IMPROVING STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE PA RAGRAPH WRITING ABILITY THROUGH RAFT TECHNIQUE AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPA RTMENT OF MANADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This research was conducted to find out whether RAFT technique can improve students’ writingability and to explain how RAFT technique can improve students’ writing ability. This research usedClassroom Action Research with the combination of Quantitative data (scores of pre-test and posttest) and Qualitative data in the form of observation, field notes, journal and documentations. Thenumber of students involved in this research was 20 students. The implementation of this researchwas conducted in two cycles, every cycle consisted of three meetings with the steps of planning,acting, observing and reflecting. The findings through quantitative data of this research displayed animprovement with the percentage of the mean scores from pre-test and post-test. The mean score ofpre-test was 50.75 and the mean score of post-test in cycle 2 was 81.9. The percentage of the studentswho could pass the standard score was 10 % and 100 % from pre-test to post-test cycle 2. It meansthat there was 31.5 increased from pre-test to post-test and 90 % students could reach the standardscore (minimum criterion) since pre-test to post-test cycle 2. While in qualitative data, the resultsthrough observation checklist, field notes, the researcher’s journal, and documentations showed thatthe use of the RAFT technique could improve students’ ability in writing descriptive paragraph. Thestudents became active, initiative, and responsible to their writing. Additionally, the students wereinterested in the use of RAFT technique due to the RAFT aspects in helping them to write descriptiveparagraph orderly. Based on the findings, it could be concluded that RAFT technique was effectiveto be used in improving university students’ ability in writing descriptive paragraph. Regarding onthe conclusion, this research is recommended to English Lecturers or Teachers in teaching writing toimprove students’ ability.Keywords: Writing, Writing ability, University Student, Descriptive Paragraph, RAFT (Role,Action, Format, Topic), Classroom Action Research