AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC

WRITING AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS IN 2019

ACADEMIC YEAR OF UNISMUH

A THESIS

Submitted to the Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Muhammadiyah

University of Makassar in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the

Degree of Education in English Department

KHADIJAH

10535629715

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF MAKASSAR

2020

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

Motto :

Isy Kariman aw Mut Syahidan (Hidup mulia atau

mati syahid)

“Tuntutlah ilmu sampai ke liang lahat.”

Dedication:

A Thesis for My Beloved Family

Especially for My Beloved Father,

My Beloved Mother,

My Beloved Husband,

also,

For My Self

ABSTRACT

KHADIJAH 2019. An Analysis of Students’ Problems in Academic Writing at the

Fifth Semester Students of English Department Students in 2019 Academic Year

of Unismuh. Under the Thesis of English Education Department, the Faculty of

Teacher Training and Education, University Muhammadiyah Makassar,

Supervised by Bahrun Amin and Muh. Arief Muhsin.

This research has two objectives that were: (1) to find out the students’

ability in academic writing (2) to find out the problems faced by the students in

the academic writing of the fifth-semester students of the English department in

2019 academic year of Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar.

The method of this research was descriptive quantitative research. This

research used two instruments: academic writing tests and the questionnaire about

students‟ problems in academic writing. The subject of this research was fifth-

semester students of the English department at Universitas Muhammadiyah

Makassar in the 2019 academic year. This research used a purposive sampling

technique. This research used samples that consisted of 32 from 220 students as

the total population.

The result of this research identified the students‟ ability that categorized

as good with the mean score 81.02. The students‟ problem in the plagiarism

aspect reaches 23%, grammatical error 25%, lexical difficulties 25%, and lack of

planning 27%. It indicated that most students have various problems in academic

writing.

Keywords: Academic Writing, Students’ Ability, Students’ Problems.

ABSTRAK

KHADIJAH 2019. An Analysis of Students’ Problems in Academic Writing at the

Fifth Semester Students of English Department Students in 2019 Academic Year

of Unismuh. Skripsi Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Fakultas Keguruan dan

Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. Dibimbing oleh Bahrun

Amin dan Muh. Arief Muhsin.

Penelitian ini memiliki dua tujuan yaitu: (1) untuk mengetahui kemampuan

siswa dalam penulisan akademik (2) untuk mengetahui masalah yang dihadapi

oleh siswa dalam penulisan akademik siswa semester lima jurusan bahasa Inggris

pada tahun 2019 tahun akademik Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar.

Metode penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif deskriptif. Penelitian ini

menggunakan dua instrumen: tes menulis akademik dan kuesioner tentang

masalah siswa dalam penulisan akademik. Subjek penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa

semester lima jurusan Bahasa Inggris di Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar

pada tahun akademik 2019. Penelitian ini menggunakan teknik purposive

sampling. Sampel penelitian ini berjumlah 32 dari 220 siswa sebagai total

populasi.

Hasil penelitian ini mengidentifikasi kemampuan siswa yang

dikategorikan baik dengan skor rata-rata 81,02. Masalah siswa dalam aspek

plagiarisme mencapai 23%, kesalahan tata bahasa 25%, kesulitan leksikal 25%,

dan kurangnya perencanaan 27%. Diindikasikan, bahwa sebagian besar siswa

memiliki berbagai masalah dalam penulisan akademik.

Kata kunci: Penulisan Akademik, Kemampuan Siswa, Masalah Siswa.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are no more appropriate words to say than Alhamdulillah, all praise

is only for Allah, in His hands are all greatness and power, the Lord of the

universe, master of the day of judgment, God Almighty, for all blessings and

mercies so the researcher was able to finish this thesis. Peace and blessing be upon

the final chosen religious messenger, the Prophet Muhammad Shallallahu „alaihi

wasallam and his followers in this world.

Alhamdulillah, with Allah‟s permission and gift, the researcher could

finish her thesis after a long struggle and hard effort. Thus, the researcher also

intended to express her most enormous gratitude to her beloved parents

(Syamsuddin and Nur Amsi), who always pray, support, and motivate her of

every part of her life, especially in doing this research. Also, she would like to

express the enormous thanks and gratitude to her beloved husband (Muhammad

Taqiyuddin), who gave his permission to live separately during the researcher

finish this study, always gives his support, motivation, and pray especially in

finishing this research.

The researcher was realized many people were already helped her in

arranging and writing this final project directly or indirectly. So in this

opportunity, the researcher would like to express the deepest appreciation to:

1. Prof. Dr. H. Abd Rahman Rahim SE., MM. as the rector of Makassar

Muhammadiyah University and Erwin Akib M.Pd., P.Hd as the Dean of

FKIP for their support and motivation during her study at UNISMUH.

2. Ummi Khaerati Syam, S.Pd, M.Pd. As the head of the English Department

of FKIP, also for her signature, support, and motivation.

3. The Researcher‟s supervisor are Dr. H. Bahrun Amin, M.Hum., and Muh.

Arief Muhsin, S.Pd., M.Pd., who have given guidance, valuable advice,

and correction during the development of this research.

4. Dr. Syamsiarna Nappu, S.Pd., M.Pd. as the researcher‟s lecturer and also

the lecturer of academic writing course of the fifth-semester students as the

subject of this research, who always gives her help and support in

completing the researcher‟s data of the study.

5. The researcher‟s beloved sisters, brothers, and all big family, who always

give inspiration and motivation to continue her studies.

6. The researcher‟s friends who always help and motivate her in

accomplishing this research in the English Education Department Class C

2015 (CHAZTALS) whose name can not be mentioned, may Allah give

His blessings.

7. Her beloved friends who have always been on the researcher's side in

facing all the laughter and tears during her study Sam Pravita Sari, S.Pd.,

and Mirdawaty, may Allah give His blessings.

8. The researcher‟s beloved sisters in Al-Qanitaat, Kakanda Irmayani Idris,

Kakanda Sulistiawaty Hardiani, Kakanda Fika Sholeha Ilyas, Kakanda

Desy Filda Zulkifli, Kakanda Afifah Hadju, Kakanda Miftahul Jannah,

may Allah give His blessings.

9. The researcher‟s beloved friends in Haamilal Qur‟an, Zakiyyah Darajat,

Musdalifa M, Nurayu Rezki, Nurul Faizah, Nur Afiah, Mukhlisah Nurul

Khair, and Nadiah Nursalam, may Allah give His blessings.

10. The students of the Muhammadiyah University of Makassar, especially the

fifth-semester students of the English Department, have a great study.

May the Almighty bless us now and forever, and this thesis can be useful,

Aamiin!

Finally, the researcher realizes that this thesis surely has lacks and deficiencies.

Therefore, the researcher intended to express her gratitude to accept any

suggestions and corrections from anyone for better writing.

Makassar February 2020

Researcher

LIST OF CONTENTS

TITLE ............................................................................................................. i

LEMBAR PENGESAHAN ........................................................................... ii

APPROVAL SHEET ..................................................................................... iii

COUNSELLING SHEET 1 ........................................................................... iv

COUNSELLING SHEET 2 ........................................................................... v

SURAT PERNYATAAN............................................................................... vi

SURAT PERJANJIAN .................................................................................. vii

MOTTO.......................................................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... ix

ABSTRAK ..................................................................................................... x

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................ xi

LIST OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... xiv

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... xvi

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................ xvii

LIST OF APPENDICES............................................................................... xviii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background ........................................................................................ 1

B. Problem Statement ............................................................................. 5

C. Objective of the Study ........................................................................ 5

D. Significance of the Study ................................................................... 5

E. Scope of the Study ............................................................................. 6

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Some Previous Related Findings ....................................................... 7

B. Some Partinent Ideas .......................................................................... 9

1. The Concept of Writing ............................................................... 9

a. Definition of Writing.............................................................. 9

b. Elements of Writing ............................................................... 10

c. The Process of Writing........................................................... 12

2. The Concept of Academic Writing .............................................. 13

a. Definition of Academic Writing ............................................ 13

b. Features of Academic Writing ............................................... 15

c. Problems in Academic Writing .............................................. 16

C. Conceptual Framework ................................................................... 19

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD

A. Research Design ................................................................................. 20

B. Research Variable and Indicators....................................................... 20

C. Population, Sample, and Sampling .................................................... 20

D. The Instrument of the Research ......................................................... 21

E. Data Collecting Procedure ................................................................. 22

F. The Technique of Data Analysis ........................................................ 23

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A. Findings .............................................................................................. 26

1. Result of Students‟ Academic Writing Test................................. 26

2. Result of Students‟ Questionnaire ................................................ 29

B. Disscussion ......................................................................................... 34

1. Students‟ Ability in Academic Writing........................................ 35

2. Students‟ Problems in Academic Writing .................................... 36

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 39

B. Suggestion ................................................................................................. 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 40

APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Final Score of Students‟ Ability..................................................... 24

Table 3.2 Score of Students‟ Answer in Questionnaire ................................. 25

Table 4.1 Categories of Students‟ Ability in Academic Writing ................... 27

Table 4.2 Percentage of Students‟ Ability in Each Aspect of Writing .......... 28

Table 4.3 Questionnaire of Students‟ Problems in Plagiarism ...................... 30

Table 4.4 Questionnaire of Students‟ Problems in Grammatical Error ......... 31

Table 4.5 Questionnaire of Students‟ Problems in Lexical Difficulties ........ 32

Table 4.6 Questionnaire of Students‟ Problems in Lack of Planning ............ 32

Table 4.7 Percentage of Students‟ Problems of Each Category..................... 33

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 The Conceptual Framework ......................................................... 19

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 Scoring Rubric of Students‟ Ability in Academic Writing

APPENDIX 2 Test Instrument of Students‟ Academic Writing

APPENDIX 3 Questionnaire of Students‟ Problems in Academic Writing

APPENDIX 4 List Name and Code of the Samples

APPENDIX 5 Result of Students‟ Academic Writing Test

APPENDIX 6 Percentage of Each Aspect of Writing

APPENDIX 7 The Score of Students‟ Problems in Academic Writing

Questionnaire

APPENDIX 8 Percentage of Each Category Problem

APPENDIX 9 Result of Students‟ Academic Writing Test

APPENDIX 10 Documentation

APPENDIX 11 Result of Students‟ Questionnaire

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

One of the skills in majoring English Language is writing. Brown in

Ramadani (2013) stated that writing is the other forms of spoken language that

represented graphically or symbolically. In Oxford Living Dictionaries, writing is

a sequence of letters, words, or symbols marked on a surface. From all the

definitions mentioned, it can conclude that writing is the process of the way

people express their ideas or thoughts using language symbols or words. When

writing something, people must have their purpose. One of the writing purposes is

for academic interests or more often called academic writing that usually done by

the students of schools or colleges.

Teachers or lecturers often give academic writing in schools or universities

or, moreover, occur in the educational curriculum. Bowker in Swarni (2016) said

that academic writing is a particular genre of writing that prescribes its own set of

rules and practices. In my.cumbeia.ac.uk site, academic writing is a specific style

used in formal essays and other assessments for the course. It requires official

language, a logical structure, and should prop by evidence. Swarni (2016) said

that some urgent things should be paid attention in writing such as grammar,

choice of word, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, vocabulary, and unity among

the paragraph. Leo in Dwinhandini et al. (2013) claims that three basic principles

that considered in a piece of academic writing are content, register, and topic. In

short, the definition of academic writing is a type of script that has an educational

purpose with particular rules. The rules should be applied to reach the goal of

academic writing.

There are some types of academic writing, such as essay, research,

summary, journal, book review, proposal, thesis, and so on. An essay is a kind of

writing that describe or show the writer‟s perspective or story about a subject.

While research, according to Nordquist, R (2019), is the collection and evaluation

of information about a particular essay. A summary is the small or simple type of

writing that rewritten from a long text. A book review is the commentary of book

content. A proposal, thesis, and dissertation are the academic writing that usually

occurs in colleges as the obligation task for the students that write about a subject.

Before doing research, students in college mostly asked to write a proposal first as

a college requirement. Academic writing has its specific purpose and

characteristics.

In writing any academic writing, many undergraduate students, especially

in the English Education Department, face some problems that influence their

writing task, writing skills, and further might also their writing of proposal and

thesis. Many students in college cannot write some academic papers such as

essays, research proposals, thesis, dissertations, and so on. That lacks skill in

academic writing makes some students do plagiarism in any task of their college

activity. The students‟ problems caused by some factors, internal or external, such

as the minim of knowledge they understand in English, lack of doing exercise,

lack the motivation to learn more, and so on. Cause of some factors, some

students have problems doing their academic research primarily to fulfill the

requirements of academic writing.

Abdulkareem (2013) researched a related study aimed to investigate the

academic writing problems encountered by Arab speaking postgraduate students

at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The findings of the research showed

that participants were mostly made errors in simple writing task. The result

described that students have many errors in the sentence structure, vocabulary,

and expressing ideas in academic writing. The errors are varies from high

percentage to low in the aspects of academic writing problems.

Alfaki (2015) also conducted related research aimed to identify university

students‟ writing problems in the English language and to encourage ways of

solving those problems. The findings revealed that those university students have

various writing problems: language problems at the levels of morphology and

syntax, usage errors, and mechanical mistakes, that is, spelling, punctuation and

capitalization, lack of several writing development skills, cognitive problems and

graphomotor problems.

Al Mubarak (2017) has researched a related study aimed to look into

various challenges encountered by English second language students in academic

writing in ordinary graduation project in the context of universities, specifically

focused on identifying the problems faced by the Arts Colleges within the

University of Al-Imam Al Mahdi, Sudan. He found that the students faced

numerous challenges relating to academic writing at the university level. It

discovered that many problems with academic writing experienced by the students

while writing were articles, punctuation, prepositions, irregular verbs, weak

expressions, consistency paralleled structure, and use of verb tense.

This study may have similarities with previous studies in terms of

students‟ problems in academic writing such as the mechanical mistakes, sentence

structure and grammar, the cause of the issues, the purpose of plagiarism, and so

on. The thing that makes this study is different from the previous research is the

place where this study took. This study took place in the Muhammadiyah

University environment, especially in the English Education Department. The

subject of this study was also different. This research subject is the students in the

2019 academic year of Unismuh in the English Education Department. The

condition of the students also has some particular situation based on their

experiences and environment while doing or learning academic writing. The

methods applied, the techniques in learning, the media used and other learning

conditions also influenced their interest and motivation in learning academic

writing course.

Over time, the problems faced by college students in academic writing in

many changes by the times. Some issues reduced with the existence of solutions

that implemented correctly, but not a few problems that developed. Besides, the

researcher observed themselves and people in the researcher‟s environment,

which are the student friends who still lack the knowledge of academic writing so

that they often make mistakes and face many problems when working on tasks

with educational goals. Base on this, the researcher intends to research under the

title “An Analysis of Students’ Problems in Academic Writing at English

Department Students in 2019 Academic Year of Unismuh” The research

focused on the analysis of the problems do the students face in doing their

academic writing.

B. Problem Statement

Based on the description in the background above, the researcher

formulated the research questions that are:

1. What are the categories of the students‟ ability in academic writing?

2. What are the problems that students face in academic writing?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem statement above, the goals of this research are:

1. To find out the students‟ ability in academic writing.

2. To find out the problems students face in academic writing.

D. Significance of the Study

There are some significances of this research that are;

1. This research will be beneficial to the writer who researched to find out the

objective of the study as the answer to the research question.

2. This research would provide information that can be a benefit to the

English teacher or lecturer about the students‟ problems in academic

writing.

3. This research also would be beneficial to the reader or the researcher who

will conduct further research.

E. Scope of the Study

This research focused on analyzing the students of the English Department

of Unismuh of 2019 academic year about their ability in academic writing with

five categories of assessment that are content, organization, vocabulary, grammar,

and mechanics. And also, the analysis of the problems faced by them in academic

writing based on four categories of common problems that are plagiarism,

grammatical errors, lexical difficulties, and lack of planning.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Some Previous Related Findings

Abdulkareem (2013) researched a related study aimed to investigate the

academic writing problems encountered by Arab speaking postgraduate students

at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The result of the study showed that

students committed many mistakes in academic writing concerning sentence

structure, vocabulary, and expressing ideas. The results presented the most errors

made by the participants in a simple writing task. The mistakes ranged from the

highest percentages to the lowest about the aspects of academic writing problems.

Alfaki (2015) also conducted related research aimed to identify university

students‟ writing problems in the English language and to encourage ways of

solving those problems. The findings revealed that those university students have

various writing problems: language problems at the levels of morphology and

syntax, usage errors, and mechanical mistakes, that is, spelling, punctuation and

capitalization, lack of several writing development skills, cognitive problems and

graphomotor problems.

Raza (2015) researched a related study aimed to identify problems that the

students encountered in writing their academic papers and which strategies they

reported to be employing to find solutions to their problems. The findings of the

study indicated the most significant difficulties in „cause of plagiarism‟, „deciding

whether the citation is needed or not, and „paraphrasing that results in over

quoting. Yet the least difficulty in „using block quotations. The other least delicate

three items were paraphrasing because of insufficiency in „grammar, „vocabulary,

and „in-text citation rules.

Al Mubarak (2017) has researched a related study aimed to look into

various challenges encountered by English second language students in academic

writing in ordinary graduation project in the context of universities, specifically

focused on identifying the problems faced by the Arts Colleges within the

University of Al-Imam Al Mahdi, Sudan. He found that the students faced

numerous challenges relating to academic writing at the university level. It

discovered that many problems with academic writing experienced by the students

while writing were articles, punctuation, prepositions, irregular verbs, weak

expressions, consistency paralleled structure, and use of verb tense.

Azizah and Budiman (2017) conducted a related study aimed at finding

out the difficulties and challenges in writing the English article for international

journals and outlining their perception about the importance of writing to public

goals. The findings of the study indicated the most severe difficulty in writing the

article is expressing knowledge. Besides, students have the opinion that writing

for public goals is fundamental in the academic field, and accordingly, the

university‟s bolster is needed to prepare their paper.

Alfiah, S. N. (2018) has conducted related research aimed to find out the

kinds of problems in writing an argumentative essay for Indonesian EFL learners.

The result of the study showed that the students‟ difficulties in writing an

argumentative essay were lack of exercise in writing, lack of structure and

grammar, confusion in word classes, understanding in English learning.

B. Some Pertinent Ideas

1. The Concept of Writing

a. Definition of Writing

Writing is the way to communicate with other people by using words.

According to Richard Nordquist (2019), writing is a system of graphic symbols

that can be used to convey meaning. Writing is the action of composing a text.

While according to Merriam Webster, there are some definitions of writing. First,

writing is the act or process of one who writes. Second, writing is something

written, such as; letters or characters that serve as visible signs of ideas, words, or

symbols; a letter, note, or notice used to communicate or record; and written

composition. Third, writing is a style or form of essay. And fourth, writing is the

occupation of a writer, especially the profession of authorship.

Nunan in Yuniati (2015) believes that writing is the act of creating ideas,

think the way to express thoughts, and manage the concept into sentences or

paragraphs to make them clear to a reader. Gaith, also in Yuniati (2015), said that

writing is the process that passed by a writer to scour his ideas and thought and

make their ideas are concrete.

Byrne in Junaid (2012) states that writing is more than the prediction of

the sounds. The symbols have arranged according to specifications in the

convention. As a rule, however, the students do not write just one sentence or

several the sentence as arranged in particular order and linked together in specific

ways. Widdowson, also in Junaid (2012), states that writing is a communicative

activity and carried out by one specific general principle in which underlines the

use of language in communication.

From all the descriptions above, it concluded that writing is the use of

words, symbols to represent the speech sounds or language in text form and to

express the thoughts and ideas of someone to be read by the other people.

b. Elements of Writing

According to Wilbers, S (2008), five elements of effective writing

described below.

1) Central Idea: is the element to have good writing with focusing the topic,

organizing the ideas and arguments.

2) The organization is the element to have good writing with making the

paragraphs are coherent and organizing them logically and sequentially.

3) Supporting material: the element to have good writing with supporting

sentences, explanation, and examples.

4) Expression, Word Choice, and Point of View: the element to have good

writing with providing the explicit language, high accuracy, specific and

appropriate to the audience.

5) Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation: the element to have good writing with

pay attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

While according to Junaid G.J (2012), there are five components of

writing. The five elements are content, organization, vocabulary, language use,

and mechanics.

1) Content is the topic development serviced by the writer. It is how the writer

delivers his thoughts about the topic in paragraphs.

2) The organization is how the writer makes his paragraphs coherent with each

other.

3) Vocabulary is the use of diction in organizing the paragraphs without making

the ideas or topic is hazy.

4) Language use refers to the use of the correct grammatical and syntactic pattern

on separating, combining, and grouping ideas in words, phrases, clauses, and

sentences to bring out the logical relationship in paragraph writing.

5) Mechanics refers to the use of graphic conventional of the language, i.e., the

steps of arranging letters, word sentences, paragraphs by using knowledge of

the structure, and some others related to one another.

Nurgiantoro in Yuniati (2015) mentioned some components in scoring

writing that is organization, content, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanic.

1) Organization means how the writer organizes his idea. Wether each paragraph

is organize well or not. The organization of the text is fluent in expressing,

reveal clearly ideas, good organization, logic sequence and cohesive.

2) Content refers to the development of the topic using supporting sentences. The

excellent content had to fulfill the criteria such as full of information;

substantive makes a clear thesis development and relevant to the problem.

3) Language means the students use practical complex sentence construction and

make only a few faults in the use of grammar.

4) Vocabulary means if the students could choose the correct words as it is

function and master informing words.

5) Mechanic means a paragraph is a combination of some sentences which need

proper spelling and punctuation. If the use of punctuation is not appropriate,

the article will be unreadable. So the students should be mastered in writing a

good paragraph.

Based on the description of the aspects or elements in writing above, it

concludes that there are some aspects or features in writing that are content or

central idea, organization, language use or grammar, vocabulary or choice of

words, and mechanic.

c. The Process of Writing

According to Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue in Putri (2014), four steps

should be done for writers.

1) Prewriting. Prewriting is a way to get ideas. In this step, writers choose a topic

and collect thoughts to explain the issue.

2) Planning (Outlining). In the planning stage, the writer needs to organize the

ideas generated by brainstorming. The most successful way to organize the

ideas generated is that outlining brainstorming.

3) Write and Revising Drafts. After doing brainstorming and outlining as the first

draft and the second process of writing, the writer can start to write and revise

several drafts frequently until the writer has produced a final copy to hand in.

4) Write the Final Draft. The last stage is to write the final copy or product to

hand in.

Richard and Renandya in Cakrawati (2012) also stated some stages in the

writing process that are planning, drafting, revising, and editing.

1) Planning. In the planning stage, the students are encouraged to write.

2) Drafting. The drafting stage is focusing on fluency of writing and not

preoccupied with grammatical accuracy or the neatness of the draft.

3) Revise. On the revising stage, the students re-write their text based on

feedback given in a responding step.

4) Editing. On the editing stage, the students engaged in tidying up their text as

they prepare the final draft for evaluation.

2. The Concept of Academic Writing

a. Definition of Academic Writing

According to Valdes (2019), academic writing is any formal written work

produced in an educational setting. Academic writing is frequently used by

students, professors, and researchers to make paper, arguments, or any writing to

public goals. There are some characteristics of academic writing that are

evidence-based arguments, precise word choice, logical organization, and an

impersonal tone.

According to Hartley in Brodhacker (2016), academic writing pertains to a

specific form of depiction that professionals utilize to establish the intellectual

specifications associated with their disciplines as well as their particular fields of

expertise. Components of academic writing comprise of usage of the third-person

point of view as opposed to the first-person point of view, a formal tone, a precise

concentration on the study issue under examination, plus an exact and elaborate

word choice. Similar to specific dialects acquired within various other fields, most

notably, legislation, the law, or the practice of medicine, academic writing created

to show harmonized meaning regarding problematic methods or designs for a field

of educational professionals.

While Muray and Moore, also in Brodhacker (2016), stated that academic

writing is different from informal writing because of the design of the paper,

otherwise how we utilize words and phrases to convey what we wish to speak.

Specific situations necessitate specific and precise ways of putting words and

phrases in conjunction with one another. Formal and informal communication

serve various objectives; how we write within an academic and scientific setting

will significantly deviate from how we would correspond to a friend or loved one.

Johnson, A. P (2016) also stated about academic writing that writing

creatively in different forms and functions. Like other writing, academic writing

has the purpose of delivering ideas from the writer to the reader. Like technical

writing and most types of paper used in professional settings, its primary goal is to

present information. Academic writing used to write academic reports, inquiries,

and essays in educational settings.

Based on the description above, it concludes that academic writing is the

written paper that commonly produced for educational purposes by researching to

fulfill the college requirement in any specific discipline.

b. Features of Academic Writing

According to Valdes (2019), some characteristics or features of academic

writing described below.

1) Clear and limited focus. The focus of academic writing is clear and usually

mentioned in the problem statement. The paragraphs in the academic essay are

always related to the topic or focuses.

2) Logical structure. All form of academic writing has a consistent structure.

Academic writing always consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion.

The background, statements, and scope ever discussed in the introduction part.

The supporting thoughts of the comments addressed in the body paragraphs.

In the conclusion part, it is often talking about the arguments, review of the

main ideas, and the paper findings.

3) Evidence-based arguments. Academic writing requires well-informed

discussions — statements in academic writing support by evidence from many

sources.

4) Impersonal tone. Delivery of arguments in academic writing should contain

logic and objective, and not use emotional or biased language.

While according to Michael Jonas. M (2018), in the quora.com site, ten

main features of academic writing are often discussed. Some features of academic

writing are: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible. It uses

language precisely and accurately. It is also well organized and planned.

1) Complexity. Complex elements than spoken language always indicate written

communication. It is using dense lexical, varied diction, and longer words.

2) Formality. Academic writing used for formal or official goals.

3) Precision. The facts, evidence, and figures in academic writing should

precisely provide.

4) Objectivity. Academic writing frequently uses nouns and not verbs because it

is objectively general.

5) Explicitness. Each paragraph in academic writing is related to each other.

6) Accuracy. Proper diction is needed in academic writing.

7) Hedging. The technique that always used in academic writing with a specific

purpose.

8) Responsibility. The responsibility of the writer is giving the facts and evidence

for his statements.

9) Organization. Academic writing is well organized.

10) Planning. Academic writing needs a good struggle in preparation.

Mytekah (2013), in the hubpages.com site, also mentioned eight features

or characteristics of academic writing. They are complexity, formality, precision,

objectivity, explicitness, accuracy, hedging, and responsibility. These features will

influence the style of academic writing.

d. Problems in Academic Writing

Most students of any college have some issues and difficulties while they

faced the tasks in any of the academic purposes. They still make some errors in

writing for educational purposes, whether in the concept of the idea, coherence

and cohesion, cautions, conjunction, preposition, and so on.

David, E (2019) in Academic Writing Pro blog stated that there are some

difficulties faced by the students while writing an academic paper that mentioned

in the following paragraphs.

1) Plagiarism.

In academic writing, the work or idea of someone else can not be copied

and presented in our paper. It just can be paraphrased or summarized with

mention the source of the concept using appropriate citations and references.

2) Grammatical Errors

It can be said an excellent academic paper if it has no errors in terms of

grammar, punctuation, language, or style. The morphological of the academic

writing paper should pay more attention to get the proper academic writing paper.

The fewer grammatical errors can enhance the worth of academic writing and

make it more authentic. Grammatical errors can be avoided by proofreading.

There are some the academic writing service on websites the can help to get rid of

any grammatical mistakes.

3) Lexical Difficulties

The lexical difficulties are the difficulty in choosing words or the diction

election, or any problem related to terms. Sometimes, the students‟ cannot put the

right name in the right place, or the word that chosen is less precise. That

condition also influences the sentence structure. As a result, their academic

writing contains some mistakes. This lexical difficulty can be avoided by reading

more to increase the exposure, experience, knowledge, or even give an authentic

idea in doing academic writing.

4) Lack of Planning

Any academic writing problems mostly occur because of the lack of

planning. The first thing that you should do before writing any academic writing

is planning. With the planning process, the information, ideas, and facts that put in

the academic paper can be organized well so that we are not getting lost. In the

planning stage, some steps can help the students to organize their writing, such as

outlining, prewriting, drafting, and so on.

Al Fadda (2012) has conducted research aimed at finding out the students‟

difficulties in the King Saudi University (KSU) when learning to write academic

English and their need and goal of learning. The result of the research showed that

students face many difficulties in academic writing, such as:

1) Avoid the epidemic words and phrases by knowing them.

2) They are reviewing the grammar in their writing.

3) They are experiencing difficulty in using pronouns and maintaining the

pronoun-antecedents agreement.

4) They are making mistakes with subject-verb agreement.

5) They are also making a sentence fragment in their writing.

6) They are challenging in combining sentences in their writing.

C. Conceptual Framework

Figure 2.1 The Conceptual Framework

The process of getting the objectives of this research is illustrated by the

diagram above. The researcher started by giving the students a test to write an

academic writing task or asking the lecturer about the documents of students‟

academic writing task. After collecting the documents of the test, the researcher

analyzed the documents one by one to get the data about their academic writing

ability. The researcher also gave questionnaire to each student to get the data of

the students‟ problems in academic writing based on their experiences and point

of view based on the aspects of academic writing problems described.

Test of Students‟ Academic

Writing

Analysis of Students‟ Academic

Writing

Students‟ Ability in Academic

Writing

Students‟Problems in Academic

Writing

Questionnaire of Students

Problems in Academic Writing

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

A. Research Design

This research was a Descriptive Quantitative Research. According to

Kasiram in the statistikian.com site, quantitative analysis is the process or the

study of finding knowledge that uses data in the form of numbers as a means of

analyzing information about what does it want to know. It went with the objective

of this study that was to find out the ability and problems faced by the students in

academic writing.

B. Research Variable and Indicators

Research variable, according to Sugiyono (2009) in the statistician.com

site, is any form of everything that determined by the researcher to be studied to

obtain information about it, then conclusions are drawn. The variable of this

research was the students‟ ability and problems in academic writing. The

indicators are the content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics

of students‟ academic writing.

C. Population, Sample, and Sampling

1. Population

The population of this research were the academic writing text of the fifth-

semester students of the English Department of UNISMUH Makassar of the

academic year 2019/2020.

2. Sample and Sampling

The sample of this research was selected by a simple purposive sampling

technique to identify students‟ abilities in academic writing written by the fifth-

semester students at the English Department of UNISMUH Makassar. The

researcher chose this technique because this research has a specific criterion to get

sample objectively. And the researcher took one class or about 32 students as a

sample. Therefore, they have particular characteristics related to the purpose of

the research. The sample of this research was the 32 papers of the students‟

academic writing.

D. The Instrument of the Research

The instrument of the research is the tool or equipment used by the

researcher to get or collect data that needed related to the study. Some instruments

can be used by researchers such as observation, interview, questionnaire,

checklist, documentation, and so on.

To reach the aim of this research in collecting valid data, the researcher

used tests and questionnaires.

1. Test

According to Merriam Webster, in her dictionary, a test is something like a

series of questions or exercises for measuring the skill, knowledge, intelligence,

capacities, or aptitudes of an individual or group. A test method that used in this

research is intended to get the data of the students‟ academic writing task. The

researcher analyzed the students‟ texts based on the features of academic writing

in terms of elements to the research questions. The aspects that analyzed from the

test are mentioned below:

a. Content

b. Organization

c. Vocabulary

d. Language use

e. Mechanics

(Adapted from Jacob et al. in Abbas, 2014)

2. Questionnaire

To get the complete data about the students‟ problems in academic writing,

the researcher used a questionnaire instrument. The types of questionnaire that

used are close-ended questionnaires with Likert scale questions. The list of issues

in the questionnaire is attached. The problem classification in the questionnaire is

mentioned below.

a. Plagiarism

b. Grammatical Errors

c. Lexical Difficulties

d. Lack of Planning

(Adapted from Elena David, 2019)

E. Data Collecting Procedure

To get the valid data of this research, the researcher used tests and

questionnaires.

Some procedures that done by the researcher are:

1. The researcher took 1 class or about 32 students from the population.

2. The researcher gave tests in the form of asking the students to write academic

writing or ask the lecturer for the students‟ task on academic writing they have

done.

3. The researcher analyzed the students‟ academic writing to get information

about their ability in academic writing.

4. The researcher gave questionnaires about students‟ problems in academic

writing.

5. The researcher analyzed the answers of the students from the questionnaire.

6. The researcher calculated and percentaged the students‟ answer from the

questionnaire based on each category problem.

F. The Technique of Data Analysis

The next action after collecting the research data is to analyze the data

using technique. Patton in Yusuf (2013) explained that data analysis is the process

of arranging the order of the data, organize into a pattern, category, and

description of the basic unit. The steps of data analysis are described in the

following paragraphs.

1. Test

After the test or documents of students‟ academic writing tasks collected,

the researcher analyzed the students‟ abilities and in academic writing.

Techniques of data analysis in tests or papers collected that are the texts of

students‟ academic writing tasks were done in some steps below.

a. The students‟ ability in academic writing analyzed and scored using a

rubric (attached) and formula below.

Final Score:

Final Scores Category:

Range of Final Scores Categories

86-100 Very good

71-85 Good

56-70 Fair

10-55 Poor

(Adapted from Leo in Abbas (2014)

Table 3.1 Final Score-Category of Students‟ Ability

b. The students‟ ability that has been scored was calculated to get the mean

score using the formula below.

x = ∑

Where:

x = mean score

∑ = the total number

N = the number of samples

(Gay in Indriani, 2016)

c. The students‟ ability in academic writing was described.

2. Questionnaire

After the answers of students‟ questionnaires collected, the researcher

analyzed the students‟ problems in academic writing. Techniques of data analysis

in the questionnaire received were done in some steps.

a. The students‟ frequency of each problem category calculated and

percentaged.

Where: P = Percentage

F = Frequency

N = Number of sample

100% = Constant Value

b. The students‟ problems in academic writing scored and calculated.

Items Score

Strongly Agree 5

Agree 4

Neutral 3

Disagree 2

Strongly Disagree 1

(Sugiono in Janna, 2019)

Table 3.2 Score of Students‟ Answer in Questionnaire

c. The students‟ problems based on the category scored.

(Sugiono in Janna, 2019)

d. The students‟ problems percentaged and described.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter consists of the findings of the research and discussion that

contain data analysis in detail. The findings of the study cover the result of the

data about students‟ ability in academic writing and the students‟ problems in

academic writing based on their opinions or experiences.

A. Findings

The data analyzed in this research are the result of the academic writing

test and the questionnaire about the students‟ problems in academic writing. The

research description is based on the score of the test to find out students‟ academic

writing ability and their problems in academic writing in the fifth semester of the

English Department at the Muhammadiyah University of Makassar.

1. Result of Students’ Academic Writing Test

To answer the first research question in the first chapter, that was to find

out the students‟ ability in academic writing, the researcher used academic writing

test and analyzed their academic writing text and gave them score with the

academic writing scoring rubric. After scored and calculated, the students‟

academic writing ability can be categorized as “Good” with the mean score that

reaches 81.02. The category based on result of the data analysis of the students‟

academic writing text at fifth-semester students of the English Department in the

2019 academic year of Unismuh is presented clearly in the following tables.

Table 4.1 Categories of Students’ Ability in Academic Writing

No.

Score

Range

Frequency

Number

of Sample

Percentage

Ability

Categories

1. 86-100 8 32 25% Very Good

2. 71-85 21 32

65.625% =

65.6%

Good

3. 56-70 3 32 9.375% = 9.4% Fair

4. 10-55 - 32 0% Poor

The data in the table above shows that 8 students or 25% of them got

excellent category with 86-100 range score, 21 students or 65.6% of them got

good category with 71-85 range score, and three students or 9.4% of them got fair

category with range 56-70 range score and none of them got poor category score.

The table shows that most of the students, especially in the fifth semester in the

2019 academic year of Unismuh, got good scores in academic writing. Based on

the table that shows the students‟ ability in academic writing above, it can be

pointed out that students have good competence or proficiency in their academic

writing learning.

The students‟ scores in each aspect of academic writing can be presented

clearly in the table below.

Table 4.2 Percentage of Students’ Ability in Each Aspect of Writing

Aspect Maximum Score Mean Score Percentage

Content 10 8.21875 = 8.2 20.6%

Organization 5 3.5625 = 3.6 17.8%

Vocabulary 10 8.21875 = 8.2 20.6%

Grammar 10 8.4375 = 8.4 21.1%

Mechanics 5 3.96875 = 4 19.8%

The data on Table 4.2 above shows the students‟ ability in each aspect of

academic writing. In content aspect, the students‟ mean score is 8.2 with a

percentage of 20.6%. The mean score can describe that the students‟ ability in

content or topic development can reach the number 8 from 10 maximum score and

categorized as fair to good. The students‟ ability in the organization aspect can be

categorized as good with the mean score of 3.6 with a percentage 17.8%. That

score can describe that students‟ proficiency in organizing the paragraph structure

can reach the score 3 from 5 maximum score and categorized as good. In the

vocabulary aspect, the students‟ mean score is 8.2 with a percentage of 20.6%.

The mean score can represent that the students‟ proficiency in vocabulary or their

word choice or diction usage can reach the score 8 from 10 maximum score and

categorized as fair to good. The students‟ ability in grammar use can be

categorized as good with the mean score 8.4 with a percentage of 21.1%. The

mean score can represent the students' ability in grammar or sentence structure,

and construction can reach the score 8 from 10 maximum score and categorized as

good. In the mechanic aspect, the students‟ mean score is 4 with a percentage

19.8%. The score can describe that the students‟ ability in mechanics or spelling,

punctuation, and capitalization can reach the score three from the maximum score

is 5 and categorized as fair to good. The data on the table shows that students‟

highest achievement from each aspect is in the grammar aspect with the mean

score of 8.4 or 21.1%, and their lowest ability from each element is in the

mechanic aspect with mean score 3.6 or 17.8%.

2. Result of Students’ Questionnaire

To answer the second research question in the first chapter, which was to

find out the students‟ problems in academic writing based on their minds or

experiences, the researcher used the Likert scale questionnaire. The questionnaire

was about the difficulties in academic writing based on four categories or

classification of common problems that are plagiarism, grammatical errors,

lexical challenges, and lack of planning, as mentioned in chapter 3. The students

or respondents were asked to choose or to signify one of the numbers from 1 to 5

that explanation for the numbers is:

a. Strongly Agree, get 5 scores,

b. Agree, get 4 scores,

c. Neutral, get 3 scores,

d. Disagree, get 2 scores, and

e. Strongly Disagree, get 1 score.

The students‟ problems in academic writing based on their minds or

experiences at fifth-semester students of the English Department of

Muhammadiyah University of Makassar in the 2019 academic year is presented

clearly in the following tables based on the four category problems. The following

tables are the calculation and percentation of each item in the questionnaire based

on each problem category as mentioned in the chapter 3.

Table 4.3 Questionnaire of Students’ Problems in Plagiarism

No.

Statement/Pernyataan

Strongly

Agree Agree

Neutr

al Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

1. Difficult in finding and

developing ideas. 1 8 16 7 0

2. Difficult to get ideas

down on paper. 1 5 10 11 5

3.

Difficult to incorporate

quotations into

sentences properly.

1 5 9 15 2

4.

Often take ideas from

articles without

mention the author.

3 7 20 0 2

5.

Difficult in

paraphrasing ideas

taken from articles.

3 8 9 12 0

TOTAL 9 33 64 45 9

PERCENTAGE (%) 5.625 =

5.6

20.625 =

20.6 40

28.125 =

28.1

5.625 =

5.6

Based on the table above, it can be seen that students sometimes have

problems in the plagiarism aspect when they do their academic writing. Most of

the students chose neutral in responding to the statements of the plagiarism

category problem with a total of 64 or 40% students responses. Some other

students decided to disagree to answer the comments of the plagiarism category

problem with a total of 45 or 28.1% students' responses. It shows that some of

them do not have many issues in the plagiarism category.

Table 4.4 Questionnaire of Students’ Problems in Grammatical Error

No.

Statement/Pernyataan

Strongly

Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

6. Frequent problems in

use correct tenses. 6 14 10 2 0

7. Difficult in using

passive voice. 4 5 18 5 0

8. Having poor

grammar. 8 10 5 8 1

9. Take a long time to

put the correct tenses. 3 10 11 8 0

10. Not familiar with

punctuation rules. 0 3 3 20 6

TOTAL 21 42 47 43 7

PERCENTAGE (%) 13.125 =

13.1

26.25

= 26.3

29.375

= 29.4

26.875 =

26.9

4.375 =

4.4

Based on the tables above, it shows that students sometimes have

problems with the category of grammatical errors, and sometimes they can

quickly solve those problems. Most of the students chose neutral in responding to

the statements of the grammatical error category problem with a total of 47 or

29.4% of students' responses. Some students decided to disagree to answer the

comments of the grammatical errors category problem with the total 43 or 26.9%

students' responses. And some other students chose to agree to respond to the

statements of the grammatical error category problem with the entire 42 or 26.3%

students' responses. It means that some of them have issues in grammatical errors,

and some others do not have a problem with grammatical errors when they do

their academic writing task.

Table 4.5 Questionnaire of Students’ Problems in Lexical Difficulties

No.

Statement/Pernyataan

Strongly

Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

11.

Confuse in writing

cause lack of

vocabulary.

8 7 13 3 1

12. Difficult in choosing

the correct word. 5 11 9 7 0

13.

Difficult in making

paragraphs coherent

and cohesive.

1 6 17 8 0

14. Using new vocabulary

takes a long time. 1 9 13 7 2

15. Difficult in combining

sentences. 1 5 15 10 1

TOTAL 16 38 67 35 4

PERCENTAGE (%) 10 23.75

= 23.8

41.875

= 41.9

21.875 =

21.9 2.5

Based on the table above, it can be seen that sometimes students have

problems in the lexical difficulties when they do their academic writing task. Most

of the students chose neutral in responding to the statements of the lexical

difficulties with a total of 67 or 41.9% of students' responses. Some students

decided to agree to respond to the comments of the lexical difficulties category

problem with a total of 38 or 23.8% of students' responses. Some other students

chose to disagree with a total of 35 or 21.9%.

Table 4.6 Questionnaire of Students’ Problems in Lack of Planning

No.

Statement/Pernyataan

Strongly

Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

16. Difficulty in writing

techniques. 4 11 11 6 0

17. Poorly writing to

organize. 2 5 11 14 0

18. Do not make an outline 9 8 11 3 1

before writing.

19. Do not make mind

mapping in writing. 5 13 7 6 1

20. Do not make a draft

before start writing. 16 10 2 4 0

TOTAL 36 47 42 33 2

PERCENTAGE (%) 22.5 29.375

= 29.4

26.25

= 26.3

20.625

= 20.6

1.25 =

1.3

Based on the table above, it shows that most of the students also have

some problems with the lack of planning aspects when they do their academic

writing tasks. Most of the students chose to agree to respond to the statements of

the lack of planning category problem with a total of 47 or 29.4% of students'

responses. Some students sometimes have a problem with the lack of planning

aspects. It can be seen from their choice to choose neutral in responding to the

lack of planning statements with a total of 42 or 26.3% students' responses.

The following table is the result of the students‟ questionnaire that have

been scored and percentaged using the formula mentioned in chapter 3. The detail

score of each item in the questionnaire is attached.

Table 4.16 Percentage of Students’ Problems of Each Category

No. Problem Category Students’ Score Percentage (%)

1. Plagiarism 462 23

2. Grammatical Error 507 25

3. Lexical Difficulties 507 25

4. Lack of Planning 562 27

Total 2038 100

The table above shows that students have various problems or difficulties

when they do their academic writing, but most of them have a problem with the

lack of planning aspects. Most students agree with the statements of the lack of

planning category, with the total score of their responses is 562, or 27% of

students responses. Some students also have problems with grammatical error and

lexical difficulties problem category with the total score of their responses is 507

or 25% of students responses of each type. And few students also still have

problems in the plagiarism aspect problem with the total score of their responses

is 462 or 23% students responses.

B. Discussion

After analyzing data on the research findings, it is necessary to describe

and discuss the result of the research to explain with more detail the answer to the

research questions. As mentioned in the first chapter, two research questions are,

“How is the students‟ ability in academic writing?” and “What are the problems

faced by the students in academic writing?”. The data collected through academic

writing test and the questionnaire was used to find out the students‟ ability in

academic writing and their problems in academic writing based on their

experiences.

1. Students’ Ability in Academic Writing

The first research question is, “How is the students‟ ability in academic

writing?”. The answer to this question can be explained by the table of the

students‟ ability in academic writing in the findings subchapter before. The result

of the students‟ academic writing test that reaches 81.02 mean scores can figure

out that the students have good competence or ability in academic writing. The

students' abilities in each aspect of academic writing also have various scores that

indicated their competence or understanding of the content or topic development,

organization or paragraph structure, vocabulary or word choice, grammar or

sentence structure, and mechanics aspects. It was supported by the result of the

test and also by Valdes (2019) said that there are some characteristics of academic

writing that are clear and limited focus, logical structure, evidence-based

arguments, and impersonal tone.

The students‟ ability in content aspect categorized as fair to good. It means

that some students can develop their topic of paragraphs with good development.

It was supported by Junaid, G J (2012) stated that content is how the writer

delivers his thoughts about the topic in paragraphs.

The students‟ competence in the organization aspect or the paragraph

structure categorized as good. It means that most of students have excellent score

in organizing their paragraphs. It was supported by Wilbers, S, (2008) said that

organization in writing is making the paragraphs are coherent and organizing them

logically and sequentially.

Students‟ ability in vocabulary aspect categorized as fair to good. It means

that some students can employ accurate and effective choice of words. It was

supported by the result of the test and also supported by Nurgiantoro in Yuniati

(2015) said that vocabulary means if the students could choose the correct words

as it is function and master informing words.

Students‟ competence in grammar aspect categorized as good. It is figure

out that most of the students have good sentence structure. It was supported by

Junaid, G.J (2012) stated that the use of the correct grammatical and syntactic

pattern on separating, combining, and grouping ideas in words, phrases, clauses,

and sentences is one of good writing aspect.

The students‟ ability in mechanic aspect can be categorized as fair to good.

It means that some students have just few errors of mechanic or have good

spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. It was supported by the result of the test

and also supported by Wilbers, S (2008) said that the element to have good

writing is with pay attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

2. Students’ Problems in Academic Writing

The second research question is, “What are the problems faced by the

students in academic writing?”. While the common problems in academic writing

that almost students faced have been mentioned and categorized that are

plagiarism, grammatical error, lexical difficulties, and lack of planning. The

answer to this question can be explained by the tables of the students‟ problems in

the findings subchapter. However, the result of the questionnaire about the

students‟ issues in academic writing based on what they have experienced, can

figure out that the students, more or less still faced various problems while they

do their academic writing task.

Most of the students chose the neutral response to answer the statements

one until five that are the plagiarism category problem. It was indicated that

sometimes students faced difficulties while they were avoiding to do the

plagiarism in doing their academic writing task. Sometimes, students are

challenging to find thoughts or ideas to be developed. It is supported by the

previous study conducted by Raza (2015) found that the most significant

difficulties in „cause of plagiarism‟, „deciding whether the citation is needed or

not, and „paraphrasing that results in over quoting.

The sixth until tenth items in the questionnaire are the statements about the

grammatical error problems. Most of the students chose the neutral response to

answer the statements in the grammatical error category problem. It was figure out

that some students still have difficulty in the use of grammar. It was supported by

previous research conducted by Al Mubarak (2017) found that the students faced

numerous challenges relating to academic writing at the university level. It

discovered that many problems with academic writing experienced by the students

while writing were articles, punctuation, prepositions, irregular verbs, weak

expressions, consistency paralleled structure, and use of verb tense.

The lexical difficulties are also sometimes experienced by the students

while making their academic writing tasks. Most of the students chose neutral in

responding to the statements in the questionnaire number eleven until fifteen that

are in the lexical difficultes category problem. It can show that they often got

problems or challenging in choosing words or diction. Also, they can take a long

time when they were trying to use new vocabulary. It was supported by David E

(2019) said that sometimes, the students‟ cannot put the right name in the right

place, or the word that chosen is less precise. It was also supported by the

previous study conducted by Abdulkareem (2013) found that students committed

many mistakes in academic writing concerning sentence structure, vocabulary,

and expressing ideas.

Some of the students also have problems with the lack of planning

category problem. It can be seen from the table of Students‟ Problems in Lack of

Planning. Twenty-nine percent of them agreed with the statements number sixteen

until twenty in the questionnaire that includes in the lack of planning category

problem. It was supported by the result of the questionnaire and also by David, E

(2019) said that there are some steps that can help the students to organize their

writing such as outlining, prewriting, drafting, and so on.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

Based on all the result that described in the findings and discussion, it

can be concluded that:

1. The students‟ ability in academic writing can be categorized as good. It can

be proved with their mean score that reaches the score 81.02.

2. Some students still faced various problems in doing their academic writing

text in each category of common issues that are plagiarism with percentage

23%, grammatical error with percentage 25%, lexical difficulties with

percentage 25%, and lack of planning with percentage 27%.

B. Suggestion

Based on the conclusion above, the researcher would like to give some

advice to the students, teacher or lecturer, and also the next researcher. For the

students, their ability in academic writing can still be improved with their skill

and more exercise to increase their potency and try to solve their problems when

they face it. For the teacher or lecturer, it is essential to know the students‟ style

of learning and give the method that can be enjoyed in the learning process. And

for the next researcher, the result of this research can be used as a reference if

they want to conduct related research with a different aspect of the discussion.

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A

P

P

E

N

D

I

C

E

S

Appendix 1

Scoring Rubric of Students’ Ability in Academic Writing

Aspects Criteria Scores Categories

Content:

Topic

Development

Thorough development of the topic. 10 Very good

Relevant to the topic but lacks detail. 9 Good

Inadequate development of the topic. 8 Fair

The student does not show knowledge

of the topic. 7 Poor

Organization:

Paragraph

Structure

Write paragraph structures correctly. 5 Very good

Loosely organized, but ideas stand out. 4 Good

Incoherent ideas and lacks logical

sequencing. 3 Fair

The Student does not write paragraph

structures correctly. 2 Poor

Vocabulary:

Word

choice/diction

Employ an accurate and useful choice of

words/diction. 10 Very good

Employ accurate diction but not

sufficient. 9 Good

Employ lacks the accuracy of diction,

but meaning not obscured. 8 Fair

Errors in applying diction or word form

and meaning obscured. 7 Poor

Grammar:

Sentence

Structure/Con

struction

Use correct grammar (tenses used,

pronouns, subject-verb agreement, etc.). 10 Very good

Several errors of tense, pronouns,

subject-verb agreement, etc. but

meaning not obscured.

9 Good

Significant errors of tense, pronouns,

subject-verb agreement, etc. and

meaning obscured.

8 Fair

No mastery of sentence construction and

dominated by errors. 7 Poor

Mechanics:

Spelling,

Punctuation,

and

Capitalization

Minimal errors of mechanics. 5 Very good

Few errors of mechanics, but meaning

not obscured. 4 Good

Many errors of mechanics and meaning

obscured. 3 Fair

Dominated by errors of mechanics. 2 Poor

(Adapted from Jacob et al.‟ in Abbas (2014)

Appendix 2

Test Instrument of Students’ Academic Writing

Name:

Class:

Choose a title of your paper and make the first chapter consist of background,

problem statement, and objective and send it to my email.

Note: This academic writing task given based on what they have learnt in

academic writing course.

Appendix 3

Questionnaire of Students’ Problems in Academic Writing

Name:

Answer the statements below by giving a checklist mark based on your

experience.

5: Strongly Agree 2: Disagree

4: Agree 1: Strongly Disagree

3: Neutral

No. Statement/Pernyataan 5 4 3 2 1

1.

I have difficulty in finding thoughts and ideas to be

developed. / Saya kesulitan menemukan pemikiran dan

ide-ide untuk dikembangkan.

2.

I have difficulty to get my thoughts and ideas down on

paper. / Saya kesulitan menyampaikan pemikiran dan

ide-ide saya di atas kertas.

3.

I do not know how to incorporate quotations into

sentences properly. / Saya tidak tahu bagaimana cara

memasukkan kutipan dalam kalimat.

4

I often take thoughts and ideas from articles, books, and

websites without mention the author. / Saya sering

mengambil pemikiran dan ide-ide dari artikel, buku dan

website tanpa menyebutkan penulisnya.

5

I have difficulty in paraphrasing thoughts and ideas I take

from articles, books, and websites. / Saya kesulitan dalam

memparafrase pemikiran dan ide-ide yang saya ambil dari

artikel, buku dan website.

6

I have a frequent problem in use correct of tenses. / Saya

memiliki masalah yang sering terjadi dalam menggunakan

tenses yang benar.

7 I often get difficulty in using passive voice. / Saya sering

mendapat kesulitan menggunakan passive voice.

8 Having poor grammar make me writing not so good. /

Memiliki grammar atau tata bahasa yang buruk membuat

saya menulis dengan tidak begitu baik.

9

Grammar makes me take a long time to put the correct

tenses which appropriate to the event. / Tata bahasa

membuat saya butuh waktu lama untuk menempatkan

tenses yang tepat yang sesuai dengan peristiwa.

10 I am not familiar with punctuation rules. / Saya tidak

terbiasa dengan aturan tanda baca.

11

Lack of vocabularies make me get confusing in writing. /

Kurangnya kosa kata membuat saya bingung dalam

menulis.

12

I have difficulty in choosing the correct word with the

right meaning. / Saya kesulitan dalam memilih kata yang

tepat dengan arti yang benar.

13

I have difficulty in making my paragraphs coherent and

cohesive. / Saya kesulitan dalam membuat paragraf saya

saling berhubungan dan berpadu.

14 Using new vocabularies take long time. / Menggunakan

kosa kata baru butuh waktu lama.

15

I have difficulty when combining sentences in my writing.

/ Saya kesulitan saat menggabungkan kalimat dalam

tulisan saya.

16

I often get difficulty in writing techniques

(brainstorming). / Saya sering mendapat kesulitan dalam

teknik menulis (brainstorming).

17

I have poorly writing to organize, sometimes fail to select

a topic. / Saya memiliki penulisan yang buruk untuk

diatur, terkadang gagal memilih topic.

18 I do not outline writing. / Saya membuat outline atau garis

besar sebelum menulis.

19 I do not make mind mapping in writing. / Saya membuat

pemetaan pikiran secara tertulis.

20 I do not make a draft before I start writing. / Saya

membuat konsep sebelum memulai menulis.

Appendix 4

List Name and Code of the Samples

No. Name Code

1. NA Student 1

2. BS Student 2

3. NU Student 3

4. SN Student 4

5. SS Student 5

6. NJ Student 6

7. NA Student 7

8. AAR Student 8

9. SH Student 9

10. MW Student 10

11. DA Student 11

12. AN Student 12

13. NS Student 13

14. PI Student 14

15. NA Student 15

16. HM Student 16

17. SAA Student 17

18. IIH Student 18

19. RMR Student 19

20. I Student 20

21. ND Student 21

22. SST Student 22

23. S Student 23

24. RA Student 24

25. APM Student 25

26. AR Student 26

27. MS Student 27

28. J Student 28

29. JNE Student 29

30. ARF Student 30

31. A Student 31

32. I Student 32

Appendix 5

Result of Students’ Academic Writing Test

No. Code Content

(10)

Organization

(5)

Vocabulary

(10)

Grammar

(10)

Mechanics

(5)

Maximum

Score Gain Score Final Score

1. Student 1 8 3 8 7 4 40 30 75

2. Student 2 9 4 8 8 4 40 33 82.5

3. Student 3 8 3 8 9 4 40 32 80

4. Student 4 7 3 8 8 4 40 30 75

5. Student 5 10 4 8 9 4 40 35 87.5

6. Student 6 9 5 8 9 4 40 35 87.5

7. Student 7 9 5 8 9 4 40 35 87.5

8. Student 8 9 5 9 9 5 40 37 92.5

9. Student 9 7 2 8 8 3 40 28 70

10. Student 10 9 4 8 9 4 40 34 85

11. Student 11 8 3 8 7 3 40 29 72.5

12. Student 12 9 3 9 9 5 40 35 87.5

13. Student 13 9 4 8 8 3 40 32 80

14. Student 14 7 2 8 9 4 40 30 75

15. Student 15 7 2 8 7 4 40 28 70

16. Student 16 8 3 8 9 5 40 33 82.5

17. Student 17 9 4 8 8 4 40 33 82.5

18. Student 18 9 3 8 9 4 40 33 82.5

19. Student 19 9 5 9 9 4 40 36 90

20. Student 20 8 3 9 9 4 40 33 82.5

21. Student 21 7 3 9 8 4 40 31 77.5

22. Student 22 7 3 8 8 4 40 30 75

23. Student 23 7 5 9 9 4 40 34 85

24. Student 24 9 5 8 8 4 40 34 85

25. Student 25 8 3 8 9 2 40 30 75

26. Student 26 9 5 9 9 5 40 37 92.5

27. Student 27 7 3 8 7 4 40 29 72.5

28. Student 28 7 2 7 9 3 40 28 70

29. Student 29 7 3 8 8 4 40 30 75

30. Student 30 10 4 8 8 4 40 34 85

31. Student 31 8 3 8 9 4 40 32 80

32. Student 32 9 5 9 9 5 40 37 92.5

Mean Score 8.21875

= 8.22

3.5625 = 3.56 8.21875 =

8.22

8.4375 =

8.44

3.96875 =

3.97

40 32.40625 =

32.41

81.01563 =

81.02

Final Score:

Appendix 6

Percentage of Each Aspect of Writing

1. Content

2. Organization

3. Vocabulary

4. Grammar

5. Mechanic

Total Percentage of All Aspects = 398

1. Content

2. Organization

3. Vocabulary

4. Grammar

5. Mechanic

Appendix 7

The Score of Students’ Problems in Academic Writing Questionnaire

5: Strongly Agree 2: Disagree

4: Agree 1: Strongly Disagree

3: Neutral

Respondents Questions/Statements

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Students 1 4 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 2 4 3 3 1 2 3 2 3 4 5

Students 2 3 1 3 4 2 4 3 5 3 3 1 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 4 4

Students 3 2 1 2 1 3 4 3 5 5 1 5 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 4 3

Students 4 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 4 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 5

Students 5 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 2 4 2 4 4 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 3

Students 6 3 2 1 3 2 3 3 4 4 2 5 5 3 3 4 5 2 3 4 5

Students 7 3 3 2 3 2 4 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 4

Students 8 3 2 2 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 2 2 2

Students 9 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4

Students 10 3 3 3 4 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 4

Students 11 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 4 3 2

Students 12 2 4 4 3 3 2 3 4 3 2 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4

Students 13 2 1 1 1 3 4 3 1 2 1 2 3 3 1 3 4 4 4 4 5

Students 14 3 3 2 3 3 5 5 4 4 1 5 4 3 3 3 4 2 5 3 5

Students 15 3 2 3 3 2 3 5 5 4 2 5 5 4 3 3 2 2 4 4 5

Students 16 3 4 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 4

Students 17 4 2 2 5 2 4 2 2 4 2 5 5 4 4 2 4 2 5 5 5

Students 18 4 5 3 5 4 4 5 5 3 2 3 4 2 4 4 4 3 5 5 5

Students 19 3 1 4 3 5 3 2 5 3 1 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 5 5 5

Students 20 3 3 2 4 2 3 3 4 4 2 4 4 3 3 3 4 2 1 2 2

Students 21 3 1 4 3 5 5 4 5 3 1 5 4 2 3 1 5 3 2 1 5

Students 22 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5

Students 23 3 4 4 3 3 4 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 5 5 5

Students 24 2 2 2 3 3 4 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 5 5 5

Students 25 4 2 2 4 4 5 5 4 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 5

Students 26 2 2 2 3 2 4 3 4 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 4 4 5

Students 27 3 2 2 4 2 4 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 4

Students 28 4 2 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 2 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4

Students 29 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2

Students 30 5 4 5 5 5 5 3 4 3 4 5 5 4 3 4 4 5 4 4 4

Students 31 4 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 5 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 5

Students 32 3 2 2 3 2 4 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4

Total 99 82 84 99 98 120 104 112 104 67 114 110 96 96 91 109 91 117 111 134

Total Score

of Category Plagiarism = 462 Grammatical Error = 507 Lexical Difficulties = 507 Lack of Planning = 562

Maximum

Score 800 800 800 800

Appendix 8

Percentage of Each Category Problem

6. Plagiarism

7. Grammatical Errors

8. Lexical Difficulties

9. Lack of Planning

Total Percentage of All Problems Category = 254

6. Plagiarism

7. Grammatical Error

8. Lexical Difficulties

9. Lack of Planning

Appendix 9

Result of Students’ Academic Writing Test

(Student 1)

“IMPROVING STUDENT’S ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH ROLE

PLAY”

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. BACKGROUND

Speaking is one of difficult subject at school. Event though some student

is lazy and they hate to learn speaking because lack of variation of the

technique teaching used by the teacher in the class and strategy application is

monotonous that make student feel bored . In this case, student must be study

hard and the teacher should create a good technique in learning speaking in the

class. Game is one of the method of teaching in speaking can be implemented

because game is fun learning to give student freedom expressing their

opinion, thought. And feeling and also potential to encourage student interact

and communicate to each other .

The ending of learning English is the learners are able to use it as a means

of communication either by speech or written, so the use of English for the

students is compulsory, because mastering English is a priority for many

second or foreign language learners. Jack Ricard (1990) says that thema story

of speaking skills in English is a priority for many second or foreign language

learners. Learners consequently often evaluate their success in language

learning as well as the effectiveness of English course on the basis of how

well they feel they have improved in their spoken language proficiency”

As an English teacher, the writer was faced by two choices in teaching

English whether for achieving good national examination grade (in written

test) or for training the students to speak English as a means of communication

well. It seems achieving good national examination grade (in written test) is

the main target, for the success measurement of English learning is determined

by how good the result of national exam grade in written test is. The learning

and teaching process in the classroom today is just how to do the test in

written.

The fact that many students in the State Senior High School got difficulties

in speaking English. Even some of them got a very low speaking competence.

It was unfortunate that many students still got very low speaking competence.

Therefore, it is the teacher‟s duty to teach speaking in a such way, so that

the students can participate the lesson eagerly. In this research, the writer,

classified the difficulties into qualitative and quantitative.

Pertaining to the students‟ problems, there are many factors. First, in

teaching speaking, the teacher tended to teach text. Second, he asked the

students to look at the structured dialogues which had been stated in the text

book to read together after him. Third, he asked some of them to practice the

dialogues in front of the class in pairs. The last, he asked them to answer the

comprehensive questions dealing with the written topics.

The weaknesses of what the teacher did above were as follows: Firstly, the

students didn‟t have enough rehearsal time to practice or to express their

English so that they could not interact with one another in English

simultaneously. Secondly, the teacher oriented his teaching at the written test

held in the mid or end semester, even in the final exam. Thirdly, there was no

specific time allocated to evaluate the students‟ speaking skills at the end of

semester or final exam. Fourthly, the teacher still teaches the students with

routine activities without realizing that it would make the students bored and

lost their attention to the teaching and learning process. This is stated by

Douglas, “Routine activities in learning can make the students bored. As the

result, their motivation and participation in learning will decrease” (1987:p.

48).

In teaching English, the teacher has to be able to make the students

participate in discussing the materials actively, so that they will be able to

understand what they are learning in the class and also express their own ideas

orally. The most important thing to carry out the English teaching is that the

teacher has to able to use the appropriate approach, design, and procedures.

One of the ways in improving students‟ speaking skill is by giving Role

Play as a form of English learning activity in the classroom, Elizabeth F

Barkley(2004: p. 150) says that Role Play is a created situation in which

students deliberately act out or assume characters or identities they would not

normally 3ssume in order to accomplish learning goal.

Role play is very important in communication language teaching because

it gives students an opportunity to practice communicating in different social

context and in different social roles. Therefore, communicative language

teaching (CLT) approach is very appropriate to support the above problem

because this approach is learner centered and emphasize communication in

real life situation (Fauziati,2009:p.143)

B. PROBLEM STATEMENT

In my experience in learning speaking, there are some obstacle that make

student difficult to speaking in English, consist of:

a. Student lack of vocabulary and pronunciation

The lack of students‟ vocabulary has become big problems for students to

master

English a second language. In addition, students are lazy to bring a

dictionary or check Google Translate so that the pronunciation is lacking.

b. Grammar.

When the students are told to speak in public by the teacher, they are

afraid of being wrong in their arrangement. So the student cannot be

trained to speak.

c. Less confident.

One of the things that become the problem the students from speaking out

of fear of being wrong when they speak in public. I addition, teachers must

train students such as public presentations to be confident and provide

acceptable criticism and

Suggestion, so that students can develop with the experience and material

received.

d. Lack of attention to the tasks assigned to the field of speech.

Usually there are people who take it lightly. For example, going to carry

out activities in public speaking, and not giving full attention to practice.

e. Lacking student habits so that they are not good at speaking.

This unfavorable habit is carried out in speaking activities. For example,

when in formal speech but mixed with regional languages.

Based on the explanation above, it can be seen that there are several

obstacles in the teaching and learning process. One way to overcome

obstacles is to use role play in the teaching and learning process. This

game will place students as the center. This means students have a high

chance of practicing their speaking skills.

f. Bullying

When student tried to speak in English in the class, the other student

blurt out word that make feel down. Such as „‟ why you really want to

know that you are smart in speaking English „‟ we are in Indonesia, it is

not in USA, so just use Indonesian language. ‟it so quasi use English but

the grammatical is wrong „‟. In this spiel can make student stop improve

their speaking in English.

C. OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

The objectives of the research are:

1. To introduce role play as one of the media in the teaching and learning

process.

2. To improve students‟ speaking skills using role play.

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content

Not focused on topic

development and need

more details.

8

Inadequate

development of the

topic.

30/40x100

= 75 Organization

1. Lack of sequence of

the structure of the

paragraphs.

2. The different topics

discussed in one

paragraph.

3

Incoherent ideas and

lacks logical

sequencing.

Vocabulary Few of not accurate

words. 8

Employ lacks the

accuracy of diction, but

meaning not obscured.

Grammar

1. Article needed.

2. Need to change the

agreement, noun,

preposition, and verb

form.

3. Unclear subject.

4. Few of wordy phrases.

7

No mastery of sentence

construction and

dominated by errors.

Mechanics 1. Wrong spelling.

2. Punctuation needed. 4

Few errors of

mechanics, but

meaning not obscured.

(Student 3)

AN ANALYSIS OF SLANG TRANSLATION IN THE SUBTITLE OF

SPIDERMAN HOMECOMING

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

Translation is the general term referring to the transfer of thoughts

and ideas from one language (source) to another (target), whether the

languages are in written or oral form; whether the languages are in

written or oral form; whether the languages have established

orthogrphies or do not have such standardization or whether one or

both language is based on signs, as with sign languages of the deaf

(Brislin, 1976).

Translation is a transfer process which aims at the transformation

of a written SL text into an optimally equivalent TL text, and which

requires the syntactic, the systematic and the pragmatic understanding

and analytical processing of the SL (Wilss and Noss, 1982).

Translation is the process of transferring information from a

source language into the target language. Activity involves translating

complex systems to produce results that grammatical translation,

natural in accordance with the original information. Therefore, some

difficulties may be encountered a translator in the translation process.

However, every difficulty there must be a solution. To that end, this

paper present a translation and explanation of some the issues related

to translation as a knowledge base for understanding the translation.

The translation is very important in today‟s global life. We can

relate to the outside world with the translation from the source

language into the target language. Different people with our language,

it will be helped by the translation. In addition, a variety of knowledge

from different corners of the world can we know with the translation.

The translation is very important in all areas of life.

As we know, the language and the translation involves a fairly

complex linguistic systems that must evolve and differ from one

language to another language. Because not all translators know the

system prevailing in the source language, it certainly makesits own

difficulties for a translator to translate.

In addition, the interpreter will face the problem again where

the language is also evolving and Led to the emergence of words,

phrases idioms or new linguistic system in a language that may not be

known to the translator. It is clear thhat the complexity and

devolepment of the lnaguage system poses a problem of translation.

However, there will not case and trouble if there is no alternative

solution. To overcome the difficulties mentioned above, we must first

understand the science of translation. After that when we will translate

translate the information or text from a source language into the target

language, we have to know and learn the language system prevailing in

the source language as appropriate. Then, as a translator, we were

required to keep track of a particular source language.

The translation process is the transformation of text from one

language to another without changing the contents of the original text.

Many movies that have been translated into Indonesian language

spread everywhere, whether in cinema or youtube. There are many

different accent that make it difficult for me distinguish them, because

the most often I hear American accents. It is difficult to translate

whether movies or drama. The accent used in the Spiderman 3 movie

is American accent.

B. Problem Statement

At present, many countries can establish communication freely

through the translation process. the purpose of translation is to

exchange state information with one another. because every country

has a different language. some things that often become a problem in

the translation process are language style, accent, and language

customs that are part of culture.

Nowadays, in the world of translating a film is very popular and

the results of its translation are widely accepted by film connoisseurs.

There are two types of translation processes, namely subtitling and

dubbing. the challenge in subtitling in the translation of this film is the

limited time determined and the number of characters to display

writing on the screen, the challenge in translating this film is the

limited time determined and the number of characters determined to

display the writing on the screen.

not only in terms of subtitles and dubbing, which is a problem

faced by Hollywood film lovers. The obstacle faced by Hollywood

film lovers is the wide variety of terms, idioms, slang and cultural

terms used in every Hollywood film. Spiderman 3 films are a case in

subittle translation. This film comes from the United States of America

which is very popular among all ages and themed spider superheroes

using English as the language of instruction or the source language. in

this film, some words have different meanings with only one word in

the translation that fits the context of the film. not only that, many

special terms exist in this film.

C. Objective

This study discusses the slang and film subtitles. Some required

data is difficult to retrieve with rules which are mostly agreed to in the

language specified on the vulgar and offensive. That happens because

translators find it difficult to know the effects of equality by meeting

deadlines, spaces, and views. This strategy is used to resolve the

regulations carried out by softening the TL strategy by paraphrasing,

modulating, and related to the pragmatic context. This regulation has

the power to protect viewers who have given them the convenience to

enjoy films without worrying about moral or cultural freedom of

Indonesians who are multicultural and ethnic. So, bad words related to

abusive language should not be found in foreign films with Indonesian

subtitles. (Suriadi, 2018)

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content The topic development

is not focused on. 8

Inadequate

development of the

topic.

32/40x100

= 80

Organization Lack sequence of

paragraph structures. 3

Incoherent ideas

and lacks logical

sequencing.

Vocabulary Few of not accurate

words. 8

Employ lacks the

accuracy of diction,

but meaning not

obscured.

Grammar

1. Article needed.

2. Need to change the

preposition, verb

form, agreement,

and noun.

9

Several errors of

tense, pronouns,

subject-verb

agreement, etc. but

meaning not

obscured.

Mechanics 1. Wrong spelling.

2. Punctuation needed. 4

Few errors of

mechanics, but

meaning not

obscured.

(Student 13)

Improve Students’ Reading Skill Using Novel

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A. Backgtround

Reading is a process carried out and used by the reader to obtain a

message, which the writer wants to convey through the media of words or

written language .( H.G. Tarigan, 1986: 7)

Reading skill is one the 4 skill in English. Reading skill must be

able to be mastered by students because it will be very useful. Basically

reading is useful for students to get a variety of knowledge in the form of

information, messages, and opinions, as well as life stories from other

people from books, articles, journals, and other book that we read from

various sources in the world. Teaching reading strategies will not just help

students to know how to read the text but it will help them to be more

successful in general because they will absord information there.

(Nofitarina, 2016)

Reading can be done without limited place and time. Everyone can

reading from various sources or any media. Because, whatever we read

must have contained information that the author wants to convey.

Therefore reading is an indispensable activity by anyone who wants to

know a lot of information from the world or other countries and is very

suitable for students to improve themselves. Thus the ability to read

becomes important in helping students learn a lot of things. Students can

get knowledge from reading ones they read on. The more they read, the

more knowledge they will gain from students increase and of course can

improve students‟ reading skills, and make students able to excel in

school. In addition to increasing students knowledge then the critical

thingking ability of students can be honed and improved because students

often understand logically information obtained from the reading he read.

In developing students‟ reading skill teachers must find more

effective ways to make students more interested in reading, sometimes

making students fell bored. For this reason the teacher must have an

interesting method or media for students in developing reading skill. The

method is very important in teaching and learning process because it uses

a variety of methods in a learning process make students have an interest

in learning and make it easier students can understand the material that

delivery by the teacher. The method or thehnique used current teacher to

improve reading skills lacking variety or monotony and someyimes not

effective. Therefore a professional teacher is required to have high

creativity in choosing methods which will be used in classroom. So that it

can help clarify the material to be delivered. Choosing the right the right

methid, it is hoped that students can more easily understand the material

lesson delivered by the teacher.

One of them is using novel books as media to develop students‟

reading skill because students nowadays prefer to read novels.The novel is

a form of literature that is very popular in the word, a form of literature

one of the most widely circulated and printed, because the community is

very broad. Drs. Jakob sumardjo). Novels as reding media used to

develop students‟ reading skill is very effective for use today. Because, it

are a light and easy-to-understand reading that contains various kinds of

stories such as the world of teenager, romance, spirituality, and friendship.

Stories contained in a novel usually contain minor conflicts and comedy

in some scenes as interludes to entertain readers and unexpected story lines

and that are exciting and interesting to attract students‟ in reading.

B. Problem statement

The problem that often occurs in reading subjects is students are

sometimes bored to start reading or reading activities because books or

media used by students to do reading activities are history books,

textbooks, and hthick books whose content cannot attract students‟ interest

in reading.

Based on the above, the teacher must be able to know the method

in developing students‟ reading skill by conducting research using novels

in improve reading skill. The problems are formulated as follow :

How the novel to improving the students reading skill ?

C. Objective of the research .

The purpose of this study is to find out whether novel books can be

used by teacher to improve students‟ reading skill.

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content Need more details about

the topic. 9

Relevant to the topic but

lacks detail. 32/40x100

Organization Different topic in one

paragraph. 4

Loosely organized, but ideas

stand out.

= 80

Vocabulary Several of not accurate

words. 8

Employ lacks the accuracy of

diction, but meaning not

obscured.

Grammar

Need to change the

preposition, determiner,

agreement, verb form,

pronoun, and noun form.

8

Significant errors of tense,

pronouns, subject-verb

agreement, etc. and meaning

obscured.

Mechanics 1. Punctuation needed.

2. Miss spelling. 3

Many errors of mechanics

and meaning obscured.

(Student 20)

“An Analysis the Effectiveness by Using Anagram Game as Media

to Improve Students’ English Skill”.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 present the introduction of the study. It consist of background,

problem statement, and objective of the study.

A. Background

Language is one of the important things in communicating among

humans. As an international language, English is very important to be learned

almost all over the world. In Indonesia, this is a compulsory subject in formal

schools such as elementary schools, secondary schools, to the tertiary level.

In addition, the teacher‟s role is very important in preparing various

approaches, methods, strategies, and techniques in teaching the lesson so that

students are interested in learning. According to (Nababan, 1991: 4) a

qualified teacher is the teacher who is able to suit best method or technique to

the material that is being taught.

In English there are some aspects of ability that must be mastered namely

listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Many students of Indonesia in

various levels of education find their own difficulties while learning that

subject. Therefore, one technique that can be used in teaching is to use media

that is games. Sari (2006) Among the many ways of making learning more

effective, games are thought as useful tools for such comprehension. Also,

using this technique the class is not boring and makes students active in

learning that is fun.

In order to master English skill, a teacher as an educator must have the

good method he is able to apply in the learning process in the classroom. In

this case, the writer concerns with an analysis the effectiveness by using

anagram game to improve students English skill.

B. Problem Statement

Based on the background above, the problem of the study are follows:

1. How is the effectiveness of Anagram Game to improve students English

skill?

2. Does the effectiveness of Anagram Game can improve students English

skill?

C. Objective

Based on the writer statement, the objective of the study are as follows:

1. To describe the effectiveness by using Anagram Game to improve

students English skill.

2. To know the improvement of students English skill by the effectiveness

of Anagram game.

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content

1. Need more details

and relevant ideas of

the topic.

2. Need more specifics

of topic development.

8 Inadequate development

of the topic.

33/40x100

= 82,5

Organization

1. Different topic in one

paragraphs.

2. Lack of sequence in

paragraphs.

3

Incoherent ideas and

lacks logical

sequencing.

Vocabulary Few of not accurate and

wordy words. 9

Employ accurate diction

but not sufficient.

Grammar

1. Article needed.

2. Need to change the

verb form,

preposition and noun.

9

Several errors of tense,

pronouns, subject-verb

agreement, etc. but

meaning not obscured.

Mechanics 1. Punctuation needed.

2. Miss spelling. 4

Few errors of

mechanics, but meaning

not obscured.

(Student 25)

LEARNING ENGLISH FROM AN EARLY AGE

A. BACKGROUND English is the language used as a medium of communication and as the first

international language used to interact with others throughout the word. English

is the mother tongue in the united states,untined kingdom,Great

Britain,Ireland,and British commonwealth countries such as Singapore and

Malaysia.

Though English we can introduce the diversity of cultures and languages of this

nation to those who naturally want to know about this nation. Urgently needed

English in the national and international arena.

Leaning English has many impacts in life including learning English we can get

good job opportunities, besides English is also a global languages so it has an

impact in this globalization era,understanding technology, and making it easier to

interact with people from foreign countries.

Apart from that the advantage of learning English from an early age is that , The

first child is not familiar with English and feels more familiar with the language,

The second child who masters English is considered to have skills that can

facilitate them to live a pleasant future, and The third learning English from an

early age will prepare it to be more mature in facing the future . English is a

global language that is used by most of the word’s population, almost all

professions,almost some situations.

Every country has a communication medium that can facilitate a relationship

between individuals. This communication tool we call language. English is the

most important language in the world where englis in the main language in the

united kingdom (including English). The number of speakers spread throughout

the world, both as a first language ,second language of a foreign language . in

Indonesia itself, English is a foreign language . English is the most important

foreign language learned in Indonesia. English in Indonesia is generally taught as

a foreign language. The term foreign language in the field of language teaching is

different from the second language. A foreign language language is a language

that is not used as a communication tool in the particular country where the

language is taught. While the second language is a language that is not the main

language but is one of the language commonly used in a country. Meanwhile

foreign languages are usually taught as one of the subjects in school with the aim

of communicating basic and mastering 4 languages skills

(listening,reading,writing,speaking.) in the language within certain limits.

B. Problem Statement

a . How is the role of English for early childhood?

b . The application of what is good for early childhood learning English ?

c . What things are behind the difficulties of early childhood learning

English.?

C. Objective

a . So Parents realize how important it is to learn English from an early

age

b . We can find out where the problem lies the child in learning English

c . Can control children through learning English.

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content

The paragraphs are not

really connect with the

tittle or main idea.

8

Inadequate

development of

the topic.

30/40x100

= 75

Organization

1. Repeated topic in

different

paragraphs.

2. Different topics

in one paragraph.

3. Discuss more

specific topic

before the

general one.

3

Incoherent ideas

and lacks logical

sequencing.

Vocabulary Several of not accurate

words. 8

Employ lacks the

accuracy of

diction, but

meaning not

obscured.

Grammar 1. Few of error

tenses. 9

Several errors of

tense, pronouns,

2. Need to rewrite

the sentence.

subject verb

agreement, etc.,

but meaning not

obscured.

Mechanics

1. Need to add

space.

2. Need to remove

space.

3. Wrong Spelling.

4. Need to

capitalize.

5. Double type

word.

2

Dominated by

errors of

mechanics.

(Student 28)

“HOW TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS OF

STUDENTS”

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

We know that English not our native language, as a fact

that mastery it is not easy. The components and skill of English

language is important for language learner. The components

include grammatical structure, phonology, vocabulary and

pronunciation that can give the effect to the English-language

skills; such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. Writing

is the written productive language skill. It refers to the ability to

communicate to the reader with the written language. Reading

is refers to produce the spoken language. Listening is the

receptive spoken. It refers to the ability to understand the

spoken language. It is the skill of a listener or group of listener

to interpret information transferred by the speaker. Speaking is

the spoken productive language. It refers to produce spoken

language. It the skill of speaker to communicate the information

to the listener.

In writing, students have to know about grammar,

vocabulary, sentence structure, sentence sequence, sentence

connection. Sometimes the students could speak English

fluently but they did not definite understand in Writing or

making essay.

Good writing skill are essential for effective

communication. The better you write, the more easily readers

will understand you. Learning to write well takes time and

practice. It has been agreed that writing is a means of

communication made possible through graphics symbols,

arranged according to certain conventions to form words which

in turn are arranged to form sentences. The sentences are

logically and grammatically connected to form a piece of

writing. Writing skills are an important part of communication.

Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message

with clarity and ease to a far large audience than through face to

face or telephone conversation.

B. Problem Statment

According to (NUNAN:2003)2.4.1 . Theacher have to

understand both and to communicate aims to students in ways

that are comprehensibible to them. 2.4.2. Teachers have to

evaluate writing activities in class, writing should integrated

into the syllabus, Provide students the opportunity to try out

different types of writing. The writing skill difficulties are one

of the most significant problems that affect not only native

English speakers, but also hundreds of students that are learning

English as a second or foreign language around the world. The

fact that the latter do not have interest in the Composition field

leads them to be poor writers, have low scores in their courses,

increase the errors in their homework, write run-on sentences

and create incoherent paragraphs. Many students have learned

in high school to camouflage their lack of reading and writing

skills, so it is often difficult for teachers to identify their

weaknesses until students hand in papers or take exams. Then

writing deficiencies are obvious. For this reason, it is important

to say that academic writing involves many requirements that

students must put into practice to avoid difficulties and

complications at the moment of writing essays or report papers.

C. Objective

The purpose of this research is to find how to improve the

writing skill if students. Besides that we can learn about what

understanding writing, the purpose of writing, and also the

processes that need to be studied before starting writing a

scientific work.

Aspects Issues Gain

Score Score Criteria

Final

Score

Content

1. Lack of knowledge

of the topic

discussed.

2. Need more details

and specific

development of the

topic.

7

The student does

not show

knowledge of the

topic.

28/40x100

= 70

Organization

1. Lack of sequence

paragraphs

organization.

2. Need coherent and

cohesive of the

paragraphs.

2

The student does

not write

paragraph

structures

correctly.

Vocabulary

1. Not accurate words.

2. Error usage of

diction.

7

Errors in applying

diction or word

form and meaning

obscured.

Grammar

1. Using personal

pronoun.

2. Need to change the

article and verb form

usage.

9

Several errors of

tense, pronouns,

subject-verb

agreement, etc. but

meaning not

obscured.

Mechanics

1. Miss page

formatting.

2. Wrong spelling.

3. Punctuation needed.

3

Many errors of

mechanics and

meaning obscured.

Appendix 10

Documentation

CURRICULUM VITAE

Khadijah was born on 29th

of July 1997 in Maros. She

is the first child from the marriage between of her

parents, Syamsuddin K, S.Pd. and Nur Amsi M, S.Pd.

She is a wife of Muhammad Taqiyuddin and also a

mother of one son named Abdullah. She began her

elementary school in SDIT Wihdatul Ummah Makassar

and graduated in 2009. Then, she continued her study in

MTsN MODEL Makassar and graduated in 2012. Her

senior high school was SMAIT Wahdah Islamiyah Makassar and graduated in

2015. At the same year, 2015, she continued her school at Muhammadiyah

University of Makassar as the students of English Department, Teacher Training

and Education Faculty. At the end of her study, she finished her thesis in 2020

with the title “An Analysis of Students‟ Problems in Academic Writing at English

Department Students in 2019 Academic Year Of Unismuh”.