i

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

THE USE OF COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND

COMPOSITION (CIRC) METHOD TO IMPROVE WRITING
SKILLS OF THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF
SMA NEGERI 7 PALU

NAURAH DESTRI YULANDARI

A12119025

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
TADULAKO UNIVERSITY
2022
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER i
APPROVAL ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Research Problem 4
1.3 Objective of the Research 5
1.4 Significance of the Research 5
1.5 Scope of the Research 5
1.6 Operational Definition of Key Terms 6

CHAPTER II RELATED STUDIES, REVIEW

OF RELATED LITERATURE, THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK,
AND HYPOTHESIS 7
2.1 Related Studies 7
2.2 Review of Related Literature 11
2.3 Theoritical Framework 27
2.4 Hypothesis 29

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 30

3.1 Research Design 30
3.2 Population and Sample 30
3.3 Research Variable 32
3.4 Research Instrument 32
3.5 Technique of Data Collection 33
3.6 Technique of Data Analysis 40

REFERENCES 42

APPENDICIES 44
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Research

Writing is one of the four skills of the English language. It is the process

of putting ideas from the mind into written form so that they can be conveyed to

readers in the form of literary works. Rahmawati (2016) defines writing as one of

the important and difficult skills of the English language that must be mastered by

students. Therefore, Students must practice and be trained to develop good writing

skills. When students write, students can express all the ideas that come to mind

which can be written into a masterpiece. Writing skills can also enable researchers

to communicate with others by sharing information through written language.

Writing is a way for individuals to express what is seen, felt, and heard.

Writing requires a strong command of the English language. That is, when writing

about something, a writer must learn all the important things of a language so that

the writer can write quickly. In this research, the goal is not to learn all of the

English languages, but rather to learn the English language that is in higher

demand or that people are more interested in learning. Wherein the researcher

focused students on writing by paying more attention to the important components

of writing a narrative text of the personal experience type. This research includes

organization, vocabulary, grammar, and mechanics, all of which are important

components in writing a narrative text to make it better and more organized.

Based on the Curriculum Merdeka used at SMA Negeri 7 Palu as a

reference in learning, where students focus more on material and develop their
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potential, and where students can be interactive in exploring things they do not

know to achieve the goals or competencies that have been set. To achieve these

competencies, students and teachers of course have to do it together, especially in

terms of writing a text. Previously, the teacher taught students how to write text

according to the structure of the language correctly, such as narrative types.

Writing skills refers to students' ability to master narrative text types,

understand, and produce various types of texts. Students struggle to explore their

ideas and formulate them with sufficient vocabulary to build a text as a feature of

structure and generic language. In this research, narrative text is a type of personal

experience. The goal of writing narrative texts is to entertain students while also

piquing their interest in reading. The type of personal experience used in narrative

text aims to allow students to express thoughts and imaginations based on real-life

experiences. During the process of teaching and learning writing, teachers often

focus on student products rather than the writing process. Students must be taught

to write in English using effective and engaging methods to become skilled

writers. Of course, in this learning stage, there are problems faced by students and

also teachers. Therefore, before a teacher gives English material to students, the

teacher must understand what are the things that make students interested and

what motivates students to take part in learning.

The majority of class XI students at SMA Negeri 7 Palu are not interested

in writing activities, especially in writing a narrative text. Through observation,

the student's difficulties are organizing their ideas in writing, choosing the right

words, arranging structure in writing, and ensuring writing cohesion. Students

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have writing ideas, but they don't know how to express them in written form.

Because students lack confidence and motivation to write, and writing seems

difficult for students. Meanwhile, in writing a narrative text the writer must use

his imagination to generate ideas. In learning according to the curriculum,

students are expected to be able to focus on their interests so that later students

can determine which way these students will go. Therefore, in this research,

researchers used a method where this method can assist teachers in teaching

interesting new methods to attract students' interest in learning and explore

students' ideas. Before the researcher asked the students to write, the researcher

asked the students to read examples of the types of narrative texts that students

wanted to do in this research. Narrative texts were types of personal experience. In

other words, combining reading and writing is an effective strategy to get students

to write well. That is, reading and writing are interrelated and affect one another.

By using the CIRC method which is a teaching strategy that can be used by

combining reading and writing.

Students will be highly motivated to collaborate because CIRC is a

continuous action that requires several actions to be completed, such as individual

activities, group work, presentations, and responding to other people's comments.

As a result, it combines spoken language development, reading comprehension,

and writing instruction. At CIRC, students learn how to organize their thoughts

and incorporate them into their compositions. Through reading comprehension,

CIRC can be used to investigate or improve writing skills. The CIRC method can

assist teachers and students in overcoming problems encountered during the

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learning process. Whereas with this method, the teacher can freely allow students

to express ideas that they own, and students are interested in exchanging thoughts

and vocabulary that they know, and they can help each other in arranging the

structure of a narrative text with other students to produce an idea in making a

good narrative text.

Based on the description above, the researcher hopes that CIRC method in

teaching writing in narrative texts can be an effective method that can improve

writing skills. As a result, with CIRC, teachers will have the opportunity to teach

students how to overcome writing difficulties through continuous group activities.

On the other hand, it can make students relax, entertained, motivated, and active

in class. The researcher expects it would be an effective solution for the students

to solve writing problems.

1.2 Research Problem

Based on the above background that has been described previously, the

researcher formulates the research question as follows:

“Can the use of CIRC method improve the writing skills of the eleventh

grade students of SMA Negeri 7 Palu?’’

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1.3 Objective of the Research

The objective of this research is to find out whether the use of CIRC

method can improve the writing skills of eleventh graders of SMA Negeri 7 Palu

or not.

1.4 Significance of the Research

The research findings could be useful to students, teachers, and

researchers. First, the research is expected to benefit for students on improving

their narrative text writing skills as well as their motivation and enthusiasm for

learning narrative text. Second, this research may offer teachers a novel and

innovative approach to teaching narrative text writing. Third, it instructs and

refers to the next researchers on how to teach narrative text writing using the

CIRC method.

1.5 Scope of the Research

This is limited to the preparation of narrative texts, especially one type of

narrative text, namely personal experience in improving students' writing skills.

The researcher focuses on the writing components, organization (time order),

vocabulary (meaning), grammar (nouns and adjectives), and mechanisms of

teaching writing narrative text in this research (spelling, punctuation, and

capitalization).
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1.6 Operational Definitions of Key Terms

To explain the meaning of the terms will use in this research, the

researcher provides several operational definitions of the key terms. The

following are operational definitions of key terms:

1. Writing skills is the skill to express ideas in an essay to produce a well-written

work.

2. The narrative text is one type of text that tells a series of events with a

chronological or interconnected system that is imaginative (not real) or in the

form of the imagination of the author.

3. Personal experience is the direct experience of an individual. This is a type of

evidence and storytelling that is commonly used in public speaking,

interviews, and academic work such as essays and research

4. CIRC (Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition) in this research is an

integrated learning method between reading and writing skills that actively

involve students both physically and mentally in the learning process to help

students understand the content of reading that is carried out individually or in

groups.
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CHAPTER II
RELATED STUDIES, REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE,
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, AND HYPOTESIS

2.1 Related Studies

In this chapter, some researchers have relevant studies to this research. The

research was conducted in previous research which is a reference to the researcher

to the CIRC Method in Narrative texts to improve students' writing skills.

First, the research was conducted by Setyawati, Suharmanto & Prayogo,

(2019), with the title Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) on

Writing Achievement across Self-Efficacy. The findings revealed that CIRC

contributes a better effect on students' writing achievement than the conventional

method. This also revealed that writing achievement was higher in students who

were categorized in high self-efficacy than those categorized in low self-

efficacy. Teaching writing through a reading activity could become an important

pedagogical instrument as the basis of successful writing because the activity of

analyzing the text can help students in building a scheme for their writing and

they will compare the reading text with their writing to match the expectation of a

good composition. When students have high self-efficacy in their capabilities in

writing, they might feel better to write.

Second, the research was counducted by Mubarak & Rudianto, (2017),

with the tiltle Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC)

Technique in Writing Subject of EFL Context. This research was based on the

teaching experiences of EFL students in Batam, where the vast majority were
 8

industrial workers. As a result, CIRC was regarded as an effective method for the

student-worker type, in which students were asked to read and compose about the

material provided in a small heterogenic group. Team Accelerated Instruction, as

well as Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition.

Third, the research was conducted by Fariduddin & Parlindungan, (2018),

with the title Comprehending narrative text: the effectiveness of cooperative

integrated reading and composition (CIRC). CIRC has been demonstrated to be

an effective method for teaching reading comprehension of narrative text to

students in a variety of settings. The research continues intellectual discussions

about the effectiveness of CIRC in teaching narrative text comprehension,

particularly in the Indonesian context. Teaching English narrative through CIRC

is expected to contribute to the improvement of teaching quality in the classroom

by improving students' reading comprehension and assisting teachers in

developing appropriate material based on the students' needs, knowledge, and

interests.

Fourth, the research was conducted by Varisoglu, (2016), with the title

Influence of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition Technique on

Foreign Students' Reading and Writing Skills in Turkish. The findings were

obtained in the research revealed that the CIRC method was influential on the

student's academic achievement in such skills as writing, comprehension, and

reading aloud. Almost all teachers have a cooperative learning method appropriate

to their teaching style and philosophy. Although language teaching depends on

individual efforts, it is a field in which cooperative learning can be quite

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productively applied since it includes a process based on face-to-face interaction

and communication. The method of Cooperative Integrated Reading and

Composition, one of the cooperative learning methods applied to develop reading

and writing skills, is one of the method used in language teaching. The time

allocated to writing skills is spent on teaching mechanical skills individually. The

teacher, while working with one reading group, and the two-member teams try to

develop each other's reading and writing skills with the help of the mutual

teaching method. During such activities carried out concerning learning skills

such as reading aloud, making predictions about the text, asking questions,

summarizing, and writing compositions regarding the story, students help one

another, and most of the time, the booklets prepared by the groups are published.

In this respect, determining whether the CIRC method is influential in teaching

Turkish as a foreign language could be an alternative to the methods to be used in

future studies or could help develop new method. In addition, this could also lead

to other studies focusing on reading and writing skills as well as on other language

skills.

Fifth, the research was conducted by Erhan, (2011), with the title Effects of

cooperative integrated reading and composition (CIRC) technique on reading-

writing skills. Students in the experimental group were taught using the CIRC

method, while students in the control group were taught using traditional methods.

Students in the study group were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an

experimental group of 24 students taught using the CIRC method and a control

group of 21 students taught using the traditional method. Data collection

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instruments Achievement test for reading comprehension The Reading

Comprehension Achievement Test developed by the researchers was used in this

research to assess the effects of the adopted methods on the reading

comprehension skills of primary school students.

The first related study discusses what the CIRC method is and how to use

it in the classroom. The second related study uses the CIRC method to discuss the

structure or writing technique. The third related study aims to improve classroom

teaching quality by increasing students' understanding and assisting teachers in

developing materials for writing narrative texts using the CIRC method. The

fourth study focuses on the CIRC method for developing student character. In

contrast to traditional methods, the most recent study focused on improving

students' reading comprehension and writing expression skills in groups to

improve achievement and retention.

Five existing studies on the CIRC method demonstrate that it can assist

students in improving their reading comprehension and writing skills. However,

its application is determined by how it is combined with existing traditional

methods. The CIRC method can also help teachers create materials to increase

students' motivation and interest in learning, as well as improve students' character

in the classroom. Furthermore, by employing the CIRC method, writing texts,

particularly narrative texts, in a structured manner, can improve a written work.

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2.2 Review of Related Literature

2.2.1 Concept of Writing

When teaching English, one of the skills that must be mastered is writing.

Writing is a form of communication. Writing is a process that allows writers to

explore and concretize their thoughts and ideas. Writing promotes critical thinking

and education. It promotes interaction and stimulates thought. Writing skills refers

to students' ability or good competence in expressing ideas and thoughts through

the use of the appropriate aspect of writing in a paragraph or text. Furthermore,

the written output is well-structured and consistent. The organization is aimed at

readers so that they can easily understand what the author is saying. The active

ability to create a text or document is referred to as writing.

2.2.2 Definition of Writing

Writing is a way for people to express themselves in written form. When

teachers teach writing, they are teaching students how to communicate through

written language. When writing a type of text, students must consider every single

word. When students write, students should write in a way that the reader can

understand. According to Hairstone (1986:2), "Writing helps us harvest what we

know." It means the students cannot simply write what students know, but that

what the students write must be understandable. In a nutshell, writing is the

process by which people express their ideas in written form.

Academic writing is a type of formal writing. A writer must think

carefully about the words used. Academic writing is not like other types of

writing. "Academic writing in English is probably different from academic

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writing in your native language," writes Oshima and Hogue (2007:3). It means

that when writers write in English, a writer must follow certain rules. For instance,

the format, grammar, and organization. So, to write or produce good writing, a

writer must know English.

2.2.3 Components writing

[Link] Organization

One of the elements of writing is an organization, which is concerned with

how writers arrange and organize their ideas and messages in writing. According

to Raimes (1983), ''organizing in writing is a process of moving back and forth

from general statements to specific details and arranging them in the most

effective order''. This means that students must learn not only how to form

English sentences, but also how to construct paragraphs. Students must write

logically when writing paragraphs.

According to Lannon (1994), "a paragraph is coherent when it hangs

together and flows smoothly in a clear direction when all sentences are logically

connected like links in a chain, leading towards a definite conclusion." This means

that students must connect every single sentence without skipping or

disconnecting any sentences. In this case, a logical arrangement is emphasized to

help the reader understand the idea and follow the author's every meaning.

Furthermore, the organization refers to the general structure of the written text.

When constructing their writing, students must adhere to it. In the model narrative

paragraph, the writer used time order to tell what happened first, what happened

next, what happened after that, and so on. Words and phrases used to show time
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order. These are called time order signals because they signal the order in which

events [Link] can write narrative text because they understand how to

generate ideas and organize them into paragraphs.

[Link] Vocabulary

One of the components of writing is vocabulary. Mastering vocabulary is

important because expressing ideas always involves vocabulary. According to Wu

(2009:128), “Vocabulary is a tool for thought, self-expression, translation, and

communication.” Vocabulary is extremely important in any language teaching. T

hat native English speakers could understand language materials with correct

vocabulary but not-so-proper grammar rules better than those with correct

grammar rules but not-so-proper vocabulary use. Furthermore, Mukorli (2011:4)

states that “Vocabulary learning is an important and indispensable part of any

language learning process.” The preceding statement describes the importance of

vocabulary in a language. Students are unable to describe anything without the

use of words or vocabulary. A lack of vocabulary makes it difficult for students to

express themselves and produce good writing.

Mastering vocabulary aids in the development of writing skills. If students

struggle with noun, verb, adjective, and adverb mastery, they will struggle to write

well. According to Tredinnick (2006), ‘’Vocabulary is not only verbs that may be

the most vital parts of speech, but a writer are going to need words of every kind

nouns, pronouns, modifiers, prepositions, participles, the lot.” The more students

know about different types of vocabulary, the better their writing or text will be.

Students with a large vocabulary will be able to express themselves more clearly
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in sentences and paragraphs. Students who already have a large vocabulary find it

easier to express themselves in paragraph narrative text. Students find it easier to

produce good writing because they have a larger vocabulary.

[Link] Grammar

Grammar is the structural foundation of our skills to communicate. It is a

set of rules for forming words and arranging words in sentences in the proper

order to convey the entire meaning. Grammar is also very important in the writing

process. It assists the researcher in producing good writing and ensuring that the

writing is well understood by the readers.

According to Sulaiman (2012), “grammar is a description of the structure

of a language and how linguistic units, such as words and phrases are combined to

produce sentences in the language.” However, a lack of grammar mastery will

confuse the readers and cause them to miss the message. Grammar is inextricably

linked to writing. Grammar knowledge assists the writer in making sentences and

paragraphs clear, interesting, precise, and understandable. Grammar is an

important component of writing because it considers how words change to show

different meanings and are combined into sentences to form a good paragraph. As

a result, using incorrect grammar will result in different meanings and

misunderstandings.

According to Patel and Jain (2008:141), "The language cannot be learned

without studying the grammar of the language." Good grammar makes it easier

for students to arrange sentences. Students are already learning how to arrange

grammatical sentences so that they can write sentences into paragraphs in

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narrative text. Students understand how to write recount text because they know

how to use grammar correctly.

[Link]. Mechanics

Mechanics is an important part of writing. Students who understand

mechanics rules will be able to organize good writing because they understand

how to use punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in writing sentences.

Composition mechanics refers to the appearance of the words, such as how they

are spelled or arranged on paper. It is a matter of mechanics that the first word of

a paragraph is usually intended. According to Rafiudin (2012:8), “Convention of

writing requires that sentence begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop,

punctuation (period, question mark, or exclamation point).” That is why

mechanics are so important and cannot be overlooked in writing. For writers to

extend their message to the readers, it is critical to understand the rules of how to

use mechanics in writing.

[Link].1 Spelling

Spelling is an important aspect of writing in English. Spelling has an

impact on writing performance. Misspelling results in incorrect meaning and

comprehension. In writing, students must avoid spelling mistakes because they

will confuse readers about the meaning of words. As a result, to write English

well, students must be able to use appropriate words in sentences without

misspelling.

[Link].2 Punctuation

Punctuation is required to express the meaning of a sentence, and its use is

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important in writing. A writer uses punctuation to clearly and effectively convey

the meaning of his writing to the writer.

[Link].3 Capitalization

Capitalization is an essential part of writing English sentences. Capital

letters are used at the start of sentences and for the first letter of people's names,

days of the week, months of the year, their acronyms, nationalities and languages,

and so on. If the writer does not capitalize correctly, ambiguous meaning and

misunderstanding will appear in the sentence. It also assists the reader in

distinguishing between a specific and general class of people, places, and other

things in the paragraph.

2.2.4 The Purpose of Writing

The purpose is the goal or aim of the writer to the readers from their

creation. There are four goals of writing express purpose, information purpose,

persuade purpose, or literary work purpose. According to Betty (2005) three

purposes of writing, that describe the kinds of students writing, are informative

writing, expressive writing, and persuasive writing.

Firstly, informative writing is used to educate or inform the reader about

something. As a result, the writers can share their knowledge and provide

information, guidance, or ideas. Describe events and experiences, analyze

concepts, speculate on causes and effects, and develop new ideas or relationships,

for example.

Second, expressive writing is a creative or personal expression in which

the writer creates stories or essays. Email, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and poems
 17

are all examples. Third, persuasive writing influences the minds of the readers or

attempts to convince the readers of the writer's point of view. Examples include

contentious issues, consumer products, and book reviews. The final purpose of

literary work is to entertain the readers.

2.2.5 Teaching Writing

Teaching writing encompasses both language ability and idea

organization. Writing is one of the language skills used in communication and

thought. Based on this, the researcher could assume a combination of teaching and

a unique writing activity. In other words, teaching writing is not the same as

teaching another language skill. Teachers, on the other hand, must pay close

attention to the various stages of any piece writing process. However, when

teaching writing, the teacher must strike a balance between the product and the

process.

Process writing must be viewed through the lens of a process-product

balance Process approaches accomplish the majority of the following:

1. Concentrate on the writing process that leads to the final written product;

2. Assist students in comprehending their writing process;

3. Assist them in developing a repertoire of prewriting, drafting, and rewriting

strategies;

4. Allow students enough time to write and rewrite;

5. Stress the importance of the revision process;

6. Allow students to figure out what they want to say as they write;

7. Provide students with feedback throughout the composition process (not just
 18

at the end) as they strive to bring their expression closer and closer to their

intention;

8. Encourage both instructor and peer feedback;

9. Include individual conferences between teacher and student during the

composition process.

It can be concluded that in teaching writing, two distinct points will be

emphasized: the product of the writing process and the writing process itself.

However, during the learning process, students must strike a balance between the

process and the outcome of their writing. In this manner, it can help students

achieve the goal of English learning, particularly in writing. Because teaching

writing is just as important as teaching speaking, listening, and reading as

fundamental language skills.

2.2.6 Narrative Text

A narrative text is a description of a series of events, usually in

chronological order. In terms of the type of text that students must study in school,

narrative text is a text that retells a story or previous experiences. The purpose of

the text is to entertain or amuse readers or listeners by telling a story. This text has

a generic structure, which includes Orientation, Evaluation, Complication

problem, Resolution, and Reorientation.

[Link] Personal Experience in Writing

Write in the first person because a personal narrative essay is about a

personal experience. Personal narratives are stories about oneself, and great topics

for personal narrative essays include personal experiences, people the writer
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knows, reactions to books or other writing, and a variety of other options. Writing

a personal experience essay allows a writer to express themselves creatively. The

most important aspect of the style is that it should aid in the effective

communication of the story to the readers. Personal experience essays are written

to share and elaborate on a memorable event in a person's life. Many students find

it difficult to write a personal essay, also known as a life experience essay.

Don't begin an essay with broad statements; instead, be as specific as

possible. Then, in the body, a rapidly evolving story. The essay's main body

should be densely packed with pertinent details; otherwise, the essay will be

lifeless. Keep in mind that being specific is fantastic!

1. Have the ability to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste.

2. Describe a writer's feelings, thoughts, and actions. (What was a writer

thinking, feeling, and doing at the time?)

3. End the essay by explaining how this interesting and memorable experience

can affect their lives..

[Link] The Steps for Writing Personal Experience Essay

There are several steps in writing one type of narrative text, namely

personal experience as follows:

1. What Makes a Great Essay

These kinds of assignments are well-liked since anyone can write about

their own experiences without consulting outside sources or conducting

research. However, just because someone can relate a compelling tale about

their life does not automatically mean that they can do the same with an essay.
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An effective method for someone to learn about and communicate the value of

their past is through writing an essay about a personal experience or

relationship. A writer has two choices when writing about something from

their past:

1) Their current point of view.

2) Their perspective at the time the incident took place.

2. Topic Ideas

An excellent topic can be any noteworthy historical event. A writer may

employ a singular incident, a series of related events, a person, or a specific

location. When coming up with ideas, keep the following in mind:

1) A close bond with a special someone, such as a grandfather or best friend.

2) One chance encounter with a person who changed one's life.

3) A small-scale but important event.

4) A major, transformative occasion.

5) A recurrent action that had significance.

6) The writers' recollections and encounters with a location that stands for

someone significant.

7) A writer who had feared but conquered it.

8) A relationship, endeavor, or occasion that has concluded.

9) The beginning of a new thing.

10) When were embarrassed or guilty.

To ensure that a writer has a good topic, think about what that event or

person meant to themself. Jot down some notes answering the following five
 21

questions to help a writer get ideas about the meaning and decide whether this

topic is a good fit for poured into a work of writing :

1) What did the writer think the experience meant when it happened?

2) How have the writer's feelings about it evolved?

3) What did the writers discover?

4) How has this event changed the course?

5) Is there anything would do differently if a writer could go back in time?

Are there any regrets?

3. Easy Organization

This organization's strategy has the following characteristics:

a) Tells the story in the order in which it occurred.

b) Tells the story suspensefully, with minor events leading to major ones and

finally reaching a climax.

c) Explains meaning after the climax or allows events to reveal the meaning

Dillard, for example, expresses her understanding in a series of phrases

such as "I was handed my own life," and "my days were my own to plan

and fill," along with numerous specifics about how she did so. Of course,

she uses the title to explain what she means.

Most students will use this method, so if a writers make want an

essay to stand out, try one of the other techniques. When employing this

method, keep the following in mind:

1) Where is the disagreement? Good stories begin with an internal (in

themself) or external conflict (between themself and others). Good

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stories depict the development of the conflict, the crisis (referred to as

a climax), and the resolution of what happens next (either good or

bad). Make certain that the story follows this pattern.

2) Don't include any extraneous information. What elements must be

included in the story? What can leave out?

3) Make specific and interesting details. Provide concrete and specific

descriptions of the setting, characters, and action.

2.2.7 Definition of The CIRC Method

The CIRC method was created to supplement the traditional "skill-based

reading groups" approach. To begin, reading groups are formed in the classroom.

Following that, students are paired off within groups. When the teacher works

with a reading group, couples use the reciprocal learning method to teach each

other meaningful reading and writing skills. They assist one another in basic skill-

building activities such as oral reading, contextual guessing, asking questions,

summarizing, writing a composition based on the story, and revising-correcting

the composition.

According to Mubarok and Sofiana (2017: 122), “Cooperative Integrated

Reading and Composition is a comprehensive program for teaching reading and

writing in the upper elementary and middle grades.” Students in CIRC work in

groups to complete various activities cooperatively, and they are expected to

perform better in reading. It is also hoped that group activities in CIRC will allow

students to learn the materials and assist one another in succeeding.

CIRC combines reading and composition (writing), and it is an appropriate

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technique for students in an EFL context. For a variety of reasons, CIRC is an

ideal solution for busy students. For starters, even though they are tired, the

number of sleepy students was drastically reduced. It's because they participate in

group learning, where they must share their thoughts on what they've learned from

the reading. Following that, CIRC allows students to collaborate to solve the

problem. A student who does not dare to ask a question in class will most likely

find himself or herself active in asking other brilliant students in the group. Then,

rather than doing their writing task alone, students can complete it relatively

quickly. By discussing, they have many options for the idea in their reading

materials and can choose the best idea that best represents their group's

understanding. It is also possible to say that the writing quality has improved.

The use of the CIRC method in the other setting revealed that it is very

beneficial to the teaching and learning of the writing subject for the students. The

use of CIRC in the classroom after conventional teaching made a difference in the

improvement of the score or students' understanding. Students improved their

learning results through the use of CIRC, as well as their achievement in learning

writing. In this method, students are asked to work together to solve a problem,

and cooperation creates a good learning environment. Of course, this will

facilitate the teaching-learning process and encourage students to improve their

English proficiency. The students themselves are at the center of the learning.

This finding is as encouraging as the observation finding, in which CIRC is

regarded as one helpful technique that could be adapted in the EFL context

students, where they are mostly students.

 24

2.2.8 The Implementation of the CIRC Method

Sharan (1994) describe that some of the method used in CIRC, there are:

1. Reading Groups

Students in reading group classes are assigned to two or three groups

(eight to fifteen students per group) based on their reading novel, as

determined by their teachers. In other classes, students are grouped in a variety

of ways.

2. Teams

Within theory reading groups, students are divided into pairs (or triads) (if

any). After that, the pairs are assigned to teams made up of partnerships from

two different reading groups. For example, a team could be made up of

mainstreamed academically challenged students, with remedial reading

students distributed among the teams.

3. Story-Related Activities

Students read their favorite novels or basal readers. Teacher-led reading

groups meet for approximately twenty minutes each day to introduce and

discuss stories. Teachers use these sessions to introduce new vocabulary,

review old vocabulary, discuss the story after students have read it, and so on.

When students are not working with the teacher in a reading group, they are

given a series of activities to do in their teams after stories are introduced. The

following is the activity sequence:

 25

a) Partner Reading

After reading the story silently, students take turns reading it aloud

with their partners, alternating readers after each paragraph. The listener

follows along with his or her partner's reading and corrects any errors

made by the reader.

b) Story Structure and Story-related Writing

Students are given questions about each narrative story, with an

emphasis on story grammar (characters, setting, problem, and problem

solutions). They are instructed to stop reading halfway through the story

and identify the characters, setting, and problem in the story, as well as

predict how the problem will be resolved. Students respond to the story as

a whole and write a few paragraphs on a topic related to the story

at the end.

c) Words out Loud

Students are given a list of new or difficult words from the story

that they must read correctly in any order without stumbling. The teacher

introduces these words to the reading group, and students practice their

lists with their partners or other teammates until they can read them

smoothly.

d) Word Meaning

Students are given a list of story words that are unfamiliar to them

and asked to look them up in a dictionary, paraphrase the definition, and

write a sentence that demonstrates the meaning of the word.

 26

e) Story Retell

Students summarize the main points of the story to their partners

after reading it and discussing it in their reading groups. The partners have

a list of essential story elements that they use to ensure that the story is

complete.

f) Spelling

Each week, students pretest one another on a list of spelling words

and work together to help one another master the list.

2.2.9 The Step of The CIRC Method

Suprijono (:) describes the steps of this method that students are formed as

group to give opinion toward expression. The steps are:

1. The teacher makes a group which consists of four people.

2. The teacher gives discourse or clipping with the topic of learning.

3. The students are cooperative in reading text each other and find the main idea

and gives responses of the discourse and written on sheets of paper.

4. The students presented or read the result of their work

5. The teacher makes a conclusion.

2.2.10 The Advantages and Disadvantages of The CIRC Method

Halimah (2014: 34) describes some of the advantages and disadvantages

of the CIRC method, as follows:

1. The Advantages of CIRC

a) The student can give their response freely, trained to can work together,

and appreciate the opinions of others

 27

b) Improving learning outcomes especially, in complete the task given by the

teacher

c) The student can understand the meaning of questions and check each job

d) To help student who weak in understanding the task given by the teacher

e) The dominance of the teacher in learning is reduced.

2. The Disadvantages of CIRC

a) Requires substantial time

b) The method of CIRC only used to language subject

2.3 Theoritical Framework

Writing is one of the English skills that should be learned. Writing is more

than just expressing ideas in writing. It is also a means of acquiring them. Writing

can be defined as a tool for communication in which information, thoughts,

feelings, or ideas are conveyed in written form. Furthermore, writing, like other

skills, has some components that help it to be clearly understood. Vocabulary,

organization, grammar or language use, mechanics, and content are the

components. Furthmore, this research only focused on a few components that can

easily assist students in mastering their English writing ability.

As a result, the research concentrated solely on vocabulary, grammar, and

content. Furthermore, writing is one of the productive skills that students must

master in addition to speaking. As a result, students in junior and senior high

school are taught to write. Nonetheless, many issues arose when the students

attempted to write an English text.

 28

First, the majority of the students are unable to write in English. When

asked to write a text, such as a narrative text, most students would only write a

few sentences that sometimes had no meaning. They had no idea how to finish the

task. Furthermore, they had no idea what should be written before beginning to

write, so they wrote nothing.

Second, the students believed that the writing process was overly

complicated. They believed that it was not only about the vocabulary used but

also about how to arrange sentences logically and grammatically correct.

Furthermore, to achieve high writing achievement, students must master other

skills such as listening, reading, and speaking.

To produce good writing in this research, namely writing a narrative text,

the researcher employs the CIRC method, in which the researcher will form a

group and apply the CIRC method in writing a narrative text while conducting

research. Whereas in this method, the researcher will use a method that combines

the students' reading and writing skills, which will later be used to create a good

and correct narrative text. This CIRC method motivates students because it

provides an overview of what a narrative text is before they create it. As a result,

students are more interested in creating texts that they have previously read and

understand the concept of narrative text.

 29

2.4 Hypothesis

Based on the previous discussion on the background of this research, the

hypotheses are formulated as follows:

“The use of CIRC method can improve the writing skills of the eleventh grade

students of SMA Negeri 7 Palu.”

 30

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

The researcher will employ a quasi-experimental research design in this

study. A quasi-experimental design seeks to establish a relationship between an

independent and dependent variable. The quasi-experimental research design

allows the researcher to manipulate the conditions in the teaching and learning

process. There are two classes in this study. They are the experimental and control

groups. Both of these classes will have a pre-test and a post-test. However, the

experimental classes receive CIRC treatment while the control classes do not.

Both of them are given a post-treatment test to determine can effectively whether

the CIRC method can develop the writing skills of the eleventh-grade students of

SMA Negeri 7 Palu during the treatment. The design of this research proposed by

Arikunto (2006:272) as follows:

O1 X O2

Where:

: O1= Pre-test X= Treatment O2= Post-test

3.2 Population and Sample

3.2.1 Population

This research will be conducted on eleventh-grade students of SMA

Negeri 7 Palu. The eleventh-grade students consist of 10 classes. Each Class

 31

consists of 31 up to 35. The total number of students is 332. Here the researcher

uses a quasi-experimental research design with consist of two classes in this

research there are XI 1 and X1 5. For detail, the number of students in each class

can be seen in the following table:

Table 3.1
The number of students in each class
Number
Name of
No of
Class
Students
1. XI 1 35
2. XI 2 33
3. XI 3 31
4. XI 4 32
5. XI 5 35
6. XI 6 34
7. XI 7 33
8. XI 8 33
9. XI 9 33
10 XI 10 33
Total
332
Students

3.2.2 Sample

The sample of this research will be to take two classes namely, XI 1

consists of 35 students, and XI 5 consists of 35 students. The sample of the

research will be known as purposive sampling. Purposive sampling is where the

researcher selects a sample based on their knowledge about the research and

population. The researcher take both classes XI 1 as the experimental group

conducted with the CIRC method and class XI 5 as the control group carried out

with the conventional method.

 32

3.3 Research Variable

A variable is any property that can have multiple values, such as height,

age, temperature, or test scores. In this research, researchers frequently manipulate

or measure independent and dependent variables to test cause-and-effect

relationships. According to the title, the variables in this research are dependent

and independent. The cause is the independent variable. Its value is unaffected by

the other variables in this research. The effect is the dependent variable. Its value

changes as the independent variable changes.

This research has two variables: independent and dependent variables. The

dependent variable is the writing skills of the eleventh grade students of SMA

Negeri 7 Palu, while the independent variable is Cooperative Integrated Reading

and Composition (CIRC).

3.4 Research Instrument

The researcher will use a test as the research instrument because this is

experimental research. The test will use for collecting data on the students writing

skills and as the measurement in this research to determine whether or not using

the CIRC Method has a significant effect on student's ability to write narrative

text.
 33

3.5 Technique of Data Collection

The researcher will use tests to collect data on students writing worksheets

on personal experiences as a data collection technique. In the process of collecting

this data, students are expected to be able to write a personal experience narrative

text. Next, the researcher will use writing performance as a written test. In

addition, the tests which include pre-test and post-test will be explained further

below.

3.5.2 Pre-Test

The pre-test will use to determine the development of students before

being given treatment to determine the student's initial knowledge. This post-test

will also be conducted so that researchers can compare the abilities of the students

before being given treatment using the CIRC method and after using the CIRC

method. The pre-test format will be an essay test. The paragraph writing test

consists of 1 item in which it is emphasized that students will write a narrative

text, which is about personal experience. In the first meeting, the researcher was

giving a test to the students. The forming test is asking the students to write about

the events that has been happen in the past. In this post-test, students will write

down their personal experiences in everyday life. In scoring each item of writing a

narrative text, the researcher uses the scoring procedures for writing assessment as

follows:
 34

Table 3.2
Scoring Rubric of Writing

Components of Scores Indicators

Writing
Organizations 4 Most of the sentences are related to
the main idea

3 Some sentences are related to the

main idea

2 Few sentences related to the main

idea
1 The sentences are unrelated to each
other

Vocabulary 4 Almost no inadequacies in

(Meaning) vocabulary for the task. Only rare
inapropriacies and/or circumlocution
3 Some inadequacies in vocabulary for
the task. Perhaps some lexical
inapropriacies and/or
circumlocution
2 Frequent inadequacies in vocabulary
for the task. Perhaps frequents
lexical inapropriacies and/or
repletion
1 -Vocabulary is inadequate even for
the most basic parts of the intended
communication.
Grammar 4 Almost no grammatical inaccuracies
(Noun & 3 Some grammatical inaccuracies
Adjectives) 2 Numerous grammatical inaccuracies
1 Frequent grammatical inaccuracies
Mechanics 4 Almost no inaccuracies in spelling,
(Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
Punctuation, and 3 Some inaccuracies in spelling,
Capitalization). punctuation, and capitalization
2 Low standard of accuracy in
spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization
1 Ignorance of conventions in spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization
Adapted from Weigle Assessing Writing Series (2002)
 35

3.5.2 Treatment

After the pre-test, the researcher will give a treatment to the students. The

researcher expected to improve the writing skill of the students by applying the

CIRC Method for six meetings, and the researcher will choose a narrative text

(personal experience) as teaching material. Here is the teaching outline that

follows several procedures:

Table 3.3
Teaching Outline of Treatment
Meetin Student’s
Topic Teacher’s Activity
g Activity
Pre- test Daily Life Ask students write in three Write the
paragraphs based on the given paragraphs
topic
1st First Day at • Greets and starts the class • Answer the
Meetin School • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
• Explains to the students the • pay
generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
• Corrects the student's
answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
 36

experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class

2nd A Special • Greets and starts the class • Answer the

Meetin Day • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
• Explains to the students the • pay
generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
• Corrects the student's
answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class
3rd Holiday or • Greets and starts the class • Answer the
Meetin Vacation • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
 37

• Explains to the students the • pay

generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
• Corrects the student's
answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class
4th Bad Moment • Greets and starts the class • Answer the
Meetin • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
• Explains to the students the • pay
generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
 38

• Corrects the student's

answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class
5th Sweet • Greets and starts the class • Answer the
Meetin Memories • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
• Explains to the students the • pay
generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
• Corrects the student's
answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class
6th Unforgettable • Greets and starts the class • Answer the
Meetin Love • Checks the attendance list teachers'
g • Asks simple questions to questions
guide the students to the • Pay
 39

topic attention to
• Explains the topic the
• Tells the instructional teachers'
• Objectives to the students explanation
• Explains to the students the • pay
generic structure of the attention to
narrative text (personal the text is
experience) given
• give a chance to the • Ask the
students to ask someone teacher
questions relate to the • Do the
material tasks
• Give the students a task to • Discuss the
identify the generic structure exercises
of narrative text based on the • Do free
topic write
• Ask the students to do the • Do the
task evaluation
• Corrects the student's
answers
• Asks the students to free-
write the generic structure of
the topic based on their
experience
• Corrects the students'
answers
• Give evaluation
• Close the class
Post- According to Ask students to write Chose the
test the topic paragraphs based on the given topic and write
given topic the paragraphs

3.5.3 Post-Test

Researchers conducted a post-treatment test. The post-test will have the

same type and level of difficulty as the pre-test but concerning a different subject

than what was done in the pre-test. A post-test will use to show improvement after

treatment. The aim is to find out whether or not the use of CIRC is effective in

developing the writing skills of eleventh graders of SMA Negeri 7 Palu.

 40

3.6 Technique of Data Analysis

The researcher will analyze the data statistically to explain the students'

pre-test and post-test scores. First, the researcher will calculate individual scores

using the following formula proposed by Arikunto (2006: 308):

x
∑ X 100
N

Where:

∑ : Standard score

X : Sum of correct answer

N : Maximum score

100 : Fixed score

Researchers will calculate the average score of students on each test. Then,

the researcher will calculate the average deviation between the pre-test and post-

test with the formula proposed by Arikunto (2006; 307) as follows:

d
Md 
N

Where:

Md : Mean score

d : The total score of deviation

N : Number of students

Next, the researcher will calculate the squared deviation using the formula

proposed by Arikunto (2006:308) as follows:

2
∑ X 2d  ∑ d 2  (dN)
 41

Where :

∑ X d : The sum of squared deviation

2

2d : The sum of deviation

To find out whether the students' pre-test and post-test have significant

differences, the researcher will use the formula proposed by Arikunto (2010: 349)

as follows:

Md
t=
√ x2 d
N ( N −1)

Where :

t = t-test score

Md = Mean from pre-test and post-test

 x 2d = Sum of squared deviation

N = Number of students
 42

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APPENDICES