55 the researcher simplify in answering the two research questions. The findings are
presented as follows.
1. The students’ responses to the use of mind mapping to increase their
ability in organizing ideas in writing descriptive text.
Based on the phenomena on the process of data gathering, the researcher generated themes. The first theme was to reveal the
students‟ responses to the use of mind mapping to increase their ability in organizing ideas in writing descriptive
text. The theme was presented as follows.
Theme 1: For the majority, mind mapping helps them organize their ideas in writing descriptive text well.
All of students of 7J class had already experienced using mind mapping when writing a descriptive text. The students were asked to have or make their
own mind mapping first before arranging the text. The students might use the mind mapping technique to make the outline in organizing their ideas before
making it into the paragraph. The peer-observer, teacher and the researcher found that the
students‟ responses to the use of mind mapping were various. It can be seen from their
answer in the questionnaire, interview and also from their behavior when doing the task related to the mind mapping. For the majority, mind mapping really helps
the students to organize their ideas in writing a descriptive text. Some of them felt that mind mapping did not work as well as their friends for them because of some
reasons. While one of them felt that mind mapping did not help her organizing her
56 ideas at all. It can be seen from their answers in the questionnaire, interview and
also from the observation. The researcher saw that some of the students discussed the tasks with their
friends and some others did not do the tasks. The peer-observer also found the same situation. The peer-observer found that there were some students who were
really interested in doing the task and also some students who were not really interested in doing that. The peer-observer said,
“Most of the students are interested in drawing the mind mapping but some of the students especially the boys are not really interested
in doing the tasks. They made many excuses for not doing the tasks. However almost all of the female students are doing the task well.
They also discuss it with the teacher or the other students” Own translation
Based on the explanation from the teacher, the problems came from the motivation that the students had. The male students tended to have lower
motivation in learning and doing tasks rather than the female students. The teacher said,
“The students especially the male students have lower motivation in learning English than the female students. In this class, the male
students like to talk to their friends in the class. However the opposite condition comes from the female students. They have higher
motivation in learning something.” Own translation
The result of the observation showed that “some of the students were not
really interested in learning mind mapping ”. It can be seen through their behavior
when the teacher asked them to make a descriptive text such as they were talking to their friends, they made many excuses in doing the tasks, and they tried to look
at t heir friends‟ answer. Based on the observation, the students tended to make
57 some excuse for not doing the tasks. Some students often said,
”Nggak bisa, Mbak” while some other students said, “I cannot do it. It is difficult”. Then the
teacher tried to explain the mind mapping over and over again until the students understand it. After that, all of the students tried to do the tasks although there
were some students who asked their friends how to use mind mapping. Based on the students‟ answer on the questionnaire, the researcher found the reason why
some students gave some excuse in doing the tasks. A student wrote, “We were
still confused about this technique. It was my first time to use mind mapping”. The
other student explained that in the first time, some of them did not really understand about mind mapping. Yet, after the teacher explained it again, the
students understood the explanation well and started to do the tasks. The English teacher of class 7J also explained that students found the
difficulties in learning English. The teacher said, “The students have the
difficulties in learning English and do not want to ask the teacher, that is why they seem not interested in learning mind mapping.” One of the students who was not
interested in using mind mapping explained that she had a problem in learning English. It can be seen from the explanation in the answer of the questionnaire
and interview. The student said that “I am not really interested in learning
English, moreover learning mind mapping. I cannot translate the sentences into English even understand it
”. This student also had lack of vocabulary and it was difficult to translate the ideas from Bahasa into English. The student in the
interview section said, “It was difficult for me to translate my ideas which were in
a form of word into a sentence ”. In the questionnaire, the student said that she
58 wanted to improve their English skill. She said,
“I will try to learn English harder now. That’s why I always asked you how to make a good sentence in English”.
The result of the observation also showed the same answer. Students who had difficulties asked their teacher or friends. Students who were still confused about
how to start writing a text description also asked the teacher. The teacher and students al
so had some discussion in order to answer students‟ questions related to mind mapping.
Besides the student who was not really interested in mind mapping, there were also some students who were interested in using mind mapping. It can be
seen from their answers in the questionnaire which stated that they were interested in using mind mapping. A student wrote,
“I was really interested in using mind mapping especially when the teacher asked me to make the mind mapping before
making the text. For me, this te chnique helped me a lot to do the tasks”. From the
interview, most of the students also said that they were interested in using mind mapping. A student said,
”Yes, Miss. I was interested in mind mapping”. Another student added that she was enjoyed the mind mapping technique. She said,
“I enjoy working with mind mapping because it helped
me a lot”. The English teacher of class 7J also said the same thing. In the interview section, the teacher
said that most of the students were interested in learning mind mapping. The teacher said,
“Based on my observation, the students were interested in learning and using mind mapping. It can be shown from their attitudes toward mind
mapping”. The teacher also explained about students‟ attitudes based on the teacher‟s observation. The teacher explained,
59 “In the beginning of the lesson, when the teacher explained about
mind mapping, the students seemed not understand about that. Many of the students talked to each other, but when the teacher gave the
assignment, the students started to ask their friend about how to do
and it was the good response from the students”. Own translation
Based on the observation result, the students started to enjoy working with mind mapping after they had already understood about mind mapping. They
became more familiar to mind mapping after three times using it. The students did not make some excuses again when the teacher asked them to do some tasks
related to mind mapping. They did the tasks directly without waiting for the teacher. Sometimes they asked the teacher if they found some difficulties.
The students who stated that they were interested in mind mapping also told their reasons. Most of them stated the same thing that mind mapping was an
easy technique to learn. A student said, “In my opinion, besides mind mapping helped me to organize my
ideas, it was also easy to learn. I think that mind mapping can make the learning process became faster because I can write the
description text faster too. This was because of mind mapping which helped me organize my idea. So, yes, I was interested in using mind
mapping”. Own translation
The other student added, “It was easy to learn and because of mind mapping, I can make a
description text in an easy way. Mind mapping helped me to choose the right arrangement of my ideas. Therefore, I can organize my
ideas in writing descriptive text now”. Own translation
Based on students‟ answers in the questionnaire and interview, they told
that mind mapping helped them a lot in doing the tasks, especially writing descriptive text. A student stated,
“I was really interested in using mind mapping especially when the teacher asked me to make the mind mapping before making
60 the text. For me, this technique helped me a lot to do the tasks”. They also told
that their ability in organizing their ideas was improved. They also managed their idea into an organized one. A student wrote,
“Of course mind mapping helped me to organize my ideas and helped
me to make a description text easily”. Another student added,
“Beside it helped me to organize my ideas when writing a descriptive text, mind mapping also allowed me to put all of my ideas in the
branches”. Some students realized that mind mapping helped them to make the description text easier. A student of class 7J said,
“Mind mapping helped me to make a description text with a good organization. Besides, we can also put our ideas which were needed
on the branches. I can also know about the ideas which will be used to describe something based on the mind mapping that I made
before”. Own translation
The other student added, “This new technique helped me a lot to do the assignment especially
describing someone or something. In my opinion, mind mapping was the easiest way to help me organize my ideas. It has some branches
and I can add some branches again if I wanted
”. Own translation
In the interview, some students explained that mind mapping helped them in making a description text. A student said,
“It helped me in making the descriptive text easily. It was easy to use and also helped me to choose the most
appropriate ideas to write in the branches”. The other student added, “Mind mapping helped me to change my way of thinking. Now, I know how to write a
description text with a good text organization”. Some other students also said the same thing about the use of mind mapping. They explained about the use of mind
mapping to help them in choosing the right ideas. A student said, “I had lots of
61 ideas in my mind and mind mapping helped me to choose the most appropriate
ideas to be used. The branches also helped me to organize my ideas because I can put my ideas on it”.
The English teacher of class 7J explained about students‟ responses to the use of mind mapping to increase their ability in organizing ideas in writing
descriptive text from teacher side. The teacher said, Their score were improved and it means that mind mapping helped
them a lot. By looking at their assignment I could see that their ability in writing especially descriptive text was improved. Their
ability in organizing the ideas was also improved. Based on my observation, the students were really happy because of the use of
mind mapping. It helped
them a lot.” Own translation
Besides the students who felt that mind mapping really helped them in organizing their ideas, there were also some students who felt that mind mapping
did not work well for them. Some of the students stated that mind mapping did not really help them in organizing ideas but the still got the advantages. In the
questionnaire, a student wrote, “Not really, but now I can understand more about
how to make a descriptive text”. A student added, “Just a little bit, but mind mapping still helps me to do the task”. A student who felt that mind mapping did
not help her at all also stated her answer in the questionnaire. The student said, “It
does not help me at all and it is difficult for me ”. She also explained her
difficulties in using mind mapping in the interview session. She said, “It is
difficult for me. I cannot translate my ideas which are in form of word into the sentences. I cannot make it into English”.
62 The observation showed that before using mind mapping, students tended
to feel confused on how to start their description. However after the third times, they were familiar with the use of mind mapping.
2. The students’ improvements after using mind mapping technique.
