A study on the fourth semester students` writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragrapg in english language education study program of Sanata Dharma University - USD Repository

  

A STUDY ON THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS’

WRITING COMPETENCY

  

IN WRITING A TOPIC SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING SENTENCES

IN AN ARGUMENTATIVE PARAGRAPH

  

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  

By

Elizabeth Bunga Dwi Untari

021214103

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

  

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

2007

  

A STUDY ON THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS’

WRITING COMPETENCY

  

IN WRITING A TOPIC SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING SENTENCES

IN AN ARGUMENTATIVE PARAGRAPH

  

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  

By

Elizabeth Bunga Dwi Untari

021214103

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

  

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

2007

  This thesis is dedicated to my beloved GOD, JESUS CHRIST “Row the boat out into the deep water “Row the boat out into the deep water “Row the boat out into the deep water “Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish.” and let your nets down to catch some fish.” and let your nets down to catch some fish.” and let your nets down to catch some fish.”

  “MASTER, “MASTER, “MASTER, “MASTER, we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard ALL night long, ALL night long, ALL night long, ALL night long, and haven’t caught a thing. and haven’t caught a thing. and haven’t caught a thing. and haven’t caught a thing.

  But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to, I will let the nets down.” I will let the nets down.” I will let the nets down.” I will let the nets down.”

  Luke 5:4 – 5 Row the boat Row the boat Row the boat Row the boat out into the deep water out into the deep water out into the deep water out into the deep water and let your nets down and let your nets down and let your nets down and let your nets down to catch some fish.” to catch some fish.” to catch some fish.” to catch some fish.”

  “MASTER, “MASTER, “MASTER, “MASTER, we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard we’ve worked hard

  ALL night long, ALL night long, ALL night long, ALL night long, and haven’t caught a and haven’t caught a and haven’t caught a and haven’t caught a thing. thing. thing. thing. But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to, But if YOU tell me to,

  I will let I will let I will let I will let the nets the nets the nets the nets down.” down.” down.” down.”

  Luke 5:4 Luke 5:4 Luke 5:4 Luke 5:4 – – – – 5

   5

   5

   5

'Lord Give Us the Strength'

  Lord Give Us The Strength....., To suppress our fears...., Lord Give Us The Strength...., To fight our tears...., It's a rough, tough, world..., Every day is a test..., But powerful and proud..., We’ll always do our best...., Still more and more...., We need your support...., So Lord Give Us The Strength...., Lord Give Us The Strength Lord Give Us The Strength....., To keep the faith…., Lord Give Us The Strength...., To conquer hate…, It’s a harsh, cruel road…, We travel through life…, But we feel comfort…., Guided by your light...., Still on and on…., We pray for your love...., And to worship you...., Is our sole intent......, So Lord Give Us The Strength...., Lord Give Us The Strength. Trade Martin,2006.

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

  I honestly declare that the thesis I wrote does not contain the works or part of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and in the bibliography, as a scientific paper should.

  Yogyakarta, 28 June 2007 The writer

  Elizabeth Bunga Dwi Untari

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First, I would like to thank GOD, my savior, for letting me learn a lot in the whole process of finishing my thesis. I thank Him for His blessing. This is one of the biggest lessons of my life.

  Second, I would like to thank Ag. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., my major sponsor, for giving me correction, advice and support in writing this thesis. I would also like to thank Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., my co-sponsor for the support, advice and love.

  Third, I thank Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd., for giving me the chance to conduct my research in his classes. For Mr. Markus, Ms. Mita, Erlita, Ayu, and

  

Nita, I thank them for helping me pilot my rubric. I would also like to thank the

students of Writing IV class B and class C for their willingness helping me to do

  my research.

  Fourth, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to My Family (my Pa –

  

Robertus Sudaryanto, my Ma – Chatarina Muryani and my sister – Fransiska

Dian Lina Heryanti) for giving me great love and support, especially for my mom

  who always stood beside me and helped me finish my thesis. I love them all. To

  

Galih Pramaiswara Noviartanto, I thank him for his love, care, and kindness, and

  for letting me share my sadness and happiness, my problems, my tears and my laughters. For all members in my house, Mas Lardi, Mbak Tini, Bimo, Angger and

  Dito, I thank them for always cheering me up.

  Fifth, I would like to thank all of my best friends for their help and support. For my lovely best friend, Sesil, I thank her for always spending her time to listen to

  

Rika, my roommate, I thank her for keeping me strong and letting me learn to be

happy forever. For Eryth and Che-che, I thank them for always being my friends.

  Sixth, I would like to express my gratitude to all my friends who were giving me hands and supports so I could finish this thesis. For Iin, Cheche, Thyna, Rika,

  

Tuti, Hesti, Tutut and Dita (Lampar 38 family), Wida, Sesil, Galih K., Dedi,

Agus, and Gabby (EXSA family), Dani, Dedi, Agus & Ayu, Gabby, Miko, Dedi,

Sesil, Cheche, Dian, Erlita, Udjo, Reni (all EEPROers), my friends in J’ taime My

Enemy, Helen Keller, The Wizard of Oz, I thank them all for the marvelous and

unforgettable moments in my life.

  Finally, I would like to thank all who had supported me and could not be mentioned, for their help during my study in Sanata Dharma University. Last but not least, I hope this thesis will be useful for all of us.

  Elizabeth Bunga Dwi U.

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................... i

PAGE OF APROVAL ..................................................................................... ii

PAGE OF BOARD EXAMINERS ................................................................. iii

PAGE OF DEDICATION ............................................................................... iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY .............................................. v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. viii

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... x

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... xi

LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................. xii

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... xiii

ABSTRAK .......................................................................................................... xiv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................

  1 1.1. BACKGROUND .....................................................................................

  1 1.2. PROBLEM LIMITATION ......................................................................

  4 1.3. PROBLEM FORMULATION .................................................................

  4 1.4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .............................................................

  4 1.5. BENEFITS OF THE STUDY ..................................................................

  5 1.6. DEFINITION OF THE TERMS ..............................................................

  6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................

  8 2.1. THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION ............................................................

  8 2.1.1. Writing ................................................................................................

  8 2.1.2. Paragraph .............................................................................................

  9 2.1.2.1.Definition .........................................................................................

  9

  2.1.2.2.Topic sentence .................................................................................. 10 2.1.2.3.Supporting sentences ........................................................................

  11 2.1.3. Argumentative Paragraph ....................................................................

  12 2.1.3.1.................................................................................................Defini tion ....................................................................................................

  12

  2.1.3.2.................................................................................................T opic Sentence and Supporting Sentences in an Argumentative Writing .............................................................................................

  13 2.1.4. Testing Writing .....................................................................................

  14 2.1.4.1. Diagnostic Test ................................................................................

  15 2.1.4.2. Rubric ..............................................................................................

  15 2.1.4.3. Validity ............................................................................................

  18 2.1.4.4. Reliability ........................................................................................

  18 2.2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...........................................................

  19 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................

  21 3.1. METHOD ....................................................................................................

  21 3.2. RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS ...................................................................

  22

  3.3. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS ................................................................... 24 3.4. DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUE .........................................................

  27

  3.5. DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE ............................................................ 28 3.6. RESEARCH PROCEDURE .......................................................................

  31 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................

  35 4.1. RESEARCH FINDINGS ............................................................................

  35 4.1.1. Piloting of the Rubric .......................................................................

  35

  4.1.2. The fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences ..........................................

  40

  4.1.3. The fourth semester students’ strength and weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences .......................................

  45 4.2. OTHER FINDINGS ....................................................................................

  52 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ................................

  54 5.1. CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................

  54 5.2. SUGGESTIONS .........................................................................................

  55 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................

  57 APPENDIXES ..................................................................................................

  59

  

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 3.1 Tabulation of students’ writing competency ......................................

  27 Table 3.2 Tabulation of students’ strengths and weaknesses .............................

  27 Table 4.1 Piloting result for the first section ....................................................

  37 Table 4.2 Piloting result for the second section ...............................................

  39 Table 4.3 Data analysis of the fourth semester students’ argumentative paragraph ..........................................................................................

  41 Table 4.4 Tabulation of the participants’ score ................................................

  43 Table 4.5 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 1: Subject and Attitude .............................................................................................

  45 Table 4.6 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 2: Debatable Statement ..........................................................................................

  46 Table 4.7 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 3: Support the Topic Sentence ...........................................................................................

  47 Table 4.8 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 4: Relevant Statement ..........................................................................................

  48 Table 4.9 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 5: Reasoning/Thinking .........................................................................

  49 Table 4.10 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 6: Mechanics and Grammar ..........................................................................................

  50 Table 4.11 Tabulation of the participant’s score for item 7: Coherence ............

  51 Table 4.12 Data analysis for the invalid data of the fourth semester students’ paragraph ..........................................................................................

  53

  

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 2.1 Scoring Rubric .................................................................................

  16 Figure 3.1 Test Instrument .................................................................................

  25 Figure 3.2 Rubric for assessing writing .............................................................

  25 Figure 3.3 Research diagram .............................................................................

  34 Figure 4.1 Rubric for argumentative paragraph before piloting process ...........

  36 Figure 4.2 Rubric of the argumentative paragraph ............................................

  38

  

LIST OF APPENDIXES

Page

  Appendix 1: Letter of research permission ........................................................

  59 Appendix 2 : Piloting step 1 ...............................................................................

  60 Appendix 3 : Piloting step 2 ...............................................................................

  68 Appendix 4 : Valid data .....................................................................................

  74 a. Good Grade ..............................................................................................

  74 b. Fair Grade .................................................................................................

  77 c. Poor Grade ................................................................................................

  96 Appendix 5 : Invalid data ................................................................................... 110

  

ABSTRACT

  UNTARI, ELIZABETH BUNGA DWI. 2007. A Study on the Fourth Semester

  

Students’ Writing Competency in Writing a Topic Sentence and Supporting

Sentences in an Argumentative Paragraph in English Language Education Study

Program, Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta : Sanata Dharma University

  This thesis was aimed to know the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences. The topic sentence and supporting sentences were analyzed from the students’ argumentative paragraphs in which the topic sentence has to be stated.

  The research questions were formulated as: 1) In what level is the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph? And 2) What are the fourth semester students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph?

  The method used in this study was text analysis. The diagnostic-test was given to the fourth semester students, English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The fourth semester students were asked to write an argumentative paragraph and the researcher analyzed the students’ composition by using the rubric prepared. The students’ score was graded into good, fair, or poor. That was the level of the fourth semester students as the answer of the first research question. The students’ scores of each item in the rubric were analyzed to know the strengths and weaknesses of the fourth semester students as the answer of the second research question.

  Based on the analysis of the data, it could be concluded that: first, the majority of the fourth semester students, twenty-four of thirty six participants or 66.67%, knew how to write and formulate a topic sentence but could not develop it into good supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph. And the rest, nine of thirty-six participants or 25 % of all obtained a poor grade that means they neither know how to write a topic sentence nor develop it in good supporting sentences and only three of thirty-six participants 8.33% of them who really have the competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph. Second, there were two strengths of the fourth semester students in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph; they were 1) the ability in writing a topic sentence in a complete subject and attitude and 2) the ability of the fourth semester students in choosing a debatable statement in a topic sentence. There were two weaknesses of the fourth semester students; they were 1) the inability in controlling supporting sentences by only using the relevant statements and 2) the inability of the fourth semester students in arranging sentences into a coherence paragraph.

  From the findings the researcher wanted to give some suggestions to the fourth semester students and the next Writing V lecturers to maximizing the strength of the students and improved the weaknesses of the students.

  

ABSTRAK

  UNTARI, ELIZABETH BUNGA DWI. 2007. A Study on the Fourth Semester

  

Students’ Writing Competency in Writing a Topic Sentence and Supporting

Sentences in an Argumentative Paragraph in English Language Education Study

Program, Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta : Universitas Sanata Dharma

  Skripsi ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kemampuan siswa semester empat dalam membentuk kalimat utama dan kalimat pengembang. Kalimat utama dan kalimat pengembang ini dianalisa dari paragraf argumentatif yang dibentuk oleh siswa dimana kalimat utama harus dicantumkan dengan jelas.

  Pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang akan dijawab dalam skripsi ini dapat diformulasikan sebagai berikut: 1) Termasuk dalam tingkatan manakah kemampuan siswa semester empat dalam merumuskan kalimat utama dan merangkai kalimat pengembang dalam argumentative paragraph? Dan 2) Apa sajakah kelebihan dan kelemahan siswa semester empat dalam merumuskan kalimat utama dan merangkai kalimat pengembang dalam argumentative paragraph?

  Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah analisa teks. Tes diagnostik ini ditujukan pada siswa semester empat, Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Siswa semester empat tersebut diminta untuk membuat paragraf argumentatif yang akhirnya nanti hasilnya akan dianalisa menggunakan

  

rubric yang sudah disiapkan sebelumnya. Nilai siswa dari hasil analisa tersebut akan

  dikelompokkan dalam tingkatan-tingkatan baik, cukup dan buruk. Dan tingkatan itulah yang merupakan tingkat kemampuan siswa semester empat dalam merumuskan kalimat utama dan kalimat pengembang sebagai jawaban dari pertanyaan penelitian yang pertama. Nilai siswa pada tiap-tiap aspek yang dinilai dalam rubric dianalisa untuk mengetahui kelebihan dan kekurangan siswa semester empat dalam merumuskan kalimat utama dan merangkai kalimat pengembang sebagai jawaban dari pertanyaan penelitian kedua.

  Berdasarkan analisa data, dapat disimpulkan bahwa: pertama, mayoritas dari siswa semester empat, duapuluh empat dari tiga puluh enam partisipan atau 66.67%, tahu bagaimana menuliskan kalimat utama dengan baik, namun belum dapat mengembangkannya dalam kalimat-kalimat pengembang sehingga membentuk sebuah paragraf argumentatif yang baik. Sebelas participan dari tiga puluh enam yang lainnya atau 25% dari mereka mendapatkan nilai yang buruk. Mereka sama sekali belum mengerti bagaimana menuliskan kalimat utama serta merangkai kalimat pengembang. Siswa yang benar-benar memiliki kemampuan dalam memformulasikan kalimat utama dan merangkai kalimat pengembang dalam paragraf argumentatif hanya tiga orang dari tiga puluh enam partisipan atau 8.33%. Kedua, terdapat dua kelebihan dari siswa semester empat; mereka adalah 1) kemampuan mereka dalam membentuk kalimat utama dengan subject dan attitude yang lengkap serta 2) kemampuan mereka dalam memilih kalimat utama yang

  

debatable . Sedangkan kelemahan siswa semester empat ada dua; yaitu 1)

  ketidakmampuan mereka dalam mengontrol kalimat pengembang dengan hanya menggunakan kalimat-kalimat yang relefan dan 2) ketidakmampuan mereka dalam menyusun kalimat-kalimat dalam paragraf sehingga membentuk paragraf yang koheren.

  Dari temuan yang ada, penulis ingin memberikan beberapa saran kepada siswa semester empat dan dosen writing V yang berikutnya untuk memaksimalkan kelebihan yang dimiliki para siswa dan memperbaiki kekurangan yang dimiliki para siswa.

  

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCION

1.1 BACKGROUND

  Writing is a physical work of gathering words into a sentence, sentences into a paragraph, and paragraphs into a text. Writing is also a mental work of investing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements and paragraphs (Nunan, 2003). Based on that understanding, a writer has to carefully manage and organize his/her writing, so that the readers will clearly understand and catch the writer’s idea.

  In order to convey the idea correctly and perfectly from the writer to the reader(s), the idea should be stated in a well-organized text, or in the smaller scope, a well-organized paragraph (Muhyidin, 1988). Therefore, a good topic sentence and good supporting sentences are important requirements to make a well-organized paragraph. As stated by Muhyidin (1988), a well-organized paragraph should consist of three main parts. The first part is the topic sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph. The second part is a set of supporting sentences that develop the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, and facts.

  The third part is a concluding sentence that ends the paragraph by restating and summarizing the ideas in it. However, a good paragraph does not always consist of all parts mentioned above. It may only consist of at least two parts; they are the topic sentence and the supporting sentences (Bram, 1995). In other words, the most important parts needed to write a well-organized paragraph are a good topic sentence and a set of supporting sentences.

  In some kinds of writing such as narrative and descriptive, a topic sentence usually does not need to be stated. However, in an argumentative writing, a topic sentence should be explicitly stated (Moore, 1955). A clear topic sentence which is followed by a set of supporting sentences can be helpful not only for the writers in delivering their arguments clearly but also for the readers in understanding the writers’ arguments and ideas easily.

  As students of English Language Education, the students of English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University have to master the writing ability. It is so because they are prepared to face a big writing process in their study, that is a thesis, as the requirement to finish their study. They also have to master writing because they are prepared to be English teachers who teach their students to write as one of the competencies in English Language. In order to make the students master the writing ability, English Language Education Study Program gives the students opportunity to learn more about writing by providing six levels of writing. In each level, each type of writing such as descriptive, narrative, persuasive, and argumentative is addressed. Argumentative writing is the subject of Writing V in English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University which is given to the fifth semester students.

  As stated in the previous paragraphs, in order to write a good argumentative writing, someone needs to know exactly how to write a topic sentence and supporting sentences. Hence, the fourth semester students who will learn argumentative writing in their class and will learn more in the next level (Writing V), need to know first how to write a topic sentence and a set of supporting sentences.

  The fourth semester students, who will be the participants of this study, have been studying in English Language Education Study Program for almost two years. It implies that the fourth semester students have taken Writing I, Writing

  II, and Writing III. They have also taken supporting subjects such as Structure I, Structure II, and Structure III which help them write a good composition. This study is based on the assumption that the students have the experiences in writing a well-organized paragraph with a clear topic sentence and supporting sentences as stated in the syllabus of Writing II subject.

  This study is trying to evaluate the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and a set of supporting sentences. This study will give some benefits for the students themselves and English Language Education Study Program as the institution which facilitates this study. This study gives a glance point of view about the students’ condition especially on the students’ ability in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences. In addition, a well-organized paragraph is also influenced by the students’ grammar awareness. A good topic sentence should be clearly expressed in a grammatically correct sentence. Supporting sentences also can only be clearly understood if they are written in grammatically correct sentences. Based on this fact, grammar awareness will also be included in this study as one of supporting points of the measurement.

  Based on the explanation above, the writer wants to conduct a study in order to know whether or not the fourth semester students have the writing competency in writing a clear topic sentence and supporting sentences as the important parts in formulating an argumentative writing.

  1.2 PROBLEM LIMITATION

  This study will be focused on the writing competency of the fourth semester students in writing a good topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative writing. By doing this research, the researcher will also find the fourth semester students’ strengths and the weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences.

  1.3 PROBLEM FORMULATION

  The problems that are formulated can be listed as follows:

  1. In what level is the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph?

  2. What are the fourth semester students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph?

  1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

  In this study, the researcher wants to know in what level the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph is.

  Based on the study of the fourth semester students’ writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph, the researcher will know the students’ strengths and weaknesses of the fourth semester students in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph.

1.5 BENEFITS OF THE STUDY

  This thesis is expected to give contributions in some aspects. They are:

  1. For the fourth semester students of English Language Education Study Program This study will be beneficial for the fourth semester students for they will know their writing competency in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences as a means of making a clear argumentative writing. From this study, the fourth semester students will know what their strengths and weaknesses are, so that they will know what they should do to prepare themselves.

  2. For the English Language Education Study Program Lecturers The other benefit of this study is to help the writing V lecturers to make use of this study to help the students to maximize their writing skill in writing a topic sentence and developing it into good supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph and to help the students to improve their weaknesses in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences in an argumentative paragraph.

  3. For the English Language Education Study Program This study will give contribution to English Language Education Study Program to evaluate the curriculum, especially in writing. This study will show whether or not learning how to write a topic sentence and supporting sentences in the second semester is enough for giving the students awareness in applying topic sentence and supporting sentences in every time they write a paragraph especially argumentative paragraph.

1.6 DEFINITION OF THE TERMS

  1. Writing In this study, writing refers to both a physical and a mental act. At the most basic level, writing is the physical act of committing words or ideas to some medium. On the other hand, writing is a mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader (Nunan, 2003).

  2. Argumentative Writing Argumentative writing, in this study, refers to kind of writing which shows the idea, opinion, or argument of something that is arguable (Spurgin, 1989).

  3. Paragraph

  In this study, a paragraph is a group of sentences which contains relevant information about one main or central idea which, at least, consists of topic sentence and supporting sentences (Bram, 1995).

  4. Topic Sentence In this study, a topic sentence refers to a general sentence which becomes the center of the paragraph in which the other sentences in the paragraph are developed to explain this sentence and to make it more vivid (Moore, 1955).

  5. Supporting Sentences In this study, supporting sentences are sentences that develop the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, and facts (Muhyidin, 1988).

  6. Writing Competency In this study, competency, or in the basic form competence, means that the students have the necessary ability, authority, skill, knowledge, etc in writing a topic sentence and supporting sentences correctly in a good paragraph composition. Thus, the items which will be measured in this study are the students’ competency in writing a topic sentence, supporting sentence and the grammar and coherence to support a good writing composition (Hornby, 1995).

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter will discuss the theories which underlie the study. This chapter

  will be divided into two parts: theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description consists of brief descriptions of the theories which are used in this study. The theoretical description will discuss four major theories: first, writing, which will discuss the theory of writing in general. Second, paragraph which will elaborate paragraph and its substances. The third is argumentative writing which will discuss about the theories of argumentative writing and argumentative paragraph.

  And the last is testing writing which will elaborate the theories which support the way the researcher gathers the data of this study. In the theoretical framework, the writer will adapt the theories from the theoretical description to support this study.

2.1. THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION 2.1.1. WRITING

  As mentioned in the first chapter, writing means both physical and mental work. Writing is a physical work of gathering words into sentence, sentences into paragraph, and paragraphs into text. However, the physical work of writing will not be meaningful without the mental work. The mental work of writing here is the work of brain in investing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements and paragraph, so that the physical work of writing will produce meaningful writing product and the message from the writer will be clearly conveyed to the reader(s) (Nunan, 2003).

  Based on that understanding, paragraph writing could be defined as the physical work of gathering words into a sentence and sentences into a paragraph, and the mental work of investing idea, thinking about how to express them and organized them into sentences to make a good paragraph. The idea invested will be stated on the main paragraph or the topic sentence and expressed in well- organized supporting sentences.

  Physically, writing is a process of gathering sentences into paragraph and paragraphs into a text. Thus, paragraph is one of the important parts that establishes a text. In order to know what paragraph is, the following description will describe briefly about it.

2.1.2. PARAGRAPH

2.1.2.1. Definition

  A paragraph, physically, is a group of sentences. However, a good paragraph should contain relevant information about one main or central idea. The main or central idea here is called a topic sentence, and the relevant information about one main idea is called supporting sentences (Bram, 1995).

  Muhyidin (1988) states that a paragraph consists of three main parts; they are:

  1. Topic sentence A topic sentence is used to state the main idea of a paragraph.

  2. Supporting sentences Supporting sentences are used to develop the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples and facts.

  3. Concluding sentences A Concluding sentence is used to end the paragraph by restating or summarizing the ideas in it.

  However, a good paragraph does not always consist of the three main parts stated above. The most important elements of a paragraph are the topic sentence and a set of supporting sentences (Bram, 1995).

2.1.2.2. Topic sentence

  As stated before, a topic sentence is the main idea of the paragraph (Muhyidin, 1988). A topic sentence introduces the topic of the paragraph. A good topic sentence states the idea or attitude which is called controlling idea. Controlling idea controls what the sentences in the paragraph will discuss. All sentences in the paragraph should relate to and develop the controlling idea stated. “A topic sentence should consist of a subject and an attitude. A subject is what the writer writes, and an attitude is why the writer writes” (Bram, 1995: 16).

  For example: “The BBC World Service Radio station broadcasts various highly selected programs.” From the sentence, it is shown that ‘The BBC World Service Radio station’ is the subject of the topic sentence. It tells the reader that the paragraph will talk about the BBC as the world service radio station. Then ‘broadcasts various highly selected programs’ is the attitude. It shows the reason why the writer writes the paragraph. The attitude also gives the boundaries in which the topic sentence will be elaborated in a set of supporting sentences. The paragraph will only talk about the various highly selected programs in BBC, so the ideas about history of BBC radio or the BBC radio staff will not be included.

  The position of a topic sentence can be: 1) at the beginning (in the first sentence) of the paragraph, 2) (somewhere) in the middle of the paragraph, or 3) at the end (the last sentence) of the paragraph. Even though there are three possibilities of placing the topic sentence, most of the experts in writing suggest beginner writers to place the topic sentence at the beginning or in the first sentence of the paragraph (Bram, 1995; Muhyidin, 1988). When the topic sentence is placed at the beginning of the paragraph, the writer will have clear guidance to finish the rest of the paragraph and the writer will have good control over the contents – what information to be included. In addition the reader will be more prepared to follow and to understand the paragraph.

  A good topic sentence should follow some rules as follows (Muhyidin, 1988):

  1. A topic sentence is a complete sentence with a subject, a verb, and generally a complement. It should be grammatically correct.

  2. A topic sentence should have the subject which states what will be discussed in the paragraph and the attitude or controlling idea which will give the reason of writing and give the boundaries to limit information included in the paragraph.

  3. A topic sentence is usually (but not always) placed in the first sentence of a paragraph.

2.1.2.3. Supporting Sentences

  “Supporting sentences are a set of sentences that develop the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, and facts,” (Muhyidin, 1988: 9). When the attitude of the topic sentence stated the boundaries of the paragraph, the supporting sentences would only develop the information in the field which was stated.

  Supporting sentences should completely develop the topic sentence, but should not consist of irrelevant information (Bram, 1995).

  There are two kinds of supporting sentences (p.18):

  1. Major supporting sentences Major supporting sentences develop the topic sentence directly. They add some relevant, new information about the main idea.

  2. Minor supporting sentences Minor supporting sentences support the major supporting sentences directly and the main idea indirectly. It is possible not to have any minor supporting sentences in the paragraph. It can be concluded that good supporting sentences should follow some rules:

  1. Supporting sentences should elaborate the topic sentences completely 2. There are no irrelevant sentences.

  There are so many kinds of writings or paragraphs, such as descriptive, narrative, argumentative, etc., however, in this study, the kind of writing that is chosen is argumentative paragraph. Thus, we need to know first about argumentative writing and argumentative paragraph.

2.1.3. ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

  2.1.3.1. Definition An argument is supposed to be a reasoned consideration of an idea.

  Argumentative writing is a kind of writing which shows the idea, opinion or argument of something (Spurgin, 1989). “Through this writing, the writer tries to make sense of what the writer does not understand, tries to refuse ideas the writer believe are mistaken, tries to determine appropriate policy for future actions,” (Spurgin, 1989:1). Argument does not mean quarrel. It does imply the existence of misunderstanding or disagreement. The thing which is argued is the thing that is debatable. The thing that is not debatable is the thing that can be verified readily or that is true by definition.