Limitation of the Problems

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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