ABSTRACT
This research was conducted because of the problems faced by students in
writing descriptive text and the class situation during the lesson. This research
aims at: (1) improving the students’ skill of writing descriptive text using visual
aids; and (2) describing the class climate when visual aids are implemented in
teaching writing descriptive text.
The method used in this research is classroom action research. The
research was carried out to the seventh grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Sragen.
The research data were collected using qualitative technique and quantitative
technique. Technique of collecting data using qualitative technique can be divided
into two categories: (1) observational (observation, field notes, audio recording
and photographs). (2) non-observational (interview, document and questionnaire).
While technique of collecting data using quantitative technique was obtained from
the writing test that consists of pre-test and post-test. Technique of analyzed data
using qualitative techniques consists of assembling the data, coding the data,
comparing the data, building interpretation and reporting the outcomes. In the
quantitative data were analyzed by the result of the test (the comparing of mean
score of pre-test and post-test). The result of pre-research showed that 58.8% of
students found difficulty in developing their ideas, 67.6% students had problems
in using appropriate vocabulary in writing, 55.8% of students had difficulty to
write in correct grammar and 73.5% students made errors in spelling and
mechanic. After the implementation of the research, the result of post-test showed
that there was improvements of students mean score in cycle 1 was 71.46 and
became 81.13 in the cycle 2.
The research findings show that: (1) the use of visual aids improves the
students’ writing skill. It can be seen from the increasing of the mean of the
students’ score. Visual aids provide an interesting activity which facilitated
students to improve their writing skill; (2) the use of visual aids gives good impact
in the class climate. Visual media changes the class condition become more
interesting and conducive; the students also become more active and interactive
during the lesson.
Keywords: visual aids, writing skill, descriptive text