CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTIONS

“The developing skills in writing paragraphs through Graphic

Organizers”

1. Background

Writing is one of the skills which have to study for every student in English

language learning process. It is an important skill that must be mastered in English

language learning as a prerequirement to every student. Langer, Judith A and

Applebee, Arthur N (1987: 3) state, writing assignments as part of the secondary

school curriculum are examined to determine their use in fostering learning and

integrating new information with previous knowledge and experiences. Besides

that, the uses of writing in the school curriculum is based on our belief that the

effective teaching of writing is an essential component in any successful

school program: to improve the teaching of writing, particularly in the context

of academic tasks, is also to improve the quality of thinking required of

school children.

Studying writing encourages students to develop their writing strategies,

seek feedback on their own writing and analyze expert writers' texts in order to

become more reflective and effective writers (Lyons & Heasley: 2006).

Unfortunately, the fact shows that, there are some problems faced by learners

when they want to improve their idea in a writing form but they lack of ability in

writing skill.

According Jeremy, expert of education say, states that writing gives them

more thinking time than they get when they attempt spontaneous conversation.

This allows them more opportunities for language processing that is thinking

about the language whether they are involved in study or activation. Besides that,

writing is used as an aide memories or practice tool to help students practice and

work with language they have been studying. For example, ask the students to

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write paragraphs using given structure, using the new vocabularies, or phrases

they have been learning.

The learners’ problems in writing are how to improve their ideas in a

sentence to be a paragraph, and how to integrate to the next paragraphs. It will be

difficult to do when the teachers lack of techniques or methods in guiding their

students to express their idea in a writing form.

Forming a paragraph is one of the essential abilities in writing process.

There are some contents in a good paragraph, for example; the topic sentence

which explained by some supporting ideas. Oshima and Hogue (2006: 4) state

that, every good paragraph has topic sentence, which clearly states the topic and

the controlling idea of the paragraph. When all of the sentences of a paragraph

work together and relate to main idea, a paragraph has unity.

Good writing is an aim in writing skill. It means that, in writing process

there are thinking process, planning, checking, and revising. Oshima and Hogue

(1997:6) assume that, the writers will become skilled writers by always using

these four steps: (1) pre-writing (getting ideas and organizing them), (2) writing

the first draft, (3) editing the first draft (checking and correcting it), and (4)

writing the final draft to hand in.

Based on my experiences, there are some problems found in the. The first

problem is “writing is not comprehensible” because the content of the

composition is not relevant to the topic, the ideas are not clearly stated, the ideas

and sentences are not well organized. The second problem is many errors in

vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. The third problem is the difficulty at telling

their experiences because they have to master enough vocabulary, spelling, and

grammar. Besides that, have low motivation and are not interested in doing the

task because the writing activities are not interesting. Usually, we are asked to

write sentences and paragraphs without being given some clues so that it is

difficult for the students to express their ideas on a piece of paper. The other hand,

the teachers have lack of method in writing material. Finally, the students’ ability

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in writing is low and the writing subject is not important in education system.

William Zinsser in Richards, Janet C and Miller Sharon K (2005: 38), says that

teachers often make their students afraid of writing at an early age by as-signing

topics for which young writers have no aptitude or interest.

Based on the problems above, thinks necessary to create a strategy that can

involve both the teachers and the students in learning activities. One of the

strategies that can be used in order to help the students in organizing and

developing their ideas in writing a paragraph is graphic organizers. Steele (2007)

states that, graphic organizers can be created for comparing characters, identifying

the setting, mapping out, provide graphic organizers that can help the students to

organize thoughts during brainstorming or pre-writing exercises and students can

use to create the rough draft of a writing assignment.

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CHAPTER II

BODY

The title of this study describing the graphic organizers in writing and have

been shown are as follows as:

A. Some Pertinent Idea

1. Developing

Developing is makes something new, such as a product or a mental or

artistic creation. The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown;

a gradual unfolding process by which anything is developed, as a plan or

method, or an image upon a photographic plate; gradual advancement or

growth through a series of progressive changes (Wikipedia: 2010).

2. Ability

1. Oxford Dictionary (2004:1) ability is skill or power.

2. Ability is the quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether

physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or

competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; In the

plural, faculty (Wikipedia: 2010).

3. Writing

A. Defenition of Writing

1. Writing is viewed as the result of complex processes of planning,

drafting, reviewing and revising (Richards and Schmidt in Rusmiati:

2007:5). Besides that, Byrne (1990:1) writing is clearly much more than

production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the production

of sounds. The other hand, writing is the expression of language in the

form of letters, symbols, or words. The writing process includes

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prewriting, composing, revising, editing, and publishing (Wikipedia:

2010).

2. Leo (2007:1) states that writing as a process of expressing ideas or

thoughts in words should be done at our leisure.

3. Simon and Schuster (1999: 1) emphasis on practice-on teaching, on using

writing as a tool for learning the subject being studied and as a strategy

for improving the confidence and the ability of students to communicate

effectively.

B. Writing Ability

1. Writing Ability is an ability to produce a sequence of sentences

arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain ways

(Bryne in Rusmiati, 2007:5).

2. Amelia, Reski (2010: 14) states that, writing ability is ability to

communicate information and ideas in written form so that others can

understand (with clarity of thought, organization, and good sentence

structure).

C. Writing Process

Nation I.S.P. (2009: 114) states that writing process contains the

following seven sub processes:

1. Considering the goals of the writer

An important way of encouraging writers to keep their goals and

audience in mind is to provide them with feedback about the

effectiveness of their writing. This feedback can be direct

comment on the writing as a piece of writing or it can be a

response to the message. Besides that, the writer needs to keep the

goal in mind as well as suiting the information and the way it is

expressed to the person who will receive it.

2. Having a model of the reader

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Teachers should also check the writing program to make sure that

learners are given practice in writing for a range of goal or

purposes to a range of readers. There are some questions try to

find out if the writer has a clear and consistent picture of who is

writing for :

a. Did you feel that you should write this with a certain tone?

b. Did you have a clear picture of who you were writing this for?

c. How much knowledge does the reader already have of this

topic?

d. Did you think about that when you were doing the writing?

3. Gathering ideas

Leibman-Kleine in Nation I.S.P. (2009: 117) suggests that

techniques for gathering ideas about a topic can be classified into

three groups.

a. The first group is brainstorming and quick writing. These

activities could be preceded by relaxation activities where

learners are encouraged to use all their senses to explore a

topic. Coffin, Caroline and The Friends (2005: 35) stated that,

in brainstorming, students spark ideas off each other after a

discussion or reading. Ideally, students throw ideas into a non-

judgemental forum, with the goal of generating multiple ideas

on a topic without immediately evaluating their suitability for

development. The lecturer or a student lists the ideas

generated by the group on the blackboard to create a record.

An individual writer can also brainstorm about a topic,

although input from others will be missing. The other sides,

the quick writing according Nation I.S.P. (2009: 117) states

that, quick writing (speed writing) is used with the main

purpose of helping learners produce ideas. Besides that,

Jacobs in Nation I.S.P. (2009: 117) states that, in quick

writing the learners concentrate on content, they do not worry

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about error or the choice of words, and they write without

stopping.

b. The second group consists of systematic searching

procedures such as questioning (who, why, where, when ...) or

filling in an information transfer diagram. In all cases the

learners have set steps to follow to make sure they consider all

the important parts of the topic.

c. The third group is consists of techniques which help learners

gather and organize ideas at the same time. These include

using tree diagrams and concept diagrams or maps.

4. Organizing ideas

The way learners organize ideas gives a chance to put their own

point of view and their own thought into their writing, particularly

in writing assignments and answering examination questions. Two

possible ways of approaching the organization of academic writing

is to rank the ideas according to a useful criterion or to classify the

ideas into groups. Besides that, the students also can list the

questions that the writer of the letter seemed to be answering then

use these questions to guide their own writing.

5. Turning ideas into written text

Turning ideas into written text is translating the ideas into text.

Some learners are able to say what they want to write but have

difficulty in putting it into written form. A possible cause is the

difference between the writing systems of the learners’ first

language and the second language because there is different

written script.

6. Reviewing what has been written

An important part of the writing process is looking back over what

has been written. This is done to check what ideas have already

been included in the writing, to keep the coherence and flow of the

writing, to stimulate further ideas, and to look for errors. Poor

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writers do not review, or review only to look for errors. Besides

that, with checklists (or scales) containing points to look for in

writing. Research on writing indicates that such scales have a

significant effect on improving the quality of written work

Hillocks in Nation I.S.P. (2009: 120). Also, the students make

peer feedback means that, the learners read their incomplete work

to each other to get comments and suggestions on how to improve

and continue it. The learners can work in groups and read each

other’s compositions.

7. Editing

Editing involves going back over the writing and making changes

to its organization, style, grammatical and lexical correctness, and

appropriateness. Editing is not restricted to occurring after all the

writing has been completed. Learners can be encouraged to edit

through the feedback that they get from their classmates, teacher

and other readers. Feedback that focuses only on grammatical

errors will not help with editing of content.

The other hand, Simon and Schuster (1999: 45) break down the

writing process into six parts that in practice often overlap or circle

back: planning, drafting (including audience-related issues), revising,

editing, proofreading, and publication. Besides that, Brown, Kristine

and Hood, Susan (1993: 6) state that, there are three main stages of the

writing process:

D. The Important of Writing

Nation I. S.P. (2009: 113) states that, with writing, as with the other skills

of listening, speaking and reading, it is useful to make sure that learners

are involved in meaning-focused use, language-focused learning, and

writing cover the range of uses that learners will perform in their daily

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RevisingDrafting

Preparing to Write

lives. These can include filling forms, making lists, writing friendly letters

and business letters, note-taking and academic writing. Each of these types

of writing involves special ways of organizing and presenting the writing

and this presentation also deserves attention.

E. The Characteristic of Good Writing

Smalley and Ruetten in Rahmah (2010: 14) stated that each paragraph in

essay has a designated function. Writing is a group of paragraphs that

develops one central idea.

1. Introduction. The introduction is usually one paragraph (sometimes two

or more) that introduce the topic to be discussed and one central idea.

2. Developmental Paragraph. These paragraphs develop various aspects of

topic and the central idea. In developmental paragraph discuss causes,

effects, reasons, examples, processes, classifications or points of

comparison and the contrast. There are three points of developmental

paragraphs:

a. Each developmental paragraph discusses one aspect of the main

topic.

b. The controlling idea in the developmental paragraph should in the

central idea in thesis statements.

c. The developmental paragraphs should have coherence and unity.

3. Conclusion. This paragraph concludes the thought developed in the

essay. It is the closing word paragraph. The concluding paragraph

wraps up the discussion, bringing the development to a logical end.

There are some points about conclusions:

a. A conclusion can restate the main pints (subtopics) discussed. This

restatement should be brief.

b. A conclusion can restate the thesis. Generally, to avoid sounding

repetitious. It is one of ways to restate the thesis in different word.

The restetement of the thesis is really reassertions of its importance

or validity.

c. A conclusions should not bring up a new topic.

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4. Paragraph

A. Definition of Paragraph

Ochima and Hogue (2006:2) state a paragraph is a group of related

sentences that discuss one (and usually only one) main idea. The other hand, a

paragraph (from the Greek paragraphos, "to write beside" or "written beside")

is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing dealing with a particular point

or idea. A paragraph consists of one or more sentences. The start of a

paragraph is indicated by beginning on a new line. Sometimes the first line is

indented (Wikipedia: 2008).

Lunsford and Connors (2010:116) state that a paragraph is defined as a

group of sentences or a single sentence that forms a unit. Besides that, Oshima

in Rusmiati (2010: 16) states that, pragraph is a group of related statement that

a writer develops about a subject. The first sentence states the specific point, or

idea, of the topic. Paragraph is a group af a sentence that discuss one main idea

or topic. The paragraph has unity, enciting them to read each sentence

contributes to development of singgle topic. The paragraph generally contain

an intruduction, a body and conclusion.

B. Main Parts of Paragraph

Oshima in Rusmiati (2010: 17) classifies the paragraph into three main

point they are:

1. Topic Sentence. The topic sentence states the main idea. It means that

the topic of paragraph and limit it to one or two areas that can be

discussed completely in the single paragraph. It cathes the reader’s

interest, and enciting them to read.

2. Supporting Sentence. Supporting sentence develepos and expalins the

topic sentence of the paragraph by giving definition, reason, example,

fact, comparison, effect. The supporting sentences follow the topic

sentence and make up of paragraph.

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3. Concluding Sentence. Concluding sentence signals the end of paragraph

or giving conclusion about the topic sentence or content of paragraph.

A concluding sentence summarizes or ties together the paragraph ideas

while bringg them to graceful end. Concluding sentence should remains

readers of argument, gives a reader a sense of completeness and relate

logically to the topic sentence.

C. The Characteristics of effective Paragraph

Saraka in Rusmiati (2010: 18) states that there are four characteristics of

an affective paragraph. They are:

1. Unity. A paragraph has unity if every sentence to develop one central

idea. A paragraph does not have unity if does not develop or sopport the

main idea of the paragraph.

2. Completeness. A comple paragraph provides information well enough

can and it develops the truth for the reader.

3. Order. Order in paragraph can be achieved by presenting the

information of paragraph in a desirable sequence. The order of

paragraph depends on the subject matter, the purpose of the writing.

4. Coherence. The word coherence means sticking together. Therefore,

reader must be able to follow along from sentence to sentence within

the whole composition. Within the paragraph all sentences must

develop the purpose. The reader must see how each sentence logically

follows the order.

The other side paragraph is made of a topic sentence and a number of

supporting sentences. The topic sentence is the most important device

to help the writers guide their paragraph and it often comes to the

beginning of the paragraph. A topic sentence prepares and allerts the

reader for waht will follow.

5. Graphic Organizers

A. Defenition of Graphic Organizers

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1. Graphic organizers are visuals and graphics display that depicts the

relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task.

Graphic organizers are also sometimes referred to as knowledge maps,

concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or

concept diagrams. Graphic organizers (some of which are also called

concept maps, entity relationship charts, and mind maps) are a pictorial

way of constructing knowledge and organizing information (Wikipedia:

2010). Besides that, Parker, Christi E (2007: 4) states that, graphic

organizers are referred to as maps because can help “map out” ideas in

visual way. Graphic organizers have taken on various names including

semantics maps, webs, semantic maps, story maps, and semantic

organizers.

2. Parker, Christi E (2006: 4) states that, graphic organizations are visual

representations that help gather and sort information. Graphic organizers

help the students see pattern and relationship between the given

information.

3. Publishing, Walch (2004: 3) states that, graphic organizers are a simple

special drawing that contains word or numbers.

B. Some Findings about Graphic Organizers

Drapeau, Patti (2009: 9) states that, graphic organizers are great tools to

help the students improve their writing. Besides that, graphic organizers are

an outline, which help the students organize their thinking. When the

students have difficulty generating ideas, using elaborative language or

organizing thoughts on paper, graphic organizers can help the students to

develop fluency and provide organizational structures that will be enable the

students to become more effective writers.

Drapeau, Patti (2009: 9) states that, graphic organizers have advanteges

for teachers and students:

1. Improve math skills by analyzing and judging the answer and

reflecting assumptions.

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2. Graphic organizers can be used to review the informations.

3. Graphic organizers can give students a fun way to learn and practice

math vocabulary.

4. The students can brainstorm ideas related to the issue, look at the

flexibility of the ideas, and make connections to things the students

know.

5. The students can analyze the information, prioritize it, and judget it.

6. The students can create the solutions to resolve the issue, and the

students can elaborate on it.

7. Using graphic organizers, the teachers are helping the students make

connections and assimilate new information into what the teachers

know already.

Graphic organizers help the students identify main ideas. Make the

students easier to see patterns such us, cause and effect, comparing and

contrasting, and chronological order. Also, help the students in critical-

thinking by asking recall, evaluate synthesis, analyze, and apply what the

students have learned.

Using graphic organizers while getting students to think different level

creates more complex and engaging for students. When the teachers need

the students to apply the information, the teachers can use graphic

organizer that correlated that the application level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a useful model for categorizing questions and

classroom activity. The following paragraphs describe each of the levels of

the Taxonomy:

1. Knowledge. The knowledge cognitive skill requires that student’s

recall or location information; remember something previously

learned, and memorizing information. For example, definition of the

word.

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2. Comprehension. The comprehension cognitive skill requires that

students understand and explain fact, demonstrate the basic

understanding of the concepts, translate fact into the words, grasp the

meaning, interpret the information or explain what happen in own

words.

3. Applications. The applications cognitive skill require that students to

solve the problem or answer the questions, transfer knowledge learned

in one situation to another.

4. Analysis. The analysis cognitive skill requires that students see in

depth-relationship and understand part related to a whole. For

example, comparing and contrasting one problem or topic.

5. Synthesis. Synthesis cognitive skill requires that students create new

ideas by pulling parts of the information, reform the information

combine the students sense.

6. Evaluation. The evaluation cognitive skill requires that students make

judgments based on evidence, judge the value of something, and

support the judgments.

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BAB III

CONCLUSION

Writing is one thing that is needed to support the success of the learning

process, especially in the world of education. Increased teaching writing

signifying increasing the quality of students' thinking, because learning to write

encouraging students to develop writing strategies. So sometimes want to enhance

their ideas in written form, but they do not have the ability in writing skills.

Writing gives them time to think more, than they get when they try to

spontaneous conversation. This allows them more opportunities for language

processing they think. In the process of writing writing is needed there is the

process of thinking, planning, checking and revising. One strategy that can be

used to assist students in organizing and developing their ideas in writing

paragraphs are graphic organizers.

Graphic organizers can be made to compare the characters, identify the

setting, mapping, providing graphic organizers can help students to organize

thoughts during exercise brainstorming or pre-writing and students can be used to

create a rough draft of a writing assignment.

There are four paragraphs affective characteristics. They are, Unity,

Completeness. A comple paragraphs provide enough information to develop a

good and truth to the reader, Order, Coherence word meaning interrelated

Writing is a group of paragraphs that develop a central idea, include the

introduction, paragraphs developers and artifacts to infer a conclusion thinking of

the material.when students have difficulty generating ideas, using language

elaborative or organizing thoughts on paper, graphic organizers can help students

to develop fluency and provide an organizational structure that will allow students

to become more effective writers.

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