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C. Limitation of the Problems
Since the problems are too broad, the English teacher and I limit the problems into feasible attempts to improve the eighth
grade students’ writing ability in SMP N 3 Tempel in the academic year of 20132014.
The English teacher and I choose writing since writing is regarded as a difficult skill to learn. The students are unable to write coherently and cohesively.
The students, with the help of the teacher, mentioned the pattern of declarative, negative and interrogative of simple past in chorus. After that, the
teacher wrote the pattern down in the board.
Having done writing the pattern, the teacher told the students, “Students, now, find the meaning of the words. You may open your
dictionary”. As the process of meaning searching went by, the teacher offered, “Yang sudah dapat artinya, ayo, langsung maju saja”. It didn’t take time to
make three students came to the front of the class and write down the meaning in the board. Then, three others followed and so on until all the words
translated. The teacher checked the attendance list while the students translating the words in the board. However, there were
two words that hadn’t been translated. The words were public holiday and luxurious.
As the entire words had been translated, the teacher read the first word loudly and asked the students to repeat after her. Then she told the students to
memorize the translation. This was done until all the words pronounced. After that, the teacher asked some students to read a text in the LKS
aloud. Then the activity was translating. “Nah, sekarang, ayo diterjemahkan tex
tnya, kalian boleh diskusi dengan teman”, said the teacher. Some moment later, the teacher said, “Sudah selesai, ayo dibaca, kalimat pertama bareng-
bareng”. Students read it aloud, all at once, “Last Saturday was a public ho
liday”. The teacher continued, “Langsung terjemahanya”. “Sabtu lalu adalah libur umum”. The teacher noticed that two students had a conversation
and said “Ayo yang bicara sendiri, awas nanti kalau tidak bisa”. In the middle of translating the text, the teacher recalled
the students’ memory about the words she wrote in the board, “Nah, took artinya apa?”. Students replied,
“Naik”. “Public holiday?” the teacher continued. “Libur umum”. “Side” she asked the students again. “Sisi” replied the students. “Very good”, praised the
teacher. “Now, continue on the next paragraph” she added. Next, the activity was reading aloud the English text in the LKS and translated the whole text.
This lasted until the bell rang.
Finally, the bell rang. “Well, any questions?” she asked. “No” replied the students firmly. “Sisanya buat PR dirumah ya. Dilanjutkan besok lagi.
Sekian dulu and Assalamualaikm Wr. Wb”
6 In fact, the aims of the curriculum mention that the students should be able to
communicate in spoken and written forms. In addition, writing is also an important skill to learn. Having a good writing skill means having a good
communication skill. Writing also enables the students to practice grammar points being learnt and enables the students to broaden their vocabulary.
D. Formulation of the Problems