Name: RATNAWATI / 3A

Npm: 210202004

Improving Students’ Writing Ability Using Gallery Walk Strategy

Class XII IPA at Senior High School 2 Selong
In the Academic Year 2017-2018

Abstract
The purpose of learning English at school is to make students able to communicate
in English, both in spoken and written form which includes the ability to listen,
speak, read, and write. This research was preceded by preliminary observations or
often called a preliminary study. This action research was conducted at SMAN 2
SELONG. There are 39 students as subjects in this study. All of them are students of
class XII IPA 5 SMAN 2 During the 2018-2019 academic year odd semester. In this
class, there are 17 boys and 22 girls. The Data Collection Instruments in this study
were observation sheets, field notes, and writing tests. Data was collected by
observing in class the learning process. The main data collected in this observation
is the activeness of students during the learning process. Based on the results of data
analysis from Cycle I and Cycle II, it can be concluded that the activities in the
gallery walk can help increase student engagement in learning and help improve
mastery of vocabulary to support the increased writing skills of class XII students
IPA 5 SMAN 2 During the 2018-2019 academic year.

Introduction
English is a foreign language that is recognized as an Global language.
Broadly speaking, the purpose of learning English at school is to make students able
to communicate in English, both in spoken and written form which includes the
ability to listen, speak, read, and write.
The effects of discussions with an English subject teacher at SMA 2 Selong on
August 14 2018 confirmed that most students were active in learning but were
unable to respond quickly and accurately to questions that required them to explain
something completely both in writing and orally. From the effects of observations
and discussions with teachers and students, it was concluded that an important,
urgent problem that really needs to be addressed is the low level of students'
vocabulary mastery.
Vocabulary is an important component in teaching English in addition to
other components such as structure, spelling and intonation. Vocabulary plays a
very important role in learning English. If students' mastery of vocabulary is
vulnerable, they will have difficulty communicating their thoughts and ideas as
definitely as they want, both orally and in writing. They will find it difficult to
express perfectly what he wants to convey when he speaks or writes, as took place to
this class XII IPA5 student. In general, mastering adequate vocabulary is the
important thing to clean communication (Al-Kufashi, 1988).
Seeing the significance of vocabulary mastery, a manner to help make it easier
for students to improve their vocabulary mastery is the gallery walk learning
technique. In the gallery walk, students work in groups, collaborate, share
information and ideas, then the results of their work are displayed and each group
corrects and provides input to other groups. From these exercise and peer feedback
activities it is hoped that more and more vocabulary can be mastered and used by
students. Taylor (2001) suggests "Gallery walk encourages alternatives and multiple
approaches to problems because students are exposed to a variety of perspectives,
and it provides opportunities to gauge students' prior knowledge, skills, and
misconceptions." This means that in a gallery walk, students have the opportunity
to write and verbally convey their ideas in groups, receive input and additional
information (new vocabulary) from other groups and the teacher, and have the
opportunity to correct any misconceptions. This of direction can help them
overcome their problems in English, especially when writing in English.
Writing skill is one of the English language skills that must be mastered by
students. These skills are very interesting, but generally difficult to teach.
According to Foster (2008), teaching writing skills is the most difficult learning
activity faced by teachers because writing is not just composing and organizing
words (Allan, 2009). What makes writing activities more difficult is the low interest
and interest of students in writing. If not given a little time for this skill, this skill
may be forgotten and only focus on other skills such as reading as is generally the
case in schools. For this reason, there must be an activity that brings students to
write, specifically a gallery walk.

Method
Research Design
This research was preceded by preliminary observations or often called a
preliminary study. Then, observing the learning process, conducting informal
interviews with teachers and students. After the initial observation, the problem that
was found was the students' low mastery of English vocabulary which caused their
communication skills and writing skills to be low. The results in this initial
observation were that most of the students actively responded in learning but often
stuttered, they did not know how to convey their ideas and thoughts because of
limited vocabulary and When writing, they spend more time open dictionary.
Setting and Subject
This action research was conducted at SMAN 2 SELONG. This school is one of the
high schools in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Like other schools
in Indonesia in general, the education period is normally taken for three years of
study, starting from class X to class XII. This school is located at Jalan Selaparang 01,
Selong, East Lombok district, West Nusa Tenggara province.
There are 39 students as subjects in this study. All of them are students of class XII
IPA 5 SMAN 2 During the 2018-2019 academic year odd semester. In this class, there
are 17 boys and 22 girls. Students in this class are classified as heterogeneous with
varying interests in learning English. Some look very active, some look normal, and
only a few of them look stiff in learning English.
Data Collection Techniques In this class research, data was collected by observing
in class the learning process. The main data collected in this observation is the
activeness of students during the learning process.
The Data Collection Instruments in this study were observation sheets, field notes,
and writing tests. In the observation sheet, there are eight indicators indicating
student activity. These indicators are 1) ask friends in the group, 2) respond/answer
questions friends/teachers, 3) record information heard/obtained, 4) help/ask for
help from friends in the group, 5) display the results of group work, 6) observe the
results of other groups' work, 7) respond/answer questions from other
groups/teachers, and 8) submit comments/opinions on the work results of other
groups.
The Data Analysis Technique in this study was that the data that had been collected
in this study were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively depending on the type
of data collected. Data about student involvement in learning activities obtained
from observation sheets is calculated using a frequency-based formula.

Finding
Result and Discussion
Based on observations in the first cycle, overall student involvement has
reached a predetermined success criteria. In this cycle, 26% (10 people) students are
classified as very active and 56% (22 people) are active, so it is accumulated to 82%
of students including active in the learning process.
Although there are still some students who are only quite active, 80% criteria
for student activity have been achieved in this cycle. In connection with the value of
writing students, there is a significant increase from before the implementation of
the action and after the implementation of the action. Before the action, only 44% of
students reached ≥ 70 (70 and above). After this action in the first cycle, almost all
students get a minimum score of 70, but the agreed success criteria have not been
achieved because only 59% (23 people) students who score 78 and above.
Meanwhile, the criteria that have been set is that 70% of students get the value of
writing an application letter ≥ 78. Thus, an additional cycle must be carried out.
In the first cycle, too much time was spent discussing and observing the work
of other groups, so the time for activities to write and write a letter of application
was very limited. After making improvements in the second cycle, observations
show that 18 students or 46% are classified as very active in the learning process, 21
other students (54%) are classified as active, and none of the students are not active.
All students in this cycle are actively involved in learning activities. Thus, as in cycle
I, the criteria for success in this cycle have been perfectly achieved. Likewise, the
results of student writing work. The results of the analysis show that there is an
increase in the ability of students to write application letters. In this second cycle,
almost all students achieve the KKM score set by the school. Referring to the criteria
for success of the action which states 70% of students reach a value of ≥ 78, 79% (31
people) students have reached a greater value and equal to 78. This means that the
second success criteria set has been achieved. Thus, actions may not be continued
and can be reported because they have met the two established criteria.

Conclusion
Based on the results of data analysis from Cycle I and Cycle II, it was
concluded that there was quite a significant increase. Before the action, only 44% of
students got grades ≥ 70, and after passing Cycle I, almost all students of class XII
IPA5 got grades 70 and above. Even though it has not reached the criteria for
success, the results in Cycle I are counted good because 59% of students have scored
≥ 78. Furthermore, there is a 20% increase from Cycle I to Cycle II, which means 79%
of students have scored ≥ 78. In terms of student involvement in the learning
process, student activity increased 18% from 82% actively involved in Cycle I to 100
actively involved in learning activities in Cycle II. Thus, it can be concluded that the
activities in the gallery walk can help increase student engagement in learning and
help improve mastery of vocabulary to support the increased writing skills of class
XII students IPA 5 SMAN 2 During the 2018-2019 academic year.

References
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October 2004