ABSTRACT
The objectives of the research are: (1) to find out whether Project-Based Learning is more effective than Guided Writing in teaching students’ writing skill; (2) to find out whether the students who have high learning interest toward English have better writing skill than those who have low learning interest; and (3) to find out whether there is an interaction between teaching methods and learning interest to teach writing.
This research was classified as experimental research and conducted at SMP IT Ibnu Abbas, Klaten. It was carried out from January 2014 up to January 2015. The subject of the research was the students of class VII of SMP IT Ibnu Abbas Klaten in the academic year of 2013/2014.The population in this research is the seventh grade with the total number of 177 students coming from 5 classes. The samples are 28 students of class 7B1 as the experimental class and 28 students of class 7B3 as the control class. The experimental class was taught using Project-Based Learning while the control class was taught using Guided Writing. The techniques of collecting data were questionnaire and test. The technique of analyzing data used descriptive and inferential analysis.
The research findings show that (1) Project-Based Learning is more effective than Guided Writing to teach writing; (2) the students who have high learning interest have better writing skill than those who have low learning interest; and (3) there is an interaction between teaching methods and students’ learning interest to teach writing.
In conclusion, Project-Based Learning is an effective method to teach writing and its effectiveness is affected by the level of students’ learning interest. The result of the research, hopefully, can enrich references dealing with teaching and learning writing skill.
Key words:writing skill, Project-Based Learning, Guided Writing, learning interest, experimental research.