Using Postcards to Improve The Writing Skill of The Eighth Graders of SMPN 18 Malang.

ABSTRAK Husniyah, Af’idatul. 2014. Using Postcards to Improve The Writing Skill of The Eighth Graders of SMPN 18 Malang. Undergraduate Thesis, English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor : Dra. Sri Andreani, M.Ed. Key Words: writing, postcards, writing ability, recount texts The aim of the present research was to improve students’ skill in writing recount texts using postcards portraying tourism objects in Malang and other places in East Java. The postcards were used as a medium to write recount texts using process approach proposed by Tompkins (2010). The strategy gave students enough time for the prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing stages. In the prewriting stage, the students brainstormed ideas using clustering in based on the picture in their postcards. In the drafting stage, they turned their ideas into sentences. In the revising stage, they revised their composition in terms of content and organization based on the teacher’s feedbacks. Next, in the editing stage, they edited their drafts in terms of mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization). Finally, they published their final composition in the publishing stage. This research employed Classroom Action Research (CAR) design with its four steps, that is: planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. The subjects of this study were the students of class VIIIG of SMPN 18 Malang in the second semester of 2013/2014 academic year. There were 38 students in that class. The criteria of succes referred to the product and process. The criteria of success for the product of writing was that 70% of the students got at least 75 (SKM) in writing recount texts by using postcards. The process success referred to the students’ positive attitude and feedback after the implementation of the action. The instruments used in this research consisted of students’ writing product to measure the students’ writing achievement, and field notes, observation guide, and questionnaire to know students’ attitude and feedback after the implementation of the action. The study took two cycles as the criteria of success could not be achieved in Cycle 1. The problems found during the implementation of Cycle 1 were: students got bored easily during the researcher’s confirmation, the time provided was not enough, some of the students copied and modified the sample text, and the students got bad scores in terms of grammar and mechanics. In Cycle 2, the researcher used “Who Wants to be A Millionaire” game containing questions related to the materials to gain students’ interests. The researcher spent less time in discussing the materials, instead, she used the time to write. The researcher no longer allowed students to bring the handouts to prevent them from copying and modifying the sample texts. The researcher also explained the use of the Past Tense, punctuation, and capitalization correctly. The findings of this research show that postcards improved students’ writing skill; 81% of the students passed the SKM of 75 in the end of Cycle 2. This medium also made the class atmosphere fun, so the students were encouraged to write. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the use of postcards can improve the students’ ability in writing recount texts. English teachers are suggested to use process approach in helping students to write recount texts. Future researchers are suggested to conduct researches using this medium with longer time allotment as students need more time in producing ideas and turning them into sentences. Another suggestion is to use more various postcards to provide students with more choices for their composition