THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PICTURE SETS TO TEACH WRITING VIEWED FROM THE STUDENTS’ INTELLIGENCE IN THE SEVENTH GRADERS OF SMP 20 SURAKARTA

 by Primanda Dewanti

English is taught in junior high school in Indonesia. One of important skills is writing. Writing skill is an important part of communication since people frequently have to communicate each other in writing, for example a short message, note, notice, etc. Furthermore,  writing helps our students learn. First, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students. Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be adventorous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say and to take risk. Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand, and brain are a unique ways to reinforce learning (Raimes, 1983: 3). When the writers are writing something, they often discover something new to write or a new way to express their ideas. It will take them to be able to find the right word and the right sentence.

Students of Junior High School are supported to be able to write effectively. In his article entitled Why Writing Skills Are Important, McKay says that writing effectively is a skill that can be learned. It is quite very different from writing literary works such as poetry, prose, or drama which are said as talent-based writing. It is just a matter for the teacher to find the right method to teach it well. It can be said that students writing ability is influenced by the teaching activity conducted by the teacher. In other words, it is important for the teacher to apply an interesting method in conducting students’ writing activity. There are some techniques that can be applied in the writing class. One of them is picture sets. Picture is a very interesting object for students.  Picture sets or picture in sequence provided a variety of guided and free writing exercise. A picture sequence, such as a comic strip, provides the subject matter for writing narrative and for speculating about the story beyond the picture in the strip (Raimes, 1983: 36). Picture is something drawn in a media and can be enjoyed every where. It is easier to understand it than a notice or others communication media. An interesting picture will stimulate the students to focus on the subject and produce some meaningful sentences.

In seventh grade of SMP 20, writing is taught using textbook. Textbooks are employed because they can be obtained easily. In using the media, the writing activity is done under a set of rules provided by the book and led by the teacher. When the media is applied in the class, some students are able to write a sentence almost correctly. On the other way round, when the teacher does not allow them to opne the book, it will be difficult for them to write. Most of them cannot imagine what to write without checking the textbooks. Sometimes they make the sentences almost same with the ones written on the textbooks. Another effect is that they are not able to complete a writing task in the examination.

Besides the teacher’s techniques which are extrinsic factors in teaching and learning process, intrinsic factor such as intelligence also takes part in it. Intelligence cannot be acquired artificially. When a teacher has applied the best techniques she has, without students who are high in intelligence, it will be difficult for her to teach easily and to help the students understand the process. According to Gottfredson, L.S. (1997) as quoted by Wikipedia, intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do. In other words, it can be said as the capacity or ability of someone in learning something receptive and productive. Intelligence influences students’ writing skill since they have to think abstractly when they are writing something. The more intelligent the students are, the better writing product they can afford to do. 

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