USING TOPIC OUTLINE TO IMPROVE THE EIGHTH YEAR STUDENTS’ RECOUNT TEXT WRITING ABILITY AT SMP NEGERI 3 TANGGUL IN THE 2010/2011 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

English is universal language spoken in most countries all over the world. It becomes the most popular language either in developed countries or developing countries, which covers the entire aspects of life like economy, science, technology, health, education, etc. Therefore, mastering English is a must if one wants to catch up with the rapid development of science and technology. Indonesia as one of developing countries realizes that it is a necessity for students to master English both in spoken and written form. That is why the education institution in Indonesia has made it as a compulsary subject to be taught at any level of education; from elementary up touniversity. There are four language skills which should be mastered by the students namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, writing is one which is considered as a difficult one for most students to be mastered. Besides, it was found that the eighth year students of class VIII B faced problems in text writing. The difficulties lied on the content, grammar, vocabulary, mechanic, and also the organization. It was known from the score of writing test conducted by the teacher. Moreover, based on the classroom observation done by the researcher, most students said that they could not organize their ideas well. It was so difficult for them to organize their ideas. They were often confused with what they would talk about in their writing. Some of them wasted their valuable time just for thinking how they would start writing. Some of them could not produce enough sentences to support the topic sentence. In response to this problem, the writer did an action research to improve the students’ writing ability by the use of topic outline. This classroom action research was intended to improve the students’ writing ability. The research subjects were the eighth year students (VIII B) of SMPN 3 Tanggul-Jember in the 2010/2011 academic year. The primary data were collected from the results of writing test and classroom observation. Meanwhile, the supporting data were collected from documentation. The primary data were analyzed quantitatively by using the percentage formula to find the percentage of the students who were active in the writing activities, while supporting data were analyzed by describing them based on the real facts. The results of the action showed that the use of topic outline in teaching writing could improve the students writing ability. Their ability improved significantly. The students’ score in the writing test showed 75% of them achieved standard score of good level and their mean score was 73,71. The writing test conducted by the teacher before the research was done showed that their mean score was 63,43. It means the use of topic outline as a strategy in writing has significant role for improving the students’ ability. Furthermore, the students were actively participated during the teaching of writing. There were 80% of the students had fulfilled the criterias of active students. In other words, the succesful criterias of product evaluation and process evaluation had been achieved. Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that teaching writing by using topic outline could improve the eighth year students’ writing ability of SMPN 3 Tanggul-Jember in the 2010/2011 academic year.