Table 13: General findings of the students score
Component Pre-test
Cycle 1 Cycle 2
Post-test Mean score
11.37 13.06
14.14 15.71
From the table it can be seen that in the pre-test, the mean score is 11.37 while in the post-test the mean score is 15.71. The gain is 4.34.
D. Discussion
In this section, the researcher provides the analysis of the results of Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 of the research. It is aimed to know whether the use of Thinking
Maps can improve the writing skills of grade VIII students of SMP N 2 Srandakan or not.
Before conducting the research, the researcher did a preliminary observation, interview with the English teacher and the students, and a pre-test to
get information on the problems occurred in the teaching and learning process in the classroom. After identifying and selecting the problems, the researcher then
prepared some plans and actions which were implemented in two cycles. The first cycle showed that there were some improvements made by the
students on their writing. They also continued to make a progress on the second cycle. The students made improvements on the aspects of writing such as content,
organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. The students were able to write a draft of writing as required and they were also able to write in more detail
and well-organized writing. Other than that, they were also able to choose the correct and appropriate words for their writing. Some students were able to use
the correct grammar and also spelling, punctuation and capitalization in their writing. It was justified by the gain score that they obtained during the research.
Besides, there was also another improvement on the students ‟ attitudes
towards teaching and learning process. By using Thinking Maps, the students became more enthusiastically learning writing as it enhanced the students‟
motivation. The students became more interested to learn writing. Based on the explanation above, it could be concluded that the use of
Thinking Maps can improve the writing skills of VIII B students at SMP N 2 Srandakan. The actions conducted during the research could also improve the
students‟ motivation and interest toward the teaching and learning process.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS
In this chapter, three aspects are presented. They are the conclusions, the implications, and the suggestions. Each point is described as follows:
A. Conclusions
This research was action research. It was implemented to the eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Srandakan. It was held from May 12
th
, 2015 to May 26
th
, 2015. The participants involved in the research were the researcher herself, the
researcher‟s colleague as the first collaborator, the English teacher as the second collaborator, and the 26 students of VIII B class in SMP N 2 Srandakan.
The data acquired from the research were in the form of qualitative and quantitative data related to the use of Thinking Maps
to improve the students‟ writing skills of grade VIII students at SMP N 2 Srandakan. Based on the results
of the data analyzed in this research, it shows that the use of Thinking Maps was very effective to improve the
students‟ writing skills. It helped the students in the aspects of writing such as the content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and
mechanics. Thinking Maps helped the students to explore ideas and to organize their writing.
During the English teaching and learning process, the students‟ motivation was also increased. T
hinking Maps influenced the students‟ attitudes towards learning. The students were interested in writing because of the attractive visual
