ABSTRACT
This study was conducted based on the considerations that according to the Government Regulation Number 19 Year 2005 formal English teaching is emphasized on reading and writing in which the goal of every plan in teaching and learning process is writing. Written fairy tales are expected to be beneficial as models for teaching linguistic features and generic structure characterizing narrative text. The aim of this study is to describe to what extent the teaching of linguistic features and generic structure characterizing narrative through fairy tales contribute to the students’ improvement in writing narratives.
This study is an action research. There were four steps in conducting an action research: Planning. Action, Observation, and Reflection. This action research was done in two cycles. The first cycle was elaborated into five meetings (activities) with narrative linguistic features and its generic structure as the topic foci of discussion, whereas the second cycle was elaborated into three activities in which some difficult material the students failed in the first cycle was explained more elaborately.
The results of this study showed that the students’ improvement in writing narrative was statistically significant. There were 7.23% and 0.42% of improvements of narrative linguistic features and generic structure respectively. According to Brown and Bailey’s scoring rubric of writing the students’ achievement was less good or still in the level of adequate.
Referring to my experiences in conducting this study, I offered several pedagogical implications. The first is that a teacher needs interesting teaching media to attract the students’ attention and enable them in internalizing the material given so that their memory span about the material is longer. The second is that it is advised that teachers not skip one or more of the teaching cycles (BKOF, MOT, JCOT, and ICOT) especially in teaching language learners at beginning level. Furthermore, it is also important that teachers use time allotted effectively so that the students can practice a lot and get more exercises without ignoring other materials.
