In conducting action research, there are some steps that have to be followed in order to improve students’ writing skills. The most common and popular steps
in action research are proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 2010:9. The steps are planning, action, observation, and reflection.
B. Research Setting
a. Place of the Research
The setting of the study was SMPN 6 Magelang. It is located at Jl. Kyai Mojo, Cacaban, Magelang Tengah, Kota Magelang, Jawa tengah. It has eighteen
classrooms, a headmistress’ office, a teachers’ office, a computer laboratory, a
mosque, a library, a concealing room, a health center, a basketball field, two canteens, some toilets, and two parking areas. This school has implemented
Curriculum 2013. The researcher conducted this study in this school because firstly, based on the observation she did at the preliminary stage, she found that
students’ abilities in writing were still low.
b. Time of the Research
The research was held in the second semester, from February to May 2015. In conducting the actions, the researcher followed the English schedule of grade
VIII E of SMPN 6 Magelang. The following is the time schedule of the research.
Table 3: The Time Schedule of the Research.
No .
Steps Month
February March April
May 1.
Observation 2.
Planning for Cycle 1 3.
Cycle 1 4.
Planning for Cycle 2 5.
Cycle 2 6.
Analyzing data
and reporting
C. Participants
The participants of this research were Grade VIII E students of SMPN 6 Magelang in the academic year of 20142015. The researcher only took one class,
class VIII E that consisted of 32 students. There are 14 males and 18 females. They were all in the beginner level. Their age is around 13 up to 14 years old.
They were chosen as the subjects of the research based on the discussion with the English teacher.
Most of the subjects are from Magelang and they are native of Javanese and Indonesia. English is learnt by them as a foreign language. The researcher
chose this class because the students’ writing skills were still low. They did not
get many chances to practice writing. Most of the students faced difficulties in writing. It was difficult for them to express what they wanted to write in a piece of
paper.
C. Data Collecting
a. Data Collection Technique
The researcher collected the data through observation, interviews, and tests. The observation was done during the process of teaching and learning. The
researcher also collected the students’ writing after the teaching learning process. It was done to know
the students’ writing skills on narrative texts through the use of collaborative writing technique and also to know whether the objective of the
learning was achieved or not. An interview was given to the teacher and students to know the general condition of the students and to know the teaching writing
using pictures series at the class. The test was given to the students in order to know their ability in writing.
b. Research Instruments
To conduct this research, the researcher used the instruments were used to collect the data in each meeting of the teaching and learning process. In the case,
the researcher used an observation checklist, interview guidelines, and tests. 1.
Observation Checklist An observation checklist was used to obtain the data based on the
observation in the process of teaching and learning writing. There was a list which consisted of the statement about the teaching and learning process and it just
