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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Problem and its Background

Writing is an essential component of communication. More people

can be reached through writing than through face-to-face conversation.

Poor writing abilities can leave a bad impression. It is a construction

process that has many different steps. Writing activities are entirely distinct

from listening, speaking, and reading activities because writing is one of the

productive abilities in language learning. There are some linguistic

conventions that must be followed when writing in order to effectively

express ideas and promote self-actualization to readers. Grammar and

vocabulary are two language-related aspects that are included in writing-

related tasks. This means that writing can give learners good opportunities

to deepen their understanding of grammar.

Writing is a skill that requires a wide range of other sub skills such

as reading, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, etc. It is a method

of rearranging words into sentences to create a written text and transmit

thoughts. This makes writing a complex process and skill that is hard to

master because one must know how to utilize the structure of language
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and vocabulary. But even though it’s a difficult skill to master, anyone can

learn to become a good writer.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to measure the writing proficiency of Grade 8

students of Aklan Catholic College.

The researcher believes that none of the high school students are

competent enough to disclose or explain any specific content on their own.

There are gaps in the high school students English writing skills growth.

Through this study, the researcher hopes to learn more about the

challenges of Grade 8 students in Aklan Catholic College face when

writing.

Hypotheses

1. There is significant evidence that the students may find it difficult to

convey their thoughts into words through writing.

2. There is no significant evidence that students will have a reason not

to write.
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3.

Theoretical Framework

This part of the study covers the various theories about the factors

that make one proficient in writing. The theories included are cognitive

process theory of writing and socio-cultural theory of writing.

Cognitive process theory of writing is a theory developed by Flower

and Hayes (1981). This theory discusses the thought process involved in

writing. This mental process involves variety of task, including plot

development, draft editing, and draft revision. Cognitive process theory

addresses how each of these actions will turn out. This theory has four

points: (a) “writing is a set of distinctive thinking processes which writers

orchestrate or organize during the act of composing” (Flower & Hayes, p.

366); (b) the components of the process are hierarchical and can be

embedded within each other; (c) “composing itself is a goal-directed

thinking process , guide by the writer’s own growing network of goals”

(Flower & Hayes, p. 366); and (d) writers should set goals or create new

goals based on experience. Based on this theory, we can say that goals
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are used by the writer to guide the writing process and are set and adjusted

throughout the process. As writers write, knowledge develops, and they

create, retrieve, modify, and consolidate goals based on the discovery of

new knowledge (Flower & Hayes).

Socio-cultural theory is a theory that was founded by a Russian

psychologist named Vygotsky. According to his theory, human

development and learning is shaped through the process of social and

cultural interaction. Learning happens when there is interaction,

negotiation, and collaboration among learners. So following this idea,

students’ learning and writing skills are not just the results of their individual

and own personal cognitive efforts. It is also being influenced and

contributed both consciously and unconsciously by their social and cultural

background that surrounded them in the same way. Oral language may

also be a factor in the students’ writing ability. Vygotsky believes that

written language grows from oral language and, in turn, becomes a

container of knowledge transferring ideas and experiences. It develops

through ''inner speech'' and is dependent upon the functional use of written

symbols instead of sound.

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Conceptual Framework

This part of the study is the expected relationship of our independent

and dependent variable. For the Independent variable of our study, it

consists of the respondents to our research. Our dependent variable will be

the Proficiency in writing of students. There will be other variables that will

be linking these two together and will help in explaining their relationship

with each other.

The writing proficiency of the students would of course depend on

how they will do in writing. Some variables that may play a role and have

an influence on these variables are the students’ learning development on

well they are learning. Some students may be quick learners and can

easily pick up on what they are taught, but some will need additional

assistance when learning. Depending on what they picked up this is what

they’ll apply in their tasks. In this case, the students’ learn for writing.

Another variable to be considered are the students’ skill in utilizing words

and language.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Grade 8 Students of Aklan Catholic College Writing Proficiency of Students

Students’ Learning Development

Students’ Learning for Writing

Students’ Skill in Utilizing Language

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Significance of the Study

This study aims to estimate the writing skills of the Grade 8 Students

in Aklan Catholic College. Writing is a skill that cannot be mastered by all,

but can be learned by anyone. The following persons are the ones that will

gain benefits from our study:

Teacher: Teachers are the ones who teach the students, knowing

the areas where their students might have difficulties in writing allows them

to come up with more effective ways of teaching. It will make it much easier

for them to know where their students needed more guidance and how will

they assist in their students’ learning.

Students: This study can help them identify their short-comings and

which areas in writing they needed to improve and pay more attention to.

Once they know in what areas they fall short in, they can address these

problems more easily.

Scope and Limitations

This study will be focusing on the writing proficiency of the Grade 8

students of Aklan Catholic College. This research will be conducted

through printed questionnaires as a tool for measuring the writing

proficiency of the Grade 8 Students. We will measure their writing skills

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using the questionnaires as a reference and asses their work with the

consideration of the following factors: Grammar, Spelling, Word

Vocabulary, and Organization.

This study will not cover the writing skills of grade 8 students from

other schools nor will it be including the writing proficiency of students from

other grade levels. The students must be of the 8th grade level and must

be enrolled in Aklan Catholic College. This study will not be covering the

students’ learning style and learning environment.

Definition of Terms

Writing – it is the process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet,

punctuation and spaces) to communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable

form.

Proficiency – a high degree of competence or skill; expertise

Skills – a particular ability to do something well

Cognitive process - any mental process used by an individual to retain,

retrieve, use, connect, or manipulate information.

Socio-cultural – a combination of social and cultural factors.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LIETRATURE

In this chapter, we have found different researches and articles that

are related to the research that we will be doing. We have organized and

grouped them based on their similarities in concept which lead us to the

three themes which we will be presenting, as it focuses on measuring the

writing ability of the Grade 8 Students of Aklan Catholic College; (1)

Learner’s Vocabulary, (2) Learning Method of Students, (3) Writing Skill

Level of Students.

Learner’s Vocabulary

The first research was about finding the students’ ability in writing

descriptive text on English subject in SMPN 33 Padang. It was revealed

that the students ability in writing identification are good to average, ability

in writing descriptive are fair to poor, ability in language use are very poor,

ability in using mechanics are fair to poor. It also showed that students had

difficulty in identifying objects clearly, difficulties in developing related

ideas, students lack of understanding of simple present tense structures,

limited vocabulary, and errors in mechanics. ( Ade Dwi Jayanti, 2019)

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Next is a study that aimed to determine the relationship between

students' vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of descriptive

texts which was conducted on the 7 th grade students of MTs AlFalah

Kebayoran's during the academic year 2021–2022. The statistics and

findings of this study indicated that there is a strong relationship between

students' vocabulary proficiency and their reading comprehension of

descriptive texts. (Nursyamsiah Alam, 2022)

In this next study, it explores one of the important aspects of Spelling

errors in writing skills in the English language. Spelling is necessary for

good writing. It is true that spelling errors are being done by everyone, but

poor spelling make writing a labored activity with regular interruption to the

thought process by excessive attention. It was found that poor spelling also

limits the writer’s choice of words, which negatively impacts and leads to

short pieces of writing. The students that have less vocabulary power also

had less interest to improve their writing skills. This means that poor

spelling can affect a person’s motivation to write. (Rizwan et. al., 2022)

Another important skill when writing is being fluent in language. It can

be in any language and doesn’t necessarily need to be English. But in this

study of Anibel A. Lamo, 2017, the researcher made a study that aimed to

determine the level of English Proficiency of Grade 9 Junior High Students

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of Jose Sanvictores Sr. National School. The findings though showed that

there’s a decline in the English proficiency of students because of their

preference to use their Native language. Although it’s not bad to choose to

speak in your native language but this also means that they’ll have a hard

time expressing their thoughts and ideas in English. When we apply this to

writing, we can say that being fluent and proficient in language is important

for it allows you to clearly and more easily convey your ideas to others in

written form. (Anibel A. Lamo, 2017)

Still being in the topic of language, a student’s like or dislike of a

certain language can also affect their ability to write. In a study about Junior

High School Students’ Difficulty in Writing Descriptive Text, one of the

factors that cause this difficulty is their dislike of the English language itself.

Know that this is more commonly observed in people where English is their

second language. According to the study, students considered writing

descriptive text is difficult to do because it is done in English which is a

foreign language for them. Even though the students know about writing

descriptive in general, it doesn’t make them want to learn about it. (Syifa et.

al.,2022)

Learning Methods of Students

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Writing performance competence is not a process in which teachers

impart knowledge to students, but rather one in which learners build their

writing performance competence on their own initiative.

Students are more able to learn complex skills when they possess a

high-level of thinking that enables understanding. Learners do not like to

learn writing skills because they regard it as too difficult and can’t see the

relevance of writing for their everyday or future lives. In the study of Tamer

Mohammad Al-Jarrah et. al., 2018, the use of cognitivism, constructivism,

and metagonitive strategies could address these concerns as teachers, by

valuing learners ideas and feelings, could assist in improving their attitudes

towards writing ability. These theories could also serve as a guide in

ensuring effective teaching and assisting learners to study and learn writing

effectively. (Tamer Mohammad Al-Jarrah et. al., 2018)

In another study, it suggests that Collaborative learning is also helpful

in addressing these concerns as it is a learner centered approach for

teaching and learning. It engages learners to work collaboratively with

teachers. This was proven to be an effective learning method. The students

of experimental group made better progress in improving writing skills. It

has been proven that through collaborative learning, students have made

better progress in improving their writing skills. Those who collaborated

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with each other was able to create better written texts and than those who

wrote texts individually. Through collaborative learning, students writing

skills while exchanging knowledge to create original work. When students

talked to their peers about their ideas, experiences, and perspectives, this

form of learning becomes more successful. (Bhim Lal Bhandari, 2021)

As previously mentioned in the first theme, spelling is necessary for

good writing and an important factor in written communication. It allows

people to express themselves through written communication as opposed

to oral communication. Learning how to spell is fundamental to acquiring

further academic knowledge. To effectively enhance the vocabulary skills

and spelling skills of students, they can apply strategies such as reading

strategies, storybook reading strategies, memorizing strategies, CCC

strategies, and writing strategies. (Haya Ali Alshahrani, 2019)

Raimes (1983) points out that learning to write is not merely an

extension of speaking a language. In her view, she differentiated between

speaking that is learned without any systematic instruction at an early age,

and writing that has to be taught at school. Raimes presents differences

between the two skills in this sense, such as the nature of speech when

using graphic symbols in writing, relying on voices and body language. In

the discussion, the variations of spoken language found in dialects, the

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pronunciation of intonation, and face-to-face interaction were found. While

writing relies more on standard forms such as grammar, vocabulary, and

style, writing is a scheduled method, and the writer needs to accurately

convey the message to the readers. (Sujana Suvin, 2020)

Writing Skill Level of Students

A majority of instructors and students struggle with teaching and

learning writing skills. Additionally, although both English instructors and

students believe they are engaging in writing activities in the classroom, the

students writing performance is not as promising as shown by open-ended

questions and comments from English language teachers interviewed.

In the study of Saeid et. al., 2017, students with high writing abilities

reported a significantly higher level of writing strategy use compared with

those who had intermediate or low writing proficiency. It was found that

students with higher writing ability reported using significantly more

metacognitive, cognitive, affective and effort regulation strategies that those

with lower writing proficiency.

Basic to writing are adherence to the ‘writing mechanics’ including

writing form, spelling, punctuation, and writing conventions. The said basics

of writing will serve as an important foundation for learners in effective

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written communication. Upon graduation at the elementary level, learners

are expected to write properly and with some creativity. Specifically,

learners should have acquired the following writing competencies; (1)

writing in cursive; (2) with correct forms and shapes of letters; (3) correct

capitalization of letters; (4) correct punctuations; (5) correct indentions and

margins. Through these skills, learners can use written communication

effectively and prepare themselves for the more complex forms of writing in

the higher levels of the education ladder. (Cabigao, 2021)

In one study, it was revealed that writing anxiety is negatively

correlated to their writing strategies and writing achievement. The results of

these study questions the common assumption that some students fear are

relevant to their writing. The results showed that the students with no

learning apprehension prefer creative more than tense strategies. (Arif

Ahmed Mohammed et. al., 2021)

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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter will explain the methods to be used in conducting our

research. It will include the research design, the respondents of the study,

research instruments, and data gathering procedures.

Research Design

The type of research we will be conducting is quantitative research,

and the research design that we will be using is the descriptive design. This

design is used to describe particular phenomena by observing it as it

occurs in nature. It helps answer the what, when, and how questions of the

research problem rather than the why.

In this design, there will not be any form of manipulation, and the

researcher does not start with a hypothesis. Its goal is only to describe the

person or object of the study.

Respondents

The respondents of this study are the Grade 8 Junior High School

Students of Aklan Catholic College.

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