IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY BY USING

DIARY TEXT ON NINTH-GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPN2

GADINGREJO

A Journal

Submitted as Compulsory of the Requirements for S1-Degree in English

Education Department

By:

ADELIA INTAN FATIMAH

2019406404004

LEMBAGA PENELITIAN DAN PENGABDIAN KEPADA MASYARAKAT

MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF PRINGSEWU
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
2024
 APPROVAL

Research Title : IMPROVING THE STUDENT’S WRITING

ABILITY BY USING DIARY TEXT ON NINTH-
GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPN2 GADINGREJO
Name : ADELIA INTAN FATIMAH
SRN : 2019406404004
Major : English Education
Faculty : Teacher Training and Education

APPROVED BY
Advisor Co-Advisor

Dr. Siswoyo, M.Pd Kuniati, M.Pd

NIDN 0209090701 NIDN 0207018702

The Chief of LPPm The Chief of the English Education

Department

Dr. Sofwan Adiputra., M.Pd., Kons. Fitri Wulandari, M.Pd

NIDN 0213108601 NIDN 0225078103
 IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY BY USING DIARY
TEXT ON NINTH-GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPN2 GADINGREJO

Adelia Intan Fatimah, Siswoyo, Kuniati

English Education Department
Email : adelia.2019406404004@student.umpri.ac.id

ABSTRACT

Writing is expressing ideas, opinions, and feelings to achieve a specific goal. In reality, many
students are also unable to express ideas in good written language. Most students lack creativity
and find it difficult to develop ideas. These things seem to result from their lack of time to practice
writing. This research used a descriptive qualitative method. The subjects of this study were 30
students in the ninth grade of SMP Negeri 2 Gadingrejo in the academic year 2022/2023. To
assess students' writing skills, this study used two cycles. Students were asked to write down their
experiences at SMP Negeri 2 Gadingrejo, and then data were analyzed based on grammar from
the writing project. The results of this study obtained positive feedback indicated by the difference
in student writing results before getting the action. The obstacles in this study before the action
was given were that students were not on time to submit projects and had difficulty developing
their writing. The scores of the writing project were also mostly above the minimum completeness
criteria (KKM). The provision of the habituation method of writing through diary text can help
improve writing skills.
Keywords: Writing ability, Diary, Descriptive Text

ABSTRAK

Menulis adalah mengekspresikan ide, gagasan, dan perasaan untuk mencapai tujuan tertentu. Pada
kenyataannya, banyak siswa yang tidak mampu mengungkapkan ide dalam bahasa tulis yang baik.
Kebanyakan siswa kurang kreatif dan sulit mengembangkan ide. Hal tersebut tampaknya
disebabkan oleh kurangnya waktu untuk berlatih menulis. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode
kualitatif deskriptif. Subjek penelitian ini adalah 30 siswa kelas IX SMP Negeri 2 Gadingrejo
tahun ajaran 2022/2023. Untuk menilai keterampilan menulis siswa, penelitian ini menggunakan
dua siklus. Siswa diminta untuk menuliskan pengalaman mereka di SMP Negeri 2 Gadingrejo, dan
kemudian data dianalisis berdasarkan tata bahasa dari tugas menulis tersebut. Hasil dari penelitian
ini mendapatkan feedback yang positif yang ditunjukkan dengan adanya perbedaan hasil tulisan
siswa sebelum mendapatkan tindakan. Kendala dalam penelitian ini sebelum tindakan diberikan
adalah siswa tidak tepat waktu dalam mengumpulkan tugas dan kesulitan dalam mengembangkan
tulisannya. Nilai tugas menulis juga sebagian besar di atas kriteria ketuntasan minimal (KKM).
Pemberian metode pembiasaan menulis melalui teks buku harian dapat membantu meningkatkan
keterampilan menulis.
Kata kunci : Kemampuan Menulis, Buku Harian, Teks Deskripyif
INTRODUCTION
English is a universal language in the
globalization era. Furthermore, English
is the most important international
language to learn. It is one of the
essential instruments for communicating
with other people. English is important
to be applied in education for students to
have a broader insight if they can
regularly use English in verbal and
written form. One aspect of English is
writing. Writing is expressing thoughts,
ideas, opinions, and feelings to achieve a
specific goal. According to Tarigan in
Syarif et al. (2009), writing is expressing
an idea or opinion in words. Writing is
an activity that students do every day.
However, in reality, many students feel
unable to compose and use sentences
with excellent and correct structures,
especially in the application of English.
Many students have difficulty in writing,
and this is evidenced by their writing
results, which are still low and only
meet the minimum English cut score
standard of 75. Most students lack
creativity and find it difficult to develop
ideas.
These problems are also faced by
students of SMP Negeri 2 Gadingrejo
based on the evaluation results from the
English subject teacher. In the case
found, many students in the school have
difficulty writing, and the student's
written works are often similar. The
researcher focuses on improving
students' writing skills through journal
writing techniques. The researcher
believes the journal writing technique
has many benefits in learning writing
because using this habit gives students
additional time to practice their writing
skills.
There is research conducted by Isnaeni
(2011) regarding journal writing, which
is used as a reference titled "Improving
Students' Writing Ability Through
Journal Writing: Classroom Action
Research in Grade Three of SMPN Batu
Layar in the 2011/2012 Academic Year".
This research was conducted in three
cycles on third-grade students of SMPN
1 Batu Layar in the 2011/2012 academic
year, consisting of 71 students.
However, she chose class XI.B as the
sample of 4 girls and 12 boys. Based on
the data findings, it can be concluded
that the application of journal writing in
writing learning can improve students'
writing ability. This improvement can be
seen from the students' pre-test results
before this strategy was applied and the
post-test after this technique was given.
In this study, the researcher chose diary
writing skills because the researcher was
interested and wanted to know the extent
of their writing skills in English using
diaries. Based on the problems described
above, the researcher chose the title:
Improving the Student’s Ability in
Writing Diary Texts on Ninth Grade
Students of SMPN2 Gadingrejo.
RESEARCH METHOD
In this study, descriptive qualitative
research was used. The case study
studied the need for information on the
English writing ability of ninth-grade
students of SMPN 2 Gadingrejo using a
diary book. The subjects of this study
were only taken for one class, totalling
30 students.
The teaching-learning process is divided
into some cycles.
1. Planning
At this step, the researcher explains
the planning of what, why, when,
where, by whom, and how the
action will be applied (Arikunto,
2010).
2. Action and Observation
This step implements the plan made
in the previous step, namely,
providing action in the teaching and
learning process. During the
implementation of classroom action
research, the teacher as an instructor
will manage the learning process
based on the plan or lesson plan. As
a researcher, the teacher will collect
data through observation. So, in this
 step, action and observation are
carried out simultaneously. The
researcher will teach the class using
the lesson plan that has been made
and be an observer who observes the
researcher during the research.
3. Reflection
The researcher will review the
planning and action process to
prepare for the next cycle at this
step. Data will be taken from the
previous step as input to make an
improvement plan in the next cycle
if the first cycle fails or has not been
successful.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
At the meeting in cycle 1, the learning
material was carried out on Friday,
March 17, 2023. At this meeting, the
teacher provides material about
descriptive text for students to
understand. The teacher explained in
detail the descriptive text material,
starting from the definition of
descriptive text, the purpose of
descriptive text, the general structure of
descriptive text, the characteristics of
descriptive text, and examples of
descriptive text. This is based on the
lesson plan (RPP). At the end of the
lesson, the teacher asked the students to
write their impressions of attending
SMPN 2 Gadingrejo. The results in this
cycle were achieved by the success
criteria of 56% of students who obtained
the KKM score of 75. Therefore, the
researcher held the second cycle.
Average of Score
82
80
78
76
74
72
70
CYCLE 1 CYCLE 2
The initial implementation of cycle
2 is learning material. This activity
was carried out on Tuesday, March
18, 2023. At this meeting, the
teacher repeated the material in the
previous cycle and focused on
discussing grammar. The teacher
asks the students to write down their
most memorable experiences while
attending SMPN 2 Gadingrejo, both
happy and sad. The data shows that
the average of cycle two tests is
79.6. From these results, in cycle 2,
student scores increased by 35.7%,
and the results that reached the
success criteria were 76% of
students who obtained the KKM
score of 75.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self-assessment is an assessment
technique where students are asked to
assess themselves about the status,
process, and level of achievement of the
competencies they learn or various
things. Self-assessment techniques can
measure cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor competencies. Self-
assessment is an assessment carried out
by students where students evaluate
their performance, strengths and
weaknesses, attitudes and interests, and
needs for improvement.
The self-assessment sheet includes four
points, namely the attitude of faith and
devotion, honesty, discipline, and
politeness. Students are asked to assess
themselves and their friends. The score
categories obtained by students are as
follows:
Poor = <1.50
Average = 1.51 – 2.50
Good = 2.51 – 3.50
Very good = 3.51 – 4.00
The result of self-assessment shows that
the average self-assessment has a good
or very good category. Students have
been very good in faith and devotion,
such as praying before carrying out
activities and worship, and polite
attitudes, namely behaving and speaking Darul Ulum
politely to others. On the graph of peer Sumenep (Doctoral
assessment, there is a difference with dissertation, Universitas Islam
self-assessment. The graph of peer Negeri Maulana Malik
assessment shows that there is a need to Ibrahim).
increase the sense of responsibility and
discipline, such as being able to do their Dalman. 2015. Keterampilan Menulis.
tasks and submit tasks on time. Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo
Persada.
CONCLUSION
Elina Syarif, Zulkarnaini, Sumarno.
Based on the results of the analysis and (2009). pembelajaran menulis.
findings of the author in conducting this Jakarta:Departemen
class action research, several things can Pendidikan Nasional.
be concluded. At the beginning of the
action, where the author asked students Jayanti, A. D. (2019). Students’ Writing
to write in a diary, several obstacles Ability on English Descriptive
were encountered, such as students who Text at Grade VIII in SMPN
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