IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ WRITING FLUENCY OF THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT SMA N 5 MAGELANG IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2015/2016 THROUGH THE USE OF THE DIALOGUE JOURNAL TECHNIQUE

This study aimed to improve the writing fluency of the tenth grade students especially X-C class at SMA N 5 Magelang in the academic year of 2015/2016 through the use of dialogue journal technique. The research was classified as an action research study which was done in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of two classroom meetings. The main subject of the research was 32 students of class X-C of SMA N 5 Magelang. The data obtained were in the qualitative and quantitative forms. The qualitative data were acquired from observations and interviews. The observations were reported in the form of field notes. The interviews were done with the English teacher and the students as well which were transformed into interview transcripts. The quantitative data were gained from the results of the students’ tests in the form of pre-test and post-test, which were analyzed to compare the scores before and after given the implementation of the dialogue journal technique. Validity principles were applied in this research; democratic validity, outcome validity, process validity, catalytic validity and dialogic validity. Furthermore, three triangulation principles were also implemented to test the trustworthiness; time triangulation, space triangulation and investigator triangulation. The actions in this research implemented the dialogue journal to promote their fluency in writing along with explaining the accuracy aspects of writing skills including grammatical rules and writing mechanics, and preparing worksheets and tasks to enrich their vocabulary mastery. The results of the research show that the implementation of the dialogue journal technique improved their writing fluency. They could write in confidence and without anxiety. Moreover, they had high motivation and enthusiasm during the writing process. The research findings show that the means of the students’ writing improved from 59.22 in the pre-test up to 72.19 in the post-test