UTILIZING E MAIL TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL
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UTILIZING E-MAIL
TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL
(A Classroom Action Research at the Eleventh Grade of SMK PGRI 6, Ngawi in the Academic Year of 2010/2011)
By : TRI YULIWATI
NIM : S890809214
Thesis
Written to fulfill one of the Requirements for getting the Graduate Degree in English Education
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRADUATE SCHOOL
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA
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iv
PRONOUNCEMENT
This is to certify that I myself write this thesis, entitled “Utilizing E-Mail
to Improve Students’ Writing Skill” (A Classroom Action Research at the
Eleventh Grade of SMK PGRI 6, Ngawi in the Academic Year of 2010/2011)”. It
is not plagiarism or written by others. Anything related to others’ work is written
in quotation, the source of which is listed on the bibliography.
If then this pronouncement proves wrong, I will welcome any academic
punishment, including the withdrawal or cancelation of my academic degree.
Surakarta, July 2011
Tri Yuliwati S 890809214
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ABSTRACT
TRI YULIWATI S 890809214, 2009. Utilizing E-Mail to Improve Students’ Writing Skill” (A Classroom Action Research at the Eleventh Grade of SMK PGRI 6, Ngawi in the Academic Year of 2010/2011). A thesis: English Education Department, Graduate School, Sebelas Maret University, 2011.
The objectives of this research are to: (1) identify whether or not and to what extent utilizing e-mail is able to improve the students’ writing skill: and (2) describe the situation when e-mail is applied in the writing class. In this research, the problem refers to the teaching and learning English, especially their writing skill which is still low.
The research methodology applied in this research is action research with two cycles in which each cycle consists of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The data collected are the qualitative data and quantitative data. The qualitative data are collected from observation, interview, questionnaire, and document. The quantitative data are collected from pre-test in pre-research, test in Cycle 1, and post test in Cycle 2. The qualitative data are analyzed by Constant Comparative Method and the quantitative data are analyzed by descriptive statistics.
The finding of the research shows that utilizing e-mail in teaching and learning process can improve: (1) students’ writing skill. The improvement of writing skill could be seen from these indicators, students were able to: (a) use punctuation and capital letter; (b) select appropriate vocabulary; (c) make sentences grammatically; (d) make supporting details; and (e) organize writing. It could be seen from the collected data, the students had obtained better score from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2. The mean score increased from 45.73 in the pre-test to 66.04 in the test of Cycle 1 and to 74.27 in the post test of Cycle 2. The minimum score of English lesson was 65.00: (2) class situation: (a) the students paid full attention to the teacher’s explanation; (b) the students are able to do the homework actively; (c) the students talk each other when they had to discuss in their group dealing with the material given by the teacher; (d) nobody asks for permission to the teacher to go to the bathroom as the reason just to get out of the class; and (e) the students take a part in teaching and learning actively.
Utilizing e-mail has succeeded in improving the students’ writing skill; the researcher would like to propose some suggestions for the English teachers, especially those who teach in vocational school to: (1) utilize e-mail as one of the techniques to improve students’ writing skill; (2) learn how to enhance their ability in teaching; and (3) facilitate the students to practice English writing in order that the students are accustomed to make English writing text
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MOTTO
Fa’ inna ma’al ‘usri yusra Inna ma’al ‘usri yusra (QS. Alam Nasrah 5-6)
Verily, along with every hardship is relief Verily, along with every hardship is relief
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DEDICATION
This thesis is especially dedicated to:
Ø God the great and almighty, Allah SWT, for everything which has been blessed to me.
Ø Bagus, my beloved son for his valuable motivation
Ø My beloved parents, my father and mother who always support me to get more success in education and life.
Ø My beloved sisters and brothers who always encourage me to get better life.
Ø My best motivation, Mas Bambang who always motivates me to finish this study on time.
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viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to thank to Allah SWT, the Almighty, for His blessing, that I can finish my thesis as an essential requirement to obtain the Graduate Degree in English Education. I realize that the accomplishment of this thesis would not run well without any help, contribution, suggestion, and advices from others. I want to give my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to:
1. The Director of Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University who requires me to write this thesis.
2. Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd, the Head of English Education Department of Graduate School who has suggested and guided me to write this thesis.
3. Dra. Dewi Rochsantiningsih, M.Ed, PhD, the first consultant and Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd, the second consultant who have patiently provided valuable information, guidance, and invaluable ideas for the completion of this thesis. 4. The Headmaster of SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi who has supported me to conduct
the research at that school.
5. My collaborator, Ary Widyawati, SS, for her help in doing the research. 6. The students of eleventh grade of TKJ-2 who have participated and joined in
carrying out the research.
7. My beloved husband, son, parents, sisters, and brothers for their valuable motivation and support.
8. My best friend, Bu Wahju and Bu Sri who always support and encourage each other in completing this thesis.
I realize that this thesis is still far from being perfect. However, I do hope that this thesis will be useful for other writers, teachers, and students to improve the English teaching and learning process.
Surakarta, July 2011
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
PAGE OF TITLE ... i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ... ii
PAGE OF LEGALIZATION ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
MOTTO ... vi
DEDICATION ... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
LIST OF TABLE ... xiv
LIST OF CHART... xv
LIST OF FIGURE ... xvi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. The Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Statements ... 6
C. The Objectives of the Study ... 6
D. The Benefits of the Study ... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Writing ... 8
1. The Nature of Writing ... 8
2. Writing Skill ... 9
3. Teaching Writing ... 11
4. Type of Writing Texts ... 14
5. Writing Assessment ... 16
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x
B. Electronic Mail ... 23
1. What is Electronic Mail ... 23
2. Electronic Mail in Teaching Writing ... 24
3. The Advantages of Using Electronic Mail ... 28
C. Review of Related Researches ... 30
D. Rationale ... 32
CHAPTER III: THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Context of the Research ... 35
B. Research Design ... 37
1. Planning ... 38
2. Acting ... 39
3. Observation ... 40
4. Reflection... 41
C. Data and Data Collecting Technique ... 41
1. Data ... 41
2. Data Collecting Technique ... 42
D. Data Analyzing Technique ... 43
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Prior Situation of the Research ... 47
1. The Pre-Research ... 47
a. The Students’ Writing Skill ... 49
b. Class Situation ... 53
c. Planning Activities Using E-mail in Teaching Writing ... 56
d. Designing Lesson Plan ... 60
2. Research Implementation ... 62
a. Cycle 1 ... 64
1) Planning the Action ... 66
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xi
a) First Meeting ... 67
b) Second Meeting... 70
c) Third Meeting ... 72
d) Fourth Meeting ... 75
3) Observation ... 78
4) Reflection ... 80
a) The Strengths ... 81
b) The Weaknesses ... 84
b. Cycle 2 ... 87
1) Planning the Action ... 89
2) Implementing the Action ... 91
a) First Meeting ... 92
b) Second Meeting ... 94
c) Third Meeting ... 96
d) Fourth Meeting ... 98
3) Observation ... 101
4) Reflection ... 102
c) The Strengths ... 104
d) The Weaknesses ... 106
B. Research Findings ... 109
1. Summary of Cycle 1 ... 110
2. Summary of Cycle 2 ... 113
3. The Result of Teaching and Learning Process ... 115
a. Comparison between the Score of Pre-Test and Score of Post-Test in Cycle 1 ... 116
b. Comparison between Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 ... 118
C. Discussion and Justification ... 120
1. E-mail can Improve Students’ Writing Skill ... 121
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xii CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion ... 128
B. Implication ... 129
C. Suggestions ... 129
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 130
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xiii LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Analytical of scoring rubric for writing product ... 20
Table 2.2 Scoring Rubrics for Writing... 22
Table 4.1 The Schedule of the Research ... 46
Table 4.2 Base-Line Data Prior to Action Research Implementation ... 48
Table 4.3 Students’ Writing Skill Base-Line Pre Test Scores ... 52
Table 4.4 The Overall Description of the Activities in Teaching Writing Using E-Mail ... 58
Table 4.5 Preparation of the Lesson Plan in Cycle 1 ... 61
Table 4.6 The Overall Implementation of the Action Research ... 62
Table 4.7 The Summary of the Implementation of Cycle 1 ... 65
Table 4.8 Students’ Assignments ... 73
Table 4.9 The Project for Each Group ... 74
Table 4.10. The Comparison of the Average Score in Pre-test and test in Cycle 1 ... 83
Table 4.11. The Improvement of Students’ Writing Skill and Classroom Situation Cycle 1 ... 86
Table 4.12 The Summary of the Implementation in Cycle 2 ... 88
Table 4.13 The Preparation of the of the Lesson Plan in Cycle 2 ... 91
Table 4.14 The Titles of the Procedure Text ... 100
Table 4.15 The Comparison of the Highest, Lowest, and Average Score ... 104
Table 4.16 The Comparison of the Average Score in Pre-test, Test in Cycle 1, and Post-test ... 104
Table 4.17 The Improvement of Students’ Writing Skill and Class Situation Cycle 2 ... 107
Table 4.18 The comparison between the Students’ scores of Pre-Test and the Scores of Test in Cycle 1 ... 117
Table 4.19 The Comparison between the Students’ scores of Pre-Test and the Scores of Test in Cycle 1 ... 117
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xiv Table 4.20 The Comparison between the Writing Scores in Cycle 1
and Cycle 2... 117 Table 4.21. The Comparison of the Average Scores in Writing Aspects
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xv LIST OF CHART
Chart 4.1 The Average Score in the Pre-test and Post-test Cycle ... 81 Chart 4.2 The Average Score in the Pre-test, Post-test 1 and Post-test 2 ... 103
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xvi LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1: Students in group are discussing the task given by the teacher in second meeting
Figure 2: Students in group are discussing the assignment given by the teacher in second meeting
Figure 3: The students in group are discussing the assignment in third meeting
Figure 4: The students’ activities in writing class
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1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Students should acquire four language skills in English learning activities
namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, which presented
cohesively. Writing is one of the most important language skills which students
are expected to be able to understand and create some kind of writing texts to
improve their writing skill. As stated in basic competence for students of
vocational high school that some kind of writing text which students should
master are short functional text, monolog, descriptive, recount, report, procedure,
and narrative. (BNSP, 2006: 385).
Writing is an ability to express ideas and convey the message through
written symbols. In writing, students should comprehend the basic elements of
language such as vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and capital letter. Besides,
the students also have to be able to arrange ideas in appropriate sentences in
making a good writing as stated by Hyland (2003: 3) that one way to look at
writing is to see it as marks on a page or a screen, a coherent arrangement of
words, clauses, and sentences, structured according to a system of rules.
Writing skill is often considered the most difficult one, especially in
English language. Nunan (1989: 35) states that learning to write fluently and
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2 of whether the language in question in a first, second, or foreign language. It
means to write fluently and expressively is not easy for the students who study
either first language, second or foreign language. They need attention, carefulness,
and guidance to learn it and get the purpose of writing.
Teaching writing is not easy; there are some difficulties as stated by Penny
Ur (1991: 163) that one of the problems in teaching writing is to maintain a fair
balance between content and form when defining the requirement and assessing.
Heaton also states (1988: 138) that writing skill are complex and sometimes
difficult to teach, requiring mastery not only of grammatical and rhetorical
devices but also of conceptual and judgmental elements.
The eleventh class students of SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi also face some
problems above. Based on the survey in field, it is found out that the students’
writing skills still far from the expectation. The students’ writing achievement still
can be considered unsatisfying.
There are some indicators of the problems, the students have difficulties
in: (1) the use of punctuation and capital letter; (2) selecting appropriate
vocabulary; (3) writing sentences grammatically; (4) making supporting details;
(5) organizing the writing well. It could be seen from the students’ score of the pre
test that the mean score of: (1) punctuation and capital letter was 43.25; (2)
vocabulary was 48.75; (3) grammar was 31.75; (4) supporting detail was 57.25;
and (5) organizing writing was 47.50. Whereas the minimum score of English
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3 In addition, unfavorable situation is also obvious in teaching and learning
process such as: (1) some students do not pay full attention to the teacher’s
explanation. They especially who sit down in the back row enjoy typing message
by their phone cellular; (2) many students do not do the homework when the
teacher ask them to do the task at home. They often copy to their friends’
homework in the class; (3) some students enjoy talking each other during the
lesson. Their topics discussion do not relate to the material given by the teacher. It
makes the class quite noisy; (4) at the same time, some of them often ask for
permission to the teacher to go to the bathroom; and (5) students just keep silent
when the teacher ask them to make questions related to lesson given, but when
they are asked to do exercise, they cannot do it well.
From the preliminary observation, the students’ failure in writing is
caused by many things, as (1) the students’ motivation is low due to monotonous
teaching and the traditional method used by the teachers in teaching writing; (2)
limited time given by the teacher at school. There are only five times forty five
minutes in a week to study English at vocational school; (3) their lack of
knowledge in grammar and vocabulary; (4) they ignore the rules of mechanical
writing; and (5) lack of practices in writing.
Based on the identified problems that students have, it is understandable
that students’ writing skill is still low. Therefore, it needs to find out a solution to
improve students’ writing skill. Nowadays, the use of technology is becoming
increasingly important in teaching learning process. Accessing to Information and
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4 or e-mail is one of the most used and useful tools around today. Many students do
their task by accessing the information through the internet. E-mail, a form of
asynchronous computer-mediated communication, has been called "the mother of
all Internet applications" (Warschauer, Shetzer, and Meloni, 2000: 3). Since the
evolution of networks, computers can offer the students more than drills; they can
be a medium of real communication in the target language, including composing
and exchanging messages with their teachers and other students in the classroom
or around the world.
Based on the facts above, the researcher plans to improve the students`
writing skill by using e-mail to practice writing. E-Mail is electronic
communication that allows people to send and receive a message via a computer
to other user. This strategy is selected for some reasons as; the English writing
activity through e-mail is something new for the students of SMK PGRI 6.
Teachers at SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi seldom or even never use email before.
Therefore, the students will be more interested when the teacher use email in
teaching and learning process.
E-mail is also challenging. This is due to the fact that generally the
computer language is English. Most of the students do not understand the
meaning of the words so they try to look up the meaning, synonym, and antonym
to their dictionaries. It can be done electronically when they type the text before
sending it via e-mail. This can solve their difficulties in vocabulary. Besides, they
also can check the grammar, punctuation, and capital letter on line on the
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5 The use of e-mail in teaching writing can overcome the problem dealing
with the limited time for classroom teaching writing because students can do
writing outside the class and the teacher can monitor their writing as well. They
can send and receive message on e-mail at in a lab, a campus network, or across
the Internet.
E-mail allows the students to keep in touch with their teachers and other
students around the world via mailing list and discussing groups. Unconsciously,
they have practiced writing. The more frequent they send and receive an e-mail,
the more practices they undergo.
By using this media, the researcher attempt to make the learning and
teaching process an interesting one in which the students are expected to be
motivated in writing and can improve their writing skills as well. Furthermore,
besides using e-mail to practice English writing, the researcher uses four steps of
Genre Based Approach to teach writing. The researcher gives the learning
materials which are essential for the next part of the writing teaching process such
as to organize ideas logically and coherently, appropriate vocabularies, grammar,
sentence patterns, word order and word choice. The models of the texts are given
to the students so that they get more examples of how to construct the text with
their partners and individually in practicing the writing.
Considering the benefits of e-mail, the researcher has strong belief that
utilizing e-mail for teaching writing, there is a significant improvement towards
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6
B. Problem Statements
Based on the background of the study above, the researcher wants to know
whether the use of e-mail can improve the students’ writing ability. The problem
can be formulated as follows.
1. Does and to what extent e-mail improve the students’ writing skill?
2. What is the class situation when e-mail is implemented in writing activity?
C. The Objectives of the Study
This research focuses on the use of e-mail to improve the students’ writing
skill. The objectives are as follows.
1. Identifying whether or not and to what extent e-mail improves the
students’ writing skill at SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi.
2. Identifying the situation of the class when e-mail is implemented in
teaching writing class.
D. The Benefits of the Study
The result of this study is expected to give some benefits to the students,
English teachers and institution.
1. For the students
a. The students are motivated to write English.
b. The students’ writing skill increases.
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7 d. The students’ knowledge in grammar, vocabularies, and organizing the
idea in writing increase.
e. The students can write correct long paragraphs or text by many
supporting sentences.
2. For the researcher
a. The result of this research can be used as starting point of improving
the teaching learning activity in writing class.
b. It encourage her as a researcher as well as a teacher to conduct action
research in improving teaching learning activities or getting better
solution of teaching learning problems.
3. For the teachers
c. It encourages the teachers to develop their creativity to improve
teaching learning process.
d. It stimulates the teachers to motivate their students especially in
writing English.
e. It improves the teachers’ capability to conduct teaching learning
activity appropriately.
f. It stimulates the teacher to do action research to solve the problem of
English teaching learning at the classroom.
4. For the Institution
a. It increases students’ achievement.
b. It gives opinion to decide policy in developing the better process of
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8
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Writing
1. The Nature of Writing
Many linguists state various definitions of writing. According to White
and Arndt (1991: 3), writing is far from being a simple matter of transcribing
language into written symbols; it is a thinking process in its own right. It
demands conscious intellectual effort, which usually has to be sustained over a
considerable period of time. It means that writing is an activity of recording
thoughts, ideas and feelings in written forms, and it demands the mastery of
language systems and the strength of the mind to make reasons over period of
time.
Another linguist, Friedrich as quoted by Coulmas (1989: 35) states that
writing may be characterized as a medium of communication which people
use in order to bridge spatial and temporal distance by means of readily
understandable or agreed upon signs. It can be said that writing is way of
expressing ideas, feeling or giving people information to bridge them who far
away in space or time so that can be known what someone says about.
Related to both definitions above, the researcher sees the similarity of
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9 the definition on the distance of space and time, meanwhile White and Arndt
just emphasize on the process of writing.
Based on the definitions of writing above, the researcher concludes
that writing can be defined as an activity of expressing thought, ideas,
feelings, or giving information in written form which demand the mastery of
language systems and the strength of the mind to make reasons over period of
time.
2. Writing Skill
Skill refers to the ability to perform a task or activity consistently over
period time (Hornby, 2000: 1255). Skill cannot be acquired instantly. It is
acquired through training a lot. Writing skill is an ability to express ideas,
opinions, or feeling in written form which demand the mastery of language
systems and the strength of the mind to make reasons over period of time. It is
one of language skills which is considered important for communication with
other people in addition to listening, speaking, and reading.
According to Brown (2004: 220) there are two categories of writing
skill. They are micro skills and macro skills. The descriptions are as follows:
a. Micro skills
o Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.
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10
o Produce an acceptable grammatical system (e.g. tense, agreement,
pluralization), patterns, and rules.
o Express a particular meaning in different grammatical form.
o Use cohesive device in writing discourse.
b. Macro skills
o Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.
o Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written
texts according to form and purpose.
o Convey links and connection between events and communicate such
relations as main idea, new information, given information,
generalization, and exemplification.
o Distinguish between literal and implied meaning when writing.
o Correctly convey specific references in the context of the written text.
o Develop and use the battery of writing strategies, such as accurately
assessing the audience’s interpretation, using prewriting, writing the
fluency in the first drafts, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting
peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and
editing.
Micro skills are appropriately applied to imitative and intensive types
of writing task, whereas macro skills are essential for the successful mastery
of responsive and extensive writing.
In order to be able to produce a good written text, a writer should
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11 micro skill of writing. Nunan (1998: 37) states that successful writing
involves: (1) mastering the mechanics of letter formation; (2) mastering and
obeying conventions of spelling and punctuation; (3) using the grammatical
system to convey one’s intended meaning; (4) organizing content at the level
of paragraph and the complete text to reflect given/ new information and
topic/ comment structures; (5) polishing and revising one’s initial efforts; and
(6) selecting an appropriate style for one’s audience.
Based on some theories above, it can be inferred that writing skill is
an ability to express thought, ideas, feelings, or giving information in written
form which involves the knowledge of: (1) using punctuation and capital
letter; (2) selecting appropriate vocabulary; (3) grammatical language system;
(4) supporting details; and (5) organizing the writing.
3. Teaching Writing
Mcgillick (1987:2) states that writing is a step by step process which
needs sufficient practice and time. In teaching writing, teacher should help
students to express ideas, thoughts and feelings on papers. Then the teacher
also helps the students to organize those ideas, thoughts, and feelings in
sentences to compose meaningful paragraphs or texts on learning to write.
Because students need assembling ideas, drafting and revising in writing as
stated by Haris (1993: 11) that when writing, students are able to work
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12 do reflection to make their next writing better by discussing with their friends
and teacher.
Byrne explains there are roles of the teacher in teaching writing (1998:
32-34). They are:
a. Deciding how to present the activity to the class
In early stage, begin to demonstrate the writing activities. It will help
students to do a certain amount of writing.
b. Preparing the students orally
By giving a number of examples orally, it will help students know exactly
what they have to do.
c. Deciding how the writing task should be carried out
An activity can be done in pair, small group or individually.
d. Deciding on correction procedures
Students can be asked to exchange their completed work to evaluate one
another’s efforts. This helps to train them to look at written work critically
as readers. Then writing work can also be discussed in a classroom to get
necessary correction.
In addition, Richards and Renandya (2000: 317) state that process
writing as a classroom activity incorporates the four basic writing stages;
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13 stages externally imposed on students by the teacher, namely; responding
(sharing), evaluating, and post-writing. Detail explanations are:
a. Planning (pre-writing)
Encourage students to write, stimulate thought for getting started through
following activities: brainstorming, clustering, free writing, and generating
WH- question.
b. Drafting
Composing text
c. Responding
Responding to students’ writing done by the teacher or by peers.
d. Revising
Reviewing and reexamine the whole text by improving global content and
the organization of ideas.
e. Editing
Students are engaged in tidying up their texts. They change grammar,
spelling, punctuation, dictation, sentences structure and accuracy of
supportive textual material.
f. Evaluation
Teachers pleading lack of time have composed responding, editing, and
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14 g. Post-writing
Publishing, sharing, reading aloud, and transforming texts for stages
performance.
4. Types of Writing Texts
The term of type is sometimes stated as genre. There are a number of
types of texts which are exposed in the literatures. Even each expert cluster
texts not exactly the same as the other expert does. Langan states (2008:
176-359) that, traditionally, writing has been divided into the patterns of
development. They are description, narration, exposition, exemplification
(giving example), process (detailing a process of doing or making something),
cause and effect, comparison or contrast, definition (defining a term or
concept), division-classification (dividing something), and argument.
Anderson and Anderson (1998: 12-31) list there are two main kinds of
text; literary text and factual text. Literary text is created to attract emotion
and imagination. There are three types in this category: narrative, poetic, and
dramatic. Factual text is created to present information or ideas and to tell or
persuade the audience, namely; recount, response, explanation, discussion,
information report, exposition, and procedure.
In accordance with the syllabus for SMK, types of writing texts that
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15 (announcement, advertisement), and functional text (memo, letter, and
business letter). Types of texts will be used in this research are descriptive,
report, and proceduretext.
In general, the calcifications of types of writing are based on: (1) the
purpose of the text, why is the text made? (2) the generic structure of the text,
analyzing structure used in composing the text, in what way is the text
constructed by its teacher; (3) the language feature, taking a look at the
linguistic characterizations of the text. What kind of language feature is used
to build the text by its teacher? In this case, the discussion will be focused on
some types of text used in this research.
a. Descriptive
1) The purpose of descriptive text : to describe a particular person,
places, or things
2) Generic Structure:
- Identification: identifies the phenomenon to be described
- Description: describes parts, qualities, characteristics
3) Language features: focus on specific participants, use simple present
tense
b. Report
1) The purpose of text: to describe the way things are with reference to a
range of natural, manmade, and social phenomenon in our
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16 2) Generic Structure:
- General classification: tells what phenomena under the discussion
- Description: tells what the phenomenon under the discussion is
like in terms of parts, qualities, habits or behaviour.
3) Language features: focus on generic participants, use relational
processes to state what is and it uses simple present tense.
c. Procedure
1) The purpose of text: to describe how something is accomplished
through a sequences of actions or steps.
2) Generic Structure:
- Goal
- Material
- Steps 1-n
3) Language features: use simple present tense, often imperative. use
mainly material processes.
5. Writing Assessment
Assessment plays an important role in determining each student’s
learning problems, progress, and end outcomes after period of learning time.
According to Brown (2004: 4), assessment is an ongoing process that includes
a much wider aspect, whereas test is a subset of assessment which measures a
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17 writing is not easy. The teacher should have rule to determine it in order to
appropriate with the students’ ability in writing. There are six categories or
aspect of writing assessment as follows (Brown, 2001: 357).
a. Content: thesis statement, related ideas, development of ideas through
personal experience, illustration, fact, opinions, use of description,
cause/effect, comparison/contrast, and consistent focus.
b. Organization: effectiveness of introduction, logical sequence of ideas,
conclusion, and appropriate length.
c. Discourse/cohesion: topic sentences, paragraph unity, transitions,
discourse markers, cohesion, rhetorical conventions, reference,
fluency, and variation.
d. Syntax
e. Vocabulary: using meaningful words or phrases.
f. Mechanics: spelling, punctuation, citation of references (if applicable),
and neatness and appearance.
Then Brown (2001: 358) states that if the teachers still need to assign a
single grade or score to each paper, then consider weighting the first few
categories more heavily. Teacher can thereby emphasize the content-based
flavor of their evaluation. The researcher will adapt some aspects to assess the
students’ writing as; content, organization, discourse/cohesion (grammar),
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18
6. Scoring Rubric of Writing Skill
A scoring rubric is a set of guidelines for the application performance
criteria to evaluate the students’ responses and performance which consists of
verbal descriptions of the students’ responses and performance (Linn and
Gronlund, 2000: 270). There are three types of rating scales used in scoring
writing. They are holistic scoring, primary trait, and analytic scoring.
Holistic scoring uses a variety of criteria to produce a single score.
The rationale for using a holistic scoring system is that the totals qualify of
written text is more than the sum of its components. O’Malley (1996: 142)
sates that writing is viewed as an integrated whole involves four components
as follows: (1) ideas development organization: focus on central idea with
appropriate elaboration and conclusion; (2) fluency/ structure: appropriate
verb tense used with variety of grammatical and syntactic structure; (3) word
choice: uses varied and precise diction appropriate for purpose; (4) mechanics:
absence of error in spelling capitalization, and punctuation.
Primary trait focuses on “how well students can write within a
narrowly defined range of discourse” (Weigle in Brown, 2004: 242). This type
of scoring emphasizes the task at hand and assigns a score based on the
effectiveness of the text’s achieving that one goal. A primary trait score would
assess: (1) the accuracy of the account of the original (summary); (2) the
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19 description of the main features of the graph (graph description); (4) the
expression of the writer’s opinion (respond to an article).
Analytic scoring focuses on the principle function of the text and
therefore offers some feedback potential, but no wash back for any of the
written production that enhance the ultimate accomplishment of the purpose.
Classroom evaluation of learning is best served through analytic scoring, in
which as many as six major elements of writing are scored, thus enabling
learners in home in on weaknesses and to capitalize.
According to Brown (2001: 244-245) analytical of scoring rubric for
writing product covers five writing aspects namely; organization, Logical
development of ideas (content), grammar, punctuation and spelling
mechanics, and style or qualify of expressing (vocabulary). The detail
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20 Table 2.1
Analytical of scoring rubric for writing product Writing
Elements
Scores
5 4 3 2 1
1.Organization Appropriate title, effective introductory paragraph, topic is stated, leads to body, transitional expression used, arrangement of material shows, plant (could be outlined by reader), supporting evidence given for generalization , conclusion, logical, and complete. Adequate title, introduction and conclusion, body of essay is acceptable, but some ideas are not fully developed, sequence is logical but transactional expressions may be absent or misused. Mediocre or scant introduction or conclusion, problems with the order of ideas in body; the generalization may not be fully supported by the evidence given; problems of generalization interfere. Shaky or minimally recognizable introduction, organization can barely be seen, severe problems with ordering of ideas, lack of supporting evidence, conclusion weak or illogical, inadequate effort at organization. Absence of introduction or conclusion, no apparent organization of body, severe lack of supporting evidence, writer has not made any effort to organize the composition (could not be outlined by reader). 2. Logical development of ideas (Content) Essay addresses the assigned topic, the ideas are concrete and thoroughly developed, no extraneous material, essay reflects thought. Essay addresses the issues but misses some points, ideas could be more fully developed, some extraneous material present. Development of ideas not complete or essay is
somewhat off the topic, paragraphs are not divided exactly right.
Ideas incomplete, essay does not reflect careful thinking or was hurriedly written, inadequate effort in area of content.
Essay is completely inadequate and does not reflect college-level work, no apparent effort to consider the topic carefully. 3. Grammar Native-like
fluency in English grammar, correct use of relative clauses, prepositions modals, articles, verb forms, and tense sequencing, no fragments or run-on sentences. Advanced proficiency in English grammar, some grammar problems do not influence communication, although the reader is aware of them, no fragments or run-on sentences.
Ideas are getting through to the reader but grammar problems are apparent and have a negative effect on communication, run-on sentences or fragment present. Numerous serious grammar problems interfere with communication of the writer’s ideas, grammar review of some areas clearly needed, difficult to read sentences. Severe grammar problems interfere greatly with the message reader cannot understand what the writer was trying to say, unintelligible sentence structure.
4.Punctuation, spelling and
Correct use of English Some problems with writing Uses general writing Serious problems with Complete disregard for
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21
mechanics writing conventions left and right margins, all needed capitals, paragraphs intended, punctuation and spelling, very neat. conventions or punctuation, occasional spelling errors left margin correct, paper is neat and legible.
conventions but has errors, spelling problems, distract reader punctuation errors interfere with ideas.
formal of paper; parts of essay not legible, errors in sentence punctuation and final punctuation, unacceptable to educated readers. English writing conventions paper illegible, obvious capitals missing, no margins, severe spelling problems. 5. Style and
qualify of expression (Vocabulary)
Precise vocabulary usage, use of parallel structure, concise register good. Attempts variety, good vocabulary, not wordy, register OK, style fairly concise.
Some vocabulary misused; lacks awareness of register, may be too wordy. Poor expression of ideas; problems in vocabulary lacks variety of structure. Inappropriate use of vocabulary, no concept of register or sentence variety.
To assess the students’ writing, the researcher uses the scoring rubrics
according to Brown which is adjusted to the students’ skill at SMK PGRI 6
Ngawi. For more detail the scoring rubrics for writing used in this research can be
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22 Table 2.2 Scoring Rubrics for Writing
Scoring criteria
Point
1 2 3 4
Punctuation, capital letters and mechanics
Sentences have more than six errors in spelling, capital letter, punctuation and marks.
Sentences have fewer than five errors in spelling, capital letter, punctuation and marks.
Sentences have fewer than three errors in spelling, capital letter, punctuation and marks.
All sentences use correct spelling, capital letter, punctuation and marks.
Vocabulary There are five or more inappropriate use of vocabulary in sentences.
There are fewer than five inappropriate use of vocabulary in sentences.
There are fewer than three inappropriate use of vocabulary in sentences, style fairly concise.
Precise
vocabulary usage and style concise.
Grammar There are five or more grammar errors
There are fewer than five grammar errors
There are fewer than three grammar errors
There is no serious grammar error.
Supporting details
There are no obvious supporting detail sentences to back up the main ideas.
Te main idea has only one supporting detail.
The main idea is supported by 2 or 3 sentences that give details about it.
The main idea is supported by four or more sentences that give details about it.
Organization Main idea or topic sentence is unclear and in wrong place. The idea is not brought up again
Main idea or topic sentence is unclear and in wrong place.
Main idea or topic sentence is either unclear or not in the right place. No reference to topic in last sentence.
Main idea or topic sentence is clear, in right place, and mentioned again in the last sentence.
The descriptions of scores are as follows:
Punctuation and capital letters : 4
Vocabulary : 4
Grammar : 4
Supporting details : 4
Organization : 4
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23
B. Electronic Mail
1. What is Electronic Mail
Klesin (2008: 1) says that electronic mail, commonly called e-mail or
e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages across the Internet or other
computer networks. Originally, e-mail was transmitted directly from one user
to another computer. This required both computers to be online at the same
time. Today's e-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model. E-mail
servers accept, forward, deliver and store messages. Users no longer need be
online simultaneously and need only connect briefly, typically to an e-mail
server, for as long as it takes to send or receive messages.
An e-mail message consists of two components, the message header,
and the message body, which is the e-mail's content (Kelsin, 2008: 1). The
message header contains control information, including, minimally, an
originator's e-mail address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually
additional information is added, such as a subject header field. The message
header should include at least the following fields:
· From: The e-mail address, and optionally the name of the author. In many
e-mail clients are not changeable except through changing account
settings.
· To: The e-mail address, and optionally name of the message's recipient.
· Subject: A brief summary of the topic of the message. Certain
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24
· Date: The local time and date when the message was written. Like the
From: field, many e-mail clients fill this in automatically when sending.
The recipient's client may then display the time in the format and time
zone local to him/her.
· Message-ID: Also an automatically generated field; used to prevent
multiple delivery and for reference in In-Reply-To.
2. Electronic Mail in Teaching Writing
Technology is rapidly changing the way people communicate. Internet
has been used by some language instructors in creative ways. One of
creativity is the use of e-mail, as a specific feature of the Internet. E-mail is
one of the most powerful and often used new communication tools because it
is easy to use, even teachers those are not familiar with computers can quickly
become adapt in using e-mail with their students. As stated by Dudeney and
Hockly (2007: 5) that students’ activities where they depend much on the use
of technology. The most popular technology used by the students is computer.
Facts show that teachers tend to ignore ICT, and teachers are often far less
skilled than the students.
E-mail allows student to send a message via a computer to other user
that will then be available for reading at that person’s convenience. The
students receiving the message can respond easily by typing in a reply and
pressing a key or clicking the mouse. The entire message or a part of the
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25 E-mail allows the students to keep in touch with their teachers and other
students around the world via mailing list and discussing groups.
In general, e-mail can encourage students to use computers in realistic,
authentic situations in order to develop communicative and thinking skills.
Although the Internet has been available to most people, only small amount of
educators understand the potential of internet can provide in second and
foreign language classrooms.
E-mail can improve students’ writing skill including the aspects of
writing namely; the use of punctuation and capital letter, vocabulary,
grammar, supporting details, and organizing writing. E-mail provides the
opportunity for students to improve their knowledge of the use of punctuation,
capital letter, and mechanical writing. E-mail cannot be separated from
computer because e-mail is one of the programs provided in internet soft ware
application. When they type the assignment or message on the computer
before sending it via e-mail, they can check the use of punctuation, capital
letter, and mechanical writing correctly. They can also check the synonym,
antonym, and even the meaning of the words electronically. It means that they
save their valuable time in writing text. Eileen (2002: 4) said that by writing
sentences and creating an illustration, the students find an appropriately
descriptive word for themselves. Students elaborate on the word in the
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26 E-mail also provides the opportunity for students and teachers to
communicate outside the classroom, for example sending, receiving, marking,
and returning the students’ written assignments. When the students access to
computers outside the class, they can write a text freely without being engaged
in the limited time. It means that students are accustomed to expressing
thoughts, feeling, and ideas better in written form.
Moreover, Lee (1998: 3) underlines that by using e-mail; it enables
the teacher to monitor the process of the students' writings to save class time
for the teacher's assignments and comments. E-mail offers students
opportunities for much more valuable communicative interaction in the target
language. Occasionally, some students who do not like to express themselves
in a group tend to do better with writing. Since students usually generate more
content electronically than with hand writing methods, some students who are
shy tend to express their opinions through e-mail freely without fear. This can
give students self-confidence and improve their writing skill.
The teaching and learning process used is based on Genre-Based
Approach (GBA). It is divided into two cycles. Each cycle contains four main
stages such as building knowledge of the field, modeling of text, joint
construction text, and independent construction of text (Depdiknas, 2004: 46).
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27 a. Building Knowledge of Text (BKOF)
First of all in pre-meeting, the students (in group) are asked to find out the
examples of descriptive text on the internet, and then send it to the
teacher’s e-mail address. The students are introduced to the learning
materials which are essential for the next part of the writing teaching
process such as organizing ideas logically and coherently, supporting
details, selecting appropriate vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and
capital letter. Besides, they are also introduced the instructions of e-mail,
various vocabularies related to e-mail, and how e-mail is operated. The
aim of this stage is to make sure that the students have enough background
of the topic or field to be able to write about it.
b. Modeling of Text (MOT)
The teacher provides the examples of descriptive text taken from the
students’ assignments in the pre-meeting which are sent via e-mail. The
aim of this stage is to make the students familiar with the purpose or social
function, language features and generic structure of the text they are going
to write by giving the example of text models.
c. Joint Construction of Text (JCOT)
The students make a kind of writing in pair, and then they send and share
their tasks to others via e-mail. It is used to know the students’ cooperation
and motivation. The task and activities in this stage are designed to enable
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28 topic or field; contribute knowledge of the field in the shared construction
of a text; and negotiate with the teacher and other students to construct a
written text.
d. Independent Construction of Text (ICOT)
This is the final stage of the cycle when the students write their own text.
The teacher provides a project to be accomplished by the students via
e-mail individually. The project is making descriptive writing by paying
attention to some writing aspects namely; the use of punctuation and
capital letter, vocabulary, grammar, supporting detail, and organizing
writing well. The teacher’s main role is to provide constructive comment
to the students on what further development if it is necessary.
3. The Advantages of Using Electronic Mail
Using e-mail in a writing class can be conducted at any kind of
network as long as workstations with e-mail software are readily available to
the students. This could be in a language laboratory, a campus network, or
across the Internet. There are many reasons why using e-mail is advantageous
for the students and teachers in the writing class.
Dudeney and Hockly (2007: 62) state that the advantages of using
e-mail for teaching writing as follows. E-e-mail allows the students and teacher to
communicate outside the classroom, for example sending, receiving, marking,
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29 computers outside the class, they can write a text freely without engaged the
limited time. Using e-mail simple to use and most of students are familiar with
e-mail.
According to Lee (1998: 3), using e-mail enables the teacher to
monitor the process of the students' writings to save class time for the
teacher's assignments and comments. E-mail can furnish teacher-student,
student-student communications including formal and informal consultations.
E-mail offers students opportunities for much more valuable communicative
interaction in the target language. Occasionally, some students who do not
like to express themselves in a group tend to do better with writing. Since
students usually generate more content electronically than with traditional
pen-and-pencil methods, shy students often tend to express their opinions
more openly without fear. This can give students self-confidence and improve
their writing ability.
Subekti (2010: 1) says that by using e-mail, teacher is able to
electronically monitor individual or group writing process from early phase to
the final one. Usually, teachers often receive dozens of papers, assignments,
and pieces of correspondence from their students each term. These pieces of
paper often get organized on desk, in brief case, in filing cabinet, at home, in
the office, in the classroom, and so on. E-mail can also save class time for
some assignments. Teachers can send assignments and announcements
electronically to the students. For example, if a teacher has to remind the
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30 send one message to entire class members. This can save valuable class time.
Moreover, with the return receipt capabilities of e-mail the teacher is able to
know whether each individual student has opened and read the message. This
is an important feature to help monitor the progress of the student or the
group.
It can be concluded by using e-mail, students and teachers become
better problem solvers and better communicators. By using e-mail, students
can begin to realize their full potential when they are trigged to deal such
feature as a tool in completing their writing tasks more effectively. Students
have the chance to collaborate and work together with others and teachers. On
the other hand, by working electronically, teachers can help learners create,
analyze, and produce information and ideas more easily and efficiently. In this
case, teachers directly make their works easier in teaching and learning
process.
C. Review of Related Researches
There are some researchers giving evidences about the use of e-mail in
teaching learning. First, Huitt (1997: 3) concludes that students in most
college-level courses would benefit from the use of e-mail. E-mail relates to the
educational needs of students and provides students with experiences throughout
their programs that will expose them to the benefits of e-mail without its use
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31 Second, Lee (1998: 3) confesses that e-mail is a very useful vehicle for
teaching English. It enables the teacher to monitor the process of the students'
writings to save class time for the teacher's assignments and comments. E-mail
can furnish teacher-student, student-student communications including formal and
informal consultations, exchange of dialogue journals and writing conferencing.
Speed, power, and flexibility of the computer and e-mail can effectively facilitate
second language writing.
Third, Murar and Ware (1998: 2) discovered students were scheduled to
read the August Wilson play Fences at the same time, they set up e-mail
communication between students to allow some "teacherless talk" about the text.
Though teachers were not involved in student online dialogues, the conversations
evidenced the same reading strategies promoted in teacher-led discussion,
including predication, clarification, interpretation, and others.
Forth, Ramsey (in Kristina Torres, 2006: 2) acknowledges teaching
writing using e-mail is more innovative. She describes how she stepped away
from traditional "skill and drill" writing exercises and started teaching students to
write clear, concise e-mails, reports, and other texts. But she acknowledged that
one of the challenges has been refining the curriculum for teachers with fewer
resources.
Fifth, Gonglewski, Meloni and Brant (2000: 10) state while e-mail is now
already considered a relatively "low-tech" medium; it can bring effective benefits
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32 potential to offer learners opportunities for much more valuable communicative
interaction in the target language than was ever possible in the traditional foreign
language classroom.
By considering the concept of the nature of writing, the use of e-mail, and
review of related research, it can be assumed that by using e-mail in this research,
the students can improve their writing skill.
D. Rationale
In teaching learning process especially for writing, the students have some
problems. They are: (1) the students have difficulties in punctuation and capital
letter; (2) they have difficulties to select appropriate words; (3) they have
difficulties to write sentences grammatically; (4) their difficulties to develop ideas
logically; (5) their difficulties in organizing the writing well.
Unfavorable situation is obvious in teaching and learning process such as:
(1) some students pay little attention to the teacher’s explanation; (2) many
students do not do the homework when the teacher ask them to do the task at
home; (3) some students enjoy talking with other during the lesson; (4) at the
same time, some of them often ask for permission to go to the bathroom; (5)
students just keep silent when the teacher ask them to make questions related to
lesson given.
The students’ failure in writing is caused by many things namely: (1) the
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33 method used by the teachers in teaching writing; (2) lack of practices in writing;
(3) their lack of knowledge in grammar and vocabulary and; (4) they ignore the
rules of mechanical writing; (5) limited time given by the teacher at school.
To overcome the students’ problems and to improve their writing skill, the
researcher is interested in using e-mail to practice writing in teaching learning
process. Utilizing e-mail in teaching and learning process has some advantages.
Those are; e-mail is considered as one of the newly communication tools for
writing activity at SMK PGRI 6. By using e-mail, students do not study in
monotonous teaching. The atmosphere of teaching learning process will be more
inspiring and enjoyable. Therefore, the students will be more interested and
enthusiastic when the teacher use email in teaching and learning process. In
general, e-mail can encourage students to use computers in realistic, authentic
situations in order to develop communicative and thinking skills. It can help the
students to organize and develop the ideas.
Students’ vocabulary mastery is gradually improved. This is due to the fact
that generally the computer language is English. They can look up the meaning,
synonym, even antonym of the words electronically. While typing on the
computer, they learn spelling of the words and punctuation by correcting ones
which is red underlined. Besides, the use of e-mail in teaching writing can cope
the problem dealing with the limited time for classroom teaching writing. The
students can do writing outside the class e.g. in a lab, a campus network, or across
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34 E-mail allows student to send a message via a computer to other user that
will then be available for reading at that person’s convenience. The students
receiving the message can respond easily by typing in a reply and pressing a key
or clicking the mouse. E-mail allows the students to keep in touch with their
teachers and other students around the world via mailing list and discussing
groups. Unconsciously, they have practiced writing frequently.
It can be said that by utilizing e-mail, students and teachers become better
problem solvers and better communicators. Students can begin to realize their full
potential when they are trigged to deal such feature as a tool in completing their
writing tasks more effectively. Students have the chance to collaborate and work
together with other classmates and teachers. On the other hand, by working
electronically, teachers can help learners create, analyze, and produce information
and ideas more easily and efficiently. In this case, teachers directly make their
works easier in teaching and learning process.
Based on the strengths of e-mail, it is assumed that utilizing e-mail for
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35
CHAPTER III
THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Context of the Research
This classroom action research was conducted at SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi for
six months from September 2010 to February 2011. It is located on Jl. Raya
Klitik, KM. 05 Ngawi, East Java. Students can get to the school easily because it
is located on the main road connecting east Java and Central Java. They usually
ride motor cycle or public transportation which can exactly stop in front of the
school to reach there. There are many schools and a government institution
surrounding there. Behind and across the school there are rice fields.
The students usually choose the school because they are not accepted by
the state school because of their low scores of final examination in the previous
Junior High School. Most of them come from surrounding villages. Their parents
are farmers andlabors who do not have much education, so they often should help
their parents to work in getting money. Many students do not continue their study
after graduating from this school. They tend to look for a job to earn money.
SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi has many facilities to support the teaching and
learning activities. Almost each class has been equipped with a unit of laptop and
LCD. However, the facilities are not sufficient for all students. For example in the
computer laboratory only has 30 units, whereas each class consists of about 45
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36 extracurricular activities provided such as swimming, volley ball, basket ball, soft
ball, dance, music, English zone, scout, broadcasting. Each extracurricular is
guided by an advisor.
SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi consists of three grade classes. The tenth grade has 9
classes, the eleventh grade consists of 7 classes, and the twelfth grade there are
only 4 classes. Each class consists of 40-45 students. There are four kinds of
competence field provided namely; business and management, marketing,
network computer technique, and broadcasting department.
The subject of this classroom action research is the eleventh year network
computer technique class one of SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi, 2010/2011 academic year.
The number of students is 45. It consists of 42 female and 3 male students. The
researcher purposely takes that class to be researched due to its competency
program related to the way of teaching writing by using e-mail and the students
have some problems such as: (1) difficulties in the use of punctuation and capital
letter; (2) difficulties to select appropriate vocabulary; (3) difficulties to write
sentences grammatically; (4) difficulties to make supporting details; (5)
difficulties to organize writing well.
The classroom action research is conducted to overcome the students’
problems in the teaching and learning process of writing. The researcher is
assisted by one of English teachers at SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi as a collaborator in
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37
B. Research Design
This study employs classroom action research. Some definitions of the
action research proposed by the experts are as follows. Burns (1999: 30) states
that action research is the application of fact finding to practical problem solving
in a social situation with a view to improve the quality of an action within it,
involving the collaboration and cooperation of researcher, practitioner, and
laymen.
Ebbut (in Rochiati, 2005: 12) says that action research is a systematic
study to improve a teaching and learning activity carried out by a group of
teachers by doing particular treatment based on the result of their teaching and
learning activity.
Kemmis (in Hopkins 1975: 44) writes:
“Action research is a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social (including educational) situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of: (a) their own social or educational practices, (b) their understanding of these practices; and (c) the situations in which the practices are carried out. It is most rationally empowering when undertaken by participants collaboratively, though it is often undertaken by individuals, and sometimes in cooperation with outsiders.”
From the definitions above, it can be concluded that action research is a
systematic study to improve a teaching and learning process by involving the
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38 research, action research is carried out in order to improve the students’ writing
skill.
This action research is conducted into two cycles. Each cycle consists of
four steps. They are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The followings
are the short explanations of the steps:
1. Planning
There are a set of activities as follows:
a. Interview the collaborator
This is done to obtain the detailed information concerning to the students’
condition and the description of the teaching and learning process, the
researcher interviews the collaborator before conducting the research.
b. Interview the students
The researcher interviews the students to get enough information about
their problems and difficulties in the writing skill.
c. Share ideas with the collaborator
The researcher share ideas with the collaborator to discuss the lesson plan,
teaching media, and students` worksheet. It is also directed to obtain the
data and the teaching learning process runs well.
d. Pre-test
The researcher designs a pre-test for the students before treatment to find
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39 e. Questionnaire
The aim of the questionnaire is to know the students’ opinion about the
speaking learning teaching process. Furthermore, to know the students’
needs interest, and problems in writing.
f. Design treatment
To improve the students’ writing skill, the researcher designs a treatment
which is going to be implemented in the teaching learning process of
writing.
2. Acting
There are a set of activities that will be done during the implementation
process as follows:
a. Building Knowledge of Text (BKOF)
First of all in pre-meeting, the students (in group) are asked to find out the
examples of descriptive text on the internet, and then send it to the
teacher’s e-mail address. The students are introduced to the learning
materials which are essential for the next part of the writing teaching
process such as organizing ideas logically and coherently, supporting
details, using punctuation and capital letter, selecting appropriate
vocabulary, and grammar. Besides, they are also introduced the
instructions of mail, various vocabularies related to mail, and how
e-mail is operated. The aim of this stage is to make sure that the students
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40 b. Modeling of Text (MOT)
The teacher provides the examples of descriptive text taken from the
students’ assignments in the pre-meeting which are sent via e-mail. The
aim of this stage is to make the students familiar with the purpose or social
function, language features and generic structure of the text they are going
to write by giving the example of text models.
c. Joint Construction of Text (JCOT)
The students should make a kind of writing in pair, and then they send and
share their tasks to others via e-mail. It is used to know the students’
cooperation and motivation. The task and activities in this stage are
designed to enable students to: explore further the purpose of the genre
and its relation to the topic or field; contribute knowledge of the field in
the shared construction of a text; and negotiate with the teacher and other
students to construct a written text.
d. Independent Construction of Text (ICOT)
This is the final stage of the cycle when the students write their own text.
The teacher provides a project to be accomplished by the students via
e-mail individually. The project is making descriptive writing by paying
attention to some writing aspects namely; the use of punctuation and
capital letter, vocabulary, grammar, supporting detail, and organizing
writing well. The teacher’s main role is to provide constructive comment
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41
3. Observation
The researcher and the collaborator observe the students during the action
and making notes on the students’ activities especially when they are constructing
the text.
4. Reflection
In this stage, the researcher will evaluate the teaching and learning process
to see the result of the implementation of the e-mail in practicing of writing and to
find out the problems and weaknesses. Then the researcher and the collaborator
discuss the result of the reflection to design and plan the next cycle.
C. Data and Data Collecting Technique 1. Data
The data in the classroom action research includes:
a. Quantitative data
The students’ scores are taken from:
· The students’ test scores before being given the treatment
· The students’ test scores after being given the treatment in cycle 1
· The students’ test scores after being given the treatment in cycle 2
b. Qualitative data
· Result of questionnaire
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42 · Field notes
· Documentary evidences
· Researcher diary
2. Data Collecting Technique
a. Test
Pretest and posttest are used to find out the students’ achievement in
writing before and after the teaching of writing using e-mail. The purpose
of the test is to see whether or not the students’ achievement in speaking
improves.
b. Interview
The interview is used to get information from the students and the
collaborator. The information covers their idea about the use of e-mail, the
strengths and weaknesses of the e-mail. The interview also covers their
personal perception, experiences, opinion and ideas related to the action
research.
c. Observation
The observation is done to cover the process of implementation of e-mail
in the teaching of writing. The observation notices the classroom activities
of the students and researcher who becomes the teacher in the teaching
learning process. The researcher also asks the collaborator to observe and
make notes about the learning and teaching process. The function of the
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43 d. Documentation
The documents in the research are the sheets of observation, lesson plans,
and list of students’ scores in writing task.
e. Questionnaire
The questionnaire is carried out to get information from the students about
their idea about the use of e-mail in the teaching learning process of
writing, to know the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of
e-mail.
f. Researcher diary.
Hughes (2000: 1) states that a researcher diary is a record of the
researcher's involvement in a project. The researcher diary contains
information about the researcher, what the researcher does, and the process
of research. It complements the data yielded by the research methodology.
The main reasons for keeping the researcher’s diary are: (1) to generate a
history of the project, the researcher’s thinking and the research process;
(2) to provide material for reflection; (3) to provide data on the research
process; and (4) to record the development of the research skill.
D. Data Analyzing Techniques
In this classroom action research, the researcher uses:
1. Quantitative data analysis is used to calculate the score of each student.
The students’ scores are calculated using the formula below (Arikunto,
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44
xSM N R S =
Where:
S = the students’ score
R = the students’ score / right answer
N = the maximum number of the whole answer
SM= standard score (100)
After analyzing the scores of writing test, a statistical technique is used to
find out the mean score of the students. The result of the research is
obtained by comparing the mean score of the pre-test and the post-test
(Arikunto, 1998: 38). The formula is as follows:
N X M =
å
Where:
M = mean score
∑X = the total score N = number of students
If the mean scores of post test is higher than that of the pre-test, it is
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45 means that E-Mail can be used to overcome the students’ problems in
learning writing.
2. Qualitative data is to draw the conclusion from the available data. It will
be analyzed by using the Constant Comparative Method. Strauss and
Glaser in Lincoln and Guba (1985: 339-344) state that there are four
stages in process of analyzing data. They are: (1) comparing incidents
applicable to each category; (2) integrating categories and their properties;
(3) delimiting the theory, and (4) writing the theory. Although the method
of generating theory is a continuously growing process, each stage a time
is transformed into the next, earlier stages do remain in operation
simultaneously throughout the analysis and each provides continuous
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130 Besides that, e-mail also facilitates independent learning which is essential for L2 writing. Furthermore, e-mail stimulates students’ interest in communicating as they feel they have an authentic audience who will respond to their writing. It can provide information, contact, and stimulation, supplying the teacher with more effective and enjoyable teaching situations. In short, e-mail promotes opportunities for communication, collaboration and information.
Based on the theory, we can say that utilizing e-mail in the teaching and learning activities can increase and grow students’ motivation. The students’ better motivation can be seen in their paying attention to the teacher explanation more seriously and their activeness in joining the teaching and learning activities. The researcher can conclude that the class situation improved from the previous condition. The improvements in the class situation are as follows.
a. Most of the students pay full attention to the teacher’s explanation. They
especially who sit down in the back row did not enjoy typing message by their phone cellular anymore.
b. All of the students do their homework when the teacher asks them to do
the task at home.
c. The students did not talk each other during the lesson. If they are little bit
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131
d. Most of students enjoy joining the lesson in the class, so they did not often
ask for permission to the teacher to go to the bathroom
e. The students become active and enthusiastic to asked and answer the
question.
The teaching and learning technique by utilizing e-mail made the students enjoyable and active to join the writing class. Connecting to the internet access make them to be enthusiastic to do the exercises given via e-mail, moreover there has been available for Wi-Fi or hot spot area at the school environment. Some students who have their own notebook tend to bring it when they study at school. That is why it is justified utilizing e-mail as one of technique which is suitable in teaching and learning writing. It is proved by the students’ average score of the pre-test, post test 1, and post-test 2.
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132 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion
The researcher was successful to conduct an action research by utilizing e-mail to improve the students’ writing skill at SMK PRGI 6 Ngawi. It could be proved by increasing of the writing aspects namely; the use of punctuation and capital letter, vocabulary, grammar, supporting details, and organizing ideas or content. The improvement of the students’ writing skill could be seen in the scores of writing and those of the writing aspects. The mean score increased from 45.73 in the pre-test to 66.04 in the test of Cycle 1 and to 74.27 in the post test of Cycle 2. The minimum score of English lesson was 65.00. The comparison of writing scores between the pre-test, post-test of Cycle 1, and post-test of Cycle 2 showed the success of utilizing e-mail to improve students’ writing skill.
Utilizing e-mail in teaching and learning activities also brought positive changes in the classroom situation. It can be seen from their participation not only in paying more attention to the lesson but also becoming more active to join the writing activities. The students encouraged to do their assignments given by the researcher soon. Besides, by using e-mail in teaching and learning of writing activities could create an enjoyable atmosphere for the students because they could study and do the exercises freely outside the class. Furthermore, by using e-mail, they could share their assignments with others by sending it via e-mail. They
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133 could communicate among their friends or teachers outside the class via e-mail. They could reveal their thoughts, feeling, and ideas through e-mail that they could not simply do in the classroom.
B. Implication
By considering the success and benefits of utilizing e-mail, it implied that e-mail should be used in the teaching and learning of writing at SMK PGRI 6 Ngawi.
Other English teachers are hoped to use e-mail in teaching other skills of English such as speaking, listening, reading, and others. They may develop their own creativity to utilize e-mail in the teaching and learning process.
In addition, the result of this study can be a reference for the English teachers to improve and increase the quality of their teaching and learning activities in order to improve the students’ achievement in English.
C. Suggestions
Based on the advantages of e-mail in improving the students’ writing skill, the researcher would like to propose some suggestions for English teachers, students, and school or other institutions to achieve the more qualified teaching and learning process especially in the teaching of writing as follows.
1. For English Teachers
a. Before conducting English teaching and learning process, the teachers
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134 creative to design the strategy of teaching English. Besides, they should establish a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom, so that the students feel enjoyable with their English class.
b. The teachers should utilize e-mail as one of the techniques to improve
students’ writing skill.
c. The teachers should facilitate the students to practices English writing in
order that they accustom to make English writing text.
2. For the Students
a. The students should realize that writing is one of language skill that they
must master. They should acquire it and not to think that it is difficult. There are many ways to learn writing as long as they want to study hard.
b. The students should more practise writing English. They can do from the
simple sentence to the complex sentence to make it as habit to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
c. The students should to have e-mail account to communicate among
others by sending short or even long message in English.
d. The students are suggested to consult with their teachers or other
competent person to solve their English problems.
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a. The School should provide the teaching and learning program with
sufficient facilitation and media to achieve the more qualified teaching and learning process.
b. The school should send the English teachers to any workshop and