Shaping writing skills through journal

As a student must have a broad and unlimited source of information. Sometimes many
students think that books are the only source of information that can be used as a reference in
doing assignments such as writing essays. This is why students rarely access journals that
have been provided by the library, there are also many students who are disturbed in doing
their assignments because books that are used as references are difficult to obtain. There are
so many benefits that can be obtained when we read print journals and online journals,
especially for essay writing assignments. By reading a journal, we can find out the results of a
study or research that has been done by previous researchers and of course has been
guaranteed its truth because it has been prepared professionally and has been published
through a publisher. And of course for students who are diligent in reading journals, if the
lecturer asks questions in class, students will be better prepared to answer and of course get
the additional value given by the lecturer. It's great to be a student who is one step ahead and
knows things that even other students don't know.

The roles of journal improve writing skills

One part that cannot be separated in a journal is e theory used to dissect a problem.
When often reading journals, we will know many of these theories. That will make us have
many choices of theories when it comes to making a written work. There are several benefits
of journals that we can take. The first is getting new information that is rarely known. By
reading journals such as international journals, we will get new information that is rarely
known to ordinary people. We will know a lot about something. That knowledge will
certainly be very useful. The second is having a perspective and broad mindset. Reading is
indeed an activity that has many benefits, especially if the reading material is a journal.
Frequently reading international journals will open our perspective on an issue. That is
because in international journals, a topic of problems is seen in several quite interesting
perspectives. By frequently reading the journal, we will see how the author's perspective in
discussing the topic of the problem. The third is enriching the vocabulary. When reading a
journal, surely you will find some terms that are not known. The terms are usually associated
with the field of science. When we understand the meaning of the term, we have enriched the
vocabulary. The advantage of having a vocabulary is that we will be very easy to write, be it
scientific work, essays or other things. In addition, writing is more lively and attracts people
to read it. Meanwhile, the words that are obtained by reading a journal will help when
composing writing, because they already know how to convey the contents of thought using
appropriate terms. The last is foster an attitude of creative thinking. Creative ways of thinking
will produce creative writing as well. The more we broaden our views with various kinds of
knowledge it will make us more open minded so that we can be creative in everything.
People tend to be more creative when they think broadly.

Writing ability

Writing is a way to share messages, ideas, or deep thoughts sentences with correct
grammar. Writing as one of four language skills is considered a difficult skill and is also a
difficult subject. This is because students must produce texts using English correctly in
accordance with good and correct grammar. Students must write what they think using the
correct procedures, for example writing essays. Writing also requires practice to develop this
skill. It is impossible to achieve in just one learning. Harmer (2001: 13) states that in writing
requires planning in preparing what we will write. Next is to edit what has been written and
get the final result. Writing is like solving a problem, where the writer is faced with two main
tasks. The first produces ideas and the second is compiling ideas into written text. Success in
writing depends on how many readers can understand what the writer meant. Being a good
writer is not easy because the writer must pay attention to the main purpose or writing and
also must pay attention to aspects of writing in his writing. In writing there are also several
process that must be considered: 1). Explore ideas. Before sit down and starting to write, let
your mind explore and find ideas. That's because the idea to write might come up in any
situation and place such as when we work, travel, eat, etc. In this case, we are advised to note
the thoughts that appear before disappearing on a piece of paper or other media. 2). Pre-write.
This step includes the process of writing our thoughts on paper or on a computer. In this step,
we don't need to worry about grammar, correct choice of words, spelling, or punctuation,
because we might change or correct our mistakes due to the concept writing process. 3).
Organize. In this step, we can arrange the writing we have made by doing selection, reduce,
and add ideas. 4). Write a first draft. After organizing, then choosing the best ideas from
freewriting, and developing them into more specific ideas, so it's time for the writer to start
writing the first draft. In this step, the author does not need to worry about being perfect,
because later new ideas will emerge when the writer compiles his first draft. 5). Revise the
draft. In this step, the writer will take the most time among the other steps because it is not
easy to change and improve his writing. The author might eliminate a few points which is
considered not very important. The same thing happens when the writer finds some very
important ideas so that can add them to his writing. Striving for this step will make our
writing better. 6). Produce the final copy. after the writer has finished revising the draft, the
next step is begin to produce the final copy. When the writer has finished revising his draft,
then can start to edit it. In editing, the writer is recommended to edit his writing very
carefully.

Writing organization ( Parts of paragraph)

A paragraph is a part of an essay whose writing must begin with a new line.
Paragraphs are made by making the first word in the first line go in (swipe to the right) a few
taps or spaces. Likewise, the next paragraphs follow as the first paragraph. there are three
important parts in a paragraph: 1). Topic sentence is a sentence that shows the main topic /
idea of a paragraph and can generally be found at the beginning of a paragraph. In making a
writing, we cannot directly write anything that is desired, but it usually starts with the
emergence of a topic and is followed by writing based on that topic. The topic is the main
idea of someone to write something and can be an introduction for the reader. 2). Supporting
Sentences are sentences that are strung together with the aim of clarifying the topic sentence.
The sentence will contain supporting examples or a more complete explanation to support the
statement of the topic sentence that was written at the beginning of the paragraph. The
presence of a supporting sentence is no less important than the topic sentence and is always
placed right after the topic sentence. 3). Concluding sentence is a sentence at the end of a
paragraph that acts to unite the information that has been presented to develop controlling
ideas in the topic sentence, where in this sentence the main ideas at the beginning of the first
paragraph along with the explanatory sentences are put together into a unity. The function of
concluding sentences is to strengthen the idea of sentences that have been written before.

Aspects of writing

According to Melly (2006: 1), writing is divided into five types. The first is
expository writing, where the purpose of this type of writing is to explain or inform. The
second is descriptive writing, this type of writing functions to show or describe something.
The third is persuasive writing, this type of writing is to debate or oppose a problem. The
fourth is creative writing, this type of writing such as fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting,
biography, and much more. And the last is narrative writing, this type of writing is like telling
a story. To produce good writing, there are several aspects that students must consider.
According to Byrne (2011), there are five aspects: 1). Organizing idea. The idea is the most
important factor in writing activities, because we will not be able to write meaningful, if you
have not thought of anything. 2). Grammar. This refers to the correct use of grammatical
forms and syntactic patterns when separating, combining, and grouping ideas in words,
phrases, clauses and sentences to bring up logical relationships in the writing of paragraphs.
3). Vocabulary is important in writing because by having a lot of vocabulary an author can
express ideas and choose the right words according to the content. 4). Mechanics. This refers
to the use of conventional graphs of language that is the steps of arranging letters, paragraphs
using strucuture knowledge and several others related to each other. 5). Content is how the
writer develops ideas related to the topic. The writing varies greatly and there are several
aspects in writing that must be considered in writing. By considering these aspects, students
can write well and can be understood by readers.

Writing an essay

In some types of essays, students need to present their arguments against a case. By
having the practice of writing essays, students will learn how to use arguments related to
certain topics. However this is not just about using arguments all the time, but also related to
the problem of how students learn to support their arguments using scientific and academic
sources. The importance of writing essays for students especially in part of their learning.
First, essay writing will depend on students' knowledge and understanding of the topics and
subjects they are learning. Second, writing an essay can be an indicator to assess student
progress. Relying on this reason, the lecturer will see the progress of students with the
concept of an essay conducted by students. For example, in the first draft, students still have
weaknesses in terms of word choice, paragraph arrangement, grammar, etc. Then after the
lecturer revises the first draft, students will try to make some revisions related to the lecturer
notes in their essays. Then the lecturer will be able to know the progress of students not only
in writing but also other important aspects in mastering English such as vocabulary and
grammar. Finally and the most important reason is writing an essay will make students think
better. Why? Because in writing, students are required to be more creative in terms of
creating ideas and arguments from information, making academic writings, and also building
good communication with academic people.

Structure of essay

Colonna and Gilbert (2006: 31), proposed that the essay is divided into three parts,
namely the introduction, body, and conclusions. The following is the explanation: 1).
Introduction. The first paragraph of an essay is called an introduction. The introduction must
be written from the general to more specific points. 2). The body. In essay the body can
consist of several paragraphs containing information that can support the main idea.
Supporting information can be taken from journals or books that consist of statistical data. 3).
Conclusions. The last paragraph in essay is called a conclusion. To close the essay, the writer
must form one sentence to unite the entire contents of the essay by using statements that
contain suggestions, predictions, or opinions.

Essay models

There are several types of essays that are commonly known by people and every essay
has a difference that must be admitted. There are five kinds of essays: 1). Descriptive essay is
an essay that describes a person or thing. The problem or matter raised in this essay is an
object, such as a house, animal, or someone. 2). Classification essay is one type of essay that
is informative. This essay consists of paragraphs which contain groupings or classifications
on a topic based on certain references. The purpose of writing this essay is to clarify a topic
by grouping it according to certain aspects. 3). Cause and effect essay. This classification
essay aims to divide several categories from one finished topic that the writer is required to
classify the categories to be explained in the body chart. 4). Comparison and contrast essay.
In general, comparison and contrast essays are related to explanations similarities and
differences. Most comparison and contrast essays present one or both subjects in sharp focus,
leading the reader to a new way of looking at things, or showing that one subject is better
than another subject. 5). Argumentative essays are intended to identify arguments and
rebuttal. In stating an argument, the writer must provide sufficient and strong sources to
support the statement. In this case, the writer must ascertain whether the argument presented
in the essay is strong or weak.