IMPROVING STUDENTS' DISCUSSION TEXT WRITING SKILLS THROUGH TEACHER INDIRECT FEEDBACK TECHNIQUE (A Classroom Action Research at the Twelfth Grade Students of SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan) A “Skripsi” Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of S.Pd. in the Department of English Education By Agus Sufyan NIM. 1110014000060 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY JAKARTA 2015
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IMPROVING STUDENTS' DISCUSSION TEXT WRITING
SKILLS THROUGH TEACHER INDIRECT FEEDBACK
TECHNIQUE
(A Classroom Action Research at the Twelfth Grade Students
of SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan)
A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of S.Pd. in the Department of English Education
By
Agus Sufyan
NIM. 1110014000060
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
JAKARTA
2015
i
IMPROVING STUDENTS' DISCUSSION TEXT WRITING
SKILLS THROUGH TEACHER INDIRECT FEEDBACK
TECHNIQUE
(A Classroom Action Research at the Twelfth Grade Students
of SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan)
A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of S.Pd. in the Department of English Education
By
Agus Sufyan
NIM. 1110014000060
Approved by:
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
JAKARTA
2015
ii
ENDORSEMENT SHEET
The examination committee of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
certifies that the “Skripsi” scientific paper entitled, Improving Students'
Discussion Text Writing Skills through Teacher Indirect Feedback Technique
(A Classroom Action Research at the Twelfth Grade Students of SMAN 8 Kota
Tangerang Selatan) written by Agus Sufyan, student’s registration number:
1110014000060, was examined by committee on March 24, 2015 and was declared
to have passed and have fulfilled one of the requirements for the degree of S.Pd. in
English language Education at the Department of English Education.
This chapter presents and discusses background of the research,
identification of the problem, limitation of the research, formulation of the research,
objective of the research, and significance of the research.
A. Background of the Research
As one of language skills taught, learnt, and specifically categorized as one of
productive skills, writing is described as a skill including many exercises to develop
and not as a completely gifted skill.1 It means that the ability to write well can
actually be achieved through many repetitions, trials and errors, and also
reinforcement.
However, writing does not seem to be as easy as it is said. When we speak,
using our body movements or managing our voices may easily help us explain what
we are intended to say. However, though we would like to say the same words we
produce orally, we need some practices in writing as we can only use some
mechanisms, such as punctuation, word order, etc., to help us deliver what we
mean.2 Thus, our ability to use those mechanisms can be very important as we do
not want our readers to misinterpret what we write.
In Indonesia, there are several types of writing that should be learnt by senior
high students, such as, procedure, descriptive, narrative, recount, report, review,
news item, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, spoof, explanation, and
discussion.3 It means that there are so many kinds of text that should be taught in
senior high level. Specifically, from four types of text (narrative, explanation,
review, and discussion) taught in the third grade, discussion text is one of the types
that should be learnt. Discussion text is a kind of texts that provides two contrastive
1 Alan Meyers, Gateways to Academic Writing, (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2003),
p. 2. 2 James C. Raymond, Writing is an Unnatural Act, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.,
1980), p. 3. 3 Standar Isi Untuk Satuan Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah: Standar Kompetensi dan
Kompetensi Dasar SMA/MA, (Jakarta: BSNP, 2006), p. 126.
2
arguments about the topic and allows reader to have two contrastive viewpoints.4
Thus, readers will not be persuaded to be at one side before informed about another
side.
However, discussion text is a difficult material to learn. The results of interview
with the teacher showed that in writing discussion text5, the first problem mentioned
by the teacher was that the students sometimes had not yet been interested to find
out the data to support the arguments soon; they preferred talking and joking with
their friends until the class ended. They argued that they were depressed while
working under pressure, and needed a lot of time to get the inspiration and the data
needed. Those are why they found it hard to collect their work in the end of the
meeting. Thus, the teacher sometimes were sometimes hard to directly correct their
work. Secondly, after the writing tasks became a homework, the teacher found that
the students had not yet put their best performance in their writing. They put little
attention about what they wrote which led to some problems such as, grammatical
errors. It is true that they had not yet interested in writing because of its complexity.
Thus, there were so many students that were hard to achieve Minimum Mastery
Criterion (KKM) made by the teacher. Lastly, the teacher said that it had been so
hard when her students asked her to give them reasons for their score since she just
gave them the score without any comments or feedback. Moreover, she argued that
it took a lot of time to give them comments to each work since she taught more than
three class a week. As a result, students became unmotivated since some of them
felt like they were hard to have clear direction about how to write well, and some
others felt like their teacher had not yet found appropriate techniques to improve
their skills.
Moreover, while doing pre-observation, findings showed that some students
sitting in the first two front rows seriously did the test. However, those sitting in the
next rows should always be supervised. Besides of that, four students in the right
corner preferred to play games on their smartphone than to do the test. Moreover,
4 Th. M. Sudarwati and Eudia Grace, Look Ahead: An English Course for Senior High
School Students Year XII, (Jakarta: Penerbit Erlangga, 2007), p. 122. 5 See Appendix 2.
3
five female students sitting in the third and fourth row near the door liked to chat
during the test. Lastly, some students tended to do the test with their friends in group
rather than work individually. In conclusion, generally, they are diligent enough in
doing the test though some of them really needed supervising.6
In addition, after conducting pre-action test, twenty students failed to meet the
KKM.7 It means that students’ achievement in writing needed increasing. For all
those findings, the writer considered that students’ writing skills should be
increased through appropriate techniques.
As teacher said that she did not provide students revising activities, then
students did not have chance to enhance their writing. Thus, providing feedback is
hoped that it may help students improve their skills. A study by Ferris also proved
that, in helping students enhance their writing skills, almost all students believe that
teacher feedback is really helpful as it provides information related to their writing.8
However, giving feedback by putting comments to writing assignment is
seemed to be so hard for the teacher since it is going to consume time as she teaches
more than two classes which consist of, at least, 30 students per each. Thus, teacher
indirect feedback can be one of the solutions to solve the problems of, firstly, the
teacher as it takes less time, and of, secondly, students’ writing skills.
To make it clear, some previous studies have proven the benefits of teacher
indirect feedback. For example, Lalande’s study shows that the number of students
from experimental group, who believes that the technique enhances their writing
skill, is more than those of control group provided direct correction. Besides more
than fifty percent of the students in experimental group agree that revising their
writing increase their writing skills.9 Moreover, Chandler’s study, using the terms
of “Correcting” as direct correction and “Underlining” as indirect correction, shows
that indirect correction is useful to improve more to students’ accuracy, benefits
teacher for the time to provide feedback, and makes students be more engaged in
6 See Appendix 4 7 See Appendix 5 8 Dana R. Ferris, Student Reactions to Teacher Response in Multiple-Draft Composition
Classrooms, TESOL QUARTERLY, 29(1), 1995, p. 46. 9 J. F. Lalande, Reducing composition errors: An experiment, Modern Language Journal,
66(2), 1982, p. 145.
4
learning.10 Lastly, the study, conducted by Ferris as cited in Purnawarman shows
that students’ success in revising their essays is greatly influenced by the feedback
indirectly given by the teacher.11
Based on the preceding studies above, the writer believed that teacher indirect
feedback could help students solve the problems in writing discussion text. Thus,
from all the explanation above, the writer conducted research on the title: Improving
Students' Discussion Text Writing Skills through Teacher Indirect Feedback
Technique.
B. Identification of the Problem
Based on the background above, the identified problems were:
1. Students were hard to finish the writing tasks given by the teacher in a short
time.
2. Students preferred talking and joking with their peers than showing their
effort to do the task given by the teacher.
3. Students had not yet interested in writing.
4. The teacher had not yet found appropriate techniques to improve students'
writing skills.
5. The teacher found it difficult to give students feedback whenever she
assessed their work.
6. The teacher only focused on scoring, but set aside feedback.
C. Limitation of the Research
This study was focused on the improvement on students’ writing of discussion
text by applying teacher indirect feedback technique in the class of XII IPA 4 at
SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan, Banten.
10 J. Chandler, The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the
accuracy and fluency of L2 student writing, Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 2003, p. 293. 11 Pupung Purnawarman, “Impacts of Different Types of Teacher Corrective Feedback in
Reducing Grammatical Errors on ESL/EFL Students’ Writing”, Dissertation in Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, Virginia, 2011, p. 28, published.
5
D. Formulation of the Research
Based on the research focus above, the questions of the research formulated was
“Does teacher indirect feedback improve students of XII IPA 4’s writing skills of
discussion text?”
E. Objective of the Research
The objective of this research was to find out whether teacher indirect feedback
improve students of XII IPA 4’s writing skills of discussion texts.
F. Significance of the Research
Some significances of this research, not only theoretically but also
practically, go to:
1. Teacher, it helps the English teacher to solve the problems in teaching
writing of discussion text, to choose appropriate technique in teaching
writing discussion text, and also to improve students' skills in writing,
especially in writing of discussion text.
2. Students, it helps them to improve their writing skills, to achieve standard
minimum score at least, and to give them clear reasons about their
improvement.
3. SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan, it can be beneficial regarding to improve
the education quality.
6
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter discusses definition of discussion text, purpose of discussion text,
generic structure of discussion text, language features of discussion text, points to
note in writing discussion text, definition of teacher feedback, indirect feedback,
benefits of teacher indirect feedback, how to give indirect feedback, procedure in
applying teacher indirect feedback technique in teaching discussion text writing to
XII IPA 4 students of SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan.
A. Discussion Text Writing
1. Definition of Discussion Text
Generally, discussion text can be defined as a text that provides two contrastive
arguments on issue to inform readers about what is being discussed. It supported by
Mulya who defines discussion text as “a text which presents a problematic
discourse discussed from different viewpoints.”1
Unlike a persuasive text designed to convey reasons of a subject and get
audiences' acceptance about those reasons,2 in writing discussion text, writers are
required to be fair in presenting arguments or, in other words, the writer should
cover the arguments of the problems on both sides. The arguments in this kind of
text usually show each strength and weakness of a subject to give readers broader
insights before they make any decisions. However, not only strengths and
weaknesses, Anderson and Anderson also show other contrastive views in this kind
of text, for example: the positive and the negative, etc.3
Thus, the writer should be balance when providing their contrastive arguments
though, in the end, she or he would decide at one side. Moreover, if so, then, as
Crusius and Channell states that, for all those arguments, it allows both side to get
1 Eka Mulya Astuti, English Zone for Senior High School Students Year XII, (Jakarta:
Penerbit Erlangga, 2010), p. 81 2 Betty Mattix Dietsch, Reasoning & Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader,
and Handbook, (Ohio: Marion Technical College, 2006), Fourth Edition, p. 7. 3 Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English, (Melbourne: MacMillan
Education Australia PTY LTD., 1998), Third Edition, p. 19.
7
acceptance about other side’s view and to make a general agreement about the issue
which is shared to all the parties.4
2. Purpose of Discussion Text
The main purpose of discussion text is, indeed, to discuss about the two different
arguments on an issue. As stated by Anderson and Anderson that showing readers
an issue with two contrastive points of view is the main purpose of discussion text.5
Besides, another purpose of this text stated by Sudarwati and Grace is that, in
making reasonable decision, readers are firstly provided many information related
to some points of view about the issue debated.6
Thus, for all those purposes, it can be concluded that the main purpose of
discussion text is to providing different viewpoints to enable readers to be informed
about the issue discussed.
3. Generic Structure of Discussion Text
According to Warner, discussion text has three main parts, they are:
a. Statement: in this part, outlining the subject should be done by the writers in
order to give readers boundaries about what is going to discuss.
b. Arguments: while providing or listing the arguments, writers should put the
arguments of both sides. Thus, to make it balance, writers are not allowed to
take his position on the arguments.
c. Conclusion: in this part, the writers are required to sum up all the arguments
and are allowed to choose his/her preference. 7
Though Anderson and Anderson’s generic structure is the same as Warner’s,
they differ only in conclusion that it allows writer to decide his/her position in the
4 Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel, The Aims of Argument: A Text and Reader,
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006), p. 17. 5 Anderson and Anderson, loc. cit. 6 Th. M. Sudarwati and Eudia Grace, Look Ahead: An English Course for Senior High
School Students Year XII, (Jakarta: Penerbit Erlangga, 2007), p. 122 7 Margaret Warner, More Easy Text Types: Text Types for Students who Have Little or No
Experience of English, (Perth: Ready-Ed Publications, 2009), p. 6
8
subject.8 Moreover, Mulya’s is also different as she states that the last paragraph
can be used to give readers suggestion from the writers’ view.9
4. Language Features of Discussion Text
Accrording to Sudarwati and Grace, below are the features in a discussion
text:10
a. We may use general nouns to discuss, such as, smoking, abortion, etc.;
b. Thinking verbs may also help us show our emotion, such as, think, believe,
hope, etc. (For example: ‘I believe that….’);
c. To make a good transition, me may use some connectives, such as in addition,
furthermore, although, however, on contrary, because, because of, etc. (For
example: ‘However, there are also disadvantages such as the cost.’);
d. Using modalities, such as, must, should, etc., can also strengthen our points (For
example: ‘For all those reasons, we must do some action.’)
5. Points to Note in Writing Discussion Text
In writing discussion text, we have to consider these following considerations:11
a. When deciding what the title is, we can use a question to be the title of the essay;
b. Before going further to the discussion, we should lead readers to the discussion,
for example, by providing the background of the issue;
c. When providing arguments, we should support them with reasons and evidence;
d. We are not supposed to see the arguments only on one side;
e. By using modal verbs, we can make our reason stronger;
f. If we would like to favour one side in this discussion, reasons should also be provided;
g. Or if we would like to be fair, ensure that we are fair enough to both sides.
8 Anderson and Anderson, op. cit., p. 20. 9 Mulya, loc. cit. 10 Sudarwati and Grace, loc. cit. 11 Progression in Discussion Texts, https://www.babcock-
education.co.uk/ldp/do_download.asp?did=303763, retrieved on March 2015.
Below is the example of discussion text about the pros and cons:12
Mobile Phones: Good or Bad?
Everywhere you go nowadays, you see people
using mobile phones. From school children to retired
people, you see them talking in the supermarket, on
trains, in the street, everywhere! So what are the
advantages of mobile phones?
First of all, they are very convenient because
you can phone from nearly anywhere. Another
advantage is that they are really useful in emergency
situations. For example, if you are alone in your car
and it breaks down, you can get help quickly. In
addition, you can also use your mobile to text your
friends or connect to the Net.
However, there are also disadvantages such as
the cost. Mobile phone calls cost more than normal
calls. Furthermore, it can be annoying if you are on a
train or a bus and you have to listen to someone else’s
boring conversation. Finally, people can contact you
anywhere, at any time, unless you switch your phone
off!
In conclusion, there are both advantages and
disadvantages. Personally, I feel mobile phones are a
good thing because they give us more freedom and
make communication easier.
12 Achmad Doddy, Ahmad Sugeng, and Effendi, Developing English Competencies for
Senior High School (SMA/MA), (Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional,
2008), p. 74.
Write the
subject
of the essay/ discussion
First, write a
general
introduction
to the subject
of the
discussion.
In the second
and third
paragraphs,
introduce and
present the
advantage and
disadvantage.
Try to give
examples.
Use linking
words like
First of all to
present the
advantage/
disadvantage
Use words
like
However to
introduce a
contrast and
In
conclusion
to introduce
the
summary.
10
B. Teacher Indirect Feedback
1. Definition of Teacher Feedback
In the teaching and learning of language, feedback, indeed, takes an important
role related to the improvement of students' language learning process. Thus,
teachers can use feedback to give their students clear directions of what they have
to improve, of why they have to improve, and of how to improve their skills. The
statement is supported by Lewis who defines feedback in two perspectives. Firstly,
teacher may define feedback as a tool to provide them information about students’
progress and also evaluation of their own teaching. Secondly, Lewis states that
students see feedback as the comments giving them information what their strength
and weakness are, why they are wrong, and what to improve.13 It can be concluded
that both teacher and students need feedback as the bridge for informing the
ongoing process to achieve the learning goals.
In addition, Lewis’ statement about defining feedback based on students’ view
is also supported by Ur as cited in Srichanyachon who defines feedback as the way
teacher provides learner the information related to their learning activities in order
to develop their skills.14 Moreover, Brookhart adds that feedback is a component in
formative assessment informing students’ activities they are doing and helping
students decide fresh targets and plans to achieve their goals.15 It means that by
getting feedback, students can be more evaluative about their effort in achieving
their goals of learning.
It can be concluded that, generally, feedback is a mean or tool used by the
teacher to inform students’ learning performances, process, and progress in
achieving the goal of the learning.
13 Marilyn Lewis, Giving Feedback in Language Classes, (Singapore: SEAMEO Regional
Language Centre, 2002), p. 3. 14 Napaporn Srichanyachon, Teacher Written Feedback for L2 Learners’ Writing
Development, Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, 12 (1), 2012,
p. 8. 15 Susan M. Brookhart, How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, (Virginia:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 2008), pp. 1—2.
11
2. Indirect Feedback
Based on the form of feedback, Lee divides feedback into two kinds; direct and
indirect. Direct error feedback or overt correction is provided when the teacher
writes the correct form on the student’s paper, while indirect error feedback is
provided when the teacher indicates the location of the error on the paper without
providing the correct form.16 In other words, Ferris adds that indirect feedback is
only “letting the writer know that there is a problem but leaving it for students to
solve it.”17 Napaporn also states that when giving indirect feedback, errors are
underlined and codes or symbols are used to indicate the type of errors.18 It means
that indirect feedback can be done by using codes representing a specific kind of
error.
For all those explanations, it can be concluded that teacher indirect feedback is
one of corrective feedbacks providing indications of errors students make by using
codes but leaving no correct answer in order to let students correct by themselves.
3. Benefits of Teacher Indirect Feedback
As one of written corrective feedback, indirect feedback is assumed that it can
bring more benefits to students’ writing development. Results from Chandler study
show that indirect correction is useful to improve more to students’ accuracy,
benefits teacher for the time to provide feedback, and makes students be more
engaged in learning.19 It means that indirect feedback can involve students from the
writing process until finishing process, besides it saves teachers’ time, too.
Moreover, indirect feedback may also bring an effect to students’ long-term
memory and decrease the number of errors as supported by Purnawarman in his
study who states that indirect feedback strengthens students’ memory for longer
16 Icy Lee, Error Correction in L2 Secondary Writing Classrooms: The case of Hong Kong,
Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 2004, p. 286. 17 Dana Ferris and Barrie Roberts, (2001), “Error Feedback in L2 Writing Classes: How
Explicit Does It Need to Be?”, in Paul Kei Matsuda, et al., Second-Language Writing in the
Composition Classroom, (Boston: Bredford/St. Martin’s, 2006), p. 382.. 18 Srichanyachon, op. cit., p. 10. 19 J. Chandler, The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the
accuracy and fluency of L2 student writing, Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 2003, p. 293.
12
period of time and brings greater opportunity to the desired result, such as
decreasing students’ errors.20 Moreover, by using the terms “guided learning” and
“problem solving”, Corder as cited in Lalande states that indirect feedback could
be more instructional for both learner and teacher as discovering the correct answer
is done by the learner.21
4. How to Give Indirect Feedback
In giving indirect feedback to the errors students make, as in Chandler’s study,
there are three kinds of teacher indirect feedback that can be used. They are
underlining, describing, or underlining and describing, such as the figures below:22
Figure 2.1
Underlining Errors
20 Pupung Purnawarman, “Impacts of Different Types of Teacher Corrective Feedback in
Reducing Grammatical Errors on ESL/EFL Students’ Writing”, Dissertation in Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, Virginia, 2011, p. ii—iii, published. 21 J. F. Lalande, Reducing composition errors: An experiment, Modern Language Journal,
66(2), 1982, p. 140. 22 J. Chandler, op.cit., p. 282—283.
13
Figure 2.2
Describing Errors
Figure 2.3
Underlining and Describing Errors
Moreover, Oshima and Hogue add by providing correction symbols which
consist of underlines and codes, such as the figure below:23
23 Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Introduction to Academic Writing, (New York: Addison
Wesley Longman, 1997), Second Edition, p. 217—218.
14
Figure 2.4
Correction Symbols
C. Procedure in Applying Teacher Indirect Feedback Technique in
Teaching Discussion Text Writing to XII IPA 4 Students of
SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan
In this study, teacher indirect feedback technique to improve students’
discussion text writing achievement by following the procedures below. The
researcher, as the teacher:
1. Delivers the materials about discussion text and how to make the
framework. The teacher teaches the materials related to the definition,
purposes, structure of discussion text. Moreover, students are also taught to
make the framework of discussion essay.
15
2. Introduces teacher indirect feedback technique. Teacher explains what
teacher indirect feedback technique is, how to do the technique, and also what
the codes mean.
3. Provides students topics to write: teacher provides students some topics that
whether they may choose themselves or are chosen by the teacher.
4. Asks students to make a framework of their own writing. Students are asked
to make a framework in order to help them elaborate their writing. Students
does not have to submit the framework but should have it when they want to
elaborate their writing.
5. Provides students the writing sheets. The writing sheets are provided by the
teacher in order to make it simple to correct and to score students’ writing.
6. Asks students to elaborate their writing. After they have got their paper, then
they should elaborate their framework into a four-paragraph discussion essay.
7. Asks them to confirm or recheck their writing. Before students submit their
writing, teacher allows students to ensure that their writing is good enough
8. Asks them to submit their writing. After they have rechecked their writing,
students should submit their writing. It is supposed to be on the same day.
9. Provides them feedback by underlining and giving codes. After they have
submitted their writing, then teacher provides them the indirect feedback by
putting underlines and codes to wrong or inappropriate words.
10. Explains the codes to the students. In the next meeting, teacher gives students’
paper back and then explain what codes mean and what to do.
11. Asks them to revise their paper. After explaining the codes, teacher asks
students to revise their writing. In this part, students are still allowed to elaborate
their writing besides revise their writing.
12. Provides them suggestion and explanation. While revising, teacher also
provides them some suggestion about what they have to do.
13. Asks them to submit their revision. Students are asked to submit their revised
writing.
14. Scores and evaluates their writing. Teacher scores students’ writing by using
analytical scoring rubric.
16
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the description of the research method used in this study,
including place and time of the research, method and design of the research, subject
of the research, researcher’s role in the research, , instrument of the research, data
collecting technique, data analysing technique, trustworthiness, and criteria of
success.
A. Place and Time of the Research
The research took place in SMAN 8 Kota Tangerang Selatan, located at Jl.
Cirendeu Raya No. 5, Kota Tangerang Selatan, Banten, 15419. Moreover, the
research was conducted only on Tuesday and Wednesday for approximately a
month, which was started from January 6th until February 10th, 2015.
B. Method of the Research
The method used in this research was Classroom Action Research (CAR). The
rationale behind the application of this method is because, firstly, there were
problems in the classroom, and it should be solved. Secondly, students’
improvement was also needed to succeed the learning process. Lastly, the teacher’s
ability in teaching this subject needed improving.
The Classroom Action Research (CAR) procedures used in this research was
Kurt Lewin's design. Among several designs that could be used in classroom action
research, Lewin’s design was more comprehensible and understandable for the
researcher. Moreover, generally, Kurt Lewin's design consists of cycles having four
phases per each. The phases are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The
figure below represents the cycles of Kurt Lewin's design:
17
Figure 3.1
A Modified Kurt Lewin’s Classroom Action Research Design1
To make them clear about what happens in each phase, below is the explanation
about each phase:
1. Planning Phase
In the beginning, after identifying and diagnosing students’ writing problems
occurred in the class proven by interviewing the teacher, observing the class, and
conducting the test, some plans related to how to solve the problems in the
classroom were made. The plans in this planning phase included designing lesson
plan, determining technique, preparing materials and media, and determining
criteria of success.
The organized planning was formed into lesson plan which was, then,
implemented to the students. Post-action tests were also prepared in order to know
whether there were some improvements on the students’ score achievement from
each test.
2. Acting Phase
This phase was the implementation of planning phase contents. In this phase,
the lesson plan made was implemented. In the first meeting, pre-action test was
conducted to know students’ writing skills before teacher indirect feedback was
implemented. Besides of that, it was also used to analyse the average number of
1 M. Djunaidi Ghony, Penelitian Tindakan Kelas, (Malang: UIN-Malang Press, 2008), p.
64.
Observing
Planning
Reflecting
Cycle
Acting
18
words students could produce. Moreover, after the average number of words had
been counted, then the range number of words students should be produced in the
next tests were standardised.
In each cycle, three meetings were needed. The first cycle was conducted to
deliver some materials needing achieving. Then, the second meeting was used to
conduct the tests. After the data had been collected, then feedback was given on
students’ paper. Lastly, the third meeting was used to revise their writing that
teacher had put feedback on.
3. Observing Phase
In this phase, observation toward implementation of the action was carried out
by using observation sheets and observation journals. In this phase, the data derived
from evaluation or post-action tests were also collected in order to know the
changes made by the implementation of the action toward the subject of the
research.
4. Reflecting Phase
This phase was aimed to reflect the completely-done action in one cycle based
on collected data. It is necessary to hold evaluation to discuss further about what
had and had not yet been achieved. Thus, the scope of reflection in this research
involve analysing, synthesising, and assessing collected data. This phase, then,
determined the next plan, including what to do in the next cycle. Furthermore, when
one cycle had not yet met the requirements of what to achieve, the next cycle should
be able to cover them.
C. Subject of the Research
The subject of the research was the students at XII IPA 4 class of SMA Negeri
8 Kota Tangerang Selatan, academic year 2014/2015. There were 14 male students
and 17 female students in the classroom.
19
D. Researcher’s Role in the Research
In this research, the role of researcher was not only as the researcher, but also
as a lesson planner, a teacher, and a test maker collecting, analysing, and reporting
the results of the study.
E. Instruments of the Research
The instruments of this research were divided into two kinds. The first was non-
test instrument including pre-interview guide, observation sheets, observation
journals, and questionnaire sheets. Then, the rest was test.
1. Pre-Interview Guide
The unstructured interview was done before implementing the CAR in order to
deeply analyse the problems faced by the teachers and related to the class situation,
students’ achievement, and also students’ and teachers’ attitude toward the teaching
and learning process of writing.
2. Observation Sheets
To describe students' activities in the classroom while learning discussion text,
four main aspects were observed. Those aspects were related to teacher's problems
when she taught discussion text. They were students' preparation (preparing the data
needed), diligence, involvement in the learning process, and submission
punctuality.
The first aspect, students' preparation, considered about whether students
prepared the data needed for their writing. In the end of each meeting, students were
asked to find the data related to the next topic in the next meeting. Generally, the
teacher and the writer checked their readiness in the beginning of the class. The
second aspect, students' diligence, was related to students' effort to do their writing.
The effort could be seen when they focused and spent more time doing the tasks,
rather than talking to and disturbing others. Moreover, the third aspect, students'
involvement in the learning process, was related to whether they are active in the
learning process. Asking question, giving ideas, or sharing experience were some
20
of the indicators in this aspect. The last aspect, submission punctuality, actually
took important role in order to give the teacher and the writer opportunity to give
feedback. Thus, students should submit their work in the end of the class. However,
in order to give them more chance, the submission could also be done outside the
class, but it was on the same day.
3. Observation Journals
Observation journals were used in order to generally capture the situation in the
teaching and learning process and also to add any information which were not
included in the observation sheets. Besides of that, the journal was also used in the
reflection process by the end of the cycle. Below is the blueprint of observation
journals.
Table 3.1
Blueprint of Observation Journal
Cycle Meeting Date Activities Findings
I I
II
III
4. Questionnaire Sheets
After the implementation of CAR, questionnaire sheets were distributed to add
information related students’ opinion and thoughts about the learning of writing
discussion text by applying teacher indirect feedback. Students’ response was
divided into three answers; Agree, Not Sure, and Disagree. Indicators used in this
questionnaire were as follow:
Table 3.2
Specification of Questionnaire
No. Indicators Total
Items Number Positive Negative
1 Guidance 3 2 1, 4, 5, 6, 7
21
No. Indicators Total
Items Number Positive Negative
2 Help 5 8, 9, 10, 14, 15
3 Information 2 2, 3
4 Knowledge 3 11, 12, 13
Total 13 2
5. Tests
In this research, tests were conducted to measure students' writing skills
improvement. The tests were essay tests for each and were divided into three steps;
pre-action, post-action I, and post-action II. In pre-action test, students were asked
to have freewriting, then the number of words produced would be used to
standardise the range of number of words students had to produce.
F. Data Collecting Technique
In this research, the data were collected from both qualitative and quantitative
data to illustrate the improvement in teaching and learning process. Qualitative data
were collected through interview, observation, and questionnaire to capture
description about the implementation of teacher indirect feedback technique. Then,
quantitative data were collected through test which was divided into two kinds; pre-
test and post-test.
1. Interview
The unstructured interview was done before implementing the CAR in order to
deeply analyse the problems faced by the teachers and related to the class situation,
students’ achievement, and also students’ and teachers’ attitude toward the teaching
and learning process of writing.
2. Observation
During teaching and learning process in the classroom, the observation was
done by using structural and open observation. Structural observation was carried
22
out by using observation sheets in order to notice the four aspects that needs
observing. Besides of that, observation journals were also used as open observation
in order to have further information about the other aspects that were not provided
in the observation sheets.
3. Questionnaire
Post-action questionnaire was conducted know students’ responses about the
implementation of teacher indirect feedback. The result of questionnaire, then, was
used to help strengthen the data used in this research.
4. Test
To measure students' writing skills, essay tests were conducted. They were
divided into two kinds; pre-action test and post-action tests. Pre-action test was
conducted before the implementation of teacher indirect feedback. Then, post-
action tests were conducted in order to measure students' improvement after the
technique had been applied. In each test, students were asked to write an essay about
the chosen topic. The topic had been informed before the post-action test to let them
find things they needed.
G. Data Analysing Technique
Analysing data was done to simplify data to be readable and interpretable data
which, later, would be used to draw conclusion. In analysing data gained from
questionnaire sheets, the researcher tabulated the frequency of students’ responses,
to transform the data into percentage and then the data were analysed. The highest
percentage could be interpreted as respondents’ tendency about the subjects, while
the lowest percentage could be interpreted as a tendency that did not describe
respondents’ opinions.2 Likert scale was used in tabulating the score as it gave a
gradation about the responses, for example, Always, Often, Sometimes, Never.3 In
2 Nana Sudjana, Penilaian Hasil Proses Belajar Mengajar, (Bandung: PT. Remaja
Rosdakarya, 2009), p. 128. 3 Sugiono, Metode Penelitian Pendidikan, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2010), p. 135.
23
this research, the researcher modified the scale by using Agree, Not Sure, and
Disagree to know students’ responses toward the implementation of teacher indirect
feedback.
Table 3.3
Likert Rating Score, Adapted from Sugiono4
Positive responses Negative Responses
Agree 3 1
Not Sure 2 2
Disagree 1 3
Besides of that, in analysing the data from observation sheets, the researcher
firstly tabulated the score for each aspect by using the rubric below:
Table 3.4
Rubric of Observation Sheets
No Aspects Sub-Aspects Score Assessment Criteria
1 Diligence
3 Seriously doing the task
2 Seriously doing the task if
supervised
1 Not seriously doing the task
2
Involvement
in learning
process
Response to
teacher’s
explanation
3 Actively paying attention to
teacher’s explanation
2 Not really actively paying attention
teacher’s explanation, sometimes
1 Not paying attention to teacher’s
explanation
Involvement
in group
3 Actively involved in group
discussion
2 Not really actively involved in
group discussion, sometimes
4 Ibid.
24
No Aspects Sub-Aspects Score Assessment Criteria
2
Involvement
in learning
process
Involvement
in group 1
Not actively involved in group
discussion
Interaction
with the
teacher
3 Often or Actively interact
2 Sometimes
1 Never
3 Preparation
3
Bring the framework and has met
the criteria
2 Bring the framework but has not
met the criteria
1 Do not bring the framework
4 Submission
Punctuality
3 On time/On the day
2 On the next day
1 On the next two days or more
Separately, data gained from observation and questionnaire were tabulated,
formed into percentage, and then analysed. Below is the formula to form the data
into percentage:5
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 =𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑥 100%
After the data had been formed into percentage, they were, then, analysed and
interpreted according to the following table:
Table 3.5
Score Interpretation Criteria, Adapted from Riduwan and Sunarto6
Percentage Interval Description
81% - 100% Very Good
61% - 80% Good
5 Riduwan and Sunarto, Pengantar Statistika untuk Penelitian Pendidikan, Sosial,
Ekonomi, Komunikasi dan Bisnis, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2013), p. 23. 6 Ibid.
25
Percentage Interval Description
41% - 60% Enough
21% - 40% Bad
0% - 20% Very Bad
Moreover, students' tests writing ability, analytical scoring rubric adapted from
J. B. Heaton was used. There are five aspects in the analytical scoring rubric, i.e.,
content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. The table below is
the analytical scoring rubric:
Table 3.6
Analytical Scoring Rubric7
Aspects Score Judgement
Content
30–27 knowledgeable, substantive
26–22 some knowledge of subject, adequate range
21–17 limited knowledge of subject, little substance
16–13 does not show knowledge of subject, non-substantive
Organization
20–18 fluent expression, ideas clearly stated
17–14 somewhat choppy, but main ideas stand out
13–10 non-fluent, ideas confused or disconnected
9–7 does not communicate, no organization
Vocabulary
20–18 sophisticated range, effective word choice and usage
17–14 adequate range, occasional errors, but meaning not
obscured
13–10 limited range, frequent errors
9–7 little knowledge of English vocabulary
Language
Use
25–22 effective complex construction
21–19 effective but simple construction
17–11 major problems in simple/complex construction
10–5 virtually no mastery of sentence construction rules
7 J. B. Heaton, Writing English Language Tests, (UK: Longman, 1988), p. 146.
26
Aspects Score Judgement
Mechanics
5 demonstrates mastery of conventions
4 occasional errors of spelling, punctuation
3 frequent errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization
2 dominated by errors of spelling, punctuation, etc.
In tabulating the score, each aspect in the rubric was counted. Then, to get the
mean of students' writing score in each test, the formula below was used:8
Mx = Σx
N
Notes:
Mx = mean
𝛴x = individual score
N = number of students
To know the class percentage that could pass the minimum mastery criteria,
the formula used was:9
𝑃 =𝑓
𝑁 𝑥 100 %
Notes:
P = the class percentage
F = total percentage score
N = number of students
H. Trustworthiness
To check the validity of the data, one of triangulation methods was used.
Triangulation is a technique in collecting data by combining various techniques in
collecting data in order to check the credibility of data.10 Thus, as supported by
8 Anas Sudijono, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, (Jakarta, PT Raja Grafindo Persada,
2011), p. 81 9 Ibid., p. 43. 10 Sugiono, op. cit., p. 330.
27
Mills, both qualitative and quantitative data may be involved and strengthen each
other. To make it simple, triangulation is a mean to support both data as it may
collaborate the strength of each data, besides it may also cover the weaknesses of
each data.11 Moreover, Stainback as cited in Sugiono explains that enhancing a
person’s understanding about what she or he is looking for, rather than just learning
the fact of phenomena, is what triangulation for.12
Among kinds of triangulation, methodological triangulation referring to the use
of more than one method for gathering data was applied in order to strengthen the
data since the validity of data is established only if the conclusions from each of the
methods reaches the same point. Furthermore, to do this triangulation method, the
data taken from observation and questionnaire was collaborated with the results of
the tests.
I. Criteria of Success
To determine the criteria of success in each cycle, the English teacher and also
the researcher decided to make requirements that the cycle would be concluded as
success only if both the result of observation was categorised as very good (81%—
100%) and the Minimum Mastery Criterion could be passed by, at least, 75% of the
students. In conclusion, if one of both aspects had not yet met the requirements,
then the next cycle should be conducted to solve the problems having not yet been
solved in the previous cycle.
11 Geoffrey E. Mills, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, (Boston: