IMPROVING THE VIII E GRADE STUDENTS’ WRITING ACHIEVEMENT ON RECOUNT TEXT BY USING PICTURE SERIES AT MTsN II JEMBER

Abstract

This classroom action research was intended to improve the VIII E grade students’ writing achievement on recount text by using picture series as the learning medium at MTsN II Jember. Based on the result of preliminary study done before conducting this research, only 15 students (38.5% of the students) got score 75 or higher, while 24 students (61.5% of the students) got the writing score less than 75. According to the English teacher, only 20 students (51.2%) were active during the teaching learning process of writing. Additionally, based on the interview done with Mr. Safihan as English teacher, the students were difficult to start writing and find the ideas in developing the text. To overcome that main problem, picture series was choosen as the instructional medium to improve the students’active participation and writing achievement. Yunus (1981:50) defines picture series as a number of related composite pictures linked each other to form a picture sequences. It means that picture series can be used by the students as guidance in developing text. In addition, a picture series has already had a story that can help the students to integrate the ideas in more meaningful and interesting way. Those were the fundamental reasons why the researcher believed that picture series could improve students’ active participation in the class and solve students’ problem in writing. The design of this research is classroom action reserach which has a sequence of steps. They are planning of the action, implementation of the action, observation and evaluation, and reflection of the action. The research area was MTsN II Jember and the VIII E grade students in 2014/2015 academic year was the subject xvi of this research. In this research, the data were obtained by doing classroom observation in every meeting of the cycle and administering writing test. The classroom observation used an observation checklist to identify the students’ active participation while the writing test used scoring criteria to measure the students’ writing achievement. The action were successful if 70% students actively participated in the writing class by fulfilling at least 3 indicators and 70% students have achieved the standart score, that was 75. Based on the preliminary study that the researcher did, the English teacher of the VIII E class said that 51.2 % students who were active during the teaching and learning process writing. After the actions in the cycle were implemented, the result of observation showed that in the first meeting was 29 (74.35%) of 39 students who were active in this meeting. There was an improvement on the students participation in meeting 2. There were 31 (79.48%) students actively participated in teaching learning process of writing. Thus, the average result of the students who were active during the teaching and learning process of writing in the cycle was 76.96%. That score had already achieved the successful criterion of this classroom action research. Beside that, the result of writing test showed that the students’ writing achievement was improved. The data obtained in the preliminary study showed that 15 (38.5)% of the students got score 75 or higher. After implementation of the action in the cycle, the result of the writing test improved to 74.35% of the students (29 of 39 students) got score 75 or higher. From that result of the writing test in the cycle 1, it can be interpreted that the result of that writing test had achieved the target as the successfull criterion of the research. Finally, it can be concluded that the use of picture series could improve the VIII E grade students’active participation and recount text writing achievement at MTsN II Jember in the 2014/2015 academic year.