i

IMPROVING STUDENTS ENGLISH WRITING ABILITY BY USING INTEGRATION OF MICROSOFT ENCARTA BASED LEARNING

(A Classroom Action Research for Tenth C Grade Students

of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta in Academic Year 2014/2015 )

by :

EDTWIN SULISPRIYANTO

NPM. 11520010

THESIS Written and Submitted as a Partial fulfillment of Requirements

for Achieving English Language Education Bachelor Degree

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

UNIVERSITY OF SLAMET RIYADI

SURAKARTA

2015

ii

APPROVAL

This thesis has been approved and examined by the consultants to be examined by the

board of examiners of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Slamet Riyadi

University.

Approved by,

First consultant, Second consultant,

Dr. Sri Handayani, S.Pd, M.Hum Ulupi Sitoresmi, SS, M.Hum

NIDN. 0625017401 NIDN. 0027107401

iii

ACCEPTANCE

This thesis has been approved and examined by Board of Examiners of Teacher

Training and Education Faculty of Slamet Riyadi University as a partial fulfillment of

requirements for the undergraduate Bachelor degree of English Education.

Tittle : IMPROVING STUDENTS ENGLISH WRITING ABILITY

BY USING INTEGRATION OF MICROSOFT ENCARTA

BASED LEARNING (A Classroom Action Research for Tenth

C Grade Students of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta in

Academic Year 2014/2015)

Name : EDTWIN SULISPRIYANTO

NPM : 11520010

Examination Date : Thursday, 20 August 2015

The Board of Thesis Examiners:

1. Luqman Al Hakim, S.Pd, M.Pd : () Chair Person

2. Lusiana Dewi K. , S.Pd, M.Pd. : () Secretary

3. Dr. Sri Handayani, S.Pd, M.Hum : () Examiner I

4. Ulupi Sitoresmi, S.S, M.Hum : () Examiner II

iv

ABSTRACT

Edtwin Sulispriyanto. 11520010. IMPROVING STUDENTS ENGLISH

WRITING ABILITY BY USING INTEGRATION OF MICROSOFT

ENCARTA BASED LEARNING (A Classroom Action Research for Tenth C

Grade Students of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta in Academic Year

2014/2015). A thesis : Teacher Training Faculty, English Department, Slamet Riyadi

University, Surakarta, 2015

This research is aimed at: (1) identifying whether or not integration of Microsoft

Encarta-based learning improves the students writing ability at the tenth C grade of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta and (2) describing how integration of Microsoft

Encarta based learning improves students writing competence. The method used in this research was a Classroom Action Research. The research

was conducted in three cycles at tenth C grade of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta from

October 2014 to April 2015. In collecting the data, the researcher used observation,

interview, field note, and test (pre test and post test). In analysing the data, t test formula was employed to calculate the mean score of pre test and post test.

The research findings show that the use of integration of Microsoft Encarta-based

learning can improve students writing ability. The improvements of the students can be seen from the followings: (1) the students are able to develop the supporting details of the

topic; (2) the students are able to organize the supporting idea to make adequate text; (3)

the students can use the correct spelling and punctuation; and (4) the students are

motivated to find their writing style towards the integration. Besides, the improvement of

the students writing competence can be seen from the improvement of the mean , KKM , t test scores as follow: pre test (4.44 and 30.20 ), post test one (6.647 and 55.50 and 4.176) and post test two (10.65 and 68.40 and 4.478), and post test three (15.529 and 99.7 and 5.029) . The class condition had also improved. The improvement of class

condition includes: (1) the students participation are more attractive both in group and individual, (2) the students are more active and enthusiastic during the teaching learning

process, (3) the students pay more attention and more focus on the activities during the

teaching learning process and during the integration.

In conclusion, Microsoft Encarta-based learning can improve students writing competence and learning condition in the classroom.

Key words: Writing and thinking, writing ability improvement, Classroom Action

Research, Microsoft Encarta Integration

v

MOTTO

So next time someone complains that you have made a mistake, tell him that may be

a good thing. Because without imperfection, neither you, nor I would exist.

(Stephen William Hawking)

One: remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two: never give up

work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three: if

you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is rare and dont throw it away.

(Stephen William Hawking)

Leave nothing undared. Seek by looking Lords perspective

(Eugene de Mazenod)

I don't care that they stole my idea . . . . I care that they don't have any of their

own , then If your hate of them could be turned into electricity, it would light up the

whole world.

(Nikola Tesla)

vi

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to:

1. My Almighty and Merciful Lord

2. My Beloved Parents , Sumardi Wiyono and MG. Ruspartiyah

3. My Lovely Brothers , Stefanus Wahyudi and FX. Prasetya Wibowo

4. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate Missionary

5. Miguel Angel Villace , magister of Frere lInstruction Chretienne de Ploermel

6. Mrs. Cindy Soeparno

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Prayerful to Thee, My Lord which Thy blessing to the researcher so that finished this

thesis as a partial fulfilment to the requirement for the graduate degree of education in

English.

In this occasion, the researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude and

appreciation to the following:

1. Dra. Sri Hartini, M.Pd., The Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of

Slamet Riyadi University for her approval of this thesis.

2. Dr. Sri Handayani, S.Pd, M.Hum., The Head of English Department of Teacher

Training and Education Faculty of Slamet Riyadi University for giving the

researcher permission to write this thesis and also as the first consultant who has

given guidance and motivation to the best result of this thesis.

3. Ulupi Sitoresmi, S.S, M.Hum., as his Academic Counselor for her guidance and

also as the second consultant who has given guidance and motivation to the best

result of this thesis.

4. All my beloved Lecturers in Slamet Riyadi University for the guidance.

5. Drs. Winarno , the Headmaster of SMK Wijaya Kusuma, Surakarta, who has

given the researcher permission in that school.

6. Dra. Sri Rahayu, M.Pd ., the English teacher of SMK Wijaya Kusuma, who has

given advice to the researcher practicing process.

viii

7. His Beloved Parents (Mr. Sumardi Wiyono and Mrs. Maria Gorreti

Ruspartiyah) who have given supports, loves, spirit, and prayer.

8. His beloved brothers (Stephanus Wahyudi Hidayat and Franciscus Xaverius

Prasetya Wibawa) who have given spirit and prayer.

9. His beloved teacher in Frere lInstruction Chretienne de Ploermel Noviciate ,

Mrs. Cindy Soeparno, M.Hum and family who have given love, spirit,

support, care and prayer.

10. His beloved friends in the class of PBI 09 (2011) who have given pray,

motivation, and care.

11. The XC students of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta, who have participated

well during the research.

12. Those who cannot be mentioned by the name in favour of praying and

supporting the researcher to accomplish this researcher.

13. Nothing is perfect, neither is this work. He hopes and accepts every comment

and suggestion. Hopefully, this thesis will be useful for the readers.

Surakarta, May 2015

The researcher,

ESP

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE i

APPROVAL ii

ACCEPTANCE iii

ABSTRACT iv

MOTTO v

DEDICATION vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vii

TABLE OF CONTENT ix

LIST OF APPENDICES xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1

A. Background of the Study 1

B. Limitation of The Study 3

C. Problem Statement 4

D. Aim of the Study 4

E. Benefit of the Study 4

CHAPTER II UNDERLYING THEORIES, RATIONALE, HYPOTHESIS 6

A. Underlying Theories 6

1. The Review of Writing

a. Writing Definition 6

b. Thinking in Writing 6

c. Writing Phenomenon 8

x

d. Writing : Pre-writing to Sentence Combining 9

e. Succession as Writing Indicators on Writing

Element 10

f. The Basic Procedures Toward Ideas to Writing 11

g. Integrating the Elements and Rubrics in Process 13

h. Macro and Micro Writing Skill 14

2. The Notion of Integration Of Microsoft Encarta 15

a. Microsoft Encarta : the History and Phenomenon 15

b. Microsoft Encarta as ICT Phenomenon and Its Effect

on Education History 15

1) The Benefits of ICT in Education in History 16

2) Microsoft Encarta as Example of ICT

based activity 16

B. Rationale 18

C. Hypothesis 19

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD 20

A. The Setting and the Time of Research 20

B. The Method of the Research 20

C. The Model of Action Research 21

D. The Technique of Collecting Data 22

E. The Technique of Data Analysis 24

CHAPTER IV RESULT OF THE STUDY 27

A. Introduction 27

xi

1. Classroom members 27

2. Schedule of the CAR 27

B. Research Finding 28

1. The result of pre-interview 28

2. The result of pre-observation 29

3. The result of pre-test 30

4. Implementing the Classroom Action Research 30

a. Cycle one 31

b. Cycle two 41

c. Cycle three 50

C. The Discussion of Research Finding 58

1. Process of Classroom Action Research (CAR) 59

2. The Product of Classroom Action Research (CAR) 60

3. The Data of Analysis Interpretation 62

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 64

A. Conclusion 64

B. Suggestion 65

BIBLIOGRAPHY 66

APPENDICES 70

xii

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Lesson plans 71

Appendix 2 The features used in the research 97

Appendix 3 The letter of preliminary research 99

Appendix 4 The letter of research permission 100

Appendix 5 The interview between a teacher and the researcher 101

Appendix 6 The interview between a student and the researcher 103

Appendix 7 The class members 106

Appendix 8 The Classroom Action research schedule 108

Appendix 9 table 4.3 Style writer Colors and type explanation 110

Appendix 10 table 4.5 The result of pre-test 111

Appendix 11 table 4.5 The result of post-test 1 112

Appendix 12 table 4.6 The result of post-test 2 113

Appendix 13 table 4.7 The result of post-test 3 114

Appendix 14 The result of scoring rubrics based on the writing elements 115

Appendix 15 the Result of Data Analysis 116

Appendix 16 Students product pre-test 117

Appendix 17 Students product post-test 1 118

Appendix 18 Students product post-test 2 119

Appendix 19 Students product post-test 3 121

Appendix 20 Students attendance 124

Appendix 21 Cycles Finding Framework 125

Appendix 22The calculation review 126

xiii

Appendix 23 the instruments 128

Appendix 24 Documentary 130

Appendix 25 Field Note 132

Appendix 26 The cycles framework 138

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of The Study

There are four language skills that should be mastered by students in

English learning. Those are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. And

these skills are integrated to each other. One which is more attracted is

writing. Sharpless (1999: 12) states that writing is a process of design, a skill

that is grounded in the way we use our intelligence to create and share things

of meaning in the world. Writing is a complex process, and most of the

research literature recognizes the difficulty which poses students. There are

two main facts which state that writing is so difficult. First fact is that writing

is not a spoken language, as it requires audiences or the readers to understand

and to interpret what has been written1. Parker (1993) states that writing is

torment to students2. From this fact, it is believed that writing requires great

deals of skills and conventions such as writing readiness and grammatical

rules for students to become proficient and effective writers. Second fact is

writing is not just putting pen to paper or writing ideas to paper, but it is how

ideas are presented and expressed affectively and effectively. Writing urges

not only the students but also people who need to learn writing for

occupational or academic purpose. This perspective leads teachers to make

1 Yah Awg Nik, Azizah Hamzah, Hafiz Raffidee bin Hasbollah, Why Writing in ESL Became

Difficult for Undergraduates,2009, page 1. 2 Parker. S , The Craft of Writing, London, Paul Chapman Publisher, 1993.

1

2

students master not only writing skill information but also effective and

productive collaboration in writing.

Based on preliminary research on XC grade in SMK Wijaya Kusuma

activity on writing, several problems occurred. First, it was related to students

learning condition in writing class. They were unable to generate idea. They

had limited vocabulary so that they used to stop to write. They could not move

in writing process. Second, students were still incapable to arrange good

sentences; there were mistaken grammatical use in their developing stage, and

error checking on punctuation, spelling, and capital letters. The third, students

were not enthusiasm in learning English, especially writing activity, their

Minimum Completion Standard (KKM) were still below than 66.68. Fourth,

teachers were in difficulty to lead students using ICT features to enhance their

learning integrated with rubrics, and then the students were remained silent,

then application of this were expensive. To enhance this, ICT is needed to be

developed on writing ability. The techniques work on English writing

elaboration such as generating ideas, problem solving activity, enriching

materials and development.

Hence, these are the opportunity and challenge to start a Microsoft

Encarta - based learning on English activity to endure students ability

included their writing skill. Encarta integration features engage those above

difficulties: technical problems, situation, teaching process, and product.

Towards the ideal, Encarta Integration focused on demonstrating their learning

writing based on to the consideration key factors in the activities toward those

3

difficulties. Writing requires the use of creative and critical thinking,

information skills to investigate, draw conclusions about, and create content

and quality without getting rid on students weakness in correction according

to the appropriate elements of writing through ICT. Otherwise, before using

ICT, students may not have access to the full learning experience that Chris

Anson describes3 :

We, teachers need to experience what our students experience . . . to feel the pressure of a deadline or that often productive discomfort of imagining our peers experiencing

our words. . . . We need to remember the moments of difficulty, of being twisted up in a

tangle of assertions . . . we need to remember as well the moments of satisfaction or

triumph when were surprised by our own words and their elegance or intelligence. (Anson 3031)

Anson here recommends that teachers need to come into what our students

experiencenot only to write what have our students written (see also Barr

Ebest, 2005: 6)4

. A crucial step towards understanding ones writing

students toward being rooted in the fieldcomes in sharing an equivalent

experience of difficulty through writing elements, rather than only sharing

equivalent topics or genres of writing.

B. Limitation of The Study

This research emphasized Microsoft Encarta integration through each

cycle. The researcher using adequate elaboration which working on the

students writing skill indicators learning variable through Classroom Action

Research (CAR) worked the parameters. Researcher focused on 10th

C grade

in SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta.

3

Anson, Chris,Teaching Writing Creatively: A Summer Institute for Teachers, Teaching Writing Teachers of High School English and First-Year Composition. (Ed), Robert Tremmel and

William Broz. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002, page 2739. 4 Barr Ebest, Sally, Changing the Way We Teach: Writing and Resistance in the Training of

Teaching Assistants. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2005, page 60.

4

C. Problem Statement

This research begins to propose questions towards the students writing

difficulties. The questions are :

1. Does Integration Microsoft Encarta improve students English Writing

Ability through the cycles on 10th

C grade in SMK Wijaya Kusuma

Surakarta year 2014/2015?

2. How is Microsoft Encarta-based learning implemented in each cycle ?

D. Aim of The Study

The aim of the study are :

1. To know whether integration of Microsoft Encarta-based learning

improves English writing students at 10th C grade of SMK Wijaya

Kusuma in the academic year 2014/2015 through the cycles.

2. To describe the implementation of Microsoft Encarta Integration on

10th

C grade of SMK Wijaya Kusma in the academic year 2014/2015

E. Benefit of The Study

1. Theoretical benefit

a. For the teachers :

The features found in the literature works integrally with

authentic content; authentic assessment, teacher-students cooperative

learning, reflection, and the incorporation of skills are included as the

useful information.

5

b. For the students :

The situation enhances the students to solve their own

problems without feeling afraid of being wrong. It is a big chance for

students to be more in generating ideas, powering potential of writing

character, and elaborating process in each cycle.

c. For the school :

The result will be a useful reference of developing teaching

technique. It is also an ideal time to integrate ICT teaching techniques

through software features and usages in the school.

2. Practical benefit

Practically, application of Encarta - lends itself particularly well to

an interdisciplinary approach to instruction. Those are as follow:

a. Students develop their knowledge; skills and stamina for independent

learning that are required for success in vocational high school,

college and the world of work.

b. The teachers have not only revealed the importance of metacognitive

and self-regulatory capabilities on the part of experts, but also the

absence of planning and self-monitoring writing skill on the part of

inexperienced and young problem solvers teachers5.

5 Metacognition refers to learners' automatic awareness of their own knowledge and their ability to

understand, control, and manipulate their own cognitive processes. Metacognitive skills are

important not only in school, but throughout life.

6

CHAPTER II

UNDERLYING THEORIES, RATIONALE, HYPOTHESIS

A. Underlying Theories

1. The Review of Writing

a. Writing Definition

Harmer (2004: 86) states that writing is a process that what we

write is often heavily influenced by constrains of genre, and then its

elements have to be present in learning activities. Tommasello

(2014:104) states that writing is activity through process and product

works into a pint or idea in relative scope of readable form. Hence,

from the definitions above, it can be concluded that writing is the

process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet, punctuation and

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

relative scope through process-product orientation.

b. Thinking in Writing

According to Tommasello (2014:104), thinking is explicating

conceptual content in conventional linguistic format (content that was

only implicit in some original communicative act) makes this content

ripe for self-reflection in a way of linguistics relativity6. This means

that writing is a cognitive activity through interpreting a rhetorical

situation, imagining what a reader would expect (later be called

6 Michael Tomasello, A Natural History of Human Thinking, Harvard University Press, (2014),

page 104.

6

7

readers consideration), gauging one's own feelings about a topic,

envisioning ways to present a position, and even considering the

meaning of terms in an assignment, writers are making critical

decisions to develop into readable form7.

Brown (2001:335) connects writing and thinking in a very

basic way. He states that written products are often the result of

thinking. In considering of this thinking and writing contain as a

pedagogical aspect. Teaching writing has evident which reigned

specific viewpoint on forms of the basis for designing writing

techniques principles. To mention a few, Brown brings up that it is

important to balance process and product, account for cultural or

literary backgrounds and provide as much authentic writing as

possible (2001:347). Cushing Wiegle states that writers spend a lot of

time planning and editing their work for both organization and

content, as well as taking the audience into consideration (2002:22-

23). Then, Strmquist refers to Hayes-Flower model 4 from 1981,

"A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing", and writes those different

stages that a writer goes through when writing is controlled by an

over-arching factor; a component within the writers writing ability,

through which the different thought processes in the writing takes

place (2007:32). It also means that time and readers considerations

are influenced by the cognitive process. It can be concluded that there

7 Linda Flower, Victoria Stein, John Ackerman, Margaret J. Kantz, Kathleen McCormick, Wayne

C. Peck , Reading to Write Exploring a Cognitive and Social Process , Oxford University Press ,

1990 , page 40.

8

is a circumstance of cognitive activity moving the writing capability to

produce readable form towards considerations influenced by cultural

or literary backgrounds through time.

Those statements above attempt to resolve some paradoxes

that face us when we try to understand how writing and thinking is as

activity. Hence, writing can be concluded as follows:1) writing is a

demanding mental activity, yet some people appear to write without

great effort; 2) most writing involves deliberate planning, but it also

makes use of chance discovery through thinking; 3) writing is

analytic, requiring evaluation and problem solving, yet it is also a

synthetic, productive process; 4) a writer needs to work within the

constraints of grammar, style and topic; 5) some kind of writing

(creative writing) involves the breaking of constraint; 6) writing is

primarily a mental activity, but it relies on physical tools and

resources from pens into paper to word device or processors; 7)

writing is a solitary task, but a writer is immersed in a world of social

and cultural influences.

c. Writing Phenomenon

Writing phenomenon is not only a spoken language but contains

pedagogical aspect. This is supported and developed by Hedge, who

states that writing is about guiding students to: produce whole pieces

of communication, to link and develop information, ideas, or

arguments for a particular reader or a group of readers. (2005:10)

9

Therefore, effective writing requires several things: a high degree of

organization regarding the development and structuring of ideas,

information and arguments. Furthermore, Hedge mentions features

such as a high degree of accuracy, complex grammar devices, a

careful choice of vocabulary and sentence structures in order to create

style, tone, and information appropriate for the readers of ones

written text (2005:7). Weigle looks at the writing ability as a social

and cultural phenomenon and as a cognitive activity (2002:14). All

these points make the teaching writing a complex matter, since all this

should be taken into consideration for efficient learning of writing

strategies and development.

d. Writing : Pre-writing to Sentence Combining

Pre-writing engages students in activities designed to help them

generate or organize ideas for their composition. Engaging students in

such activities before they write a first draft improves the quality of

their writing. Pre-writing activities include gathering possible

information for a paper through reading or developing a visual

representation of their ideas before sitting down to write. Sentence

combining involves teaching students how to write increasingly.

Complex sentences which are defined in this combining enhance the

quality of their writing. Studies establishing the effectiveness of

sentence combining primarily compared with traditional grammar

10

instruction. It can be concluded that pre-writing to sentence combining

improves students ability based on their product.

e. Succession as Writing Indicators on Writing Elements

Applebee and Langer (2006) on the association of strategies

based on formal writing achievement show that the association

between making changes to fix mistakes and achievement was by

far the strongest (p.24). This supported by North Coast Institute

(2007) that formal writing should possess the characteristics as follow:

(1) focus on the issue, not the writer, (2) choose words with precise

meanings, (3) avoid using slang, jargons, clichs, and abbreviations,

and (4) make your claims tentative rather than definite (p.1). Both

fixing mistakes and those characteristics are informal writing

indicators. These indicators are needed to be applied through formal

and informal writing.

One of writing is free writing. It is typically done by a student

for their own purposes, such as, to learn from reading, to better

understand ideas, and to explore or personally engage in what they are

reading (Graves, Juel, & Graves, 1998). It is concluded that writing

activity gives the writer the freedom to explore ideas without worrying

about making or correcting any mistakes. Then, writing serves: to

develop abilities: the abilities to define, to classify, to summarize and

to develop writing towards the rubrics (Empire State College, 2007). It

11

can be concluded that rubrics are integrated in writing elements

empower accuracy and ability.

The writing rubrics, an instrument that identifies the criteria that

is assessed in performance that are defined by descriptors included:

building the argument sequences: introduction to the idea, main

analysis, supporting evidence, conclusion; and formal aspects of the

writings elements: organization, use of language, referencing, layout,

and mechanics of language.

f. The Basic Procedures Toward Ideas to Writing

Brandon (2010: 29-70) presents a writing process of main steps:

prewriting, writing, revising and editing. Here are the details:

1) Prewriting Prewriting is the initial stage of writing which helps students generate

ideas and prepares them to write an essay. Techniques for generating ideas

for essays suggested by Wyrick (2002: 7-17) Trimmer (2004: 30-47),

Brandon (2005: 31-45), and The Writing Center of the University of

Kansas (2005) are free-writing or looping, clustering or mind-mapping,

brainstorming, interviewing, reading and note-taking, journal writing, and

surfing the internet.

2) Writing Writing or drafting means producing a preliminary written version

from the outline. It is the way to convert ideas into words. Most writers

write straight through the first draft without stopping to make correction.

At this stage, the outline is used as a guide for both the readers and writer.

3) Revising Revising is the time to make improvement to a piece of writing.

Changes can be made to content and organization by adding and deleting

details, or improving clarity, style and flow of ideas. Checking the

mechanics, grammar accuracy and coherency are also developed in this

step.

4) Editing Editing includes checking various aspects on the surface level such as

spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar or page formatting to ensure

that appropriate conventions are met.

(Brandon, Lee. Brandon, Kelly . (2010). Paragraphs and Essays: With

Integrated Readings (11th edition) . Wadsworth Publishing , page 29-70)

12

Hyland (2003:12) emphasizes that the teachers role is to guide

students through the writing process, avoiding an emphasis on form to

help them develop strategies for generating, drafting and refining

ideas or pint. Since writing has always been regarded as a difficult

skill, instructors of English writing skills accept that students writing

abilities may not reach a satisfactory level due to some errors. The

errors found in students writing show that they face severe difficulties

due to their lack of writing strategies as well as lack of language

proficiency.

The major difficulty was verb tenses. Using verb tenses has always been a serious difficulty and problem in writing for most students. Another major

difficulty encountered by students is word choice. Hence, encouraging

students to consider readers knowledge during the prewriting stage should be stressed. It would be an advantage if instructors design activities that

create specific readers other than the instructors themselves so that students

have a clear context for writing. (Boonpattanaporn , Pornpan, A Comparative

Study of English Essay Writing Strategies and Difficulties as Perceived by

English Major Students: A Case Study of Students in the School of Humanities, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce , 2005, page 8)

Therefore, pointing out errors and giving feedback by

instructors might not be enough to help students improving their

writing ability. In order to assist students to overcome difficulties, it is

necessary to examine what students actually think and do when they

write. The results reveal their strength and weaknesses and give

opportunities for instructors to advise and provide assistance regarding

their writing practice in a more practical and flexible way.

13

g. Integrating the Elements and Rubrics in Process

There are four criterion of writing according Harris, as follows:

1) Mastering Vocabulary : it plays an important role in a language, especially in the

writing activity. Vocabulary refers the writers knowledge. The number of words that is mastered indicates a number of concepts and improve by reading and

listening a lot from what has been mastered.

2) Mastering Grammatical Rules : it consists of phonology, morphology and syntax. Phonological rules dont have any roles in the writing activity, while morphological and syntactical rules play some important roles in the writing

activity, it deals with the effective use of the right affixes, conjunction, prefixes

and composition, and the structure of the sentences.

3) Coherency: it means that the writers paragraph is easy to read and understand because the supporting sentences are in some kind of logical order and the ideas

are connected by use of appropriate transition signals.

4) Spelling : One of the most difficult and confusing aspects of the English language is spelling system. There is often a discrepancy between the

pronunciation of a word and its spelling. They cannot always know how to spell

a word by its pronunciation or how to pronounce it by its spelling, to avoid this

problem; the students are suggested to open dictionaries before they are going to

write.

(HARRIS, David Payne, Testing English as a Second Language. New York; Mc

Graw-Hill Book Company, 1969, page 68-69)

Table 2.1 Scoring rubrics of writing

14

The standard of scoring writing rubrics is based on the products

of procedure achievement. The researcher occurs on analytic scoring

rating composition tasks is suggested by Brown and Bailey in HD

Brown (2003: 244-245) at that table above.

h. Macro and Micro English Writing Skill

In writing, there are some aspects which have to be considered.

Brown (2003:221) has summarized all those aspects into two main

skills; they are the micro skills and macro skills of writing. Later they

can be used in teaching writing as well as assessing writing.

Micro skills:

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English8. 2) Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose. 3) Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns. 4) Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization),

patterns, and rules.

5) Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms. 6) Use cohesive devices in written discourse. Macro skills:

1) Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse. 2) Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts

according to form and purpose.

3) Convey links and connections between events, and communicative such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information,

generalization, and exemplification.

4) Distinguish between literal and implied meanings of writing. 5) Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written

text.

6) Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing audience's interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in

the first drafts, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and

instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.

(BROWN, H.D, Language-Assessment Principles and Classroom Practice

Longman,2003, page 221)

8 A grapheme is the smallest unit used in describing the writing system of a language, originally

coined by analogy with the phoneme of spoken languages. A grapheme may or may not carry

meaning by itself, and may or may not correspond to a single phoneme. Orthographic pattern is the

conventional spelling system of a language.

15

2. The Notion of Integration Of Microsoft Encarta

a. Microsoft Encarta : the History and Phenomenon

Based on Microsoft Software, Encarta is

a digital multimedia encyclopedia which is published by Microsoft

Corporation from 1993 to 20099. In 2008, the complete English

version, Encarta Premium, consisted of more than 62,000 articles,

numerous photos and illustrations, music clips, videos, interactive

contents, timelines, maps & atlas and homework tools. According to

Computer Language Company Incorporation, Encarta is intelligent

digital encyclopedia which was launched in 1993 on CD-ROM . It

was initially based on the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia and later

augmented with the inclusion of Colliers and New Merit Scholars

Encyclopedias10

. Based on MSN (originally The Microsoft Network;

stylized as msn), Encarta is a collection of Internet websites and

services provided by Microsoft. Microsoft Encarta was created to

explore scholarly knowledge from one of the worlds most trusted

encyclopedias11

. This software helped families and lifelong learners

explore a world of knowledge. Hence, it can be concluded that

Encarta intelligent encyclopedia software is designed to easily find

relevant and reliable information for everyone in the family on just

9 Microsoft Encarta Premium , Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium, 2009.

10 Oscar Bonafante, Computer Desktop Encyclopedia copyright, The Computer Language

Company Inc. All Right reserved. 1981-2015 11

Microsoft Network, MSN.

16

about any subject whether searching online or offline and for more

integrations to enhance learning based ICT.

There are two main reasons of Encarta phenomenon as ICT-

based learning. Firstly, students need to develop the skills which will

enable them offered by ICT. Secondly, there is a growing body of

academic research (Interactive Education project at Bristol University

in the UK) which demonstrates how ICT enhances the quality of

teaching and learning in schools, and thus contributes to the raising of

standards of achievement in education. This below are some of them:

1) The Benefits of ICT in Education in history

In the UK, all research into ICT in education is monitored

by BECTA (British Educational Communications and

Technology Agency). Encarta gains in understanding and

analytical skills, including improvements in developing of writing

skills including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-

drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration (Lewin et al,

2000).

2) Microsoft Encarta as an example of teaching writing ICT-

based activities

Jill Blackmore et al states that (2003:2) most of the

significant positive computer effects in ICT-based technique are

students being in technology rich classrooms or come from action

research based projects with researchers reflecting on practice.

17

Certainly, ICT can be a stimulus to reform classroom practices.

But the most productive use of ICT is more likely to occur in

transformed classrooms alongside the students learning style and

adequate significance of skills production12

.

Encarta as an example of ICT-based technique occurs to

reform classroom students learning styles and the problems on

writing. The problem lies in the stages of the writing lesson

through Encarta. It is about how students put the correct grammar,

mechanics, organization of the paragraphs, and make the works to

become unique based on their application.

For example, if teacher wants students to create slide about the products or their experiences on something. Firstly, teacher must remember that

students are learning a set of new and valuable skill on writing alongside

the traditional subject content. Secondly, the teacher and students use the

Encarta-integration to engage the ideas, outlining, revising and debating

until the slides are made. In the example, they are earning how to use

Microsoft PowerPoint as well as something about the ideas using the

features in low cost. (Lewin, C., Scrimshaw, P., Mercer, N., and Wegerif, R, The KS1 Literacy

Evaluation Project Using Low Cost Computers, Open University Centre for

Language and Communication, Multilingual Matters, Ltd.)

The writing procedures are also integrated by maintaining

the process of using Microsoft Encarta tools (features,

encyclopedia, dictionary and sync applications) to endeavor the

writing elements improvement.

12

Jill Blackmore, Lesley Hardcastle, Esm Bamblett, Janet Owens, Effective Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Enhance Learning for Disadvantaged School Students,

Deakin Centre for Education and Change; Institute of Disability Studies, Deakin University and

Institute of Koorie Eduction, Deakin University, 2003, page 2.

18

a. Pre-writing: Encarta provides of generating ideas through the features. Students are easily to choose or combine the ideas in to write through the

encyclopedia tools.

b. Writing: Encarta provides the ideas in sequences to make the user compose some draft of writing without any correction.

c. Revising and Editing: This integration works on next procedures: revising and editing. In revising, Encarta integration is used to improve the

content, to maintain organization, to enhance clarity, style, flows of the

ideas, and to check the mechanics, grammar accuracy and coherency. In

editing, Encarta integration helps students in checking various aspects on

the surface level such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar or

page formatting to ensure that appropriate conventions are met.

At next, Encarta is emphasized through these following

engagements (GE-REDOC):

a. Generate : a topic or a title is determined. It is guided by the teacher or the students or the writers. The Encarta as the implementation helps them to

find or combine the ideas into subtopics through the encyclopedia, videos,

pictures, or articles. It infers the concept that will conduct readers perspective. A lesson plan is the main aspects to form from guided

generated ideas. The other one is collaborated by others materials

(authentic or artificial)

b. Empowering sync: the concept or outline collaborated by the individuals or group to produce the characterful writing. This works are the way to

provoke or to have the readers is attracted through the genre or rhetorical

development. The outline is developed in composing without correction.

Encarta integration such as Universalis or Rosetta Stone will useful on

this steps.

c. Editing-Revising Sync: after the outline or concept is developed enough, the writers could revising or editing by using Encarta-Style writer -

Encarta dictionary to reform the elements of writing, such as capital

letters, punctuation, diction, mechanics, coherency, passive-active option

according to rubrics. The writing indicators will be focused in this step. It

means the ideas composition, sequence and logical order, genre, purpose,

mechanics, coherency are acquired. This is the teacher role to help the

writers or the students English writing ability is improved. The integration Encarta-Style Writer or White smoke are useful here.

d. Opportunity and Continuity: The products of writing in this step are regarded as the track of writing improvement. It is a way of writing style

to get their positive or implicit function. The products may not over at

here. That is way the new style of learning or teaching writing leads the

students to endure another purpose in bigger ideas or purpose (such as

readability, other disciplines or literatures).

B. Rationale

To capture the uniqueness of Encarta-Based Learning and to provide

a way of screening out non-examples from this review the integrations are

focused on questions or problems that have students to encounter the central

19

concepts and principles of a writing discipline. The goal around Encartas

thematic units is students pursue, as well as the activities, products, and

performances occupy their time, must be "orchestrated in the service of an

important intellectual purpose" alongside writing elements. Hence, the

purpose using Encarta integration is also both process- and product-orientated

at different work stages, so the work and language skills are developed.

C. Hypothesis

In line with those above theories, the researcher states:

a. The writing ability is influenced by the role and process in fulfilling

writing rubrics. The students are able to enhance their problem-solving

skill, enriching materials, discussion activity to meaningful learning

when Microsoft Encarta Integration -Based Learning is emphasized.

That is the reason that Microsoft Encarta improves English students

writing ability.

b. The implemented sequence procedures in cycles show that the teacher

roles and process-product orientation endures students to focus on

writing succession indicators in the procedures (pre-writing, writing,

revising, and editing) and the rubrics. Hence, their activity through the

cycle endures the agility and ability of writing without fearing of

making mistakes based on GE-REDOC engagements.

20

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

A. The Setting and the Time of Research

In this study, the researcher worked on the tenth grade students of SMK

Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta academic year 2014/2015 as the setting and time

of the research. The school is located at Jl. Pleret Utama , Jetis, Sumber,

Surakarta. SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta is located in strategic place;

therefore it is easy to find some facilities supporting the learning process, for

example, photo copy service, language lab, and library. The research was

conducted through teaching and learning process in the classroom of XC.

B. The Method of the Research

The method which was used in this research was action research

method. Kemmis-Hopkins (1993: 44) considers action research as a form of

self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in social (including

educational) situation in order to improve the rationality and justice of (a)

their own social or educational practices; (b) their understanding of these

practices; and (c) the situations in which the practices are carried out.

According to Burns (1999: 30), there are four characteristics of the action

research. They are: (a) Action research is contextual, small scale and

localized. It identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation.

(b) It is evaluating and reflecting as it aims to bring about change and

improvement in practice. (c) It is participatory as it provides for collaborative

investigation of team of colleagues, practitioners and researchers. (d)

20

21

Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data that is

provides the impetus for change.

C. The Model of Action Research

In this study, the conducted classroom action research was an

attempt to improve the students writing ability by using Microsoft Encarta

Integration. The model of classroom action research was used in this study

is based on the model developed by Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns

(1999: 32). They state that action research occurs through a dynamic and

complementary process, which consists of four essential moments: of

planning, action, observation and reflection. Kemmis develops this model

based on the Lewins original concept. Those steps can be illustrated below.

The diagram can be explained as follows13

:

1. Identify the problem The teacher identifies the problem before planning the action. The

problem refers to the students difficulties in understanding the text. In this study, the researcher does the observation technique to find the problems. The

researcher observes the learning activities during the lesson.

13

The cycle may vary, not only two cycles. It depends on the needs of significant improvement

Figure .1 the Classroom Action Research cycles

22

2. Implementing the action a. Planning: In this step the researcher develops a plan of critically informed

action to improve what was already happening. In this step the researcher

makes plan to teach by making lesson plan and preparing the materials, pre

and post-test.

b. Action: The researcher implements the plans that have been made before. In this step the researcher implements her teaching by using project based

learning.

c. Observing: The researcher observes the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs. The researcher also observes how

the process of teaching runs, whether it is suitable with the plan or not.

d. Reflection: Reflection is done to know the problems and an issue when the action is implemented. If the researcher finds some weaknesses of the

activities that have been carried out in using the technique, the researcher

revises it in the next cycle. The researcher reflects on these effects as the

basis for further planning in the next cycle. If the progress has reached the

standard expected, the cycle will be stopped.

e. Evaluation act : In order to make sure whether there is an improvement of the students recount text mastery or not, the researcher gives the test. (BURNS, Anne..Collaborative Action Research For English Language

Teacher. Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, 1999, page 32)

D. The Technique of Collecting Data

In this classroom action research, the researcher used test and non-

test to collect the data:

1. Test

According to Brown (2004:3) test is a method of measuring

ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain. The test which

was used in this research was essay test through pre-test and post-test

2. Non-test

a. Interview

According to Hopkins (1993: 110) Interviewing in

classroom research can take four forms: it can occur between

teacher and students, observer and students, pupil and students

and, occasionally, teacher and observer. This later activity,

however, normally occurs as a consequence of peer

23

observation. The researcher interviewed the teachers and

students to get information about the problems toward English

teaching-learning activity in this research.

b. Observation

According to Richards and Lockhart (1996:12)

observation is suggested a way to gather all information about

teaching. In many language programs, teachers are often

reluctant to take part in observation or related activities since

observation is associated with evaluation. Thus in order for

observation to be viewed as a positive rather than a negative

experience, the observer's function should be limited to that of

gathering information. In this research, observation took all the

patterns of students behavior and things that happened in the

class.

c. Documents

Documents are the archives or corpus of materials.

This was used in such a case, interlocutors do not make a

selection of persons or situations in order to produce data by

applying methods to study them, but we take existing materials,

which we select in order to analyze them. (Flick: 2007). All

information from this research therefore were checked, was

cared with integrated parameters which the analysis has been

applied. A potential weakness, however, is the span of

24

inferential reasoning. That is, the analysis of the content of

written materials. This research used sources of data from

lesson plans, printout of Encarta implementation, and students

score.

E. The Technique of Data Analysis

The data analysis consists of five stages. Burns (1999: 157) states:

1. Qualitative data

a. Assembling the data

In this step the researcher assembled the data that she/he has

collected over period the research. The data are from field note,

researchs diaries, and interviewing result. Those are : the preliminary

products, informational research gathered by researcher.

b. Coding the data

Coding is a process attempting to reduce the large amount of data

that may be collected to more manageable categories of concept,

themes or types. Categories or codes can be developed to identify

pattern more specifically. The coding activity in this research was

described in the findings of the research (chapter IV)

c. Comparing the Data

The main aim at this stage is to describe and display the data

rather than to interpret or explain them. Comparison can be made to

see whether themes or patterns are repeated or develop across

25

different data techniques. In this research of writing enhancement

were described as the comparison.

d. Building interpretation

This stage demands a certain amount of creative thinking as it

is concerned with articulating underlying concept and developing the

theories about why particular pattern of behaviors, interaction or

attitudes have emerged. The researcher here needed to compare data

several times of post-questions, rethought the connections, and

developed the explanation of the bigger picture underpinning the

research.

e. Reporting Outcome

A final stage involves presenting an account of the research

or others. A major consideration is to ensure that the report sets out

the major process of the research, and that the finding and outcomes

are well supported with example from the data. In this research, the

outcome was the final considerations after completing cycles.

2. Quantitative data

The students achievement data are the result of pretest and

post-test. In analyzing the test score of the written test, a statistical

Figure 3. 2 Qualitative techniques

26

technique is used to find the mean score of the students. The data

from the written test are analyzed in order to know whether the

technique used can overcome the students problem in

understanding the text or not. The objective and the hypothesis of

this research are tested using the non-independent t-test. It is used

to answer the problem that claims that there is a significant

difference between the students achievement before and after the

action. The formulas were used as follows on this research:

a. The mean of pre-test and post-test

The mean of pre-test and post-test can be calculated with

the formula as follows:

N

XX

N

YY

X = mean of pretest scores

Y = mean of posttest scores N= the number of sample

b. The t-value

The t-value can be calculated with the formula as follows

(Ary, Donald and Jacob, L.C. Razaviech, 1979 : 150) :

Fig. 3.3 t-test equation

t = the t-value for non-independent (correlated) means

D = the differences between the paired scores

D = the mean of the differences

2D = the sum of the squared differences N = the number of pair

)1(

2

2

NN

N

DD

Dt

27

CHAPTER IV

RESULT OF THE STUDY

This chapter presents the results of this classroom action research

included: introduction, research finding and discussion. The introduction sub

chapter presents the classroom members and CAR schedule. Second subchapter is

about research finding which presents the result of pre-interview, pre-observation,

pre-test, and the implementation of Microsoft Encarta integration-based learning

through the cycles. The last subchapter presents the research finding discussion. It

consists of the process of CAR, product of the research, and data analysis

interpretation.

A. Introduction

The aim of this research was to find out how Microsoft Encarta

integration-based learning can improve the students writing ability in

English. This focused on the 10th

Grade C students of SMK Wijaya Kusuma

Surakarta. This research was also oriented on CAR as the method to earn the

significance implementation through its cycles.

1. Classroom members

Based on preliminary research, class XC consisted of eighteen

students. The researcher put the list of class members in the appendix 7

(table 4.1)

2. The CAR schedule

The researcher also described the schedule of Classroom Action

Research (CAR) activity as follow showed in table 4.2 (appendix 8 ).

27

28

B. Research Finding

1. The result of Pre-interview

The researcher did the interview on Tuesday, 21st October 2014

with the teacher of SMK Wijaya Kusuma academic year 2014/2015. In

this pre-interview, the researcher pointed the three questions. The

questions were about the students difficulties in writing, methods and

teaching-learning atmosphere. The first problem was students

difficulties encounter. The English teacher said that writing bear them a

big burden. Some elements of writing such as using vocabulary,

constructing sentences, using mechanics were integrated with verb

problems. Second problem was the methods. The teacher said that

writing class using dictionary, authentic materials, and task-based

learning was useful to make the students achieve English skill learning

but not writing class. Those burdened the students in trouble in putting

correct diction and tenses. It was identified when they used dictionary

to write. The most difficulty is using verbs in their writing task. The

third problem was about studying enthusiasm. The teacher said that

writing class had low enthusiasm even with dictionary. That was the

reason that they were lack in composing ideas and boring class

situation. An example ICT device, i.e. : Correct English v.1.0

(Summit IntelliMetric, 2008) software was very high cost earned, so

teachers or school couldnt afford, then the teacher proposed the low

cost even the free one. Here, figure 4.1 was the needed application but

29

the price is so high, hence the researcher was requested to develop the

low cost ICT-based learning software integration with their available

devices, such as Microsoft Office 2007, Windows XP to 8.01 for

Operating System, and offline operation user.

Figure 4.1. High priced for a month, online and unaffordable tool for writing

2. The result of pre-observation

The researcher did pre-observation on Monday, 27 October

2014. The observation has taken in Class X C of SMK Wijaya Kusuma.

Based on observation, the researcher identified that their writing ability

was still low and there were some difficulties on writing activity. The

Minimum Completion Standard of English in the XC grade of SMK

Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta (KKM= Kriteria Kelulusan Minimum)

pointed on score 66,68 and the mean score of the students pre test

was 32,0. It meant that the students were far from KKM qualification.

Teacher tried ICT technique such as digital dictionary and F7 function

30

in Microsoft word, but it still didnt improve their writing indicators

achievement. As solution and improvement of the students writing

competence, the researcher used Microsoft Encarta Integration.

3. The result of pre-test

The pre-test was conducted on Monday, 27 October 2014. It was

emphasized before implementing Microsoft Encarta integration. This

was applied in how students wrote simple understanding on invitation

sentences using would could - will. It took 30 minutes, and then the

researcher identified their difficulties. The result was described on table

4.4 in appendix 10. The mean of the pre-test was 4.44, then converted

to 100 % KKM , became 32,0 it meant that the class was below KKM

(Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal). The indicated problems were

organization, language development, spelling-mechanics-punctuation,

grammar and style and quality of expression.

4. Implementing the Classroom Action Research

The implementation of improving writing by using Integration of

Microsoft Encarta through Classroom Action Research was conducted

in three cycles. Each cycle was held in two meetings. Each meeting

took 90 minutes. Every cycle focused on composing invitation letter.

The implementation of first cycle was held from March 24th

, 2015 to

March 26th

, 2015, the second cycle was held from March 31st , 2015 to

April 2nd

, 2015, and the third was held from April 7th

, 2015 to April, 9th

,2015 It consisted of four steps (appendix 1) , as follow:

31

4.1. Cycle One

i. Identifying Problem

The researcher identified the problem before planning the

action. The researcher observed the class to know the situation

referred to the difficulties. The researcher also gave pre test to

the students of class XC of SMK Wijaya Kusuma Surakarta to

know students ability in composing invitation text. The

researcher asked the students to compose sentences which

connected to invitation. From the result of pre test, students got

32.20 (KKM) and 4.706 as the mean score. The incorrect

sentences were identified in vocabulary, composing sentences,

coherency indicators of invitation elements, and tenses through

verbs and passive voice.

ii. Planning

Based on the problems identified, the researcher used

Integration of Microsoft Encarta to solve the problems. The

researcher made a lesson plan before emphasizing the Encarta

features. Next, the researcher gave the basic material of invitation

and applied Microsoft Encarta integration. First, the researcher

taught the grammar review of using would-could-RSVP-will.

Second, the researcher praised what they had understood of using

that grammar review in formulating the sentences. Then, the

researcher gave example of indicating their difficulties on writing

32

activity through the integration in phase questioning and

polish. The researcher prepared an example from their products.

Before giving chances to the students, the teacher led the students

to understand how to apply Microsoft Encarta integration in their

Microsoft Word.

iii. Implementing the Action

1) First meeting

The first meeting was conducted on March 24th

, 2015 at

12.10 to 13.30. The researcher taught the material based on the

lesson plan that had been made in planning. The students made

personal invitation. The researcher made them practicing about

grammar review and formulated sentences according the

keyword of invitation element such as verbs, auxiliary, the

outline and the type of invitation

[1.] Opening

At 12.30 a.m. the researcher as a teacher entered the

laboratory. The researchers greeted, Its been long months

we didnt meet for English class. How are you today? and

they replied, We are fine Pak Edwin?, then the

researcher replied to ask, Who is absent today? and the

students replied Novita. She is sick. The researcher

marked the student name list and asked the students about

the topic of the lesson. The researcher asked about the

33

topic, that was Invitation. What do you think about

Personal Invitation? Some of the students replied,

Undangan, Mr. misalnya pernikahan, wawancara, ulang

tahun. It meant that some students knew about kinds of

invitation by their personal experience.

[2.] Main Activity

The researcher asked them to mention the verbs of

invitation through sentences in Indonesian, Maukah

engkau datang ke ultahku? Next they said, Can you

come ? , Jangan terlambat, silakan datang ke interview

dalam rangka test masuk kerja . The researcher said,

How do you say those in English. Some of them opened

the dictionary and their handout then said,Can you come

at interview?, Please, come to my party. Suddenly the

researcher asked them to write down their sentences to the

white board. Vita came forward and wrote, Please, come

to my house . I have birthday party sweet seventeen. Dewi

said, GPL you are welcome in class-meeting at this

month. The researcher praise them, Ini awal yang baik,

bagus sekali, dua orang sudah berani nulis.walau sedikit

ada kekurangan. Do you know what are them ?. Then,

they did not response to the mistakes in formulating the

sentences. They were in silent. The researcher asked one of

34

them to take papers of first assignment. One of them said,

Piye ,Mr. Aku nggak ngerti . The researcher said to them,

Dont be so stressed, tulis saja sesuai petunjuk. Look at

the direction. Jangan stress dulu. Next , the researcher

continued, Tulis dulu di kertas yang sudah disediakan ,

yakni menulis 10 kalimat yang memiliki unsur undangan.

Write ten sentences of invitation elements. Then, write

again your sentences in Microsoft word. Is there any

question? . They answered, OK..Mr Then , the

researcher asked to click adds-in button after dragging

their sentences. The students said, What is this ?. The

researcher said, Please, click selected documents at the

integration menu bar. There are shown your written

sentences in many colors. Check those sentences one by

one. Continue by your selves the incorrect words,

sentences, or bog. Then, make them correct according to

the alternatives, the tenses which we are learning today,

capital letter. Ask me if you are in doubt or blank .

Students seriously worked with their paper. There was an

example at this figure 4.2 .The researcher explained the

type and colors which engage students in comprehending

writing indicators as this table 4.3 (see : appendix 9).

35

Figure 4.2 . Encarta integration: Style writer MS Office in a student worksheet at Polish phase ( GE-REDOC engagement)

[3.] Closing

Before the class was ended, the teacher reviewed the

materials and asked whether the students have obstacles in

comprehending the feature at their works. The researcher

asked, Any problems?. The students answered, No,

sirpengin prakteknya biar disuruh buat surat pakai

Bahasa Inggris nggak kacau lagi. The researcher

continued, That would be our next meeting : endeavoring

your skill of writing. Keep your mind intact on this

integration. Yang utama kuatkan dulu pada detail

penggunaan integrasi ini. Then class was dismissed by

student led-prayer.

36

2) Second Meeting

The second meeting was conducted on Thursday, March

26th

, 2015. The lesson started at 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 am.

[1.] Opening

The researcher came to class XC and entered the

computer laboratory. The researcher waited until the students

ready to start the teaching and learning process, after the students

were ready, the researcher asked, Good day students?. The

students replied Good day, Mr. Edwin? Then, the researcher

asked the class condition, Hows this day, sleepy? and replied

by the students we are fine. And you? so the researcher

replied, Im fine too, thank you. Ready to continue? The

researcher checked the students attendance by asking , Who is

absent today? and the students replied Nihil. The researcher

asked them to open their last files that they have elaborated using

the integration.

[2.] Main Activity

The researcher started to identify the tenses as their most

mistakes in writing capacity. The researcher said, Open your

last file, then drag all sentences, and change the language ribbon

in English U.S or U.K, then identify the tenses. Tenses are very

important. Correct the mistaken tenses by looking blue, green, or

red underlined verbs. Just click your mouse at right side then

choose the appropriate according what our learning about

37

could-would-will or abbreviation, or other tenses. Bukalah file

terakhir, drag seluruh kalimat, ubahlah bahasa penulisan

menjadi bahasa Inggris UK atau US, lalu lihatlah tenses yang

telah kalian gunakan. Tenses sangat penting. Betulkan tenses

yang salah dengan melihat tenses yang verbalnya bergaris biru,

hijau atau merah. Klik mousemu pada bagian kanan , lalu

pilihlah mana yang tepat menurut apa yang telah dipelajari

tentang could-would-will atau singkatan atau tenses yang

lain. Since students were engaged in this integration, their

writing class became interactive. Dewi continued to ask the

researcher, Mr. Edwin, gimana kalau tensesnya kelirucara

melihatnya maksudnya. - Mr. Edwin , How to confirm that our

tenses whether wrong or correct, and how to fix it? . The

researcher answered, Mari, saya lihat kalimat dari contoh

undanganmu. Let me check your sentences, to endeavor your

tenses checking. Here figure 4. 3 below was the Dewis :

38

Mistakes in tenses did not accuse students as burden in

accomplishing their writing. The tenses correction above showed

above that this sentence, We hopes that we will get the same

support from you as we continue to receive in the others was

not correct. Then she changed, We hope that we will get the

same support from you as we continue to receive in the others.

Students continued for their problems which have tenses problem

or verbs mistake in their application. (hopes was changed to

hope , to received was changed to receive).

[3.] Closing

Before class was ended, the teacher reviewed the materials

and asked whether students have obstacles in comprehending the

feature at their correcting tenses and latest first meeting. The

researcher asked, Any problems? The students answered, No,

Sir. The researcher continued, Next meeting will be testing

your error recognizing in invitation using our two meeting.

Then class was dismissed by student led-prayer.

Figure 4.3. F7-Spelling & Grammar application

39

iv. Observing The Action

1) First Meeting

The first meeting contained an introduction of integration

of Microsoft Encarta for their improving techniques. Students

were in silent. The researcher conducted the students to

recognize this technique and to familiarize the features

integration. The researcher implemented their forming respond to

pursue pint, verbal thinking, and prior knowledge of invitation

without considering too many their mistakes. The features helped

them to learn the type, color, and elements of the integration.

Their mind started to open for correcting based on features. Their

enthusiasm continued for next development on tenses which

researcher had not started yet. The problems were found that

several students could not master the integration of Microsoft

Encarta faster and choose the correction alternatives within the

features.

2) Second meeting

The second meeting emphasized tenses correction for

their products. The process showed that students delighted to

know the basic grammar review about present tense, to infinitive,

and subject-verb agreement. This was a progress of using

integration. The researcher led their two-way sharing difficulties.

Some students could not still use the integration features until

40

this second meeting. It meant that there was an effect using this

integration of Microsoft Encarta. Since GE-REDOC engagement

emphasized until this second meeting, the students velocity in

comprehending tenses was effective.

v. Reflection

The researcher reflected those two meetings that

Integration of Microsoft Encarta was emphasized. Most of the

students had more motivation in learning writing. It meant that

the technique could improve their writing ability in identifying

and correcting writing elements. Based on the result of post-test

1, the researcher found that the students of XC grade improved

their writing skill but not so significantly in achieving KKM

(Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal) . Their mean was 8.65 in post-test

and that was 55.5 as their minimum completion grade (KKM). It

meant that the researcher needed to afford more. The table 4.5 in

appendix 11 showed their result of post-test 1.

vi. Evaluation

The researcher focused on KKM for next

implementation. The integration would be targeted to endorse

students on sentences coherency, capital letters, grammar and

paragraphs maintaining. Post-test 1 focused on grammar and

error spelling, acknowledging students at the features integration

for the first time. Hence, GE-REDOC was proven in evolving the

41

students mean and enthusiasm. Then, the weaknesses were

identified that there were some students learnt slowly and the

result was still below KKM (Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal)

4.2. Cycle Two

i. Identifying Problem

The researcher identified the problem before planning the

action. The researcher observed to know the situation referred to the

difficulties described the cycle 1. The researcher focused on the

weaknesses, i.e. slow learners and improving KKM.

ii. Planning

Based on the problems identified, the researcher used

Integration of Microsoft Encarta: GE- REDOC to solve the problems.

The researcher made a lesson plan before emphasizing the features.

Next, the researcher gave the materials invitation - the basics and how

to apply Microsoft Encarta integration. First, the researcher taught the

grammar review of using would-could-RSVP-will. Second, the

researcher praise what they have understood of using those tenses and

features colors and type. Then, the researcher gave example of

indicating their difficulties on writing activity through the integration

in phase questioning and polish. The researcher prepared an

example from nine mistaken invitations. Before giving chances to the

students, the researcher led the students to make pairs and solve their

difficulties of the latest meeting using F7 (Grammar Spelling) or Style

42

writer. There were nine groups in this cycle. Each group contained

two compared products. These products were compared to find how

far students conduct the integration of a mistake letter.

iii. Implementing the Action

1) First meeting

The first meeting was conducted on March 31st, 2015 at 12.10 -

13.30 pm. The researcher taught the material based on the lesson

plan that had been made in planning. The students screened the

mistaken invitation in pairs with two products for each pair.

[1.] Opening

At 12.10 am, the researcher as a teacher entered the

laboratory. The researchers greeted, Good day, are still in good

condition? and they replied, Yes we are fine, this is the two

last lesson, then the researcher replied to ask, How is absent

today? and the students replied Nihil, Sir. The researcher

asked about the topic, that was screening Invitation. What do

you think if you got a wrong invitation? Some of the students

replied, Salah tulisan maksudnya, Pak. ?waah berarti ndak

menghargai kuwi. At least we laugh.The researcher continued,

what if you made mistakes. It could be, will you ? . Bagaimana

jika yang buat kesalahan itu kamu ? Apa yang kamu buat ? .

The students were silent again, then the researcher said, It could

43

be solved, if you use what I am teaching now. Ini bisa diatasi jika

kamu menerapkan apa yang sedang saya ajarkan.

[2.] Main Activity

Researcher asked them to make pairs groups. Then, they

make nine groups. Each group consisted of two students. The

researcher showed an example of wrong invitations, which were

described below on figure 4.4. , then continued to theirs.

Figure 4.4. An example of mistaken invitation

Check those sentences one by one. Continue by your

selves the incorrect words or sentences or bog. Then, make them

correct according the alternatives, the tenses which we are

learning today, capital letter. Ask me if you are in doubt or

blank. The researcher explained the color-underlined which

engage students in comprehending writing indicators toward the

capital letters as this figure of 4.5 below.

44

Figure 4.5 . Encarta integration: towards capital letters

Next step was instructed the students to apply coherency,

punctuation, spelling, tenses checking (as the previous checking

tenses in cycle 1). The figure 4.6 showed that recognizing error

using integration features corrected writing elements.

Figure 4.6 Style writer was used by Group III

The researcher commanded the students to make two

repaired products of mistaken letters. The students began to do

this cycle easier than the first cycle. The figure above was from

Group III. The students asked, Mr, kalau misalnya nama jalan

itu apa ya harus di betulkan dalam bahasa Inggris. Should we

translate into English those words , such as : Jl. Legiman ? The

45

researcher answered, If it is so necessary, but it usually we just

let them as they are . If you find abbreviation like that : PS. It

means you need to write as English writing rule. Anything else ?.

Student said, Pak, kalau sudah tidak ada warna atau tanda

yang menyertai kata-kata itu, apakah itu sudah betul ? Sir, if

there is nothing sign such as colored or different-typed on those

words, is it our letter will be correct ?. The researcher continued,

That is very good questions. It has two options. First, you have

to be sure that your writing is correct. This means that you have

finished already. The other option is that you share your writing

with your friends, teacher, or online software. After making

correct letter according to the accurate ideas, supporting

sentences, grammar, and its content, which means your writing

would be good. Then , students continued to their work in pairs

to correct the mistaken invitation letter.

[3.] Closing

Before class was ended, the teacher reviewed the materials

and asked whether students have obstacles in comprehending the

feature at their works. The researcher asked, any problems ?.

The students answered, no, sirpengin prakteknya biar disuruh

buat surat bahasa inggris nggak kacau lagi. The researcher

continued, that would be our next meeting: endeavoring your

skill of writing based on your own theme. Keep your mind intact

46

on this integration. Then class was finished by student led-

prayer.

2) Second Meeting

The second meeting was conducted on Thursday, , 2015. The April 2nd

lesson started at 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

[1.] Opening

The researcher came to class XC and entered the computer

laboratory. Researcher waited until the students were ready to start the

teaching and learning process. After the students are ready, the

researcher asked, How are you ? still OK ? The students replied

Good day, Mr. Edwin? Then, the researcher asked the class

condition, Hows this day? and replied by the students We are fine.

And you? so the researcher replied Im fine too, thank you. Ready to

combat your difficulties more ?. The researcher checked the students

attendance by asking Who is absent today? And the students replied,

No one absent, Sir. The researcher asked them to open their last files

that they have elaborated using the integration just like last meeting an

error invitation.

[2.] Main Activity

The researcher started to ask pair to present their writing. Group

II came forward to present their writing improvement. Figure 4.7 below

showed that Group I has checked error sentences, corrected, and

organized the paragraph.

47

.

Group II presented their grammar correction on capital

words, the name, and abbreviation. Group II asked to the

researcher, Sir, why phrase per person in black in Encarta

integration, but not in tenses checker? The researcher

explained, There is a different perspective in choosing accurate

word. You may choose per person or each person. But, well

done because group II corrected the passive voice. It is a great

progress from simple problem. Give applause for Group II.

Other students said, Ini menyenangkan, Pak. Kerjaan saya jadi

mudah..Nggak takut salah lagi The researcher asked Group

VIII to present their works. There were improvising way in

checking error diction, coherency, and capital letters. Group VIII

empowered their discussion in using words Kid dance noun ,

Figure 4.7 The Feature : Checker , InDict and Style writer in correcting tenses

48

than kid dancing and identified error verb came to come

after auxiliary can. The improvising was in figure 4.8 below.

Mistakes in verbs, tenses, subject, capital letters, and

diction did not accuse students as burden in accomplishing their

writing. From these two examples, students enjoy to ease their

doubt on correcting the mistakes.

[3.] Closing

Before class was ended, the teacher reviewed the material

and asked whether students have obstacles in comprehending the

feature at their presentation. Then class was dismissed.

Figure 4.8. Improvising diction, verbs, and capital letters using Checker and Style Writer in MS-Office

49

iv. Observing The Action

1) First Meeting

The irst meeting comprised about introduction of incorrect

invitation. Based on target, students were optimized when the features

integrating their understanding writing. The problem was found that

students comprehended in capital letters, and verbs correction.

2) Second meeting

Second meeting emphasized tenses correction, voices, diction,

verbs for their products. The process showed that students delighted to

enhance their style in writing about present tense, to infinitive,

coherency, and subject-verb agreement. This was also a progress of

using integration. Their two-way presentation sharing minimized the

difficulties. It meant that there was an effect using this integration of

Microsoft Encarta in cycle II. While GE-REDOC engagement

emphasized until this second meeting, the students velocity in

comprehending writing elements.

v. Reflection

The researcher reflected cycle II that those two meetings that

Integration of Microsoft Encarta has been emphasized. Most of the

students had more motivation in learning writing. It meant that the

technique could improve their writing ability in identifying and

correcting writing elements. Based on the result of post-test 2, the

researcher found that students of XC graded improved their writing skill

50

included achieving KKM (Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal). Their mean was

10.65 in post-test 2 and 68.4 was their KKM. It meant that the researcher

needed to afford their writing grade more. The table 4.6 showed their

result of post-test 2 in appendix 12.

vi. Evaluation

The researcher focused on KKM and writing indicator grade (14-

20) for next implementation. The integration would be targeted to

endorse students on generating ideas, empowering sync, sentences

coherency, capital letters, grammar and paragraphs maintaining. Post-

test 2 focused on grammar and error spelling, acknowledging students

at the features integration (Encyclopedias, dictionary, articles, F7,

Style Writer)