STUDENTS’ WRITING COMPETENCY THROUGH FOUR SQUARE WRITING

METHOD IN THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A. Research Background :
(Problem) Many students in eleventh grade students of senior high school in Singaraja are
not competence in writing descriptive text especially describing person correctly. Related to the
informal interview with teacher and students, the answers are comparable. The teachers said that
the students are difficult to make a descriptive text (tambahkan narative dan expository). In
addition, the students said that they hard to organizing their ideas. Thus this problems can be a
adorable field to be studied. Siswa di SMAN 2 Singaraja khususnya kelas 11 masih mengalami
kesulitan dan kendala dalam menulis teks deskriptif, recount, atau expositori. Misalnya, tidak
bisa dalam mengembangkan dan mengorganisir idenya.

(Theoritical) Writing becomes one of important skills that should be mastered by the
students, especially in English (Mugableh & Khreisat, 2019). This skill will be useful for
general and specific purposes of the students. Through writing the students will be able to
express their feelings or opinions and communicate with other in written form (Ilmiah,
Supardin, & Latief, 2017). Furthermore, writing can help the students to improve their
vocabularies, grammar, and other aspects which give really big impacts to their writing
competency or performance (Solati-Dehkordi & Salehi, 2016; Karakoc & Kose, 2017).
Therefore, it can be considered that writing is essential to be mastered (Sang, 2017). In other
side, writing is stated as difficult skill to be mastered (Nguyen, 2018). In line with Purnama
(2017), writing is complicated process which demanded the students in a system. It ties the
students in steps or regulation. The students must regard several aspects, namely title, topic
sentences, grammar, diction, development, arrangement, and mechanic or punctuation. Those
aspects must be learned well by the students in order to make a good written product.
(Kompetensi adalah seperangkat pengetahuan dan keterampilan dalam menulis (Kemdikbud,
2015; ………..) Writing competency contohnya adalah …….. (lihat dalam silabus)

(Empiris) Penelitian terdahulu telah meneliti tentang mind maping tentang fswm dan reading.
Salah satunya yang dilakukan Ilmiah. He used theory of Four Square Writing method. Four
Square Writing Method means that how to organized well. To make clearly, Gould (1999) states
that four square writing method is a unique method to teach basic writing skills and the method
is a great way to learn to write.
The research used Classroom Action Research that consisted of planning, action,
observation and reflection. It conducted in two cycles in which each cycle comprised four
meetings. The subjects of this research were 28 students of the second year students of SMPN 26
Makassar.
The findings indicated that the students’ ability to write descriptive text in cycle 1 have
not reached the score target because the mean score of the students were 66.52 that classified as
“fairly good” whereas, In cycle 2 the students’ mean score were 75.26. It indicated that the score
target has been reached and classified as “Good”.
Therefore, the researcher suggested the English teacher to apply Four Square Writing
Method as one of the alternative ways in teaching writing subject in the classroom especially in
teaching descriptive text. (Pilih 1 atau 2 empirical review saja)
(Pragmatical) If the students’ comepetence can be improved, they will become
competence writer. Topik ini sangat bermanfaat bagi siswa maupun guru untuk meningkatkan
kualitas proses dan hasil pembelajaran writing. Students will be guided effectively in developing
students’ competency on writing descriptive text. Teachers can revise the writing activities which
improve the students’ reading competency. Thus for future researchers can propose more
intensive research by investigating other moderator and intervening variables other than writing
descriptive text

B. Research Questions

1. How is four square writing method implemented in writing descriptive text especially
describing person in SMAN 2 Singaraja?
2. What are the students’ competencies in writing descriptive text especially describing
person at SMAN 2 Singaraja?
3. What are the constrains faced in implementing four square writing method in SMAN 2
Singaraja?

C. Research Objectives

1. General Objective
To implement four square writing method, assess the students writing competencies, and
analyze the constrains faced in implementing the method.

2. Spesific Objectives
1) To implement four square writing method implemented in writing descriptive text
especially describing person in SMAN 2 Singaraja;
 2) To assess the students’ competency in writing descriptive text especially
describing person at SMAN 2 Singaraja
3) To analyze the contraints faced in implementing four square writing method in
SMAN 2 Singaraja

D. Research Significance
1. Theoritical Significance : it is useful for facilitating
2. Practical Significance
1) Students: students will be guided effectively in developing students’
competency on writing descriptive text
2) Teacher: teachers can revise the writing activities which improve the students’
reading competency
3) Future Researchers: future researchers can propose more intensive research by
investigating other moderator and intervening variables other than writing
descriptive text
E. Scope di mana, text apa saja liat di silabus sesuai semester

E. Concept, Empirical and Theoretical Review

1. Concept :
1) Writing

Writing is kown as an essential skills in English learning (Liu, 2018). Writing

is a complex process where the writer should express the ideas, then put it into
a written form. It is not easy because the writer should be able to write good
sentences and combines the rules such as grammar (Purnama, 2017). Further,
the students need practices in order to acquire this skill. (Linh &
Suppasetseree, 2016). In writing, the students are required to express their
opinions towards academic topics, provide sufficient evidence, and construct
the writing in coherently and cohesively way (Sang, 2017). From those
statements proved that writing is a proces which demanded us to do activity in
private or public. When it’s private we write anything only for ourself, while
in public we should think about the audience or the readers. Writing differ
from speaking. When we write anything we need to think mucher than talking
with drect audiences (Okar, 2016). Writing dalam penelitian ini adalah
kemampuan, pengetahuan, dan keterampilan dalam mendeskripsikan bintang,
orang, dan prosedur (Kemdikbud, 2015)
 2) Writing Competency

“Writing competency is a set of abilities concerning attitudes, knowledge, and

skills that must be possessed by students after learning a learning content in
writing descriptive text especially describing person (Kemdikbud, 2015)”

3) Four Square Writing Method

Four Square Writing Method is a method that can used to guide the students in
organize their ideas, information, or concept in form of four square with an
additional square inside (Ilmiah, Supardin, & Latief, 2017). This method can
be used in teaching writing, such things as narative, argumentative, and
descriptive text. The function of the box is to make the students esaier in
organizing their ideas through any clues that they write inside the box (Rofi’ah
& Ma’rifah, 2017). The students, can write any keywords as clues, and
developed it later. Agustiana (2017) stated that this method effective to make
the written product logic, coherent and relevant. In this research four square
writing method will be used to ….. picture, demons, etc. To teach descriptive,
especially des person. Their appearance dll

2. Empirical Review :
(BUAT MENJADI PARAGRAF)
1) Research One:
Penelitian-penelitian terdahulu tentang menulis deskriptif atau recount
banyak dalam literatur. Ilmiah, Supardin, & Latief (2017) studied the ….
(aimnya buat dan masalahnya).
He used theory of Four Square Writing method. Four Square Writing
Method means that how to organized well. To make clearly, Gould (1999)
states that four square writing method is a unique method to teach basic
writing skills and the method is a great way to learn to write.
The research used Classroom Action Research that consisted of planning,
action, observation and reflection. It conducted in two cycles in which each
cycle comprised four meetings. The subjects of this research were 28 students
of the second year students of SMPN 26 Makassar.
 The findings indicated that the students’ ability to write descriptive text in
cycle 1 have not reached the score target because the mean score of the
students were 66.52 that classified as “fairly good” whereas, In cycle 2 the
students’ mean score were 75.26. It indicated that the score target has been
reached and classified as “Good”.
Therefore, the researcher suggested the English teacher to apply Four
Square Writing Method as one of the alternative ways in teaching writing
subject in the classroom especially in teaching descriptive text

2) Research Two:
This research was conducted by Rofi’ah & Ma’rifah (2017). The problems of
this research were come from two sides, both are students and teacher. The
students faced problems where they difficult in generating and organizing
their ideas. Meanwhile, the teacher also faced a problem in impelementing
appropriate method and media. The design of the study used was quasi
experimental study. In this research the researcher used 31 students as the
participants. The sampling method used was cluster random sampling. From
those samples, the researcher devided them into two. They were 16 students of
XI-IPA as the experimental group and 15 students of XI- IPS as the control
group. Pre test and post are used as the instrument to collect the data, then it
would be analyzed using SPSS. The result of this study showed that there is a
significant difference between experimental group that were taught by using
four square writing method and control group that were taught by think pair
share.
3) Research Three:
The similar research was conducted by Agustiana (2017). This study used
mixed-method through applying an embedded design. The participants of this
study was 26 EFL university students of a private university in West Java,
Indonesia. Further, the researcher used three instruments, namely test, field
notes, and questionnaries. The data was analyzed quantitatively and
qualitatively. Generally, this research showed that the Four Square Writing
Medthos is effective to improve students’ writing skill. Thus, in sepecific, the
 positive results were revealed from three instruments used. First, the result of
paired t-test showed that the writing method is effective in improving
students’ writing skill since level of significant (two-tailed) is less than alpha
(0.000<0.05). Second, the result from field notes showed that each steps
applied and graphic organizer used in the writing method lead students to
proposed discussion texts. The third, from the resultof the questionnaire, the
students showed highly positive attitude toward the treatment since the mean
score is 4.32.

4) Research Four:
This study was carried out by Altunkaya & Ersoy Topuzkanamış on 2018.
The purposed of this study was to examine the effect of Facebook use on
writing achievement, writing attitude, writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy
of the students in the written expression course. The study uses quasi
experimental design which compare control and experimental group using
Facebook. This study take 96 students attending Psychological Counseling
and Guidance Department in the Faculty of Education in a state university
located in western Turkey during 2017-2018 academic year fall semester as
the participants. The study shows that Facebook could make the better results
in terms of writing achievements.
5) Research Five:
This study was finished by Yusuf in 2019. This research examine the effects of
CL in improving the writing skill of ninth grade students in a middle school in
Kuala Lumpur. The design of this study was quasi experimntal design The
researcher used pre test and post test as the instrument of research. The data
was analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The scoring
process conducted with giving attention to several aspects. They are
vocabulary, organization, grammatical accuracy and mechanics. This study
results proved that the students had increased in their writing scores from the
pre-test to the post test after the application of CL in the class.

3. Theoretical Review
1) Theory of Writing
 Writing is kown as an essential skills in English learning (Liu, 2018). Writing
is a complex process where the writer should express the ideas, then put it into
a written form. It is not easy because the writer should be able to write good
sentences and combines the rules such as grammar (Purnama, 2017). Further,
the students need practices in order to acquire this skill. (Linh &
Suppasetseree, 2016). In writing, the students are required to express their
opinions towards academic topics, provide sufficient evidence, and construct
the writing in coherently and cohesively way (Sang, 2017). From those
statements proved that writing is a proces which demanded us to do activity in
private or public. When it’s private we write anything only for ourself, while
in public we should think about the audience or the readers. Writing differ
from speaking. When we write anything we need to think mucher than talking
with drect audiences (Okar, 2016).

2) Theory of Four Square Writing Method

Four Square Writing Method is a method that can used to guide the students in
organize their ideas, information, or concept in form of four square with an
additional square inside (Ilmiah, Supardin, & Latief, 2017). This method can
be used in teaching writing, such things as narative, argumentative, and
descriptive text. The function of the box is to make the students esaier in
organizing their ideas through any clues that they write inside the box (Rofi’ah
& Ma’rifah, 2017). The students, can write any keywords as clues, and
developed it later. Agustiana (2017) stated that this method effective to make
the written product logic, coherent and relevant. In this research four square
writing method will be used to ….. picture, demons, etc. To teach descriptive,
especially des person. Their appearance dll

F. Research Methods
1. Research Design : It is a quantitative research using a correlational study for its
data analysis method.
2. Population, Sample and Sampling: The population will cover all the eleventh
grade students of SMAN 2 Singaraja, totaling of 250 students altogether. The sample
 will include only 60 students, consisting of two classes, the good and poor students in
writing. The sampling implemented is a stratified random sampling.
3. Data Collection Method:
1) Research Instrument
An achievement test will be administered which consist of fourty multiple
choice items. The writig indicators measured consist of making the title, the
use of topic sentence, grammar, diction, development, arrangement, and
mechanic. The text which will be used is descriptive text especially in
describing person. Observasi, performance assesment atau test, dan
questionnarie
2) Data Collection Processes
The achievement test will be administered individually. The tests used
are pre test and post test. The students or participants must answered the
test individually.

4. Data Analysis Method

The results will be analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. (survey research)