Increasing the Students Ability in Writi (2)

INCREASING THE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AT THE EIGHTH GRADE OF SMP NEGERI 1 LOTU IN 2016/2017 THESIS

By YAKIMANO ZALUKHU Reg. Number: 122108120

INSTITUTE OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF GUNNGSITOLI

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM NOVEMBER 2016

INCREASING THE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AT THE EIGHTH GRADE OF SMP NEGERI 1 LOTU IN 2016/2017 THESIS

Submitted to Institute of Teacher Training and Education of Gunungsitoli in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana of Education

By YAKIMANO ZALUKHU Reg. Number: 122108120

INSTITUTE OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF GUNNGSITOLI

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM NOVEMBER 2016

ABSTRACT

Zalukhu, Yakimano, 2016, Increasing the Students’ Ability in Writing Descriptive Text

through Project-Based Learning at the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017. Thesis Advisors (1) YasminarAmaeritaTelaumbanua, M.Pd and (2) Dra. NursayaniMaru’ao, M.Pd.

Key words : Writing Descriptive Text, Project-Based Learning

Writing is a productive language which requires critical thinking process and it is used as a means of communication to aspire someone’s thoughts. Through writing skill, the students can generate their idea which is aimed to convey the meaning or information in written form.

The purpose of the research is to increase the students’ ability in writing descriptive text through Project-Based Learning at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017. To achieve the purpose, the researcher conducted Classroom Action Research (CAR) method; it was conducted in two to cycles. Each cycle consisted of some phases such as planning, action, observation, and reflection. The instruments used by the researcher to collect the data were observation sheet, field notes and evaluation sheet.

In Cycle I, it showed that there was not student (0%) can be classified in “very good” and “Good” level. There were 4 students (12.12%) in “enough” level. There were 24 students (72.72%) in “less” level and there were 5 students (15.15%) classified in “fail” level. The result shows that some of the students were still unable in writing descriptive text. Meanwhile, the students’ ability in writing descriptive in Cycle II was there were 3 students (24.24%) classified in “very good” level. There were 22 students (66.66%) classified in “good” level and there were 8 students (9.09%) in classified in “Enough” level. The average of the students’ value was 74.70.Therefore, based on the average for the students’ value in the two cycles, it can be categorized in good level. Hence, Project-Based Learning can increase the students’ ability in writing descriptive text.

Of the research, the researcher has some suggestions such as (1) the researcher suggests the English teachers to use Project-Based Learning in teaching writing descriptive text. (2) The students should be serious in writing descriptive text through Project-Based Learning. (3) The students should be brave in presenting their opinions. (4) The English teacher should make a good relation to the students. (5). The English teacher should be able to manage the classroom when applying Project-Based Learning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise to Lord, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful, for the strength and blessings so that the researcher could finish the thesis. In this opportunity, he would like to thank all of those who have supported and guided him in completing the thesis.

The researcher would like to express his sincerest gratitude to: 1. Mr. Drs. Henoki Waruwu, M.Pd., as the Rector of IKIP Gunungsitoli who always gives the reseacher some suggestions to be a good student during studying in IKIP Gunungsitoli. 2. Mr. Adieli Laoli, S.Pd., M.Pd., as the Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Arts Education and as examiner of methodology, who has given motivation to arrange this thesis well. 3. Miss Yasminar Amaerita Telaumbanua, M.Pd, as the chair of the English Education Study Program and as the first advisor, who has given suggestion, idea, improvement in arranging this thesis well. 4. Mr. Afore Tahir Harefa, S.Pd., M.Hum, as English Education Study Program Secretary and as examiner of education, who always supports him, give the best services in contributing the letters during studying until finishing this thesis. 5. Mrs. Dra, Nursayani Maru’ao, M.Pd., as the second advisor, who has given idea, opinion, and correction in arranging this thesis. 6. Mr. Yaredi Waruwu, M.Si as examiner of study, who has given improvement in writing this thesis.

7. All of the lecturers of the English Education Study Program in IKIP Gunungsitoli who had taught the researcher during he studied in IKIP Gunungsitoli. 8. Mr. Yunieli Zalukhu, S.Pd., as the headmaster of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu who has allowed the researcher in doing the research in SMP Negeri 1 Lotu. 9. The researcher’s beloved parents who always support, fulfill his needs, advice and pray for the researcher to God in finishing this thesis.

10. The researcher’s beloved brothers and sisters who always suggest, pray, support the researcher in finishing this thesis. 11. His close friends (Rintongan Tafona’o, Arman Laowo, Three Ardinata Dawolo) who always suggest, pray, support the researcher in finishing this thesis. Finally, the thesis is still far from being perfect. However, the researcher

hopes that it is useful for the development of the English teaching-learning process, particularly for the development of the students’ writing ability at Junior High School.

Gunungsitoli, November 2016 The researcher

Yakimano Zalukhu

NIM. 122108120

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Writing skill is very significant because nowadays, people use not only verbal communication to communicate with each other, but also non-verbal communication. In other words, writing is an essential form of communication and used as a means of communication to connect people regardless time and places. Through writing, the students can convey their thoughts and communicate their ideas so that those can be well-perceived by others. Hence, writing is one of the most prominent skills which must be mastered by the students.

In addition, writing skill is important because it determines the students’ success in learning English. On the other hand, writing skill is one of the indicators which can be used to measure the students’ English ability. This idea is further supported by Kingston et al. (2002:3) stating that the achievement of the students while learning English is measured by the productive skills, particularly their writing performance. The students of English as a foreign language are required to be able to write in English to internalize the English language that they learn.

Although the importance of mastering writing skill is clear, in fact, the students’ writing skill can be said far from being satisfactory. Richards and Renandya (2002:303) say, “Writing is considered as the most difficult skill for second language Although the importance of mastering writing skill is clear, in fact, the students’ writing skill can be said far from being satisfactory. Richards and Renandya (2002:303) say, “Writing is considered as the most difficult skill for second language

In the syllabus of KTSP 2006 at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu states that writing is one of skills that must be taught to the students. The competence standard expects the students to express the meaning of short essay text in descriptive and recount form. Meanwhile, basic competence expects the students to express the meaning and rhetorical way in short essay text by using kind of language accurately in descriptive form and even able to write descriptive text correctly. Then, the Minimum Competence Criterion (MCC) that had been decided is 65. In other words, the students of the eighth grade can be said successful in learning writing if the students can get value at least 65. The evidence, when the researcher did the observation to the students at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu, the students’ writing ability was still low. Based on the students’ value, most of them got lower than 65 points.

Based on the researcher’s observation at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu, the researcher found many problems in the teaching and learning process of writing. To write a short text, the students were not able to fulfill the requirements needed for writing such as vocabulary, grammar and organization. Hence, the Based on the researcher’s observation at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu, the researcher found many problems in the teaching and learning process of writing. To write a short text, the students were not able to fulfill the requirements needed for writing such as vocabulary, grammar and organization. Hence, the

Due to the problems above, it is clear that there is an urgent need of an instructional method which can overcome the problems of writing. Hence, the researcher looked for an appropriate way which can solve it. The researcher noticed that the use of Project-Based Learning in the English instructional process had become more popular and taken into account recently. There were several studies which suggest the use of Project-Based Learning to enhance the English teaching and learning process. “Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a model for classroom activity that shifts away from the usual classroom practices of short, isolated, teacher-centered lessons” (Harun 2006:3).

In addition, Sumarni (2013:478) says, Project-Based Learning is learning with the use of projects as systematic

teaching method wich involves students in learning knowledge and skills through research assignment, authentic question, and well-designed product.

It potentially enhances the students’ motivation towards the teaching and learning process and it also worked well for the classroom with mixed-ability which enables the students to share ideas and thoughts to one another. Instead of sitting in the whole lesson to learn writing, learning writing by accomplishing a project will be more motivating for them. Related to these matters, the researcher figured out that there might be a possibility to increase the writing skill of students by employing Project-Based Learning. It facilitated them to construct language meanings and constructions through the series of activities leading to the accomplishment of the project. In addition, group works in accomplishing the project make the students share ideas or correct one another.

Based on some considerations above, the researcher was interested to conduct an action research to solve the problem, entitled “Increasing the Students’ Ability

in Writing Descriptive Text through Project-Based Learning at the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017”.

B. Identification of the Problem

There were some problems that the researcher found which occur during the teaching-learning process. Those problems could be identified as the following.

1. The students were not able to identify kinds of descriptive text.

2. The students did not understand the generic structures of descriptive text.

3. The students did not understand the language features of descriptive text.

4. The students were not able to identify the identification of descriptive text.

5. The students were not able to identify the descriptions of descriptive text.

6. The strategy that the English teacher applied for teaching writing is not challenging the students.

C. Limitation of the Problem

From what had been explained previously in the background of the problem and the identification of the problems, the researcher decided to limit the problems by conducting the research focusing on a more specific one that is increasing the students’ abilty in writing descriptive text about describing person at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu through Project-Based Learning in 2016/2017.

D. Formulation of the Problem

The problem of the research then is formulated as follows, “How does Project- Based Learning increase the students’ ability in writing descriptive text about describing person at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017?

E. Purpose of the Research

The purpose of the research was to increase the students’ ability in writing descriptive text about describing person through Project-Based Learning at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017.

F. Significance of the Research

The research findings are signified to:

1. The researcher himself, as a tool and way to enrich his knowledge and experience in teaching writing through the implementation of Project-Based Learning.

2. The students of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu, as a motivation for them by learning creatively in fun way to develop their ability in writing descriptive text even other texts form.

3. The English teacher, as additional knowledge and contribution in teaching writing through Project-Based Learning in increasing students writing skill.

4. The next researchers, as a reference and comparison for the next researchers for their own research.

5. The reader, as additional knowledge for the use of Project-Based Learning in teaching writing.

G. The Assumption of the Research

In doing the research, the researcher had some assumptions, such as below.

1. Writing is an activity to express idea and share information in written form. Through writing, the students can practice how to inform and share something.

2. Project-Based Learning (PBL) as a learning model with scientific approach will accustom the students to do the inquiry process which is believed to be able to improve the quality of education. Project-Based Learning is an interesting way for teaching by learning in fun way and motivating the students.

H. The Limitation of the Research

In conducting the research, the researcher proposed the limitation of the research as follows.

1. Subject of the research was the students of the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu, especially Class A in 2016/2017.

2. In the research, the researcher conducted Classroom Action Research (CAR).

3. The researcher focused himself on the students’ writing ability by using Project- Based Learning.

4. The researcher taught descriptive text about person.

I. The Key Terms Definition of the Research

To avoid misunderstanding about the definitions that were used in the research, the researcher gives some explanation that concerns with the definition.

1. Writing is the ability to express idea and share information, even to make a description about someone. It is a way to inform and conveys something in written form. Learning writing asks the students to practice their writing ability and how they can express the ideas to write such as a descriptive text.

2. Project-Based Learning is a powerful tool in teaching the students through making product and working in groups. It is a way for teaching the students used by the researcher to make the teaching-learning process more interesting and it makes the students learn in fun way and more creative.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Theoretical Framework

1. The Nature of Writing

a. Definition of Writing

Writing is one of the four English macro skills. It is supported by Spratt et al. (2005:26) confirming, “Writing is one of the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking”. Writing involves communicating with others or conveying messages through symbols or signs including handwriting, spelling or letters, word formations, layouts and punctuation. It requires the students to communicate productively and represents the students’ ability in communicating through English. “Written language is used to communicate with others who are removed in time and space” (Nunan, 1999:275). Therefore, writing skill is very important to be taught at school.

Furthermore, Harmer (2004:4) states, “Writing is used for a wide variety of purposes it is produced in many different forms”. Written language can be re-read again in accordance with what the readers need. According to Nunan (1999:275), “People also need permanent records which could be referred to over and over again”. Written language tends to be more exact and precise rather than spoken language. Therefore, it will not cause any confusion, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation to the readers.

Other than that, writing can be defined as a learning process which involves critical thinking to convey one’s ideas and thoughts. It is also an action or a process of discovering and organizing ideas into a paper as well as reshaping and revising. It is something which can be learnt through. Oates (2000:2) says,

Writing is a unique mode of learning because it is integrative, requiring the active participation of both the right and left hemispheres of the brain and to use phrase, ‘the deliberate restructuring of the web of meaning’.

Hence, it can be concluded that writing is a productive language which requires critical thinking process and it is used as a means of communication to aspire someone’s thoughts. Students of EFL can learn about writing in order to be able to be

a good writer as well as convey and express their ideas as it is a learning process.

b. Characteristics of Written Language

According to Brown (2001:341), there are at least seven characteristics of writing based on the perspective of a writer.

1) Permanence Once writing is written down and delivered in its final form to its intended audience, the writer abdicates a certain power: the power to emend, to clarify and to withdraw.

2) Production time The good news is that, given appropriate stretches of time, a writer can indeed become a “good” writer by developing efficient processes for achieving the final product.

3) Distance One of the thorniest problems writers face is anticipating their audience. That anticipation ranges from general audience characteristics to how specific words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs will be interpreted.

4) Orthography Everything from simple greetings to extremely complex ideas is captured through manipulation of few dozen letters and other written symbol.

5) Complexity Writers must learn how to remove redundancy, how to combine sentences, how to make references to other elements in a text, how to create syntactic and lexical variety and much more.

6) Vocabulary Written language places a heavier demand on vocabulary use than does speaking. Good writers will learn to take advantages of the richness of English vocabulary.

7) Formality

A student is filling out a questionnaire of writing a full-blown essay, the convention of each form must be followed. Complex conventions occur in academic writing where students have to learn how to describe, explain, compare, contrast, illustrate, defend, criticize, and argue.

Therefore, it can be concluded that there are seven characteristics of the students’ writing: permanence, production time, distance, orthography, complexity, vocabulary and formality. Because of that, the researcher taught writing to the students by considering seven characteristics of writing.

c. Process of Writing

Nunan (1999:273) says that writing process as a complex, cognitive process which requires sustained intellectual effort within a period of time. In addition, Seow (2002:315) argues that writing process provides the students with sequences of planned learning experiences to help them understand the nature of writing. In order to make a good writing quality, there are several steps which need to concern about. These stages of writing are related one to another, forming a cycle of writing in which one stage will influence the next stage.

The following is the chart of writing process as what is proposed by Seow (2002:315-320).

Chart 1: The chart of writing process Further explanation of the writing process chart proposed by Seow is

described below.

1) Planning (pre-writing) Pre-writing is any activity in the classroom that encourages students to write. It stimulates thoughts for getting started. In fact, it moves students away from having to face a blank page toward generating tentative ideas and gathering information for writing. The following activities provide the learning experiences for students at this stage: group brainstorming, clustering, rapid free writing and wh-questions.

2) Drafting At the drafting stage, the writers are focused on the fluency of writing and are not preoccupied with grammatical accuracy or the neatness of the draft. One dimension of good writing is the writer’s ability to visualise an audience. Although writing in the classroom is almost always for the teacher, the students may also be encouraged to write for different audiences, among whom are peers, other classmates, pen-friends and family members. A conscious sense of audience can dictate a certain style to be used. Students should also have in mind a central idea that they want to communicate to the audience in order to give direction to their writing.

3) Revising When students revise, they review their texts on the basis of the feedback given in the responding stage. They reexamine what was written to see how effectively they have communicated their meanings to the reader. Revising is not merely checking for language errors (i.e., editing). It is done to improve global content and the organization of ideas so that the Writer’s intent is made clearer to the reader.

4) Editing At this stage, students are engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare the final draft for evaluation b’ the teacher. They edit their own or their peer’s work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, diction, sentence structure and accuracy of supportive textual material such as quotations, examples and the like. Formal editing is deferred till this phase in order that its application not disrupts the free flow of ideas during the drafting and revising stages.

Based on the explanation above, in can be concluded that writing process consists of four stages; planning, drafting, revising and editing.

d. Purposes of Writing

According to Kirszner and Mandell (2013:3) there are some purposes of writing as follows.

1) Writing to reflect Writers explore ideas and feelings to make sense of their experience; in autobiographic memories, personal blog posts, and online course sites, they communicate their emotions reactions to others.

2) Writing to inform Writers report the information, communicating factual details to the readers, in references books, instruction manuals text books, and web sites sponsored by nonprofit, writers provide information and explain or process, trying to help to see the relationships and understand the idea.

3) Writing to persuade Writers try to convince readers to accept their positions on various issues.

4) Writing to evaluate Writers asses the validity, accuracy, and quality of information, ideas, techniques, products, procedure, or services, perhaps assessing the relative merits two or more things.

Because of that, it can be said briefly that the reasons of why the students write is to reflect, inform, persuade and evaluate the readers. Based on the purpose of writing, the students expressed their ideas to inform something especially about description of someone, so their writing also will be evaluated by the researcher.

e. Teaching Writing

To teach writing, English teachers did not simply come into the class, explained the material and then involved the students into writing practices. In teaching writing, “Teacher needs to focus on both accuracy and on building up and communicating a message” (Sprattet al., 2005:27). According to Brown (2007: 8),

Teaching can be defined as showing or helping someone to learn how to do something, giving someone instructions, guiding someone in study or something, providing someone with knowledge, and causing someone to know or understand.

Therefore, in teaching writing there are three stages that have to be followed.

1) Pre-teaching activity In pre-writing, the researcher conducted brainstorming and invited the students to refresh their mind by discussing everything related to the topic. After that, the researcher told about the learning objective of the lesson and asked the students’ knowledge that they had related to the topic. All the activities of this stage are for activating and stimulating the students understanding. Then, the researcher asked the students about the concept of descriptive text.

2) Whilst-activity After activating the students, the researcher explained the materials, learning objective and significances to the students. In whilst activity, the researcher explained about descriptive text through Project-Based Learning. This activity consists of five stages. First is observing, the researcher showed a picture as a model of descriptive text which the text given would be equipped with the generic structure and guided the students to discuss about what the text tells about. Second is questioning, the students asked the researcher all about descriptive text with the guidance and direction of the researcher. Third is associating, the researcher showed a model through project made and tells the students what would be done next. Fourth is experimenting, the students were asked to make a project that is completed by a description of it. It is time for the students to do writing text creatively. The last is networking, the students tried to show and present their project to the other students in front of the class, then others can give comments and the researcher gave feedback about it.

3) Post teaching The researcher took conclusion and gave feedback about process and output of learning.

Based on the stages of teaching, the researcher conducted three stages in teaching writing to the students in the classroom. They were pre-teaching, whilst teaching and post teaching.

f. Macro and Micro Skills in Writing

Students’ writing competence is represented through some skills, namely micro skills and macro skills of writing. According to Brown (2004:221), there are several micro and macro skills to consider in writing. Those skills can be used as a measurement to students’ writing competence. The followings are the micro and macro skills of writing. Micro skills of writing:

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.

2) Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.

3) Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns.

4) Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g. tense, agreement, and pluralisation), patterns and rules.

5) Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.

6) Use cohesive devices in written discourse. Macro skills of writing:

7) Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.

8) Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts according to form and purpose.

9) Convey links and connections between events, and communicate such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.

10) Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.

11) Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written text.

12) Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing the audience’s interpretation, using pre-writing devices, writing with fluency in the first draft, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.

The micro skills of writing focus more on the writing mechanics and the word level, such as cohesive devices, tenses, etc. On the contrary, the macro skills of writing deal with a wider area of writing, for example the form and the communicative purpose of a written text, the main idea and the supporting idea of a text, the literal and implied meaning writing, etc. Therefore, the writing process and activity must require the mastery of micro and macro skills of writing as it aims at helping the students to construct the idea effectively and making it easier for them to write various kinds of texts.

Furthermore, there are six aspects of writing skill which must be taken into account. They are content, organization, discourse, syntax, vocabulary, and mechanics. Firstly, the content aspect of writing pays attention to the thesis statement, related ideas, and ideas development through personal experience, illustration, facts, and opinions. Secondly, the term organization concerns on the effectiveness of introduction, logical sequence of ideas, conclusion, and appropriate length of writing. Thirdly, discourse takes care of the topic sentences, paragraph unity, transitions, cohesion, fluency, and variation. Fourthly, vocabulary aspect deals with the word choice, or diction, throughout the writing. Lastly, syntax is related to the sentence structure or word order in a writing text.

Based on the explanation, many experts propose their ideas regarding with the aspects of writing. It can be concluded that there are several points to pay attention while writing, such as the micro and macro skills of writing and the aspects of writing which involve content, organization, discourse, syntax, vocabulary, mechanics, and accuracy. Hence, the researcher will teach writing to the students by considering micro and macro skills for measuring the students’ writing competence.

g. Types of Classroom Writing Performance

Brown (2001:343) states that there are five types of writing performance.

1) Imitative, or writing down At this stage of writing, the students only need to write down English letters, words, and sentences to learn the conventions of the orthographic code. At some points, the teacher may do some dictations to students as well.

2) Intensive, or controlled Intensive writing commonly appears in controlled-written grammar exercises and does not offer much creativity on the writer’s side. Intensive writing usually presents the students with a paragraph in which they need to correct a given structure. Other than that, intensive writing often appears in the form of dictocomp in which the students need to rewrite the paragraph. Controlled writing may loosen the teacher’s controls but can function as stimulators.

3) Self-writing Self-writing is writing with only the self in mind as the audience. There are several forms of writing which fall into this writing category, such as note-taking and journal writing.

4) Display writing Display writing is highly related to academic world. It is a requirement in which the students need to master in the school context as at school they need to be able to take short answer exercises, essay examinations, as well as the research methods. Those short of things can be categorized into display writing.

5) Real-writing Real-writing aims at transferring and communicating information and messages to the audience who needs the messages.

The types of classroom writing performance above will be applied by the researcher, but only four types. They are intensive, self-writing, display writing and real-writing because the students’ writing is not imitative based on the researcher’s instruction.

h. Teacher’s Roles in Teaching Writing

A teacher who teaches writing has the same roles as he teaches the other skills, such as a controller, a prompter, a participant and a resource. Harmer (2007:25) says, “Part of a good teacher’s art is the ability to adopt a number of different roles in the class, depending on what the students are doing”. It emphasizes that there are six important roles of a teacher in a writing classroom such as controller, agency, prompters, assessors, resource and tutor. Another role of a teacher also can be conducted. Firstly, he is a motivator who stimulates the students to generate ideas to write, encourages them to write and makes them aware of the benefits of writing that they are doing. Secondly, he is a source provider who provides them with information and language that they need and gives advice or suggestions when they are working with their writing. The Third role is as a feedback provider who responds positively, encourages them to be aware of writing mistakes and offers corrections towards their writing.

Moreover, Brown (2001:167) states that there are five roles of teacher; as controller, as director, as manager, as facilitator, and as resource. Those five teacher’s roles are more conducive to creating an interactive classroom than others. Therefore,

a teacher who teaches writing has to always stimulate the students to generate ideas, guide them to accomplish their writing and give feedback toward their writing. In conclusion, the researcher’s role during the teaching and learning process is as motivator for the students who control, lead and facilitate them. The researcher also manages the class and be a resource for them.

i. Descriptive Text in Syllabus of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu

In the odd semester of SMP Negeri 1 Lotu in 2016/2017, the text types which the eighth grade students have to learn are descriptive and recount text. Because of that, the researcher teaches about descriptive text to the students. Description is writing about characteristic features of a particular thing. According to Oshima and Hogue (1997:50), descriptive writing appeals to the senses, so it tells how something looks, feels, smells, tastes, and/or sounds. In addition, a good description is like a “word picture”; the reader can imagine the object, place, or person in his or her mind.

A writer “seen” clearly in the mind of the reader. The generic structure of a descriptive text is as follows: (1) identification: an introduction to the subject of the description; (2) description of features: describe the characteristic features of the subject.

While the language features of a descriptive text are follows: (1) use of particular nouns; (2) use of detailed noun groups to provide information about the subject; (3) use of a variety of types of adjectives; (4) use of relating verbs to provide information about the subject; (5) use of thinking and feeling verbs to express the writer’s personal view about the subject or to give an insight into the subject’s thoughts and feelings; (6) use of action verbs to describe the subject’s behavior; (7) use of adverbials to provide more information about this behavior; (8) use of similes, metaphors and other types of figurative language, particularly in literary descriptions.

Related to the material, some materials about descriptive text that the researcher taught to the students would be explained when the researcher conducted the research in the field. Examples of descriptive texts below will be taught by the researcher.

Tobey Maguire (Spider Man)

Tobey Maguire is an American actor. His real name is Tobias Vincent Maguire. He is famous for his role as Peter Parker in Spiderman film. He lives in New York City, USA. He is single.

He is 177 cm tall. His weight is 57 kg. He has got a medium weight body. His body is muscular. He has got a round face. His hair is straight and black.

These descriptive examples would be taught by the researcher to the students through Project-Based Learning by conducting three stages for teaching writing; pre- teaching, whilst teaching and post teaching.

j. Designing Writing Assessment Rubric

An assessment in language teaching means a way used to collect information regarding the students’ performance or achievement. According to Bachman (1990) in Hyland(2003:221),

Rubric refers to features ‘that specify how test takers are expected to proceed in taking the test’, but more generally concerns information about how any assignment should be done.

At responsive and extensive levels of writing, three major approaches to scoring writing performance are commonly used by test designers: holistic, primary trait and analytic (Brown 2004:242). Brown (2004:243) claims that the last approach is the most comprehensive approach to assess writing. It divides the assessment into some aspects in which each aspect has got its own rates or points. Brown and Bailey (1984) in Brown (2004:244) propose an analytic assessment rubric for writing. They break the writing aspects down into five aspects, i.e. text organization, logical At responsive and extensive levels of writing, three major approaches to scoring writing performance are commonly used by test designers: holistic, primary trait and analytic (Brown 2004:242). Brown (2004:243) claims that the last approach is the most comprehensive approach to assess writing. It divides the assessment into some aspects in which each aspect has got its own rates or points. Brown and Bailey (1984) in Brown (2004:244) propose an analytic assessment rubric for writing. They break the writing aspects down into five aspects, i.e. text organization, logical

So the students’ writing maximum score is 100 points. However, Brown (2004:246) himself acknowledges that, those criteria are supposed to assess term papers, project reports, long essays and so on which are composed by those who have had advanced language proficiency.

On the other hand, a multiple-trait assessment is more relevant to assess a particular writing context. Multiple-trait systems seem to offer the most effective means of accomplishing this, while simultaneously developing raters’ appreciation of the features of good writing (Hyland, 2003:239). The aspects and the criteria of each aspect are specific since they can be situated in a specific writing context. The advantages lay principally in the validity and value of assessment is increased if it is situated in teaching and based on a clearer understanding of writing.

In addition, the ways for evaluating writing according to Alaska (2007:24) as follows.

a) Score 4: An effective, well-developed paragraph that fulfills the assigned purpose.

(1)Specific details support ideas. (2)Organizational plan is logical with effective sequencing. (3)Word choices are effective and precise (4)Transitions and sentence structure are purposeful and varied. (5)Few errors are present in grammar usage spelling and punctuation. (6)Errors do not interfere with meaning.

b) Score 3: A complete paragraph that addresses the assigned purpose. (1)Details support ideas. (2)Organizational plan has predictable sequencing. (3)Word choices are purposeful, but pedestrian. (4)Transitional and sentence structures are simple, but accurate. (5)Some errors maybe present in grammar, usage spelling and punctuation. (6)Few errors may interfere with meaning.

c) Score 2: An oversimplified paragraph that addresses the assigned purpose. (1)Some details support ideas. (2)Organizational plan has lapses and may be a list. (3)Word choices are pedestrian. (4)Transitions and sentence structure are repetitive. (5)Many errors may be present in grammar, usage spelling and punctuation. (6)Few errors may interfere with meaning.

d) Score 1: A deficient paragraph that attempts to address the assigned purpose. (1)Few or no details support ideas, idea may be random, confusing, repetitions, or consists of a bare list. (2)Organizational plan and sequencing are weak and may be brief. (3)Word choices are confusing or immature. (4)Sentence structures are repetitive and fragmented few or no transitions. (5)Predominant errors may be present in grammar, usage spelling and

punctuation. (6)Errors may interfere with meaning.

Furthermore, Brown (2007) also provides the assessment rubric of writing as it is seem in Table 1, below.

Aspect Score

Weighting 4 a) The topic is complete and clear and the details

Performance Description

are relating to the topic.

Content 3 b) The topic is complete and clear but the details (C)

are almost relating to the topic.

30% 2 c) The topic is complete and clear but the details 3x -Topic

are not relating to the topic.

- Details 1 d) The topic is not clear and the details are not

relating to the topic. a) Identification is complete and descriptions are

4 arranged with proper connectives.

Organization

b) Identification is almost complete and

(O) 3 descriptions are arranged with almost proper 20%

-Identification 2x 2 c) Identification is not complete and descriptions

connectives.

-Description are arranged with few misuse of connectives. d) Identification is not complete and descriptions

are arranged with misuse of connectives 4 a) Very few grammatical or agreement

Grammar

inaccuracies.

(G) 3 b) Few grammatical or agreement inaccuracies but 20%

not affect on meaning.

-Use present 2x

2 c) Numerous grammatical or agreement

1 d) Frequent grammatical or agreement

inaccuracies. 4 a) Affective choice of words and word form. b) Few misuse of vocabularies, word forms, but

Vocabulary

not change the meaning.

(V) 1.5x 15%

c) Limited range confusing words and word form. 2 d) Very poor knowledge of words, word form, and

not understandable 4 a) It uses correct spelling, punctuation and

Mechanics (M)

capitalization.

15% b) It has occasional errors of spelling, punctuation, -Spelling

3 and capitalization.

-Punctuation 2 c) It has frequentl errors of spelling, punctuation, 1.5x -Capitalization

and capitalization. 1 d) It has dominated by errors of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Adapted from Brown (2007)

Score = . × 100

Table 1. Assessment Rubric of Writing Descriptive Text.

In conclusion, to assess the students’ writing ability in writing descriptive text, the researcher used the assessment rubric as suggested by Brown (2007) that has criteria ranging and more appropriate.

2. Project-Based Learning

a. Definition of Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a learning method which is not new in the field of English as a second language and is thought to be relevant with the teaching and

learning of English in the 21 st century. According to Robin and Patton (2012:13), Project-Based Learning refers to students designing, planning, and carrying

out an extended project that produces a publicly-exhibited output such as a product, publication, or presentation.

It can be said that PBL is learning with the use of projects as systematic teaching method which involves students in learning knowledge and skills through assignment, authentic question, and well-designed product and Project-Based Learning focuses on learning through student-centered, interdisciplinary, and integrated activities in real world situations. Furthermore, (Yew & Schmidt, 2009; Zajkov & Mitrevski, 2012) in Sumarni (2013:478) state,

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is one of the constructivism approaches in which the cooperation among the students in finding and building their knowledge through active learning.

In Project-Based Learning, students are responsible fully for their own learning. They work collaboratively to solve problems. “Project-Based Learning is holistic in nature and incorporates the principles of providing challenging and complex work, In Project-Based Learning, students are responsible fully for their own learning. They work collaboratively to solve problems. “Project-Based Learning is holistic in nature and incorporates the principles of providing challenging and complex work,

PBL provides the students with both a collaborative and an individual process to attain their meaningful use of the target language. PBL is a teaching method which involves the students both individually and collaboratively in a series of phases to develop an end product through which the students have opportunities to construct their knowledge and practice their skills. It reinforces them to construct knowledge without reliance on rote memorization, involves challenging activities to exert learners’ sense of creativity, cooperation and motivation, and provides high frequency of interaction with others.

In the research, PBL is defined as a teaching method. “Project-Based Learning is powerful teaching method” (Boss et al., 2015:2). The reason is because PBL contains a set of systemic procedure and its characteristics are relevant to CLT approach. The procedure is carried out through some techniques and activities which lead to the accomplishment of an end product. Related to the research, since it is not In the research, PBL is defined as a teaching method. “Project-Based Learning is powerful teaching method” (Boss et al., 2015:2). The reason is because PBL contains a set of systemic procedure and its characteristics are relevant to CLT approach. The procedure is carried out through some techniques and activities which lead to the accomplishment of an end product. Related to the research, since it is not

b. Characteristics of Project-Based Learning

Sumarni (2013:480) states that there are some characteristics of Project-Based Learning.

1) Project-Based Learning is an authentic learning, it enables the students to experience relevant and real-world task. Each student has a different learning style, and then the PBL provides an opportunity for students to explore the content (material) using a variety of ways that are meaningful to them and conducted experiments collaboratively. Project-Based Learning makes the students learn meaningfully as they link their prior knowledge to their current study based on the real situation.

2) Project-Based Learning is student-centered; it focuses on the students to be active students. It gives the students wide opportunities to discover the solution to the given project using their skills and knowledge. In project-based learning, the students are responsible for their own learning. Moreover, through project-based learning, students are urged to plan, complete, and present the task.

3) Project-Based Learning is cooperative, through Project-Based Learning, the students can work together as a group. Project-Based Learning allows the students to work collaboratively and cooperatively to solve problems and investigate what they learn. They work together and share resources ideas, resources, and expertise.

Projects lend themselves to students’ working and learning collaboratively. Cooperative learning activities such as group investigations, team and Project- Based Learning enable the integration of interpersonal, social and cognitive aspects of learning.

4) Project-Based Learning leads to the integration of skills; Project-Based Learning assimilates the students’ skills and knowledge. Through Project-Based Learning, the students need to process information from various sources. The tasks given Project-Based Learning also mirrors real-life tasks. Project-Based Learning entails the students to merge their knowledge and skills to be able to complete the given task. The integration of skills is an essential component of Project-Based Learning and should be identified in the project outcomes. The students need to learn, practice, apply, and extend these skills as part of the project design.

5) Project-Based Learning culminates in an end product; the result of the product can