| dc.description.abstract | This classroom action research was intended to improve the eighth grade
students’ writing ability at SMP Al-Falah Pesanggrahan in the 2010/2011 academic
year. This research was started by conducting preliminary study through interview,
and classroom observation. From the results of preliminary study, it was known that
the eighth grade students, especially VIIIB students, still experienced difficulties in
writing English in especially generating and organizing the ideas, the use of grammar
and vocabulary, mechanic, and organization. To overcome those problems, the
researcher offered some techniques that related to the problems. Finally, both the
researcher and the English teacher agreed to apply written questioning technique
because this technique was more appropriate to overcome the students’ problems in
writing.
This research was carried out in two cycles. Each cycle covered the stages that
include planning the action, implementing the action, observing and evaluating, and
reflecting the action. These activities were conducted in each cycle. The first cycle
was conducted in three meetings including the writing test. The data about the
students’ writing ability were collected through the writing test. Meanwhile,
observation was used to monitor the teaching and learning process of writing by
using checklist and field notes.
The results of the students’ writing ability in the first cycle showed that the
percentage of the students who got score 65 or more was 56.7%. In addition, the
results of observation in cycle I revealed that only 55.4% of 37 students actively
participated in the teaching and learning process of writing by using written
questioning technique. The rest of the subjects (44.6% of 37 students) were passive in
joining the lesson. They were reluctant to ask questions and answer the teacher’s oral
questions. Besides, some students did not pay much attention to the lesson; some
students tend to talk to their friends and did anything. Based on those results, the
action given in the first cycle was not successful yet. Therefore, the actions were
continued to the second cycle by revising the lesson plans in the first cycle by
considering the students’ weaknesses and errors they made on the writing test in the
first cycle. In cycle II, the English teacher gave more explanation about recount text
including the text organization. In the writing exercise, the English teacher provided a
topic which was easier than those in the first cycle. The results of the students’
writing ability test in the second cycle showed that 81.08% of 37 students got score
65 or more. It improved from 56.7% in cycle I to 81.08% in cycle II. Besides, there
was also an improvement on the percentage of the students’ active participation in the
teaching and learning process of writing by using written questioning technique. It
improved from 55.4% in cycle I to 78.3% in cycle II. It means that both the students’
writing test and the students’ active participation in the teaching and learning process
of writing by using written questioning technique improved in the second cycle and
fulfilled the success criteria of this research. Thus, the action research was ended.
Based on the above results, it can be concluded that the use of written
questioning technique in the teaching and learning process of writing could improve
the students’ writing ability in two cycles. Then, it is suggested to the English teacher
and the students to apply written questioning technique as a technique in writing. It is
due to the fact that written questioning technique could improve the students’ writing
ability. | en_US |
