.4 The Text Deconstruction Sample Done in the Software ... 79

Figure 3.5 The Triangulation Process ... 83

Figure 4.1 Three Major Coherence Problems Revealed in the Students’ Essays... ... 91

Figure 4.2 The Text-Deconstruction Sample of the Ninth Essay ... 96

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS NNS : Non-native speakers

NS : Native speakers

ESL : English as a second language EFL : English as a foreign language

ELESP : English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta

ELS : The Graduate Program in English Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta

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xv ABSTRACT

Mali, Yustinus Calvin Gai. 2014. Coherence Problems in Academic Essay Writing. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies: Sanata Dharma University.

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xvi ABSTRAK

Mali, Yustinus Calvin Gai. 2014. Coherence Problems in Academic Essay Writing. Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Pasca Sarjana: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

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Hasil dari penelitian ini akan memberikan kontribusi keilmuan kepada perkembangan teori pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dan juga memberikan kontribusi praktis kepada para siswa di kelas akademik esei dan kepada saya sebagai seorang siswa program Pasca Sarjana dan seorang guru Bahasa Inggris. Secara keilmuan, saya berharap bahwa hasil dari penelitian ini akan berkontribusi kepada perkembangan teori yang berhubungan dengan permasalahan-permasalahan yang terkait pada pertalian-ide di esei akademik. Secara praktis, penelitian ini akan membantu para siswa di kelas dan juga saya untuk tetap sadar akan adanya permasalahan-permasalahan pada pertalian-ide ini dalam suatu esei akademik yang ditulis oleh para siswa. Akhirnya, saya mengusulkan beberapa rekomendasi bagi para siswa di kelas Academic Essay Writing, bagi para dosen pengajar kelas Academic Essay Writing, dan bagi para peneliti di masa yang akan datang yang ingin melanjutkan penelitian ini.

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This introductory chapter presents the background of the research, the problem identification, and the problem limitation. Afterwards, it states the problem formulation and the goals of the research. Finally, it explains the benefits of conducting the current research.

A.Background

Writing has become an essential part in English language learning (White, 1986; Hughey, Wormuth, Hartfiel, & Jacobs, 1983). White (1986) believes that writing becomes a way of learning that can improve our academic performance. In that case, “we can actually achieve deeper insight into any subject by writing out our thoughts” (White, 1986: 18). Then, for English as a second language (ESL) students, “writing is also an efficient tool to facilitate and to reinforce other language skills” (Hughey, et al, 1983: 6). For instance, students need to read, to observe, and to talk to other people in order to collect information for their writing on a particular topic. They also need to think about suitable words and grammar forms for their writing. In a speaking class, it is also observed that students sometimes need to write down a script for their speaking performance and memorize it in order to help them speak more fluently and confidently. In a reading class, teachers possibly ask their students to summarize a short story or an

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article that the students have read in order to check their understanding towards the reading text.

Some other experts are also concerned with the issue on writing specifically in relation to academic writing (Coffin, Curry, Goodman, Hewings, M. Lillis, & Swann, 2003; Jones, 2011; Bailey, 2011; Johns, 1997 as cited in Hinkel, 2004). Coffin et al (2003) assert that students’ academic writing is at the center of teaching and learning in higher education because students are mostly assessed by what they write. Academic writing in English is also equally essential for both native-speaker (NS) and for non-native speaker (NNS), students who hope to be successful in English-medium higher education since assessment is, in most disciplines, mainly by writing (Jones, 2011). Similarly, Bailey (2011) informs that written assignments are mostly used to assess students in most academic courses. Undeniably, Johns (1997) as cited in Hinkel (2004) found that after obtaining ESL training for a number of years, many NNS graduate and undergraduate students write academic papers and essays that are said to be vague and confusing. It is because the students find it difficult to recognize as well as to apply properly the convention and features of academic writing.

Even though some factors possibly cause the challenges (Johns, 1997 as cited in Hinkel, 2004) especially when the students write their academic writing, coherence in a written work could become a possible answer toward the challenges. It is because coherence is regarded as the most essential element in academic writing. Besides, it is also said to be logical arrangement of ideas that

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can help reader understand meaning and value of written work, as it is believed by Murray and Hughes (2008: 45):

Coherence is perhaps the single most important element in any kind of writing. However, it is particularly crucial in academic writing, where success of failure may well depend upon on how clearly you have managed to communicate your ideas and line of arguments to your readers. No matter how insightful or original those ideas may be if you are not able to present them in a clear and logical way, their meaning and value is lost. Considering coherence as an essential concept in academic writing, a number of researchers conducted further studies on coherence in students’ written work, specifically on coherence problems in the written work. Jones (2007), in his small-scale classroom-based research, investigated the nature of non-coherence in three different argumentative essays regarded as homework tasks and written by NS and NNS university students. In analyzing the essays, he firstly restated the definition of coherence used in his research. Secondly, he showed three students’ essays, as the evidence of his analysis. Thirdly, he started to provide his descriptive analysis toward some coherence problems he found in the essays.

His investigation on the essays, whose topic was about the extent that globalization has in threatening the traditions and values of some countries, concluded that the students did not find any difficulties with their grammar. The students also did not have any difficulties in dealing with their sentence structure. Nevertheless, they had some problems in fashioning “a coherent argument where sentences and ideas relate to one another without any missing links of meaning” (Jones, 2007: 145).

In that case, the incoherent argument problems were because of some factors. One of them was lack of transitions between two sentences in a

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paragraph. The other factor was unclear link in theme between paragraphs. For instance, he observed two paragraphs written by a student. In the first paragraph, the student wrote the effect of globalization on a particular traditional society in Africa. On the contrary, the student wrote about threat to Australian society of the new technology in the subsequent paragraph.

In 2011, taking an Australian university as the context of his research, Jones conducted another research to analyze an essay written by the first-year NNS coming from South America using a similar writing topic to his previous research. In analyzing the coherence in the student’s written work, he believes that “criteria for analysis of the text derive from the definition of the genre essay itself and of coherence, as set out earlier” (Jones, 2011: 5). Accordingly, his analysis focuses the extent to which the writing shows logical order, in which its ideas should hang together. Then, similar to his previous research in 2007, Jones (2011) provided the descriptive analysis toward the student’s essay.

The findings of the research conducted in 2011 supported the findings of his previous research in 2007. Jones (2011) revealed that the students faced difficulties in constructing a coherent argument. As an example, he found that in a paragraph in the essay written to explore the extent that globalization has in threatening the traditions and values of some countries, there were four sentences that were not connected to one another (Jones, 2011: 12):

Akande (2002) argues that such a radical undermining of individuals’ existing cultural and traditions values have a corrosive threat and impact of who they are, what they want, and what they respect. The threats of globalizations are more evident because attacks spirituality, values and faint and cultural and traditional values worldwide. Globalization is driven by western adventurers had made a conscience efforts to undermine the

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cultural and traditional heritage of various countries around the world. The extent of the threats of globalization is not only for African societies but also to countries like Australia.

According to Jones (2011), the disconnection occurred between the second and the third sentences. He also observed that the last sentence of the paragraph even tried to introduce a new subtopic or a different idea from the previous sentences.

Another research focuses on the organizational problems that Egyptian student teachers of English encounter when they write an English essay (Ahmed, 2010). The research particularly would try to reveal the problems that Egyptian student teachers of English have in the cohesion and coherence of their essays. In his research, Ahmed (2010) used a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview as research instruments to collect the data as well as an interpretive approach to help him reveal the problems. The findings of his research, in relation to coherence, revealed that Egyptian student teachers of English experienced some coherence problems in their English writing. The problems covered the difficulty in writing the introduction, the thesis statement, the topic sentence, and the conclusion.

In her paper, Brostoff (1981: 278) suggests an idea that incoherence in writing can occur because “separate or unrelated ideas appear to be juxtaposed, which means that they are next to, but not connected to each other.” Therefore, readers find it difficult to follow sequences of sentences and paragraphs in a written work. In addition, Brostoff (1981) believes that students could encounter some failure that eventually resulted in incoherent writing. More specifically, the failure covered some problems “to make logical relationships, as well as to put

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together a series of relationships in a consistent way, specifically to form a well-structured sequence or hierarchy of relationships” (Brostoff, 1981: 279).

In a local context, writing as an essential part in English language learning is actualized in teaching and learning process in English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta, henceforth called ELESP. It is because English writing becomes one of four skills learnt by ELESP students. The students will learn the skill in writing courses offered by the study program. More specifically, they will learn the skill in five initial and compulsory writing courses held in semester one up to semester five. Those courses are Basic Writing in semester one, Paragraph Writing in semester two, Critical Reading and Writing 1 in semester three, Critical Reading and Writing 2 in semester four, and Academic Essay Writing in semester five (Dosen-dosen Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011). These courses become prerequisites to the students to continue their writing courses held in upper semesters. The writing courses are their thesis proposal and eventually undergraduate thesis courses.

In addition, based on the learning overview that each writing class has, the study program is clearly concerned with the coherence issue in students’ writing. It is observed that starting from semester two, based on the learning overview of Paragraph Writing class, the students have already started to discuss the concept of topic sentences, supporting sentences, concluding sentences, and essentially the concept of unity and coherence in a paragraph. In other words, the learning overview clearly indicates that since semester two, the concept of coherence has

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been emphasized. Therefore, coherence certainly becomes an essential part in the students’ written work.

ELESP also aims to prepare its students to become both English language users in professional fields and future English teachers. Therefore, besides mastering English reading, speaking, and listening skills, ELESP students surely should be able to write various English written works that cover essential writing concepts they have learnt. It aims to make them be able to produce a good written work, to guide as well as to educate other people or their future students to do so. In that case, writing a coherent written work, considered as a fundamental concept in academic writing (Murray & Hughes, 2008) will therefore become an essential concept to consider by the students.

The elaboration and all aspects stated in the previous paragraphs certainly indicate that coherence in writing indeed becomes an essential issue to investigate further. Therefore, this research specifically aimed to investigate coherence problems in academic essays written by students in an Academic Essay Writing class. Eventually, the findings of the research were expected to provide both scientific contributions to the development of theories in English education as well as practical contributions to the students, the lecturer in the Academic Essay Writing class and me, as a student in the graduate level and as an English teacher.

B.Problem Identification

Hyland (2002) points out that in many schools, students are asked to write merely to demonstrate the knowledge that they have in expressing facts, but they

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only have little awareness of a reader. In that case, he asserts that grammatical accuracy and clear exposition become the main criteria of good writing. In dealing with academic writing, the grammatical accuracy as well clear exposition (Hyland, 2002), however, will not become the only one-aspect that students need to consider. As it is stated previously, the concept of coherence becomes an essential aspect that students need to consider when they produce their academic writing (Murray & Hughes, 2008).

Reflecting the importance of coherence in a written work, to the roles that the students have both as an ELESP student and as a future English teacher, the fact that students still encountered some coherence problems in their written work as revealed by the previous related studies, this research asserts that coherence becomes an important issue to investigate further. Specifically, this research addressed the same fundamental ideas as what the previous related research did. It was to investigate the coherence problems in students’ written work. Nevertheless, unlike the previous research, this research focused its analysis on argumentative essays, which were in the form of analytical exposition, written by twenty students in an Academic Essay Writing class using a qualitative method, specifically a document analysis.

C.Limitation of the Research

The limitation of the research covered four main aspects. The first aspect dealt with approaches in researching writing. In relation to the approaches to conduct a research in writing, Hyland (2002) suggests three different approaches,

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namely texts, writers, and readers. The first approach aims to focus its analysis to the products of writing. It specifically aims to see writing as a textual product, a coherent arrangement of elements structured based on a system of rules and either to examine the formal surface structure or the discourse structure of particular texts. The second approach focuses its analysis on a writer rather than on the texts. It addresses the general issue of what good writers do when they are challenged with a composing task as well as the methods that will help them obtain the skills. The third approach discusses the role that readers play in writing and elaborates how writers engage with an audience in creating a text. Considering the approaches (Hyland, 2002), this research would only focus its analysis on particular texts, as stated by the first approach. More specifically, it would analyze the argumentative essays written by the students and subsequently investigate the coherence problems in the essays based on the related theories of coherence that I wrote in Chapter II.

The second aspect was related to the selection of the research setting. The limitation was due to such considerations as flexibility to conduct the research and accessibility to obtain the data to analyze. In that case, this research was conducted at ELESP. Then, one Academic Essay Writing class held in semester five in the academic year 2013/ 2014 was chosen. The fact that I was an alumnus of ELESP facilitated me to obtain a permission to conduct this research as well as to access the needed data effortlessly.

Meanwhile, the third aspect was related to types of essays to analyze. Based on the syllabus in the writing class (Iswandari 2013), the students in

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semester five at ELESP are required to write three different types of academic essays. They are argumentative, comparison and contrast, and eventually problem and solution. In that case, I admitted that my position as a novice researcher as well as the time limitation to conduct the research would not enable me to analyze those three types of essays. Therefore, this research would only analyze the argumentative essay written by students in the Academic Essay Writing class. The essays were specifically in the form of analytical exposition. Besides, the essays would be the final version of the students’ writing. In other words, the essays to analyze were those that have passed a drafting and revision process and have been submitted to the lecturer in the writing class.

The last aspect was concerned with numbers of academic essays to analyze. In this research, only twenty argumentative essays were analyzed. The ground for the limitation was that the selected twenty essays were considered able to provide rich data dealing with the coherence problems in the students’ essays.

D.Problem Formulation

This research aimed to analyze the students’ essays, specifically in the form of analytical exposition. It also aimed to investigate the coherence problems in the essays. Therefore, the question addressed in this research was: what coherence problems do the students’ analytical exposition essays contain?

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E.Research Goal

This research intended to investigate the coherence problems in the students’ essays. As the result of its investigation, this research would be able to reveal the coherence problems in the essays. Specifically, the research would provide descriptive analysis toward the coherence problems. The analysis would cover the real examples of the problems taken from the students’ essays and explanations dealing with why they could happen and why they were related to coherence. The explanations were also supported by the related theories of coherence. The analysis would also discuss the relations of the problems revealed by the current research to those revealed by previous related studies.

F. Research Benefits

The research, investigating the coherence problems in the students’ essays, was expected to provide both scientific contributions to the development of theories in English education as well as practical contributions to the students in the Academic Essay Writing class and me, as a student in the graduate level and as an English teacher. Scientifically, because the current research revealed coherence problems in students’ academic essays, the findings of the research would contribute to the development of theories dealing with the coherence problems especially in the context of academic essay writing. In that case, English teachers were expected to be more aware of challenges, specifically toward coherence problems encountered by students when they write their academic

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essays. The teachers were also expected to be able to take a role in helping their students minimize the problems and produce a coherent academic essay.

In practice, the findings of the research were expected to be beneficial to students in the Academic Essay Writing class. The findings would show as well as explain the coherence problems found in their essays. This would possibly reveal the pattern of the coherence problems encountered by the students. Therefore, the students were expected to see the problems in their essays, to recognize the pattern of the problems, to realize the occurrence of the problems, to learn from them, and eventually to minimize them when they write their future academic essays. When this research could help the students do all of those things, this research would significantly make an effort to help students make any positive improvement in their writing, which is said to be “a means for self-actualization” (Hughey et al, 1983: 35). Moreover, writing also enables us “to continually grow and develop because we can willfully project goals for ourselves and can more clearly define our expectations” (Hughey et al, 1983: 35). Therefore, by helping the students make the improvement in their writing, this research would also help the students achieve their self-actualization and human progress.

Additionally, the findings of the research were expected to enhance the students’ understanding on the concept of coherence in academic essay writing and its related problems. It was because this research would possibly become one of many suggested models whose theories, findings, and discussion can be adopted and regarded as a guide by the students when they write their academic essay, specifically their argumentative essay. The students, considered as English

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language users in professional fields and future English teachers, were therefore expected to be able to learn how to write a coherent academic essay, to teach and finally to guide their future students to do so.

This research was also expected to provide practical contributions for the lecturer at the writing class. In that case, this research would provide information about coherence problems in his students’ written work. Accordingly, the lecturer could possibly regard this research as a significant and constructive suggestion in developing the existing teaching materials, learning activities, and possibly the existing writing assessment criteria in his writing class.

Finally, this research, in practice, was expected to benefit me, as a student in the graduate level who will possibly write a number of academic written works in which coherence becomes one of essential and emphasized requirements. It is because this research has helped me, as the student, relearn and understand deeply the concept of coherence in a context of academic writing. As a result, I could keep being aware of the coherence concept in my written work, so I could make an effort to keep producing a coherent academic writing. Then, the findings of the research have provided me, as an English teacher, the information on what I should do in order to produce a coherent written work. This research also enables me to explain, to transfer the information to my students, as well as to guide them in writing a coherent written work.

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14 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter discusses two main parts, namely theoretical review and theoretical framework. The theoretical review will present theories of coherence, academic writing, and eventually essay. Subsequently, all constructs and concepts synthesized from the discussed theories will be presented in the theoretical framework.

A.Theoretical Review

The discussion of the theoretical review will support the accomplishment of the research. Accordingly, the theoretical review covers three fundamental sections. They are coherence, academic writing, and essay. The first section, coherence, discusses definition of coherence, idea relationships, coherent structure, coherence analysis, ways in developing coherence, and importance of coherence. The second section, academic writing, discusses writing, academic writing, and academic writing class at ELESP. The last section, essay, clarifies the definition of essay, components of essay, and argumentative essay.

1. Coherence

This part reviews some related theories of coherence. More specifically, it discusses definition of coherence, idea relationships, coherence structure,

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coherence analysis, and ways in developing coherence. This part also clarifies importance of coherence.

a. Definition of Coherence

The term coherence can be defined into some similar ideas. Initially, the word coherence has the same meaning as sticking together in a logical way (McCrimmon, 1984; White, 1986). Then, Jones (2007: 134) believes that “writing is coherent if the ideas flow smoothly from one sentence to the next sentence and

the parts of the text logically relate to one another.” Similarly, Oshima and Hogue

(2006: 21) believe that:

For coherence in writing, the sentences must hold together, that is, the movement from one sentence to the next must be logical and smooth. There must be no sudden jumps. Each sentence should flow smoothly into the next one.

Harmer (2007: 276) also believes that “a coherent writing makes sense because

you can follow the sequence of ideas.”

Considering the definitions of coherence (McCrimmon, 1984; White, 1986; Jones, 2007; Oshima & Hogue, 2006; Harmer, 2007), this research states that coherence is a logical arrangement of ideas within a written work in which every stated idea is connected one another. The logical arrangement and connection of ideas would help readers understand as well as follow the ideas stated in a written work easily.

The term coherence in a written work is also related to a paragraph level. Clearly, McCrimmon (1984: 209) points out that:

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A paragraph is coherent when the sentences are woven together in such away that our readers can move easily from one sentence to the next and read the paragraph as an integrated whole, rather than a series of separate sentences.

Identically, Smalley and Ruetten (1986) also mention that a paragraph is coherent when it contains sentences that have logical arrangement and flow smoothly. A coherent paragraph will make readers see a continuous line of thought flowing from a particular sentence to its subsequent sentence (Heffernan & Lincoln, 1990). Reviewing the coherent theories in a paragraph level, this research underlines that a coherent paragraph consists of integrated sentences whose relation among one sentence to other sentences should give a continuous line of thought, have a logical arrangement, and not be seen as a series of separate sentences.

Based on the ideas about a coherent paragraph, the concept of coherence in a paragraph is closely related to the unity in a paragraph (Bram, 1995; Oshima & Hogue, 2006). Bram (1995) believes that writers can unify their paragraphs by writing mutually supported sentences in their paragraph. In this point, he asserts that in achieving the unity, writers should write a good and clear topic sentence, so they can control the flowing of information written in a paragraph and avoid writing irrelevant some information into the paragraph they write. Example [1] would illustrate the explanation (Bram, 1995: 20):

Melisa has chosen five possible future careers. Firstly, she wants to become a journalist for an English magazine. Her friends at campus plan to do much more challenging jobs, anyway. Secondly, she might become a dress designer. Finally, she could possibly be a tourist guide.

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The paragraph shown in example [1] does not try to explain what the paragraph should explain. Obviously, example [1] consists of a series of separate sentences. In that case, Bram (1995: 20) believes that “if the topic sentence states that Melisa

has five choices, the paragraph has to inform the readers about the five choices.”

The example would clearly reflect that the logical arrangement and connection of ideas becomes the key of achieving coherence in a paragraph.

In terms of unity in a paragraph, Oshima and Hogue (2006) propose a similar idea to that proposed by Bram (1995). They believe that in achieving unity, writers should also discuss only one main idea from the beginning to the end in their paragraph (Oshima & Hogue, 2006). If the writers write about the advantages of owning a car in their paragraph, they should also discuss the advantages of it. If they write about the disadvantages of owning a car in their paragraph, they will break the unity in the paragraph. In addition, writers should

ensure that “every supporting sentence must directly explain or prove the main idea” (Oshima & Hogue, 2006: 18). Example [2] can illustrate the explanation on the topic sentence (Oshima & Hogue, 2006: 19):

In a paragraph about the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States, you could mention buying drugs from pharmacies outside the United States as an alternative, but if you write several sentences about buying drugs outside the United States, you are getting off the topic, and your paragraph will not have unity.

Finally, the close relation among coherence and unity in a paragraph with the coherence in a written work would firmly show that a coherent written work should consist of united paragraphs as the components of the written work. Therefore, the relation between unity and coherence cannot be separated and

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should always stand together to write a coherent written work. It is confirmed by the ideas that “coherence is the overall unity of a text” (Spencer & Fitzgerald, 1993: 212) and is the sense of unity and flow that exists between the ideas

expressed in a piece of writing” (Murray & Hughes, 2008: 197).

b. Idea Relationships

This section clarifies idea relationships within a written work. In that case, Arnaudet and Barret (1984: 28) believe that we need to:

recognize the way in which pieces of information, which are the text’s supporting ideas are related. Major supporting ideas usually represent one or more major thought relationships.

In a sense, the idea relationship is closely related to the idea of a logical order as stated by Oshima and Hogue in 2006. They believe that arranging sentences in some kind of logical orders becomes one way to achieve coherence in a written work.

The major idea relationships could be divided into eight types of relationships. They are exemplification, contrast, comparison, enumeration, chronology, causality, process, and eventually spatial order (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 28-66). The subsequent paragraphs would discuss each type of those relationships.

The first idea relationship is exemplification. In a written work, exemplification deals with providing examples in order to represent particular realizations concerning more broad ideas (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). Examples can be specifically defined as “ideas which represent specific realizations of more

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general ideas” (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 28). In that case, writers provide examples in their written work in order to clarify their abstract ideas, so that readers can understand their ideas clearly.

For instance, human motivation can be divided into three common types. One of them is called physiological motives, which is defined as “basic unlearned

motives by which humans and other animals maintain life” (Arnaudet & Barret,

1984: 28). Its definition seems to be abstract as well as difficult to understand. In that case, we need to provide examples stating that hunger, thirst, and sleep are some particular instances of the motives. Figure 2.1 visualizes the exemplification relationship in a written work.

Figure 2.1 The Exemplification Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 29, 31)

Based on Figure 2.1, readers will possibly understand the general ideas of body movements, facial expression, and physical distance more clearly and easily. It is done by considering the specific and real examples, which become a fundamental key of exemplification relationship, given to each general idea.

In addition, Figure 2.1 could possibly help readers recognize the pattern of ideas in this exemplification relationship. In that case, writers can start from a

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general idea, which is non verbal clues. Then, they provide some examples to come to less general ideas, which are body movements, facial expressions, and physical distance, of non-verbal clues. Finally, they provide other examples to come to such more specific ideas as arrogance, fear, lifting one eyebrow for disbelief. Another important thing is that the use of some verbs, which are illustrated and exemplified, and some transitions, which are for example and for instance can help writers establish this exemplification relationship in their written work (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984).

The second idea relationship is contrast. Writers possibly use the contrast relationship when they aim to see the differences that happen among things (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). In order to achieve that purpose, they should be able to understand clearly the area in which particular items are said to be different. For instance, readers may see the differences in a function, historical development, a physical appearance that those particular items have. Arnaudet and Barret (1984) believe that this contrast relationship can become a focus in a whole paragraph, in a series of paragraphs, as well as in longer text. Figure 2.2 visualizes the contrast relationship discussed in this paragraph.

Figure 2.2 The Contrast Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 33-34)

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Writers can also use some prepositions, which are in contrast to, as opposed to, unlike, verbs, which are contrasts with, differs from, conjunctions, which are but, however, on the other hand, in order to help them establish the contrast relationship in their written work (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984).

The third idea relationship is comparison. In a comparison relationship, writers need to state the similarities either between or among things. Then, similar to contrast, this type of relationship can possibly be given a focus by writers in their written text. Figure 2.3 illustrates the comparison relationship clarified in this paragraph.

Figure 2.3 The Comparison Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 37)

Writers can also use some adjectives, which are similar and both, conjunctive adverbs, which are similarly, likewise, in the same way, in order to help them develop the comparison relationship in their essay (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). They can also possibly combine both contrast and comparison relationships when

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they write their written text depending on the purpose they aim to achieve. Figure 2.4 illustrates the combination between contrast and comparison relationships.

Figure 2.4 The Comparison and Contrast Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 38)

The fourth idea relationship is enumeration. Writers can relate ideas in their written work by enumerating them. In that case, writers can take particular items that have same general ideas and subsequently arrange them one after the other (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). This enumeration process can be divided into some specific types.

They are informal enumeration, classification, and partition. When writers apply the informal enumeration, they simply write “a simple list of any number of

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some related items” (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 46). For instance, they may write;

“a third skill involves conceptual ability...”(Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 47). When writers apply the classification, they aim to divide a common category into its total amount of natural parts. For instance, when writers of linguistics textbook write that romance languages can be further classified into eight particular languages, they are trying to arrange their ideas based on classification. Then, when they list parts of a single object and certainly do not list the members of a class, e.g. in the case of romance languages, they follow another type of enumeration, namely partition. Overall, Figure 2.5 visualizes the enumeration relationship discussed in this paragraph.

Figure 2.5 The Enumeration Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 47)

The use of there is and there are, some nouns, which are several types, three kinds, verbs, which are classified, divided, conjunctive adverbs, which are finally, in addition, would help writers develop the enumeration relationship in their written work.

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The fifth idea relationship is chronology. Writers will apply chronology or chronological order relationship in their written work when they write a list consisting of events arranged based on a time sequence (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). In addition, chronology could possibly become a kind of enumeration in which writers order the content of their written work around a list of events or periods. It is also confirmed that chronology can be categorized into a kind of enumeration when writers formally divide time into measurable periods, such as middle ages, the reformation, and so on. Figure 2.6 visualizes the chronological idea relationship discussed in this paragraph.

Figure 2.6 The Chronology Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 50-51)

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The sixth idea relationship is causality. This relationship aims to create a time relationship between two actions or events. Essentially, it proposes an idea that one action either will, should, or may lead to the other through the way of causing it (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). When writers try to organize the information in their written work using this kind of relationship, they will explain the reasons, causes, sources, motives, objective of something. In that case, they can use some verbs, which are cause, lead to, create, result in, conjunctions, which are because, so, and transitions, which are therefore, consequently (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). In addition, they will possibly explain either the effect or result of something. Figure 2.7 illustrates the causality relationship clarified in this paragraph.

Figure 2.7 The Causality Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 57-58)

Cause of X

Result of X X

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The seventh idea relationship is process. In a written work, writers possibly list numbers of stages or steps in order to perform some action (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). In that case, the relationships among the different stages or steps listed by the writers could form a process relationship. Generally, this relationship is closely related to the chronology because either the stages or the steps follow one (before) another in a particular time. Besides, it is also stated that this relationship is closely related to the enumeration relationship since it also shows the enumerative type of process. Figure 2.8 visualizes the process relationship discussed in this paragraph.

Figure 2.8 The Process Relationship in a Written Work (Adapted from Arnaudet & Barret, 1984: 50-51)

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The last idea relationship is spatial order. This relationship requires writers to organize information in their written work based on a physical location or spatial sequence (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984). In that case, writers organize the information from one place to another, from one part of particular things to another part. In addition, they try to describe the relation among those places or parts within a space. This kind of relationship commonly occurs when the writers aim to provide a physical description of something.

Based on the theories on idea relationships discussed in this section, three essential points could be considered in order to recognize a particular idea relationship in a written work. First, a particular idea relationship in a written work can be easily recognized by observing the written cohesive devices. Second, we can recognize the pattern of ideas based on the definition that each relationship has. For instance, considering the pattern of exemplification relationship, we could recognize that writers start from a general idea in their written work. Then, they provide some examples to come to a less general idea. Eventually, they provide other examples to come to a specific idea. Third, ideas written in all elements in a written work should be related to the topic of the written work. For instance, when the topic is about Flores Island in Indonesia, all parts in the written work should also discuss about the island and not talk about another island in Indonesia. Otherwise, recognizing the idea relationship will be difficult to do.

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Essays Title Thesis Statement Topic Sentences

Irrelevant Topic Sentences

An opposing topic sentence

A topic sentence discusses a different

point with a thesis statement

A descriptive topic sentence

The Role of Peer in Writing Class (TTL16₎

Here, I want to explain why peer discussions and feedback is helpful and should be used (TWP16).

Peer discussion and feedback also can be called as peer assessment (ESY16-PNT1).

There are a few types of peer feedbacks (ESY16-PNT2). 1

Oral Test for Elementary School for Non-Native Students (TTL18)

This paper is going to explain about the negative effect of oral test for elementary

school’s students

(TWP18).

Before talk more these issues, it good for us to know what oral and written tests are

(ESY18_-PNT1_). ₁

Knowing the English level for Elementary School, it is enough for teacher to give

students English Basic in vocabulary and writing session (ESY18_-PNT6_). ₁

The Use of Games in Teaching English as a Second Language to Blind Students (TTL19)

Therefore, this essay is going to discuss the use of games in teaching English as a second language to blind students by the teachers in order to develop the

students’ belief of

others, self-confidence, and the feeling that they are accepted as an individual in their own right (TWP19).

A student who is blind from birth has more difficulties in building effective mental images and in processing the outer world than a person who has seen for some time

and can remember what he/she has seen (Aiazzi, 2008) (ESY19-PNT1). 1

On the other hand, most of English teachers might think that teaching English as a

second language for blind students are quiet difficult (ESY19-PNT2). 1 When teaching blind students, the teachers need to learn the background of the

student; how and when the students became blind (ESY19-PNT3). 1

In the classroom, the blind student will active if they have known the situation of the classroom during the learning process

(ESY19-PNT4).

Since that blind student cannot see the board in the classroom, so the teachers need

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Essays Title Thesis Statement Topic Sentences

Irrelevant Topic Sentences

An opposing topic sentence

A topic sentence discusses a different

point with a thesis statement

A descriptive topic sentence

19 (cont)

The blind students need more attention than normal students (ESY19-PNT6).

1 Therefore, the teachers should decide which media could be used in teaching

English as a second language to blind students (ESY19_-PNT7_). ₁

The most important thing that we should know before teaching English for blind

students as a second language is the condition of the students (ESY19-PNT12). 1

Using Color in Learning English for Hyperactive Students (TTL20)

Using colored in learning English is really helpful for hyperactive students which cannot

concentrate in one thing (TWP20_).

Talking about hyperactive children is related with the history of them (ESY20

-PNT1). 1

The existences of the ADHD or hyperactive children are influenced by some factors, but until now, the factors why the children can be hyperactive children are still unclear and indefinite (ESY20-PNT2).

1 As the scientific said, the prefrontal and frontal lobes are the parts which influence

hyperactive children to do so many things or do something that they are like the

most at that time (ESY20_-PNT3_). 1

According to the small research and interview with a teacher in Special school for

disability students, hyperactive children have special characteristic (ESY20-PNT4). 1

Hyperactive students have some bad characteristics, but they still have same good

characteristics (ESY20-PNT5). 1

Even though it looks too difficult to deal with, it will get better if the teachers know how to deal with or how to handle them

(ESY20-PNT6).

THE TOTAL OF IRRELEVANT TOPIC SENTENCES IN ALL ESSAYS 3 48 21

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Irrelevant Supporting Evidence Within a Paragraph

Essays Thesis Statement Topic Sentences Irrelevant Supporting Evidence within a Paragraph/ Argument

Relating to reading, I do believe that English monologue text is very effective for every learner to improve their reading comprehension although it has negative effects (TWP3).

Understanding an English monologue script is dealing with reading ability (ESY3-PNT1)

“Reading is included into the language skills (ESY1_-ERT1.1_{). According to Wallace (2003),}

reading means interpreting and reacting to a written text as a piece of communication (ESY1 -ERT1.2). Any mode of language, whether it is listening, speaking, reading, or writing, may be used to serve intermediate needs, to learn from, or to give us pleasure in language for its own sake (Wallace, 2003) (ESY3-ERT1.3-paraphrase). In other words, reading as one of the language skills must always have a purpose (ESY3-ERT1.4). Furthermore, the purpose of reading can be a specific purpose or a general purpose (ESY3-ERT1.5).

English monologue text is a vehicle for teaching language structure and vocabulary (ESY3-PNT7).

“An expert says that these English monologue texts are sometimes justified for classroom use on the grounds that they are not primarily for reading at all but are exponents of the structure of the language (Widdowson in Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT7.1). In this case, the readers need to acquire some understanding of the formal elements which relate to the structure of words, clauses, and whole texts (Wallace, 2009). (ESY3_-ERT7.2_{). It is surprisingly enjoyable to know}

that reading an English monologue text can improve the readers’ ability in language structure (ESY3_-ERT7.3₎_...

The next point is English monologue text is a text which teach language through reading (ESY3_-PNT8_).

“In this case, English monologue text plays a big role as a source of language learning (ESY3 -ERT8.1). The more fluently and widely the second language reader reads, the more exposure to the key structures and vocabulary of the second language he or she gains (Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT8.2). Structure and vocabulary are the elements of a language (ESY3-ERT8.3). In

learning language through reading English monologue text, the text plays a main role (ESY3

-ERT8.4). A meaningful written language may be an effective way of learning new structures and not just of reinforcing or practicing known ones, even for foreign language readers (Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT8.5-paraphrase)....

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Essays Thesis Statement Topic Sentences Irrelevant Supporting Evidence within a Paragraph/ Argument

3 (cont)

English monologue text offers high-interest content (ESY3-PNT9).

It is just as simple as the consideration that the text must be interesting enough for the learners to want to read it (Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT9.1). In this case, every person has their own standard of interest (ESY3-ERT9.2). The criteria whether the English monologue is interesting depends on every person’s perception(ESY3-ERT9.3). In reading an English monologue text, there must be individual difference (based on their own interest) as well as the preference shared by group of learners (Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT9.4). Every person has their own hobby, interest, and wants, so it is just impossible to make standardization (ESY3-ERT9.5). In reading an English monologue text, people tend to choose the story with the beginning of a recognizable of narrative, thus allowing us to engage with the text by activating a relevant schema (Wallace, 2005) (ESY3-ERT9.6-paraphrase)...

In this paper, I would like to talk about applying NLP to public speaking class which helps the students become much better public speakers (TWP5).

Introducing some important things from NLP to gain public speaking skill to the students is easy (ESY5-PNT4).

Many models in NLP which are used by some experts are usually found and even already

taught in humans’ life (knight, 2002) (ESY5-ERT4.1). What they have to do are just acknowledging the essential things or keys from NLP used in public speaking practice and practicing it (ESY5-ERT4.2). Therefore, students don’t have to waste their energy or time to understand all of the keys in NLP to increase their public speaking skill (ESY5-ERT4.3). The essential things from NLP which are very important to be known by the speakers are positive thinking, giving and receiving feedback, and influencing audience (ESY5-ERT4.4).

This essay is going to discuss about the effectiveness of

improving reading skill to students by paraphrasing with their own ideas (TWP6).

Students are easier to remember the simple word and simple sentences (ESY6-PNT11).

The words or the sentences are made by themselves (ESY6-ERT11.1). Simple sentences are easy to understand, but compound and complex sentences need strategy to understand the content of the passage (Djamal, Ichsan, Toy, 2006) (ESY6-ERT11.2-paraphrase).

Furthermore, paraphrasing gives students’ brain a chance to store what they have learned from their reading in long-term memory (laflemm.com) (ESY6-ERT11.3).

This paper will explain more about pop – up book which will be the most effective media that teachers can use to teach daily conversation for children (TWP7).

Pop – up book will help the students understanding the course in effective way (ESY7-PNT5).

...In this paper, I would like to explain about a pop – up book as the media to teach daily conversation (ESY7-ERT5.1). The examples of daily conversations which the teachers will be taught are introducing themselves, giving their address, talking about hobbies, talking about family, and talking about dreams (ESY7-ERT5.2)...

As we remember, that pop – up book provides three – dimensional pictures that can make the learning process more interesting and fun (ESY7-PNT7).

...By using pop – up book, teacher can teach language easier (ESY7-ERT7.1). Moreover, pop – up book is usually used to retell and illustrate a favorite story or fairy tale, share information from a science lesson or series of lessons, copy and illustrate the lines of a poem and chant or song they learnt recently, and showcase their own imaginative stories (Constantinides, 2010)

(5)

Essays Thesis Statement Topic Sentences Irrelevant Supporting Evidence within a Paragraph/ Argument

In this essay, we will be discussing more about the use of digital story telling which will increase the excitement of the students in speaking class (TWP10).

Digital story telling is a good media to always be used in speaking class (ESY10-PNT1).

“Digital story telling nowadays is different with the usual story telling that is used in school; it is more interesting because it provides the use of technology (ESY10 -ERT1.1).

Moreover, the era of learners that is living in the whole world nowadays can be categorized as the digital learners (Prensky, 2008) (ESY10 -ERT1.2). Consequently, the use of digital media

like digital story telling can develop students’ motivation in speaking class (ESY10 -ERT1.3).

Moreover, students’ imagination and creativity will be increasing by using digital story telling

(ESY10 -ERT1.4). What is the meaning of digital story telling?

Digital story telling is the combination of the telling stories art with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video; all digital stories are mixed together by using digital graphics, text, recorded audio narration, video, and music to present information on specific topic (Robin, 2005) (ESY10 _-ERT1.5_{-paraphrase)...}

Students who make their own traditional story telling with digital story telling will be more enthusiastic and motivated to learn about how to have good speaking skills (ESY10-PNT7).

...Hence, students have to produce clear voices in speaking while making the audio recording.

(ESY10 –ERT7.1).The motivation itself comes from students’ mind and willingness in order to get success in their speaking class (ESY10 –ERT7.2)...

This essay will discuss some techniques

especially for teacher also for parents which useful when we are going to teach the autistic student (TWP12_).

The use of phonological awareness and its relation to reading acquisition has also been recognized as a valuable teaching technique (Smith 2007) (ESY12-PNT3).

Glaser (2007) believes that reading through phonics is vital in helping the autistic child acquire language (ESY12 –ERT3.1). Sight reading is also useage for a half of autistic children (ESY12 – ERT3.2). Sight reading is to associate word label with specific visual images (ESY12 – ERT3.3)...

Grandin (1995) says that some autistic children will learn reading more easily with phonics, and others will learn best by memorizing whole words (ESY12-PNT4).

So when help the autism children in reanding, teacher can sounding the word as clearly as they can (ESY12 –ERT4.1). According to Grandin, some children with autism will learn best if flash cards and picture books are used so that the whole words are associated with pictures (ESY12– ERT4.2-paraphrase). It is important to have the picture and the printed word on the same side of the card (ESY12 –ERT4.3)...

Reading is one way for autistic children to collect many information from out side of their environment (ESY12-PNT6).

...Using menaingful and relevant vocabularies willl help them to develop their understanding

(ESY12 _–_ERT6.1₎_{. According to Vacca (2007), there are some ways that we teacher can use to}

improve the reading achievement of autism children (ESY12 –ERT6.2-paraphrase)...

...Teacher also must know the model of the learning activities; what the autism children need to know and how they learn (ESY12 –ERT6.5)...

(6)

Essays Thesis Statement Topic Sentences Irrelevant Supporting Evidence within a Paragraph/ Argument

This essay is going to discuss that English should not be omitted from elementary school because there are good points and some benefits students can get from learning English (TWP13_).

The third good point of learning English in elementary school is that English will always be the part of subject that students will learn in secondary school and senior high school (ESY13-PNT3).

“It will always become the part of subjects they are going to learn (ESY13

-ERT3.1).”

“In secondary school, students will be shocked to learn new language they do not have

conceptual background if English is omitted from elementary school (ESY13-ERT3.2).”

“Besides, omitting English also means to change the standard competence of English language

in educational system (ESY13-ERT3.3).”

“The standard competence will be arranged and reduced from the very beginning (ESY13

-ERT3.4).” “In the other word, what student should learn in elementary school about English should be learnt in their secondary school and what student should learn in secondary school about English should be learnt in their high school (ESY13-ERT3.5).”

Moreover, English may not only stop in school (ESY13_{- ERT}3.6_)._{The increasing use of}

English for cross cultural communication makes the need for the teaching of pragmatics in language classrooms all the more important (Sharifian, 2009) (ESY13_{- ERT}3.7_{-paraphrase)...}

Clearly, there are lot of advantages that we can get from using recycled materials as a media in instructional process. (TWP15).

The second advantages are recycled materials can help students and teacher become more creative (ESY15-PNT2).

One of the contributions a media in learning process is making class become more interesting is contained in recycled materials too (ESY15- ERT2.1). As long as, it is still a media of instruction, creativity would be improved more on it (ESY15_{- ERT}2.2_{). There is an}

attention-getting factor associated with instructional media that keeps member of audience alert (Kemp, 1989) (ESY15- ERT2.3). Recycled materials as media make teacher have the creative thinking to make a new media of instruction from scraps (ESY15- ERT2.4). So later, children can have enthusiasm in the learning process (ESY15_{- ERT}2.5_{). The teacher needs to have a good}

imagination to make something that looks interesting for children (ESY15- ERT2.6). There are some ways to recycle scraps into something that valuable (ESY15- ERT2.7)...

Here, I want to explain why peer discussions and feedback is helpful and should be used (TWP16_).

The last advantage is that peer discussion and feedback increase the motivation and confidence in students’ writing (ESY16 -PNT7).

...Peer discussion and feedback encouraging students to focus on their intended meaning by discussing alternative points of view that can lead to the development of those ideas (DiPardo & Freedman, 1988, Mangelsdorf, 1992 & Mendonca & Johnson, 1994) (ESY16- ERT7.1

-paraphrase).With their own friends, students find it easier to accept the comment or feedback that given by their friends (ESY16_{- ERT}7.2_).”

Using colored in learning English is really helpful for hyperactive students which cannot concentrate in one thing (TWP20).

Using a music and also games are common thing for us, but in the fact color can help the students to get high concencrate (ESY20_-PNT7_).

Imagine while a child is coloring pictures, that child will not pay attention to you (ESY20- ERT7.1)

Same with ADHD students, when they see colors in the papers, it will help them to focus and they will pay attention on the materials (ESY20- ERT7.2). The color has long been associated with creating a sense of calm but now it appears there are extra benefits to be had from color (Moon, 2003) (ESY20- ERT7.3). Nowadays, color therapy is well known (ESY20- ERT7.4)...

Coherence problems in academic essay writing.

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Sebelum kamu mencapainya...

This thesis is dedicated for my family members;

“PAPA” YAKOBUS YOHANES MALI

“

MAMA

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LUSIA KRISTIANI

“KAKAK” PETER CHRYSOLOGUS LANDO MALI

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Coherence problems in academic essay writing.

Temukan tujuan hidupmu

Capailah itu

dan

JANGAN PERNAH BERHENTI

Sebelum kamu mencapainya...

This thesis is dedicated for my family members;

“PAPA” YAKOBUS YOHANES MALI

“

MAMA

”

LUSIA KRISTIANI

“KAKAK” PETER CHRYSOLOGUS LANDO MALI

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