A Study on the Problems Faced by English Teachers in Teaching Writing for Grade VIII at SMPN 1 Kasembon Malang

ABSTRACTWindiyati, Tri. 2010. A Study on the Problems Faced by English Teachers in Teaching Writing for Grade VIII at SMPN 1 Kasembon Malang. Thesis, English Education Department of Undergraduate Program, State University of Malang. Advisor: Harits Masduqi, M.Pd., M.Ed.Key words: teaching writing, problems, SMPN 1 Kasembon Malang Writing is very essential to be taught since ignoring the skills to write means not only ignoring writing skills themselves but also ignoring the contribution of writing skills toward the development of other skills. Compared to the other three skills, writing is considered to be the most difficult skill to master. Therefore, teaching writing is not an easy job because teachers might face several problems in the process of teaching writing in the classroom. he significance of this study was to reveal that problems in writing were not only faced by the students but also by the teachers. This study was also intended to find out how the teachers coped and managed their problems in order to help the students to write better. By doing so, it was hoped that the findings of this study can give recommendations for English junior high school teachers so that they can have teaching practice better. This study was a descriptive-qualitative research which was aimed at describing the problems faced by English teachers in teaching writing for grade VIII at SMPN 1 Kasembon Malang. More specifically, it was conducted to find out and analyze (1) the teachers' problems in relation to the teaching preparation, (2) the teachers' problems in relation to the teaching techniques, (3) the teachers' problems in relation to the textbooks used, and (4) the teachers' strategies to overcome the problems faced in the teaching of writing. The subjects of this study were two English teachers who taught for grade VIII at SMPN 1 Kasembon Malang. The instruments to collect the data were questionnaires, observation sheet, interview guide, and field notes. The data obtained from questionnaires, observation, interview, and field notes was classified then tallied. All the data were analyzed descriptively. This study revealed that problems faced by the teachers in teaching writing were various. The teachers face problems in relation to teaching preparation, teaching techniques, and the textbook used. However, they had strategies to overcome the problems faced. Both teachers made teaching preparation before they taught. However, they only made lesson plans and a semester program for one year in the early semester. As a consequence, the teachers got difficulties in (1) understanding the instructional objectives, (2) choosing themes and topics, (3) combining materials from the textbook and the workbook used, and (4) having insufficient time to prepare all the instructional preparation. In the process of teaching writing, the techniques used by the teachers were almost the same for every meeting. Both teachers rarely used other techniques because of their lack of knowledge on teaching writing and they got difficulties in (1) determining an appropriate technique for the students who had low ability and interest in writing, (2) choosing an activity that could encourage and attract students' attention to write better, and (3) arranging the activities which were going to be used in the class. To overcome this problematic condition, the teachers explained the materials for several times until the students understood. In relation to the textbook used, the teachers got difficulties because there was not any clear guidance and the instruction given was unclear.