USING THE BRAINSTORMING TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY AT SMP N 1 NANGGULAN KULON PROGO

This research is aimed at improving the eighth grade students’ writing ability at SMP N 1 Nanggulan Kulon Progo. The use of Brainstorming is expected to improve students’ writing ability. This research was classified as action research. The research was conducted in two cycles with three meetings in each cycle. There were two types of data collected in this study, namely qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected through observations and interviews. The data were used to describe the progress of the actions. Then, the quantitative data were collected through the pre-test and the post-test which were presented in the form of scores. The result of the study showed that brainstorming could improve the the students’ writing ability. Brainstorming activities could encourage the students to create as many ideas as possible. It facilitated the students to activate their prior knowledge before they practiced their writing. Moreover, the findings are also strengthened by the quantitative data. The mean scores of pre-test was 4.93 while the mean scores of the post-test was 6.24. It indicates that there was a statistical difference between the mean scores of the pre-test and the post-test. This implies that the implementation of the brainstorming technique is believed to improve the eighth grade students’ writing ability