THE EFFECT OF APPLYING ROUND ROBIN WRITING STRATEGY ON THE STUDENTS` ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT.

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THE EFFECT OF APPLYING ROUND ROBIN WRITING

STRATEGY ON

STUDENTS’

ACHIEVEMENT

IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT

A THESIS

Submitted to the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

By:

BINTANG PURNAMA SARI

Registration Number 209121006

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

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ABSTRACT

Sari, Bintang Purnama. 209121006. The Effect of Applying Round Robin Writing Strategy on the Students’ Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text. A Thesis: English Department. Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan. 2014.

This study was aimed at finding out the effect of applying Round Robin Writing strategy on students’ achievement in writing descriptive text. This study used the experimental design. The population of this study was the eighth grade students of SMP Swasta MUSDA Medan. There were seventy four students as the sample of the research. This study was conducted with two randomized groups namely experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught by using Round Robin Writing Strategy while control group was taught without using Round Robin Writing Strategy. The instrument of collecting the data was writing test. The data were analyzed by using t-test. The calculation shows that t-observed (4,871) is higher than t-table (1,994) at the level of significance (α) 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 72. It means that applying Round Robin Writing Strategy has significantly affected on the students’ achievement in writing descriptive text. Keywords: Round Robin, Writing, Descriptive Text, Experimental

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank you for praise to Almightily Jesus Christ who has blessed and given the ability to the writer to complete this thesis as a partial fulfillment for the requirement for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan at the English Department of Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.

During the process of writing, the writer realizes that she cannot accomplish without God blessings and supporting from many people, therefore the writer would like to express her sincere gratitude to:

 Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., The Rector of State

University of Medan.

 Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., The Dean Faculty of Language and

Arts, State University of Medan.

 Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Rika, S.Pd. M.Hum., the Secretary of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A., the Head of English Non-Educational Program,

Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.

 Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., the Head of English Education

Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts and her Thesis Consultant.  The Headmaster of SMP Swasta MUSDA Medan, Drs. Sabar

Nainggolan, his permission and opportunities in allowing the writer

to do observation and to collect data. The writer expresses her special thanks to Bu Girsang and Sir Siagian.

 The deepest thanks are expressed to her beloved parents, T.F. Bate’e and K. Harefa , for everything given, for love, pray and support in order to finish her study. Thanks also given to her brothers and also for all family members who supported her.

 Especially thanks for her beloved husband Jones Sihombing, S.E., and her son Bonar Sihombing, who always being a home, give spirit, love, pray and support.

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 Her best friends, Dormauli, S.Pd, Febrina, S.Pd., Amelia, S.Pd., Kristiana, S.Pd., Evi, S.Pd., Carla, S.Pd., Dessy, Asrida, Eri, Ingrid Laurencia, Vivi, Dian, Kiki, Melda, Putri, Rabiatul, Kak Ledy, Herbiana, Erna, Lena and Harnoi for their support, love, laugh, and care.

 Special thanks to her beloved friends, students of English Department, Regular C’09, Regular A’10, PPLT YP Trisakti 2013, and all people that can not mentioned one by one for their care, support, prayer and love. May all the assistance, support and simplicity given by all of the people can be their charity and got merit from Jesus Christ, amen.

Medan, September 2014 The writer

Bintang Purnama Sari

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Page

ABSTRACT ... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... iv

LIST OF TABLES ... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ... vii

LIST OF APPENDIXES ... viii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. The Background of the Study ... 1

B. The Problem of the Study ... 4

C. The Objective of the Study ... 5

D. The Scope of the Study ... 5

E. The Significance of the Study ... 6

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 7

A. Theoretical Framework ... 7

1. Achievement ... 7

2. Writing ... 6

3. Genre of Writing ... 10

a. Descriptive Text ... 10

b. Parts of Descriptive Text ... 11

c. Types of Descriptive Text ... 12

d. Example of Descriptive Text ... 14

4. Cooperative Learning Approach ... 15

5. Writing as Cooperative Activity ... 18

6. Strategy ... 19

7. Round Robin Writing Strategy ... 19

a. The Advantages of Round Robin Writing Strategy .. 20

b. The Procedures of Round Robin Writing Strategy ... 20

8. Assessment in Writing ... 24

B. Conceptual Framework ... 25

C. Hypothesis ... 26

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 27

A. Research Design ... 27

B. Population and Sample ... 27

C. The Instrument of Collecting Data ... 28

D. Procedure of Research ... 28

1. Pre-Test ... 28

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3. Post-Test ... 31

E. Scoring of the Test ... 31

F. The Validity and Reliability of the Test ... 32

G. The Technique of Analyzing Data ... 33

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS ... 33

A. The Data ... 34

B. Data Analysis ... 35

1. Data Analysis by Using T-Test Formula ... 35

2. Testing Hypothesis ... 36

C. Research Finding ... 37

D. Discussion ... 37

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION ... 40

A. Conclusion ... 40

B. Suggestions ... 40

REFERENCES ... 41

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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

2.1 The Example of Descriptive Text ... 14

3.1 Research Design ... 27

3.2 Teaching Procedure in Experimental Group ... 29

3.3 Teaching Procedure in Control Group ... 30

3.4 Scoring Scale of Students’ Writing ... 31

3.5 Criteria of Students’ Achievement ... 32

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

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viii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX A The Score of Treatments by the Students

of Experimental Group ... 45

APPENDIX B The Score of Pre-Test and Post-Test by the Students of Experimental Group ... 47

APPENDIX C The Score of Pre-Test and Post-Test by the Students of Control Group ... 48

APPENDIX D The Calculation of T-Test ... 49

APPENDIX E Percentage Points of the T Distribution ... 54

APPENDIX F Writing Test ... 55

APPENDIX G Lesson Plan of Experimental Group... 57

APPENDIX H Lesson Plan of Control Group ... 77

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. The Background of the Study

For more than six decades now, research and practice in English language teaching has identified the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing (Brown 2001:232). Those skills are communication skills that are important in all subject areas in the curriculum (Walberg, 2004:7) and has always formed part of the syllabus in the teaching of English (Harmer, 2004:31).

As one of English skills, writing cannot be ignored from its role to

improve students’ knowledge. Writing skill needs to be mastered by the learners,

because learning how to write in English is important (Davies, 1998:1). In last few years, the schools have been emphasizing the importance of knowing how to write. In many countries, education systems emphasize writing for taking tests. For many students, the only reason to practice writing is to pass examinations or to get a good grade in the class. This is not likely to make students interested in writing (Yan, 2005:19).

As a result, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and students face certain problems in teaching and learning writing. Too many high school and college students, and adults, find writing difficult. Learning to write in either a first or second language is one of the most difficult tasks a learner encounters (Richards, 1990). This statement is supported by Kitchakarn (2012:110), who

As writing is a tool for communication and it is both a skill and a means of self-expression (Mercer and Mercer, 1989:446), when students write something

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down, they have already been thinking about what they are going to say (Oshima and Hogue, 1997:2). But in fact, one of major difficulties in writing is to find something to write about (Clark and Starr, 1981:262). In English classes, students frequently complain that finding something to write about is more difficult than writing. They do not have any idea of what to write. Cimcoz (1999),also pointed out that students cannot choose the right words, and they do not know how to start their writing.

One factor causes the problem is the strategy applied by the English teachers. They do not have sufficient and suitable teaching techniques, and also lack appropriate materials in their classes. Besides, many teachers still use the traditional teacher-centered method in writing classes, which makes classes boring and ineffective (Sritunyarat, 2003).

To solve the problem, English teachers would do well to provide students with as many acceptable suggestions as they can. Teachers also must find an effective strategy in teaching writing skill, especially in teaching descriptive writing - and Round Robin Writing is the answer.

Round Robin Writing is the strategy in which students work cooperatively in groups to create a kind of text. It can be done in groups in which members pass their paper to another member of their group who continues developing the writing for amount of time, and this continues until everyone in the group has had an opportunity to add to the writing.

Round Robin Writing is an effective strategy to avoid the boredom in learning. It can be applied in order to raise the enjoyable among students in their

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writing process. It helps students to promote fluency in writing. It is also appropriate to solve the problem of having no idea of what to write because this strategy coach one another when a partner has difficulty.

Many researchers have been conducted in different contexts about teaching through Round Robin Writing have reached the same result. Based on the observation which had been conducted by Detapratiwi (2013) in grade VII of SMP N 1 Parakan Semarang, the result shows that Team Pair Solo and Round Robin technique is proven effective to be implemented in teaching written descriptive text for seventh grade students at secondary school. By using both techniques, students can share and develop their ideas more frequent, allow students to work in small groups or in pairs to actively engage in the learning process and improve their understanding of the content. Each member of the team is not only responsible for their own learning, but also for helping team mates to learn.

Damanik (2013) also conducted a study for the tenth grade of SMA N 1 TanjungMorawa Medan. It was found that Round Robin is appropriate for the students’ need and provides an opportunity for the students to work cooperatively and creatively in writing, edit and revise their writing in order to practice their grammar skill, and share ideas among the members of group.

In research for teachers of older secondary level and adult ESL students in New York that has been conducted by DelliCarpini (2006) using Round Robin technique can help the teacher successfully to create students centered learning experiences that focus on varied approaches to content, process, and product.

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Integrating a Round Robin technique with commonly themed poetry related to a thematic topic can provide teachers with the ability to meet the needs of divers learners, successfully group students and integrate meaningful material into their classroom.

Teachers hold an important role in solving students’ problems in writing.

Making the teaching-learning process interesting and meaningful, teachers can

apply strategy in the process to increase students’ writing achievement. In this

case, the writer implements Round Robin Writing strategy to make students get their own ideas and put them down in a good text. Round Robin Writing is a teaching strategy in facilitating the learners to speak and to write fluently.

B. The Problem of the Study

In the relation to the background of the study, the research addresses the following problem as the following:

“Is there any significant effect of applying Round Robin Writing strategy on students’ achievement in writing descriptive text?

C. The Objective of the Study

Applying Round Robin Writing strategy as one of the writing strategy in teaching is expected to help the students in writing competence and to encourage their motivation, so they are interested in learning, and challenged to learn. Based on the question formulated in the problem of the study, the objective of this study

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is to investigate the significant effect of applying Round Robin Writing strategy on students’ achievement in writing descriptive text.

D. The Scope of the Study

Teaching of writing can be conducted in many ways and activities that a wise and professional teacher can think of in order to succeed in motivating students to write academic well. To teach a language and its skills successfully to the students, it is important for the teacher to apply the teaching strategy. By applying the teaching strategy in the classroom can help both the teacher; to teach English language and its skills, and students; to learn English and to master its skills, especially the writing skill. There are many strategies available that can be used by the teacher but in this research, the study focuses on the application of applying Round Robin Writing strategy in writing descriptive text to Grade VIII

SMP Swasta MUSDA Medan.

E. The Significance of the Study

The result of the study is expected to be useful theoretically and practically.

Theoretically, the result of the study is expected to be useful for the readers, to enrich their horizon in theory of English learning. The result of the study is also expected to be useful for the researcher for their further study.

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1. English teachers, as an alternative teaching resource to give them more information about another strategy which can be applied in teaching writing in order to improve their competence in teaching English, especially descriptive writing.

2. English learners, to enable them to improve their descriptive writing achievement.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusion

Based on the research finding, the mean of pre test score of experimental group was 49,70 and the mean of post test of experimental group was 63,51. The data analysis results in which the t-observed (4,871) is higher than the t-table (1,994) at the significant level of 0.05. The researcher concludes that there is a significant effect of applying Round Robin Writing Strategy on students’ writing achievement, since students’ achievement in writing taught by applying Round Robin Writing Strategy is higher than without applying Round Robin Writing Strategy. Therefore, alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted and null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected.

B. Suggestions

Based on the conclusion above, the researcher gives some suggestions for those who are interested in teaching reading as follows:

1. English teachers are suggested to use Round Robin Writing Strategy in their teaching learning process in order to improve the students’ writing achievement.

2. The researchers who are interested in doing a research related to the study should try to apply Round Robin Writing Strategy on different level of learners through different genre to prove the effectiveness of Round Robin Writing Strategy on students’ writing achievement.

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2. English learners, to enable them to improve their descriptive writing achievement.

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40 CHAPTER V