This current study is directed to implement Disquisition based learning strategy in improving the students’ ability in writing descriptive text at the first year EFL college students of Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. The English major in the first year has eight classes. This site is chosen for several reasons. First, the researcher is a lecturer of the university. Second, the lecturer’s strategy in teaching text writing is not varied. Third, the researcher is motivated to solve the students’ problems in writing texts. This study is categorized as a collaborative action research since in conducting the research, the researcher works collaboratively with a classroom English lecturer in the research activities at the stage of planning, the implementation of the action, the observation and the analysis and reflection. Based on the study’s findings and discussion, it can be concluded that using a Disquisition-based learning strategy can help students enhance their capacity to write descriptive paragraphs. Furthermore, it provided students with opportunities for increased independence. They can work together without the lecturer dictating every step, and they can make some of their own learning decisions to complete the task, due to peer revising and editing activities. Furthermore, the strategy necessitates that the students collaborate. It emphasizes the importance of group collaboration to solve problems and obtain a diverse range of feedback or replies to difficulties. In group learning, it allows students to share their thoughts with one another and to learn to listen to and respect the viewpoints of their peers. Furthermore, the execution of this strategy has a favorable impact on students’ interest in learning English. The researcher noticed that a couple of the students who used to run away from class when he first started teaching were already participating in all of the learning activities. The future researcher is advised to implement and build a Disquisition-based learning strategy in other school levels. However, in the implementation the strategy, the lecturer should give more guidance and data sources such as interesting pictures, a large number of vocabulary, and simple models of writing.
Integrating portfolios into learning strategy-based instruction for EFL college students
