IMPROVING THE EIGHTH YEAR STUDENTS’ WRITING ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH MIND MAPPING TECHNIQUE AT SMPN 1 SITUBONDO IN THE 2010/2011 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

This Classroom Action Research was intended to improve the eighth year students’ writing achievement through Mind Mapping technique at SMPN 1 situbondo in the 2010/2011 academic year. This research subjects were the students of class eight- I that was determined purposively, because their writing achievement score was the lowest among the nine existing classes (their mean score was 62) which was below the standard mastery of English of the school (70). It was known from the result of preliminary study, interview, and classroom observation. Besides, they also still faced difficulties in writing English. They had problems in generating and organizing the ideas, the use of grammar and vocabulary. Finally, both the researcher and the English teacher agreed to apply Mind Mapping technique because this technique was suitable and 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 achievement 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 achievement in the first cycle showed that the percentage of the students who got score 70 or more was 53.13%. In addition, the results of observation in Cycle I revealed that only 65.51% of 32 students actively participated in the teaching and learning process of writing by using Mind Mapping technique. The rest of the subjects (34.49% of 32 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 learned another subject. Based on those results, it could be concluded that 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. Besides, the English teacher gave them opportunities to ask the problems they had face. The results of the students’ writing achievement test in the second cycle showed that 78.12% of 32 students got score 70 or more. It improved from 53.13%, in Cycle I to 78.12% 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 Mind Mapping technique. It improved from 65.51% in Cycle I to 79.68% 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 Mind Mapping technique improved in the second cycle and fulfilled the success criteria of this research. Thus, the action research was ended. Based on the results above, it could be concluded that the use of Mind Mapping technique in the teaching and learning process of writing could improve the students’ writing achievement in two cycles. Then, it is suggested to the English teacher and the students to apply Mind Mapping technique as an alternative technique in teaching writing. It is due to the fact that Mind Mapping technique could improve the students’ writing achievement. At last, for the future researcher, this research could be used as references to conduct further research dealing with the other genre of writing text to improve the students’ writing skill.