IMPROVING STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT ON WRITING ANECDOTE THROUGH TAS-BASED LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION.

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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT ON WRITING

ANECDOTE THROUGH TASK

–

BASED LANGUAGE

INSTRUCTION

A THESIS

Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Sarjana Pendidikan

IMELDA D BR GIRSANG

REG. NO. 05310725

ENGLISH LITERATURE AND DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

2012

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DECLARATION

Except where appropriately acknowledgement, this thesis is my own work, has been expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment.

I understand that this paper may be screened electronically, or otherwise for plagiarism.

Medan, August 2012

Imelda D. Br Girsang Reg. No. 05310725

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for his blessing in finishing this thesis. The writer would never been able to finish her thesis without the guidance and the help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion this thesis. Therefore in this occasion she would extend her sincere and special thanks to:

 Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar, M.Si., the Head of State University of Medan

 Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum, as the Dean of Languages and Arts

Faculty of State University of Medan.

 Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd.., as the Head of English Department,

as her academic and thesis advisor for her excellent guidance, caring, patience and providing her with an excellent atmosphere for doing this research and Dra. Rahmah, M.Hum., both as the Head and the Secretary of English Department and also to Dra. Masitowarni

Siregar, M.Ed., as the Head of English Education Department.

 Mrs. Keriahen Br Sinuhaji, as the Headmistress of SMA Swasta

Masehi Berastagi, for providing her a comfortable atmosphere for doing the research.

 All lectures throughout her academic years at the State University of Medan who had shared their knowledge.

 Her father, the Late M. Girsang, her unbeatable mother, K. Br Marmata, her brother, Ricky J. Girsang, her sister, Icca Maria Br Girsang and her big family. They were always there cheering her up

and stood by me through the good and bad times.

 Her big family at SD Negeri 040457 Berastagi, for their support.  Her friends, Dedi ‘Papi’ M. Ginting, Pesta ‘Mami’ C. Sitompul,

Helmina Sipayung, Simta Tarigan and Rinto Nainggolan, for their

support, caring and love.

 Mam Enda, for her excellent caring and patience for the help in

administration of this thesis.

Medan, August 2012 Writer,

Imelda D. Br Girsang Reg. No. 05310725

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ABSTRACT

Imelda D. Br Girsang 05310725. Improving Students’ Achievement on

Writing Anecdote through Task – Based Language Instruction. A Thesis, English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan. 2012

This study aims at finding out whether the use of Task – Based Languages Instruction can improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote text. The subject of this study is Grade XI students of SMA SWASTA MASEHI Berastagi. The research runs in two cycle and six meetings. The result showed that was an improvement of students. Score from first test to third test. The first test was 0 % of students who got 75 points. While in the second test (cycle I) was 16,7 % of students who passed the test. Specifically, the improvement of students’ score was in the content, where students can write an anecdote appropriately to its generic structure and language features. The improvement was 9,6 point from 14,8 (Pre-test) to 24,4 (Cycle II (Pre-test) in average. The result of the research of the study showed that the progress of achievement score. It can be concluded that using Task –Based Language Instruction can give contribution to improve the students’ achievement on writing anecdote.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... i

ABSTRACT ... ii

TABLE OF CONTENT ... iii

LIST OF APPENDIXES ... v

LIST OF FIGURES ... vi

LIST OF TABLES ... vii

LIST OF CHARTS ... viii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

A.Background of the Study ... 1

B.The Problem of the Study ... 5

C.The Objective of the Study ... 5

D.The Scope of the Study ... 5

E.The Significance of the Study ... 6

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 7

A. Theoretical Framework ... 7

1. The Definition of Approach, Method And Techniques ... 7

2. Task – Based Language Instruction as An Approach ... 9

3. The Principles of Task – Based Language Instruction ... 12

4. Writing ... 14

5. Genres of Writing ... 17

6. Anecdote ... 23

7. Example Of Anecdote ... 25

B. Conceptual Framework ... 28

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 30

A. Research Method ... 30

B. Subject of the Study ... 31

C. The Instrument for Collecting Data ... 31

D. The Procedure of The Research ... 32

E. The Scoring of Writing Data ... 33

F. Techniques of Analyzing Data ... 35

CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS ... 36

A. The Data ... 36

1. The Quantitative Data ... 36

2. The Qualitative Data ... 37

a. Questionnaire ... 37

b. Diary Notes ... 37

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d. Interview ... 38

B. Data Analysis ... 38

1. The Analysis of Quantitative Data ... 38

2. The Analysis of Qualitative Data ... 43

a. Questionnaire ... 43

b. Diary Notes ... 43

c. Observation Sheet ... 44

d. Interview ... 44

C. Research Findings and Discussion ... 45

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 48

A. Conclusion ... 48

B. Suggestion ... 48

REFERENCES ... 50

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LIST OF APPENDIXES

Appendix 1 Classroom Observation ………52

Appendix 2 Students Attitude Observation Sheet ………..53

Appendix 3 Instrument of Observation of Teaching Learning Process...54

Appendix 4 Recapitulation of Questionnaire ………..56

Appendix 5a Interview Sheet for Students ………...57

Appendix 6 Diary Notes ……….59

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LIST OF FIGURES

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Language Features of Anecdote’s Example………...27 Table 3.1 Hughey et al Five Component Scoring Scales ………...33 Table 4.1 Score of Students from Pre – Test until Post – Test ………...36 Table 4.2 The Mean of Five Component Scales in Scoring Writing ……….40

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LIST OF CHARTS

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Language plays a very important role in human life. Hornby (1987:473) states that languages is human and a non-distinctive method of communicating ideas, feelings, and desires by means of a system of sounds and sound symbols. The definition implies that humans need language as a mean of communication to express their ideas, feelings, and desires to others.

The need of mastering a language especially English is urgent. English becomes the first international language widely spoken by millions of people from different countries. English is also used as a foreign language in which it has instrumental characteristics used for certain purposes such as for transferring knowledge of science and technology, getting a job, going abroad, and so on. It shows that mastering English is urgent. As a result, in Indonesia, English even has been taught since kindergarten level up to senior high level.

According to Harris (1969:9), language includes the four skills namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing as language skills. The four skills are very closely related to learn a language.

Fromkin (1990:342) states that writing is one of the basic tools of civilization. Without it, the world could not exist. It implies that the spoken language is not the important one, but the written form of language has a very important role in human life, especially in academic life. Martlew (1983), as

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quoted by Bruce Sadler, stated that academic progress in school depends on students’ ability to write fluently. Furthermore, writing is the principal medium by which teachers evaluate performance (Christenson, Thurlow, Ysseldyke, & McVicar, 1989; Graham & Harris, 1988). Also Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D and Katherine Hansen, Ph.D in their article stated that writing skills can be the ticket to better college grades and greater academic achievement. From the explanation, it can be concluded that the need of mastering writing is unquestionable.

Most people tend to have the same opinion that writing skill is the most difficult skill among the other skills. They consider that an ability in writing is a talent that one either has or does not have. So do the students.

There are some reasons which make writing difficult. Those reasons can be divided into linguistics factors and non-linguistics factors. The linguistics factors are vocabulary, grammar, structure, orthography, and so on. Non-linguistics factors are reading habit, motivation, knowledge of the world, and learning strategies. Though, writing is not easy, it can be learned. Writing is learned behavior that takes a long time to master. Writing ability takes study and practice to develop this skill. One must note that writing is a process in which practice must be exercised.

Based on the Educational Unit-Oriented Curriculum (Kurikulum Tingkat Pendidikan), students are expected to be able to write simple paragraph of report, recount, and news item. The curriculum highlights that the students have to be able to write various types of the text genres, one of them is anecdote.

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Anecdote is a short little scene or story taken from a personal experience. Anecdotes can be useful for setting the stage for speech or personal essay. An anecdote often relays a story that can be used as a theme or lesson. Anecdotes are usually true stories about real people. Sometimes humorous anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth. Anecdotes are very, very short stories told to make a point. A writer or a speaker hopes that associating their point with memorable story will make the point memorable, too.

Since academic progress in school depends on the students’ ability to write fluently, it is important to make the writing not only interesting but also fascinating. The ability to represent themselves well on paper will help students to get greater achievement. One of the best ways to make this happen is to use anecdotes in their writing paper. But first of all, students must know what anecdote is and what it purpose is. On the other hand, it is important that the students must be able to build an anecdote first.

In reality, only a few students know anecdote and the primary purpose of it. Based on the writer observation, from 10 students, 7 said that anecdote is a funny story whose purpose is to entertain readers and the rest said “What is

anecdote?” This indicates that anecdote is not well-known by students which

predicted that their achievement on writing anecdote must be still low.

There are several relatively innovative language instruction approaches such as Whole Language Approach (Blanton, 1992), Content-Based Second

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Language Instruction (Brinton, Snow and Wesche, 1989), Text-Based Syllabus Design (Feez, 1998), and Task-Based Language Instruction (Prabhu, 1987a; Crookes and Gass, 1993; Willlis, 1996). Task- Based Language Instruction also known as Task-Based Language Learning or Task-Based Language Teaching, or Task- Based Instruction. This approach focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful task using the target language.

As Joko Priyana quoted Nunan, 1998; Markee, 1997 in his article ‘Task

-Based Language Instruction’, Task-Based Language Instruction can be described

as language course whose syllabus or teaching and learning activity are organized around tasks. Assesment is primarily based on task outcome rather than on accuracy of language forms. The syllabus is organized around tasks and what is

emphasizes is developing the leaner’s capabilities in applying, reinterpreting, and

adapting the knowledge of rules and conventions during communication by means of underlying skills and abilities (Breen, 1984).

Task-Based Language Instruction is not just about getting learners to do one task and then another task and then another but it is more complicated as Willis makes it clear, by suggesting three basic stages, namely Pre-Task, Task-Cycle and Language Focus

An important of Task-Based Language Instruction is that learners are free to choose whatever language forms they wish to fulfill as well as they get the task goals. So this approach can facilitate the teaching of writing to the students because Task-Based Language Instruction not only helps the teacher to connect

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the materials to the students’ real world but also can motivate the students to apply their knowledge in their daily life.

From the explanation above, it concludes that Task-Based Language Instruction is very important to be applied to improve students’ achievement in writing, particularly anecdote writing. It will assist students in developing knowledge about writing, especially write an anecdote. The use of the tasks as the core of teaching learning will provide chances to the students to practice as well as and are free to use whatever language that they master and given opportunity to explore their understanding based on their capability. So in this study, the research will be conducted to see how the application on Task-Based Language Instruction

can improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote.

B. The Problem of The Study

Based on the background of the study, the problem of the study is formulated as follow:

“To what extent is students’ achievement on writing anecdote improved

by using Task-Based Language Instruction Approach?”

C. The Objective of the Study

The objective of the study is to investigate features of Task-Based Language Instruction to be fulfilled to gain effective learning in writing anecdote.

D. The Scope of the Study

This study will focus on the application of Task-Based Language Instruction Approach to improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote. So

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this study is restricted to cover the area of Task-Based Language Instruction Approach and anecdote writing.

E. The Significance of the Study

Findings of the study are expected to be useful for:

1. The teachers to improve their way of teaching writing especially anecdote writing. It means that the improvement is to maximize the

students’ achievement to make a good writing.

2. The students to realize that the demand on writing is not only to be able to write some words or sentences as they usually do, but also share information and express themselves through some process of thought that can be seen from their writings.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

After analyzing the data, it is concluded that Task – Based Language Instruction approach can improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote text for students class XI IPA 1 SMA Swasta Masehi Berastagi up to 83 and about 80 % of the students got score up to 75. Specifically, the improvement of students’ achievement was on the content component where students could write anecdote text appropriate to its generic structure and language features. The improvement was from 14, 8 to 24,4. It improves about 9,6 point. By applying Task – Based Language Instruction approach, the teaching and learning process becomes more enjoyable and interesting especially in writing anecdote.

B. Suggestion

The result of this study showed that the application of Task – Based Language Instruction approach could improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote. The following suggestions are offered to:

1. English teacher, it is better to use Task – Based Language Instruction approach to make teaching and learning process more interesting and lively. It is suggested to vary and suitable tasks for students to improve students’ anecdote writing.

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2. College students or researchers who want to administer further research, this research can be used as references. It is suggested for other researchers to use relevant topic.

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REFERENCES

Arikunto, Suharsimi, Suhardjono, Supardi. 2009. Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. Jakarta: PT Bumi Aksara.

BSNP. 2006. Standar Isi untuk Satuan Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah-Standar Kompetensi Dasar SMA/MA. Jakarta: BSNP.

Febriana, Eko Ririn. 2011. Improving Students’ Achivement on Descriptive through Group Investigation (Thesis). Medan: Faculty of Languages and Arts State University of Medan.

Fleming, Grace. Anecdote available at

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/g/anecdote.htm. accesssed on 02-02-2012 7.40p.m.

Hansen, Randal S and Katharine Hansen. 2010. The Importance of Good Writing Skills available at http://people.uncw.edu/tanp// accessed on Feb 3rd, 2012 07.35 p.m.

Hornby.AS. 1995.Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary of Current English 5thed. Great Britain:Oxford University.

http://understandingtext.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-is-anecdote_31.html.Accessed on 02-02-2012 7.52

Kemmis, S and R. Metaggart. 1998. The action Research Planner. Third edition. Geeolong: Deakin University.

Nordquist,Richard. Anecdote.

Available:http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/anecdoteterm.htm. Accessed on 02-02-2012 7.25 pm

Nunan, David. 2004. Task-Based Language Learning. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Priyana, Joko. 2007.Task-Based Language Instruction in Pelangi Pendidikan Edisi VI Januari 2007.

Sanchez, Aquilino. 2004. The Task-Based Approach in Language Teaching. Murcia :IJES University of Murcia available at www.um.es/engphil/ijes accessed on Feb 3rd, 2012 07.47 p.m.

Tangkas, I Wayan Dirgayasa. 2005. College Writing : A Sentence Writing Concepts and Practices 1st Ed. (Students Handout). Medan: Faculty of Language and Arts State University of Medan.

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Willis, Jane. 1998. Task-Based Language Learning:What Kind of Adventures? available at http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/98/jul/willis.html accessed on Feb 17th, 2012 3.45 p.m.

Wikipedia. Action Research. Available: www.wikipedia.com (accessed on:February 2nd, 2012)

Wikipedia. Anecdote. Available: www.wikipedia.com (accessed on:February 2nd, 2012)

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the materials to the students’ real world but also can motivate the students to apply their knowledge in their daily life.

B. The Problem of The Study

Based on the background of the study, the problem of the study is formulated as follow:

“To what extent is students’ achievement on writing anecdote improved by using Task-Based Language Instruction Approach?”

C. The Objective of the Study

The objective of the study is to investigate features of Task-Based Language Instruction to be fulfilled to gain effective learning in writing anecdote. D. The Scope of the Study

This study will focus on the application of Task-Based Language Instruction Approach to improve students’ achievement on writing anecdote. So

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this study is restricted to cover the area of Task-Based Language Instruction Approach and anecdote writing.

E. The Significance of the Study

Findings of the study are expected to be useful for:

1. The teachers to improve their way of teaching writing especially anecdote writing. It means that the improvement is to maximize the students’ achievement to make a good writing.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

B. Suggestion

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2. College students or researchers who want to administer further research, this research can be used as references. It is suggested for other researchers to use relevant topic.

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Arikunto, Suharsimi, Suhardjono, Supardi. 2009. Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. Jakarta: PT Bumi Aksara.

BSNP. 2006. Standar Isi untuk Satuan Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah-Standar Kompetensi Dasar SMA/MA. Jakarta: BSNP.

Febriana, Eko Ririn. 2011. Improving Students’ Achivement on Descriptive through Group Investigation (Thesis). Medan: Faculty of Languages and Arts State University of Medan.

Fleming, Grace. Anecdote available at

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/g/anecdote.htm. accesssed on 02-02-2012 7.40p.m.

Hansen, Randal S and Katharine Hansen. 2010. The Importance of Good Writing Skills available at http://people.uncw.edu/tanp// accessed on Feb 3rd, 2012 07.35 p.m.

Hornby.AS. 1995.Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary of Current English 5thed. Great Britain:Oxford University.

http://understandingtext.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-is-anecdote_31.html.Accessed on 02-02-2012 7.52

Kemmis, S and R. Metaggart. 1998. The action Research Planner. Third edition. Geeolong: Deakin University.

Nordquist,Richard. Anecdote.

Available:http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/anecdoteterm.htm. Accessed on 02-02-2012 7.25 pm

Nunan, David. 2004. Task-Based Language Learning. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Priyana, Joko. 2007.Task-Based Language Instruction in Pelangi Pendidikan Edisi VI Januari 2007.

Sanchez, Aquilino. 2004. The Task-Based Approach in Language Teaching. Murcia :IJES University of Murcia available at www.um.es/engphil/ijes accessed on Feb 3rd, 2012 07.47 p.m.

Tangkas, I Wayan Dirgayasa. 2005. College Writing : A Sentence Writing Concepts and Practices 1st Ed. (Students Handout). Medan: Faculty of Language and Arts State University of Medan.

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Willis, Jane. 1998. Task-Based Language Learning:What Kind of Adventures? available at http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/98/jul/willis.html accessed on Feb 17th, 2012 3.45 p.m.

Wikipedia. Action Research. Available: www.wikipedia.com (accessed on:February 2nd, 2012)

Wikipedia. Anecdote. Available: www.wikipedia.com (accessed on:February 2nd, 2012)

IMPROVING STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT ON WRITING ANECDOTE THROUGH TAS-BASED LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION.