THE USE OF FOUR-SQUARE WRITING TO IMPROVE THE WRITING ABILITY OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS BY THE FIRST YEAR (X.1) STUDENTS OF SMA NEGERI 4 PEKANBARU

This research aims to know whether Four-Square Writing Method could improve the students' ability in writing descriptive texts and also the factors that contribute to the improvement. The writer collected the quantitative data by using writing tests and qualitative by using observation sheets and field notes. The minimum criteria of the successful action were 75. Before applying the Four-Square Writing Method, the students were given a pre-test to know their writing ability or their base score. After applying the Four-Square Writing Method, the students' score increased from pre-test to post-test 1 and post-test 2. Based on the data analysis, the students' score improved from 68,97 in the pre-test, to 72,77 in the post-test 1 and 75,40 in post-test 2. Furthermore, based on the data analysis of students' observation sheet, there is a significant functional improvement of students' activities during teaching and learning process from Cycle 1 (58,05% ) to Cycle 2 (82,18%). Besides, based on the data analysis of teacher’s observation sheet, it also proved that there was a good improvement from teacher’s activities in Cycle 1 (72,22%) to Cycle 2 (91,67% ). Therefore, the use of Four-Square Writing Method can improve the ability to write descriptive texts by the first year (X.1) students of SMA Negeri 4 Pekanbaru.

THE ANALYSIS OF VIOLATING MAXIM ON SAPA INDONESIA MALAM TELEVISION NEWS PROGRAM TOWARD THE EPISODE ‘TUDINGAN KONSPIRASI DIBALIK KORONA’

When interacting with other people, we must cooperate during the conversation. By cooperating, it will make the conversation run well and flow smoothly. However, the speaker can violate the maxim and caused understanding. This study aims to analyze violating maxims done by a speaker on ‘‘Sapa Indonesia Malam” news program that consists of two segments. The writers analyze the data by applying the theory of cooperative principle by Grice and using descriptive qualitative method. The result of this study showed that there are sixty-four violating utterances. Relation maxim comes as the most common maxim that violating by the speaker. It occurs twenty-eight times during the conversation. After that, it was followed by quality maxim with twenty-one violation utterances. Then ten times of violation quantity maxim and maxim of manner as the lowest violation because it only occurs five times.

DEVELOPING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE MASTERY IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT THE FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS OF STISIP PERSADA BUNDA PEKANBARU

The simple present tense is the most basic tense that should be mastered by the first semester students of STISIP Persada Bunda Pekanbaru. Moreover, descriptive text is one of the text types which use the present tense. Descriptive text is used by the researcher as the text that let the students apply their ability in using the present tense. However, most students still face difficulties in using present tense in writing descriptive text. Thus, the researcher conducted the study entitled "Developing Students Simple Present Tense Mastery in Writing Descriptive Text at The First Semester Students of STISIP Persada Bunda Pekanbaru.” This research aimed to identify the most dominant students' errors and to describe the factors causing students' errors in using present tense in writing descriptive text first semester students of STISIP Persada Bunda Pekanbaru. The study was used mixed methodology as the research method. The population were the first semester students of STISIP Persada Bunda Pekanbaru. In collecting the data, the researcher used the students' writing products in using present tense in writing descriptive text and the questionnaire. The study was showed two points; through the students' writing products would result in the students' errors and the questionnaire would show the factors causing students' errors in using present tense in writing descriptive text. Based on the research findings showed that the most dominant students’ errors were misformation errors with 56 items (62,92%). Moreover, based on the questionnaire could be concluded that the factors causing the students' errors in using the present tense in writing descriptive text were interlingual transfer and intralingual interference.

THE COMMUNICATION FUNCTION COVERED IN GAN KIM YONG’S SPEECH ON RESPONSE TO CORONA VIRUS

This research deals with how the language used in communication, especially in the form of speech. It addresses to describe the criteria and categories within utterances as well as the communication function of speech. The speech acts theory used in this research is from Searle (1976). The data source of research is an English speech text addressed by Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong delivered in parliament on the government's response to the coronavirus on February 3rd 2020. This research finds the representatives with 199 utterances (73%) as the most common speech acts which are followed by the other categories; directives in 21 utterances (13%), commissives in 19 utterances (12%) and expressive in 4 utterances (2%). The analysis finds the speaker has the intention to provide sufficient information about the 2019 novel coronavirus based on the preponderance of representatives which are indicated by the use of claiming, stating, reporting, asserting, and defining utterances that provide evidence about the real circumstances happened such as data, reasons, rationale, and explanation. Thus, the belief of speaker within utterances guides the listeners for being aware of the current conditions relates to the coronavirus.

THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF CREATIVE WRITING IN RELATION WRITING SKILL

In this era, writing is one of the skills that should be mastered by the students, because it will be useful in the future. Writing has a purpose of entertaining and of giving the information, for example, in creative writing. This research aimed to know the students’ perception of abilities they acquired after they participated in creative writing at the university level. The method of this research is descriptive analysis. The Participants of this research are coming from students in the fourth semester of English Department in Wiralodra University who took the Poetry subject Then the study resulted in the identification of abilities the students acquired after learning creative writing, the students are more self-confidence, critical reading and gain their vocabulary, grammar and punctuation in writing.

THE FRIENDSHIP VALUES BETWEEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AS REFLECTED IN KATHERINE PATERSON’S BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA: A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY

This research entitled "The Friendship Values between the Main Characters as Reflected in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia: A Psychological Study". This research was intended to find out the friendship values among the main characters of the novel Bridge To Terabithia written by Katherine Paterson. The type of this research was library research, which consists of primary data and secondary data. The primary data of this research were the novel entitled Bridge To Terabithia written by Katherine Paterson, while the secondary data are taken from other sources such as books, journals, articles that are related to the topic, and the internet sources to complete the data. The subject of this research was the novel Bridge To Terabithia, while the object of this research focused on the friendship values between the main characters for life in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge To Terabithia. The methods used in this research were critical reading and documentation. Collecting the data, he does some steps such as reading the novel precisely and intensively, making notes, visiting the library, and exploring the data from the internet which were related to the topic. The researcher found the friendship values of the main characters were caring for others, being helpful, giving respect, giving hope, joys, and inspiring to others.

THE EFFECTS OF IMPLICIT VERSUS EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS TO TEACH REFUSAL STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ SOCIOPRAGMATIC AND PRAGMALINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

The purposes of the study were to explain the effects of implicit instruction on student’s sociopragmatic competences, implicit instructions on students’ pragmalinguistic competences, explicit instructions on students’ sociopragmatic competences, explicit instructions on students’ pragmalinguistic competences, the differences between implicit and explicit instructions on students’ sociopragmatic competences, the differences between implicit and explicit instructions on student’s pragmalinguistic competences, and the interaction between instructions with the students’ sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic competences. The study used a quantitative research by using experimental factorial design 2x2. The data were taken from 80 second semester students at English Language Education Study Program at STAIN. The result of the study revealed that the mean score of post-test in implicit instruction on students’ sociopragmatic was 80.000 while explicit 92.550. Meanwhile, the mean score of post-test in implicit instruction on students’ pragmalinguistic was 83.000 while explicit 95.5000. It could be concluded that explicit has better effect to teach refusal strategies than implicit instruction on students’ sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic competence based on the difference between the means score on implicit and explicit.

STUDENTS’ ERRORS ANALYSIS IN CHANGING ACTIVE VOICE INTO PASSIVE VOICE OF SIMPLE PRESENT AND PAST TENSE (A CASE STUDY AT EIGHTH GRADE OF SMP SWASTA PUTERI SION MEDAN)

This research was purposed to analyze students’ errors in changing active into passive voice of simple present and past tense. This study used descriptive qualitative research design. The data source was students’ test printed papers which contained passive voice questions as the instrument. The subject was eighth grade of SMP Swasta Puteri Sion Medan which consisted of 31 students. The data was identified, classified, and analyzed based on surface strategy taxonomy of Dulay’s theory, namely error of omission with percentage 23,3%, error of addition with percentage 12,19%, error of misformation with percentage 55,82% which established as the dominant error, and error of misordering with percentage 8,67%. The total of errors’ percentage reached 99,98%. Keywords: Error Analysis, Passive Voice. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kesalahan siswa dalam mengubah kalimat aktif menjadi kalimat pasif dalam simple present dan past tense. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Sumber data adalah lembar kerja siswa yang dicetak yang berisi pertanyaan kalimat pasif sebagai instrumennya. Subjek penelitian ini adalah kelas VIII SMP Swasta Puteri Sion Medan dengan jumlah siswa sebanyak 31 orang. Data diidentifikasi, diklasifikasikan, dan dianalisis berdasarkan kesalahan taksonomi siasat permukaan dari teori Dulay, yaitu kesalahan penghilangan dengan persentase 23,3%, kesalahan penambahan dengan persentase 12,19%, kesalahan salah formasi dengan persentase 55,82% yang ditetapkan sebagai kesalahan dominan dan kesalahan salah susun dengan persentase 8,67%. Total persentase kesalahan mencapai 99,98%. Kata kunci: Analisis kesalahan, kalimat pasif.

THE EFFECT OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZER INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS’ READING MOTIVATION

The aim of this study is to find out the effect of graphic organizer instruction on the students’ reading motivation. The study was done through quasi-experimental design. The data were collected using Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) developed by Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) . The population consisted of 119 students. A cluster sampling technique was used to take them as samples. The samples were divided into two groups; experimental group and control group. Then, the data were analyzed using t-test and paired sample t-test methods to find out whether there was significant difference between the experimental group taught by graphic organizer instruction as the treatment and the control group taught conventionally. The results of the research shows that the significant probabilities were higher than 0.05 (>0.05) ) in both paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test. It meant that there was significant difference on the students’ reading motivation in the pre-questionnaire and in the post-questionnaire of the classes. In sum up, the the application of graphic organizer instruction gives positive effect toward the students’ reading motivation.

STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN WRITING NARRATIVE TEXT

This research aims to describe students' difficulties in writing narrative texts, the students' more dominant problems and to know English teacher action to solve the problem. The researchers used qualitative research and a descriptive case study. This study tries to observe students' mistakes in writing narrative texts. The data collected based on the students' answer sheet. The categories made based on the students' answer sheets in writing Narrative texts. The things that recorded by the researchers for giving scores are the four generic structures: Orientation, Complication, Resolution, and Re-Orientation/Coda. And the researchers found that the students still had difficulties in writing narrative texts with the generic structures. Based on the findings, from 26 students only 3 students can distinguish between parts of generic structures and the rest must practice at home and ask the teacher to make improvements.