Investigating the Development of Students' Writing Skill Through Dialogue Journal Writing of Intermediate Students at SMP Negeri 3 Cilegon

ida sitompul; dr. santi chairani djonhar, ma; ujang suparman, ma, ph.d;

A number of barriers that students faced in learning writing, such as about lack of
writing performance, low motivation, high anxiety, and lack of communication
with the teacher. Dialogue journal writing was presented in the present study to
develop students’ writing skill based on two points of views, where it included
writing performance and students’ perceptions when using dialogue journal
writing. Six students at second grade of junior high school participated in this
study, and each student was required to write ten journal entries at two journal
entries per week. The data included sixty students’ journal entries, and in-depth
interviews of six students. The method of this study used a case study approach.
The findings showed that dialogue journal writing developed the students’ writing
performance on content, organization, voice, motivation, and communication with
teacher. It also reduced their writing anxiety. Meanwhile, the development of
writing fluency, word choices, and conventions occurred in four students. They
indicated that dialogue journal writing allowed them to consider something new,
enhanced their motivation so that they could be better in their writing skill; get
better communication with the teacher through sharing their ideas, feelings, and
thought. Additional time, various topics, and consistency in giving respond to
students’ journal entries are needed for further research in maximizing the
research