Jurnal Linguistik Terapan Pascasarjana Unimed. Nurmala Didik Santoso Sri Minda Murni

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1 Linguistik Terapan 12 (2) (2015): Jurnal Linguistik Terapan Pascasarjana Unimed Available online The Effect of Teaching Methods and Linguistic Competence on the Students Writing Achievement Nurmala Didik Santoso Sri Minda Murni Diterima Juli 2015; Disetujui September 2015; Dipublikasikan November 2015 Abstract The objectives of the research were to investigate: 1) the students achievement in writing narrative text taught by using task-based learning higher than those taught by direct instruction, 2) the students achievement in writing narrative text with high linguistic competence is higher than those with low linguistic competence, 3) there is interaction between teaching methods and linguistic competence on students achievement in writing narrative text. It was an experimental research with the population of students at State Senior High School (SMAN) 2 Kisaran 2012/2013 academic year. The sample was selected by applying multistage cluster random sampling. The data collected were analyzed by applying two-way analysis of variance (2x2 ANOVA). The findings indicated that: 1) the students achievement in writing narrative text taught by using task-based learning is higher using direct instruction (80 > 67), 2) the students achievement in writing narrative text with high linguistic competence is higher than students with low linguistic competence, (80 > 65), 3) there is interaction between teaching methods and linguistic competence on students achievement in writing narrative text (sig. = 0.00 < 0.05). Based on the findings, it is suggested that task-based learning method should be applied in English teaching to develop the students writing achievement. Key words: writing; task-based learning; direct instruction; linguistic competence. How to Cite: Nurmala. (2015). The Effect of Teaching Methods and Linguistic Competence on the Students Writing Achievement. Jurnal Linguistik Terapan Pascasarjana Unimed, 12 (2): *Corresponding author.: ISSN nurmala@yahoo.co.id 113

2 INTRODUCTION Writing in a foreign language is one of the most challenging skills for almost all learners. Developing the writing skill is thought to be the most complex in comparison to listening, speaking and reading. What makes writing a very troublesome task for EFL learners is the fact that it requires some criteria of acceptability relative to different aspects of writing which include content, organization, vocabulary, language use, spelling, punctuation and accurate capitalization and paragraphing. Learning a foreign language requires learning the four skills of this language. Language teachers usually follow a certain order; beginning with listening, speaking, reading and then writing. The reason behind leaving writing at the end is that it is viewed as the most important, most difficult and most sophisticated one compared with the other language skills. The reading and listening skills are known as receptive skills, whereas the speaking and writing are productive skills. Writing is an important skill in which someone can express his/her ideas, thoughts, and experiences through written language. Manfred (2010) claims that writing is one form of communication. Writing is a process of putting ideas, thought, and feeling in words into a sequence of words combined into sentences in the forms of paragraph. Writing proficiency does not develop instantaneously; it is a continuous process that adapts and changes with one s experiences and education. Harmer (2004 : 86) states that writing is a process and that we write is often heavily influenced by contraints of genres, then these elements have to be present in learning activities. It is a continuous process of thinking and organizing, rethinking, and reorganizing. Writing is a powerful tool to organize overwhelming 114 events and make them manageable. Writing is really a form of thinking using the written word. Writing, like speaking, is essentially communication. The message expressed should always be determined by the context of the whole communication situation. This is sometimes overlooked either dealing with the grammar side of writing or dealing with writing as the free expression side of thoughts and feelings. But, in fact, many students are less competent in writing. They tend to avoid writing even before they try it. Writing skill in the context of EFL causes students to lack confidence to write in English. When they are asked to write, they face many problems in conveying what they want to say; selecting proper words, using correct grammar, generating ideas and developing them into a proper organizational pattern. More importantly, they have trouble using an acceptable writing format that conforms to a target language and they strive to manipulate proper language forms. It is very vital for the EFL students to grasp the whole knowledge of writing. The failure of the students in writing has been empirically proved by some researchers. To mention some as Suprinata (2002) in his findings stated that many students of senior high school made errors in writing, especially in narrative and exposition. Similarly, Marta (2003) has also conducted a research on The Students Ability in Creating a Writing Composition and the result showed that among 40 students, there were 11 students (27.9%) that could get good score in writing while the other 29 students (72.5%) failed to get the minimum standard. And the writers assumed that the failure in writing were caused by unadequate knowledge of the students on grammar and vocabulary to transfer their ideas into writing symbols.

3 As the researcher s experience in analyzing the achievement of students of grade at SMA Negeri 2 Kisaran in writing shows that the achievement in writing skill of competence standard: expressing meaning in written short functional text and simple essay in the form of narrative in the context of daily life is still low. Based on the list of score found by the researcher at that school, it shows that the students achievement in writing is the lowest compared to three other language skills. It is described in Table 1. Table 1 The English Score of the Students at SMA Negeri 2 Kisaran, 2011/2012 No Language Skill Listening Speaking Reading Writing IPA Mean Score of each Class IPA IPA IPA IPA IPA Mean The scores of the students' achievement in writing narrative text taught by using TBLT can be explained that the mean is 66.66, the median is 65.50, the mode is , the deviation standard is 6.62, the variance is 43.85, the range is 23.00, the minimum score is 57.00, and the maximum score is The scores of the students' achievement in writing narrative text taught by using DI can be explained that the mean is 60.47, the median is 60.50, the mode is 60.00, the deviation standard is 3.62, the variance is 13.10, the range is 14.00, the minimum score is 53.00, and the maximum score is The scores of the students' achievement with high linguistic competence in writing narrative text taught by using TBLT can be explained that the mean is 72.38, the median is 72.50, the mode is 73.00, the deviation standard is 3.95, the variance is 15.58, the range is 14.00, the minimum score is 66.00, and the maximum score is The scores of the students' achievement with low linguistic competence in writing narrative text taught by using TBLT can be explained that the mean is 60.93, the median is 61.00, the mode is 61.00, the deviation standard is 2.29, the variance is 5.26, the range is 8.00, the minimum score is 57.00, and the maximum score is The scores of the students' achievement with high linguistic competence in writing narrative text taught by using TBLT can be explained that the mean is 62.25, the median is 65.50, the mode is 60.00, the deviation standard is 2.91, the variance is 5.47, the range is 10.00, the minimum score is 57.00, and the maximum score is The scores of the students' achievement with low linguistic competence in writing narrative text taught by using TBLT can be explained that the mean is 58.69, the 115

4 median is 59.00, the mode is 58.00, the deviation standard is 3.44, the variance is 11.83, the range is 11.00, the minimum score is 53.00, and the maximum score is Independent variable of teaching methods can be grouped as A1B1, A1B2, A2B1, and A2B2. The mean of A1B1 is 72.38; A1B2 is 60.94; A2B1 is and A2B2 is The hypotheses of this research were verified by using two-way Analysis of Variance factorial design. The data description is presented in Table 2. Table 2 Summary of the Calculation Result of Two Way ANOVA Source Type III Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. Corrected Model a Intercept METHODS LINGCOM METHODS * LINGCOM Error Total Corrected Total Based on the table above, the statistical hypothesis can be tested as follows: First hypothesis: Ho : µ A 1 = µ A 2 Ha : µ A 1 > µ A 2 The result of data analysis showed in table 3 indicated that the sig. value is 0.00 which is < Based on the result, it could be concluded that null hypothesis (Ho) has been rejected. As a result, the alternative hypothesis of this research formulated that the students achievement in writing narrative text by using TBL method got higher score than taught by using Direct Instruction method is really true. Second hypothesis: Ho 2 : µ B 1 = µ B 2 Ha 2 : µ B 1 > µ B 2 The result of data analysis showed in table 3 indicated that the sig. value is 0.00 which is < Based on this result, it can be concluded that null hypothesis (Ho) has been s rejected. As a result, the alternative hypothesis of this research formulated that the students achievement in writing narrative text with high linguistic competence is higher than the students achievement in writing narrative text with low linguistic competence is really true. Third hypothesis: Ho : µ A x µ B = 0 Ha : µ A x µ B 0 The summary of ANOVA calculation in table 3 showed that the sig. value is 0.00 which is < 0.05, so this means that null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Thus, there is interaction between the teaching methods and linguistic competence. 116

5 The interaction between teaching methods and linguistic competence on the students achievement in writing narrative text can also be seen in figure 1. Students Scores in Writing Narrative Text HIGH LOW LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE Figure 1. Interaction between Teaching Methods and Linguistic Competence From figure 1, it can be seen the comparison between the line of Taskbased Learning and Direct Instruction was the interaction between teaching methods and linguistic competence that describing the estimation of the average value of students achievement in writing taught by using TBL and DI did not equal but cross each other. Discussion Based on the first hypothesis testing result, the average students' achievement in writing narrative text taught by using TBL is higher than the average students' 117 achievement in writing narrative text taught by using DI. It could be so because Task-Based Learning focuses on the cognitive process in writing rather than on the product. There is a shift from language-focused activities to learnercentered tasks in which students assume greater control over what they write and how they write. It emphasizes the relationship between the act of writing and thinking. In this atmosphere, it needs to create a workshop environment with the teachers acting as a facilitator who helps students devise strategies for planning, writing, revising, and editing. They evaluate their own writing. Although the

6 role of a teacher in TBL sometimes involves presenting and explaining things to students, it more usually involves serving as a guide and facilitator so that students learn to think and do the task on their own. However, both methods have different effect on the students achievement in writing narrative text. This conclusion is emerged from the comparison between mean score of groups taught by TBL method and those taught by DI method. As the result, the students achievement in writing taught by TBL method is higher than those taught by Direct Instruction method. Based on the second hypothesis testing result, the average students' achievement in writing narrative between the students having high linguistic competence is higher than students' achievement having low linguistic competence. These differences can be accepted because in effects of having high linguistic competence can be proven by the mean of the students score in writing test. As the result, the students achievement having high linguistic competence and of low linguistic competence in writing narrative text. Based on the third hypothesis testing result, the students achievement in writing narrative text is influenced by teaching methods and linguistic competence. It can be explained: 1) for those who have the high linguistic competence, TBL can assist students in writing narrative text, because TBL is suitable with the characteristic of those who have high linguistic competence. They have a good basic in linguistic competence so that it is not difficult for the students to compose narrative text. Then, in TBL they can participate and share each other freely without being reluctant. But, the students with high linguistic competence, direct 118 instruction cannot assist the students in composing the text because they are fully controlled by the teacher. They do not have freedom to express or even give opinion. One of the causes is due to their shyness to their teacher. It is unfortunately for them who have high linguistic competence. They find trouble to develop their knowledge because of their dependence on the teacher. 2) on the other hand, for those who have low linguistic competence, direct instruction can really assist the students in writing narrative text, because they are physically easy to monitor. They are fully guided by the teacher in producing narrative text. Based on the explanation above, it is clear that in general Task-Based Learning method can assist the students with high linguistic competence in writing narrative text. Meanwhile, Direct Instruction can assist the students with low linguistic competence in writing narrative text. The linguistic competence really affects the students achievement in writing narrative text. The higher the students linguistic competence is, the higher the students achievement in writing narrative text. Conclusion Based on data analysis and research findings at the previous chapter, it can be concluded that: 1. Both TBL and DI affect students achievement in writing narrative text. Students achievement in writing narrative text taught by using TBL is higher than those taught by using DI; 2. The achievement of the students having high linguistic competence is higher than those having low linguistic competence in writing narrative text; 3. There is significant interaction between teaching methods and students linguistic competence in writing narrative text. Students with high linguistic competence showed

7 significant effect in their writing achievement when they were taught by using task-based learning method while students with low linguistic competence showed significant effect in their writing achievement when they were taught by using direct instruction method. REFERENCES Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Standar Nasional Pendidikan Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris Sekolah Menengah Pertama.(National Standard English Subject of Junior High School). Jakarta. Harmer, J The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3 rd Edition. London: Longman. Marta, S The Students Ability in Creating a Writing Composition. Unpublished Thesis. Medan: Faculty of Languages and Arts. S 119

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