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Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade

VIII in SMPN 33 Padang

Ade Dwi Jayanti

Politeknik Raflesia Curup
adedwijayanti@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

There are 5 indicators in writing descriptive texts such as:

identification, description, use of language, vocabulary and mechanics.
Based on the problems found at the beginning of the research, the
purpose of this research was to find the students ability in writing
descriptive text on English subject in SMPN 33 Padang. The type of
research is descriptive research. Participants of the research were VIII’s
grade students at SMPN 33 Padang. Data obtained through writing
descriptive text tests. The data is analyzed by combining Heaton’s
theory of assessment in writing and research rubrics about writing. The
results of the research concluded that students’ ability in writing
identification was Good to Average, students’ ability in writing
descriptive was Fair to Poor, students’ ability in language use was Very
Poor, students’ ability in using vocabulary was Fair to poor, and
students’ ability in using mechanics was Fair to Poor. Then, the results
of the research also showed that students had difficulty in identifying
objects clearly, difficulties in developing related ideas, students’ lack of
understanding of simple present tense structures, limited vocabulary,
and errors in mechanics.

Keywords: Writing Ability, English Descriptive text.

INTRODUCTION
Writing is one of English skills that must be learned by the
students. To acquire it, the students should get sufficient writing
practices. These practices are supposed to stimulate the students’ skill
in writing and expressing thoughts in a good passage. Without
practicing, it is impossible to write well and effectively. Writing can be

ENGLISH FRANCA : Academic Journal of English Language and Education

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019, IAIN Curup
P-ISSN 2580-3670, E-ISSN 2580-3689
72 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

said as a language skill used to communicate indirectly, whether people

can’t face to face each others. Expressing thought in writing is not easy
for most people, and it plays an important role in learning process
because writers are able to explore their own knowledge and what they
are thinking about to others.
Through writing activity, the students can develop their thinking
knowledge, and their ability in English such as grammar and
vocabulary. Raimes (1983: 4) says; there are some functions of writing:
to communicate with a reader, to express ideas without pressure a face
to face communication, to explore a subject, to record experience and to
become familiar with the conventions of written English discourse (a
text). So, it’s very useful in our live because we can communicate,
express ideas with a reader. If we have something, feelings, or ideas in
our mind, we can use the writing to express all of them. Byrne (1984: 1)
adds that “writing involves the encoding of message of some kind; that
is, we translate or thoughts into language.” The statement above is
similar to Raimes’ opinion that writing has function to send our minds
into language to the readers.
The close relationship between writing and thinking makes writing
a valuable part of any language course. Through writing we can express
our ideas and thought in our attempt to make meanings. Ur (1991:163)
states that “the purpose of writing, in principle, is the expression of
ideas, that conveying of a message to the reader; so the ideas
themselves should arguably be seen as the most important aspect of the
writing.” It means that not writing only, but we need to pay attention to
several aspects of the writing, so the readers are able to getting point of
ideas or messages. Clearly, that writing itself means the complex skill
because there are several aspects to be considered like the content, the
form, grammar, style and coherence. If someone have the ability to
express their ideas into a sentence grammatically and effectively.
According to Kevin (2009: 1), there are ten main criteria of a good
writing: a clear point, length, back up of point, time, logical, good
grammar, English, and spelling, readers become engaged, rules are
broken, influence and from their heart, not just created to profit or for
gains. Based on the theory above, the criteria is also important things be
thought by people in order to get a good writing. So, when the readers
read it, they can get a good idea of how the writer feels about what they
are writing about, even though no clear evidence is given in writing
itself. Besides that, there is still opinion about the criteria of good
writing shared by Fawcett, S. and Sandberg, A. (1990: 8): “criteria for
judging good writing are: organization, unity, coherence, conciseness,
clarity, grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage.” If this is compared
to Kevin’s theory, the criteria of a good writing is not only clear point,
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|73

good grammar, length, spelling, logic, etc, but also organization,

coherence, conciseness, clarity, punctuation and usage.
Dealing to explanation above, writing descriptive text has to be learned
by the students. According to Gerot and Wignell (1994: 208),
“descriptive text is a text type we use when we want to tell how
something looks, smells, feels, acts, tastes, sound etc”. Basically, it
provides details about characteristics of people, places, and things. The
details are used to help the reader in creating a mental picture.
Moreover, Abisamra (2001: 1) has similar opinion about
descriptive text. He adds that “descriptive is the text picturing the
person, place and thing with clear detail to help the readers visualize an
object which is described”. So, by writing a descriptive text, the writers
will create their sense of impression and get a clear picture of the object
which is describe. Furthermore, description activity is used to describe
an object and the readers become easily to be understood, so that they
can imagine the object which is described clearly like the real one.
Gerot and Wignell (1994: 208) add that there are two generic
structures of descriptive text; namely, identification and description. In
identification, the learners will identify phenomenon or subject that is
going to be described. While, description, the learners will describe
specifically parts, qualities, and characteristics of an object that is being
described. Furthermore, they also explain about the grammatical
features (language features (simple present tense, action verb and
adjective), vocabulary, and mechanics) of descriptive text. Related to
idea above, there are some indicators of English descriptive text,
namely; generic structure (identification and description), and
grammatical features (language features (simple present tense, action
verb, adjective), vocabulary and mechanics).
Based on KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) 2006 of
Junior High School, kinds of texts are introduced to students from the
first year until the third year at junior high school. One of them is
descriptive text that had been learned by second year students of junior
high school. But, the students usually faced difficulty in writing
descriptive text because it must use present tense which is complicated
for them and they have the little vocabulary in writing especially in
writing a descriptive text. Related to this case, the writer interviewed
some English teachers in SMPN 33 Padang. They said that the students
don’t understand in writing descriptive text because they have limited
vocabularies and grammatical skills. It is supported by less knowledge
about the elements of writing descriptive text. Thus, they aren’t
interested to write it. Furthermore, they added, “The students often
74 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

ignored the punctuation and spelling, which made unmeaningful words.

It was proved by the fact in their test result of writing descriptive text
about their moms last semester that 2 students (8,70%) were good to
average, 7 students (30,43%) were fair to poor and 14 students
(60,87%) were very poor.” (Based on Heaton’s scale)
The writer has three reasons why she is interested in doing this
research about students’ writing ability on English descriptive text. The
first reason is that writing is a difficult activity for the eighth grade of
SMPN 33 Padang. The second reason is that descriptive text must be
written in present tense. Then, the last reason is that the eighth grade
students usually have little vocabulary in writing text.
Based on the students’ difficulty in writing descriptive text, the
writer wants to do the research entitled “Students’ Writing Ability on
English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in SMPN 33 Padang.”

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
Writing
As we know, there are four common English skills that must be
mastered by the students, they are: listening, reading, speaking and
writing. Writing is also media of communication that can help us to
have good socialization; we can express our idea, feeling, and our
opinion through written language. Through writing activity, we can
develop our thinking knowledge, and our ability in English such as
grammar and vocabulary. Raimes (1983: 4) says;
Writing can impose grammatical structure, idioms, and vocabulary
of the students. There are some functions of writing: to communicate
with a reader, to express ideas without pressure a face to face
communication, to explore a subject, to record experience and to
become familiar with the conventions of written English discourse (a
text). Based on the Raimes’ opinion, writing is very useful in our live
because we can communicate, express ideas with a reader. If we have
something, feelings, or ideas in our mind, we can use the writing to
express all of them.
In other opinion, Byrne (1984: 1) says that “writing involves the
encoding of message of some kind; that is, we translate or thoughts into
language.” The statement above is similar to Raimes’ opinion that
writing has function to send our minds into language to the readers.
Oshima and Hogue (1991: 3) define that “writing is so important in
academic life that some universities have on-line writing centers. These
Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|75

sites offer extra writing advice and information.” It means that the
students have to study and practice it deeply in their daily activities
because it is very useful for their advanced, especially in education. Ur
(1991:163) states that “the purpose of writing, in principle, is the
expression of ideas, that conveying of a message to the reader; so the
ideas themselves should arguably be seen as the most important aspect
of the writing.” It means that not writing only, but we need to pay
attention to several aspects of the writing, so the readers are able to
getting point of ideas or messages.
Nowadays, it is not only using speak-up to share our ideas or our
messages, but also writing as one of media. It is a complex activity
which involves many aspects and considerations. According to Nunan
(2003: 88), writing is a complex process. It involves a physical and
mental act. Physical is related to send the word or ideas to specific
medium such as letters, hand writing, or others. Mental work is the
process of the expressing the ideas, and thinking in delivering the
message into written language. It means that the students can share all
their minds, opinions or everything through writing. For example, when
students have criticism to their school’s rules, they can apply it in
writing.
Writing can be said as a language skill used to communicate
indirectly, whether people can’t face to face each others. Expressing
thought in writing is not easy for most people, and it plays an important
role in learning process because writers are able to explore their own
knowledge and what they are thinking about to others. The close
relationship between writing and thinking makes writing a valuable
part of any language course. Through writing we can express our ideas
and thought in our attempt to make meanings. The writing itself means
the complex skill because there are several aspects to be considered like
the content, the form, grammar, style and coherence. It means the
writer should use good grammar and adequate vocabulary in making
good writing. If someone has the ability to express their ideas into a
sentence grammatically and effectively, the writing can be enjoyable for
them. Of course, it is not enjoy for them only, but also for the readers
because they can comprehend it easily.
Sometimes people put writing activity as their hobby. Through
writing they can create something in written form. For example, they
can make letter, poetry, story, novel, and even they can give advices or
critics to someone through writing. In short, we write to learn, usually
for private purposes. And then we write to communicate, usually for
public purposes.
76 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

Related to definitions of writing above, most of people are

interested to a good piece of writing. Of course it makes them become
easy to get ideas while reading it. Here, Kevin (2009: 1) has ten main
criteria of a good writing. He says, There are many criteria of a good
writing. A good writing has some criteria; a clear point, length, there is
information to back up your point, time, logical, good grammar, English,
and spelling, readers become engaged, rules are broken, influence and
from their heart, not just created to profit or for gains.
Based on the criteria above, it is also important things be thought
by people in order to get a good writing. So, when the readers read it,
they can get main point of how the writer feels about what they are
writing about, even though no clear evidence is given in writing itself.
Besides that, there is still opinion about the criteria of good writing
shared by Fawcett, S. and Sandberg, A. (1990: 8): “criteria for judging
good writing are: organization, unity, coherence, conciseness, clarity,
grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage.” Based on the theory above,
if it’s compared to Kevin’s theory, the criteria of a good writing is not
only clear point, good grammar, length, spelling, logic, etc, but also
organization, coherence, conciseness, clarity, punctuation and usage.
Related to the criteria above, there are some steps in writing
activity must be followed by the writers. Here, Brereton (1982: 1) states
“ six separate steps most good writers follow: discovering a topic,
planning an approach, writing a rough draft, revising, writing a final
draft, and proofreading.”
The steps above are similar to Oshima and Hogue’s opinion (1991:
3) that “there are four main stages in the writing process: prewriting,
planning (outlining), and writing and revising drafts, and writing the
final copy to hand in.” They add a simple conclusion about some steps in
the writing process, such:
a. Step 1 (Prewriting): brainstorming.
b. Step 2 (Planning): developing an outline.
c. Step 3 (Writing): writing a rough draft.
d. Step 4 (Revising): editing the rough draft for content and
organization.
e. Step 5 (Rewriting): writing a second draft, and proofreading it
for grammar and mechanics.
f. Step 6: writing a final copy to hand in.

So, before writing, it is important to make concept of the text. So,

when a writer will be doing the writing process, she/ he will not be
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|77

overlap from the topic. Thus, those steps of writing should be done by
students in order to get a good writing.
Based on the experts’ ideas above, a simple conclusion can be
drawn that we can write effectively if we are willing to learn or follow
those criteria and practice them. Besides that, it can make the readers
understanding the point and can get the aims of the writing.
a. Descriptive Text
A text is the original words and form of a written or printed work.”
In other words, it consists of spoken or written words that have the
purpose of conveying message”. It means that by putting the words
together to communicate a meaning or to send a message, so a piece of
text is created.
In addition, according to Hyland (2005), Texts are autonomous
objects which can be analyzed and described independently of
particular context, researchers or readers. Texts have their structures.
They are orderly arrangement of words, clauses, and sentences by
following the principles which guide the correct arrangement of
elements. Researchers can encode full semantic representation of their
intended meaning.
It means that text consists of words, clauses and sentences which
arranged to be one unity. Thus, a simple conclusion can be drawn that
texts are group of words, clauses, sentences or organize patterns of
spoken or written language. The texts are not only having purpose, but
also meaning.
One factor that affects to differences in text is the purpose for which
the text being used. When constructing a piece of text, the writer or the
researcher makes choices about words used and how these words will
be put together. The choices of words will depend on the purpose and
context of the text. Texts can be said as structures in different ways to
achieve their purpose. For example, the purpose of descriptive text is to
describe a something, place or people.
Descriptive text is a text that is always in around us when we want
to describe something or someone. It is learnt by Junior High School
(SMP) in the first and second years. In general, descriptive means
describe about particular person, place or thing details. Descriptive text
should concentrate on action (verbs), rather than sensation (adverbs
and adjectives). Descriptive text has generic structures and language
features. Writer should assume the role of readers whose idea of the
described events, in entirety, constructed by text content. Abisamra
(2001: 1) adds that “descriptive is the text picturing the person, place
78 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

and thing with clear detail to help the readers visualize an object which
is described”. So, by writing a descriptive text, the writers will create
their sense of impression and get a clear picture of the object which is
described. Furthermore, description activity is used to describe an
object and the readers become easily to be understood, so that they can
imagine the object which is described clearly like the real one.
According to Gerot and Wignell (1994: 208), “descriptive text is a
text type we use when we want to tell how something looks, smells,
feels, acts, tastes, sound etc”. It means that when we want to describe
how something looks, smells, feels, acts, tastes, sound to someone by a
text, we can create descriptive text. Basically, it provides detail
information about characteristics of people, places, and things. The
detail information is used to help the reader in creating a mental
picture. In short, the descriptive text is emphasized about text to tell
something details. They add that there are two generic structures of
descriptive text; namely, identification and description. In
identification, the learners will identify phenomenon or subject that is
going to be described. While, description, the learners will describe
specifically parts, qualities, and characteristics of an object that is being
described. Furthermore, they also explain about the grammatical
features (language features (simple present tense, action verb and
adjective), vocabulary, and mechanics) of descriptive text.
Related to ideas above, there are some indicators of English
descriptive text. First, generic structure (identification is to identify
phenomenon be described, and description is to describe parts,
qualities, and characteristics of subject). And secondly, the grammatical
features (focus on language features (simple present tense, action verb,
adjective), vocabulary and mechanics).
b. Generic Structures of English Descriptive Text
In addition, Hardy and Klarwein (1999: 1) have opinion about
generic structures of descriptive text: The generic structure of
descriptive text contains definition and description. Description consist
of description of purpose, description of features and their use,
description of physical features, description of people, description of
properties and interesting facts, and description of evidence today.
Gerot and Wignell (1994: 208) and Yusak (2004: 49) add their
opinion about generic structures of descriptive text. They say that there
are two generic structures of descriptive text as follows:
a. Identification
Identification is necessary in order to avoid having general
statement. It means that a writer needs to identify which particular
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|79

thing. In this case, it identifies a phenomenon or a subject that is

going to be described. The subject can be a person, thing or place.
Masruri (2010: 1) adds that identification is a part of paragraph
which introduces or identifies the character. If a student writes an
identification part clearly, he/she will develop the ideas easily in
description part. It means that, the sentence or paragraph can guide
the student to organize and develop ideas to be good writing.
b. Description
It describes specifically parts, qualities, and characteristics
of a phenomenon or a subject details that is being described.
Masruri (2010: 1) adds that description is a part of paragraph
which describes the character. So, the writer describes all
information related to topic.
Then, the ideas should be good organized. In this case, each of idea
has relationship and organized. So, the reader can comprehend well what
the English descriptive text is about. It means that the reader will get a
clear picture of the phenomenon or subject which is described in
English descriptive text if the writer expresses the message clearly
although the readers are not faced with the writer directly.

c. The Grammatical Features of English Descriptive Text

The grammatical features of descriptive text focus on Language
features (simple present tense, action verb and adjective), vocabulary
and mechanics.
a. Language Features (simple present tense, action verb, and
adjective)
According to Peronity (2011: 1), “the language features of
descriptive text are use of simple present tense because it tells the
object description, use of the adjective to clarify the noun”, for
example: a beautiful girl, a handsome man, the famous place in
Bengkulu, and use of action verb to show an activity (activity can
be seen) for example: use, write, bring, etc. Simple present tense is
the most popular tense in using. This is due to the factual nature of
a descriptive text. In this case, it is one of tenses which is students
should master in writing English descriptive text. If the students
master it, they are easier to express ideas into good writing. Azar
(2005) states; Simple present tense has patterns, they are; 1)verbal
sentence, and 2)nominal sentence. In verbal sentence, the formula
as follows;
(+) S + V1 (s/es) + O/C
( -) S + do/does + not + V1 + O/C
80 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

i.e. My mother cooks the cake in the kitchen.

In nominal sentence, the formula as follows;
(+) S + Tobe (is, am, are) + Adjective /Adverb
( -) S + Tobe (is, am, are) + not + Adjective/Adverb
i.e. Tom cruise is handsome man.

Furthermore, using adjective in writing English descriptive text is

up the writer to create excitement, interest, and beauty with their
words. It means that adjectives are words that modify a noun or
pronoun. It is to give more information so that the writer’s meaning is
clear to the reader. According to Parrot (2004: 18), adjectives are class
of words often called as describing words because they provide
information about the qualities of something described in nouns, noun
phrases or clauses. The examples are below:
Noun : an old house
Noun phrase : an interesting adventure for everyone
Clause : it will be unforgettable moment that we have in our
lives
The aspect of writing deals with acceptable words, phrases, clauses,
or sentences in following grammar rules of the text.

b. Vocabulary
Vocabulary is important in writing English descriptive text. It can
be said as necessity to be known by students in Junior high school. A
writer can make readers explore more deeply in what is telling about. In
fact, it is always become a big problem in learning English. Students are
still difficult in writing text because they have less of vocabulary. So,
they cannot convey their ideas related to topic clearly as they would
have to.
Vocabulary is a core component in studying a language. It is
supported by Zhihong (2000) states that “Words are the basic unit of
language form. Without a sufficient vocabulary, one cannot
communicate effectively or express ideas. Having a limited vocabulary
is a barrier that prevents students from learning a foreign language. If
learners do not know how to expand their vocabulary, they gradually
lose interest in learning”
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|81

Based on the theory above, it can be concluded that vocabulary has

important role in communication. We cannot send our ideas to readers
without enough vocabularies. Besides that, using a word in writing text
is not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into
the context. It means that the writer has to smart in choosing the
appropriate word so it relates to the context. If the word is not
appropriate into the context, so the readers have difficulties in
comprehending the text. Related to writing descriptive text, students
have difficulties in choosing appropriate words to express their ideas.
As a result, the students cannot finish their descriptive writing. So, this
case means the students have to use appropriate vocabularies and
accurate words fix to the context in their English descriptive text.
Students will advance their ability in writing English descriptive text by
using appropriate words.
c. Mechanics
Heaton (1988: 148) states “the mechanic concerns about the
writers’ ability to use correctly those conventions peculiar to the
written language – such as punctuation and spelling.” Mechanic of
writing also refers to the use of capitalization. According to Nordquist
(2011: 1), mechanics consist of punctuation and spelling. The
punctuation means a set of marks used to regulate texts and clarify
their meanings, principally by separating or linking words, phrases, and
clauses. Furthermore, Longman (1998: 389) adds that “punctuation is
one art or practice of inserting of standardized marks or sign in written
matter to clarify the meaning and separate structural unit. It has two
functions; they are to clarify the meaning and to separate structural
unit.” Then, Oshima and Hogue (1991: 245) add “using correct
punctuation is important because it conveys meaning just as words do.”
While the spelling means the word looks like. If the writer wrote wrong
spelling, so it will create un-meaningful words.
It can be concluded that punctuation and spelling is important in
writing to help readers to understand the writer’s ideas. In learning
English, both of them are accurately presented and learned. By using
punctuation, bring clarity in writing and making it comprehensible.
While, spelling means the word looks like, if spelling incorrect so the
meaning of word can be different.
d. Testing Writing
O’Malley and Pierce (1996: 139) states that in examining the nature
of writing, we have looked at the writer and the type of writer’s
knowledge which is bring to the writing task. We have to indicate the
purpose and genre of writing to determine what and how students’
82 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

writing. The task may consist of the questions or statement that the
students will address in their writing and conditions under which they
will write. They should be allocated to the time and resources. The
students don’t be asked to write a task if it is not suitable with their
readiness.
According to O’malley and Pierce (1996: 140), testing writing is to
know the students’ ability in using language and the students’ ideas
through written medium. The purpose of teaching and learning writing
is to enable the students to use the language skills in social life. In
teaching and learning writing, the students are hoped to able to express
the idea into written language.
Heaton (1988: 7) says that by testing writing, it will provide the
students with an opportunity to show their ability to perform certain
tasks in the language. So, the students can learn from their weaknesses.
In order to know the students’ achievement in writing, testing writing
ability is the best choice. Here, the students are asked to write. The
students can write about the personal descriptive. The teacher can ask
the students to write their experience and scores the task based on the
criteria of scoring.
Heaton (1988: 146) has opinion related to scoring writing. He says
that there are some components of scoring writing. They are content
(subject), organization (ideas), language uses (simple present tense/
construction), vocabulary (choice of words), and mechanics (spelling
and punctuations). First, content is about knowledge of subject. Second,
organization expresses facts, ideas, feelings and attitudes clearly in
writing. Third, language use is often concerned the formal patterns of
language (described in prescriptive grammars and lexicons). It means
that it is concerned with students’ knowledge of forms of language.
Fourth, vocabulary is concerned with word meanings, words formation
and collocation. And finally, mechanics refers to punctuation and
spelling.
Furthermore, the writer gave an example of English descriptive text
which had been quoted from Genres of text book created by Hartono
(2011: 25) in order to make this research clearly. After that, she
explained five indicators (identification, description, language feature,
vocabulary and mechanics) of English descriptive text.

Review of the Related Findings

Before conducting the research, the writer found some researchers
who have done the research about students’ writing especially about
writing descriptive text in right order. Firstly, it was conducted by
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|83

Trilisnawati (2012). She analyzed about error analysis on descriptive

text, a case study at the eighth grade of SMP Islamiyah Sawangan. The
writer found some errors made by the students in writing. She analyzed
the common errors in the article, personal pronouns, subject-verb
agreement, capitalization, spelling, and non-count nouns. The writer
analyzed 20 research samples and found most students made errors in
their writing. The writer discovers that the error types in the use of
article, personal pronouns, subject-verb agreement, capitalization,
spelling, and non-count nouns, committed by eighth grade students of
SMP Islamiyah Sawangan. The students still confuse with the forms of
writing, especially in using the personal pronouns.
Secondly, it was conducted by Natria (2007). The design of her
research was descriptive in nature. She analyzed about eighth year
students’ errors of SMP N 2 Brebes in using simple present tense in
descriptive texts. She used Cluster proportional random sampling
technique to collect the data. In her research, she found out the
dominant errors on simple present tense in writing descriptive texts
and the possible causes of those errors. She used a writing test as an
instrument. In her result, there were 10 types of errors. They were
omission of be, wrong form of be, double be, wrong use of singular and
plural form, addition of be (before and after verb), omission of suffix -
s/-es, wrong use of verb, wrong form of modal auxiliary, omission of
verb, and wrong form of negative sentence.
Thirdly, it was conducted by Shokrpour and Fallahzadeh (2007).
The research was about EFL Writing Problems in Shiraz University of
Medical Science, trying to point out the major difficulties with which
Iranian students face when writing their report. The specific objective
of this research was to determine whether language skills or writing
skill of medical students are the major problem areas to medical
students. The data analysis indicates that Iranian EFL medical students
have problem both in language and writing skills, but with higher
percentages of problem in writing skill.
The above researchers were related to this research. Here, the
writer studied students’ writing ability of English descriptive text of
grade VIII in SMPN 33 Padang, in descriptive qualitative research by
using writing test. She chose one class of its level as a participant. The
students were asked to write a descriptive text. Here, she analyzed
about students’ ability in writing English descriptive text. She analyzed
about generic structure (identification and description), language
feature (using simple present tense, adjective, action verb), vocabulary
and mechanics in writing text. In collecting the data, she used the
84 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

Heaton’s scoring rubric writing and Gerot & Wignells’ theory about
indicator of English descriptive text. She combined both of them.
Besides that, she also categorized the students’ ability. Then, she
counted its frequency and percentage.

RESEARCH METHODHOLOGY
The research designed as a descriptive quantitative research. The
purpose of the research is to gain information about phenomena in
order to describe existed condition in the field. So, the students’ writing
ability on English descriptive text is analyzed by using quantitative
method. It was conducted in SMPN 33 Padang. The participant of this
research was grade VIII students of SMPN 33 Padang. There are about
23 students as the subject of the research, of which 13 students are
female and 10 students are male.
This research used writing test as the instrumentation or the way to
collect the data of students’ writing ability of English descriptive text.
Heaton (1988: 7) states that testing writing provides the students with
an opportunity to show their ability to perform certain tasks in the
language. In order to know the students’ achievement in writing, testing
writing ability is the best choice.
In this research, the writer (as scorer I) was helped by the English
teacher of second year of SMPN 33 Padang (as scorer II) to give the
score on students’ writing in English descriptive text. Before giving the
test, the writer tried out the test to participants. In this case the writer
tried out the instruction of the test to make sure whether the students
understand or not what they will do with the test and whether or not
the participants can write a English descriptive text in the allocated
time.
The test was developed from some indicators of English descriptive
text, such as identification, description, language features (simple
present tense, action verbs, and adjective), vocabulary, and mechanics
(punctuation and spellings). The writing test was done in three
meetings. There are 60 minutes for each meeting. The writer gave three
topics for each test, namely; my mom, my bag and my school.
The data were analyzed quantitatively method. The writer found
the students’ score by using combined scoring rubric writing by Heaton
(1988: 146) and indicators of English descriptive text. Furthermore, the
writer calculated the students’ score by combining scores from both
scorers.
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|85

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The figure 1 presented students’ writing ability of five indicators in

English descriptive text. The following figure also presented the number
of students for each category.

Table 1: The Categorization of students’ ability in Writing English

Descriptive Text

Interval Categorization of Freq. of Percent.

Students’ ability Stud.(f)
scores (%)

3.51 - 4
Excl. to very good 0
2.51 - 0%
3.50 Good to average 1
4.35 %
1.51 - Fair to poor 21
2.50 91.3 %
Very poor 1
1 - 1.50 4.35 %

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 1, it could be seen that 21 students’ ability was fair
to poor. While, none of student’s ability was excellent to very good, 1
student’s ability was good to average, and 1 student’s ability was very
poor. It means that 91% of students at grade VIII.5 are enough difficult
in writing English descriptive text.
After that, the writer analyzed each indicators of writing English
descriptive text such as identification, description, language features,
vocabulary and mechanics. Then, she analyzed the problem for each
indicator faced by students in writing English descriptive text.

1. Students’ Ability in Writing Identification

Identification is one of the indicators of descriptive text. The
students’ writing ability was described as follow:
Table 2.
The Categorization of Students’ Ability in Writing Identification
Interval Categorization of Freq. of Percent.
Students’ ability Stud.(f)
Scores (%)
86 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

3.51 - 4 Excl. to very good 0

0%
2.51 - 3.50 Good to average 14
60.9 %
1.51 - 2.50 Fair to poor 9
39.1%
1 - 1.50 Very poor 0
0%

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 2 above, it showed that 14 students were good to

average, while 9 students were fair to poor. It can be said that most of
students are able to write identification. According to Gerot and Wignell
(1994: 208), “in identification, the learners identify phenomenon or
subject that is going to be described.” Related to this case, there is only
simple problem faced by few students in this indicator. They identify the
object (person, thing or place) unclearly.
2. Students’ Ability in Writing Description
Next, description is the second indicator of descriptive text. The
students’ writing ability was described as follow:
Table 3.
The Categorization of Students’ Ability in Writing Description

Interval Categorization of Freq. of Stud.(f) Percent.

Scores Students’ ability (%)

3.51 - 4 Excl. to very good 0

0%
2.51 - 3.50 Good to average 0
0%
1.51 - 2.50 Fair to poor 20
87%
1 - 1.50 Very poor 3
13 %

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 3, it showed that 20 students were fair to poor,

while 3 students were very poor. It can be said that many students have
problems to describe an object of the text detail. They are unable to
develop ideas or information related to object (person, thing or place)
in order to make descriptive text clearly. According to Abisamra (2001:
1), “descriptive text is the text picturing the person, place, and thing
detail to help the readers visualize an object which is described.” So, it
effects the readers be difficult to understand and comprehend deeply
about the object. It is also supported by Grellet’s theory (1990:3). He
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|87

states that “understanding a written text means extracting and

requiring information from it as efficiently as possible.” Related to this
case, the students have to develop ideas and describe all information
which related to an object (person, thing or place) in order to help the
reader get a clear picture.

3. Students’ Ability in Using Language features

Moreover, language features is the third indicator of descriptive
text. The language features concern to use of simple present tense, use
of action verbs, and use of adjective. The students’ writing ability was
described as follow:
Table 4.
The Categorization of Students’ Ability in Using Language Features

Interval Categorization of Freq. of Percent.

Students’ ability Stud.(f)
scores (%)

3.51 - 4 Excl. to very good 0 0%

2.51 - 3.50 Good to average 1 4.3%
1.51 - 2.50 Fair to poor 12 52.2%
1 - 1.50 Very poor 10 43.5%

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 4, it showed that only one student was good to
average. While, 12 students were fair to poor and 10 students were very
poor in using language features (simple present tense, action verb, and
adjective). In general, it might be caused by a factor which the students
do not know the basic structure of simple present tense itself. So, it
makes error structure of sentences which is written by students. In
specifically, most of them had omission of be, wrong use of singular and
plural be, omission of suffix –s/-es and wrong use of verb. Sometimes
the students used plural verb for singular subject. Oshima and Hogue
(1988: 13) state that “subjects and verbs of sentence must be agreed in
number.” Unfortunately, many students do not know how to
differentiate between a singular subject and a plural subject in writing a
sentence. Related to this problem, the students often use ordinary verb
“have” to third singular subject.
88 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

Besides that, many students also often make mistakes in using V1

and V1+s/es. They don’t use V1s+es for third singular person “she, he”.
Jack (2003: 31) adds that “in simple present tense, verb is changed to be
Verb +s/es for third singular person.” It means that if subject of
sentence is third singular person/impersonal “she, he, it”, V1 is added
+s/es. While, if subject is first singular person “I”, second singular
person “you”, first plural person “we”, second plural person “you”, and
third plural person “they”, it uses V1 only.
Furthermore, many students are confused to put adjective in
writing. They often put adjective after noun/ object. According to Jack
(2003:198), “an adjective is usually followed by “to be”.” So, the
students should put adjective after to be (before noun) to explain noun
of sentence. Those data indicated that using language features in writing
English descriptive text is difficult for students. Thus, they need to learn it
deeply in learning of English writing.
4. Students’ Ability in Using Vocabulary
Furthermore, vocabulary is the fourth indicator of descriptive text.
The students’ writing ability was described as follow:
Table 5.
The Categorization of Students’ Ability in Using Vocabulary
Interval Categorization of Freq. of Percent.
Students’ ability Stud.(f)
scores (%)

3.51 - 4 Excl. to very good 0

0%
2.51 - 3.50 Good to average 1
4%
1.51 - 2.50 Fair to poor 20
87%
1 - 1.50 Very poor 2
9%

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 5, it showed that only 1 student was good to

average. While, 20 students were fair to poor and 2 students were very
poor in using vocabulary. This data indicates that most of students have
poor vocabulary in English. Here, many students use general
vocabularies in writing English descriptive text. According to Brown
(2004: 301), vocabulary is important to get comprehension of the text.
Related to this theory, many students do not have many vocabularies.
Even they use some Indonesian in writing. Therefore, the text which is
written can be difficult to be comprehended.
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|89

Sometimes the students use the vocabularies which not related to

the topic. Stahl (2005) states that vocabulary is the knowledge of words
and word meanings and also puts vocabulary knowledge as the
knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how
that word fits into the context. In reality, many students use vocabulary
which were unsuitable contextually. As a result, it makes the reader do
not get information of the text. So, it is important for students to enrich
their vocabulary in English in order to develop their ideas to be good
writing, even, make reader easily to understand and comprehend the
text.
5. Students’ Ability in Using Mechanics
Last indicator of descriptive text is mechanics. Mechanics concern to
punctuation and spellings. The students’ writing ability was described as
follow:
Table 6.
The Categorization of Students’ Ability in Using Mechanics
Interval Categorization of Freq. of Percent.
Students’ ability Stud.(f)
scores (%)

3.51 - 4 Excl. to very good 0

0%
2.51 - 3.50 Good to average 1
4%
1.51 - 2.50 Fair to poor 19
83%
1 - 1.50 Very poor 3
13 %

∑n: 23 ∑: 100 %

From the figure 6, it showed that only 1 student was good to

average. While, 19 students were fair to poor and 3 students were very
poor. It means that many students had some mistakes / errors in using
mechanics to write English descriptive text. It might be caused by the
students do not comprehend about punctuation and spelling.
Firstly, punctuation, many students don’t use period (.) at the end of
sentence. It is seem as if the sentence connected to the next sentence.
Oshima and Hogue (1988:10) state that “there are three punctuation
marks that can be used at the end of a sentence: the period (statement),
the question mark (question), and the exclamation mark (to show
strong feeling).”
90 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

Sometimes some students put commas (,) in uncorrected position,

such; putting comma at the end of sentence. According to Boardman
and Frydenberg (2001:39), “when a word, a phrase, or a dependent
clause comes before an independent clause, we use a comma after it and
before the independent clause.” So, it makes the text be ambiguously. If
students write comma at the end of sentence, it usually means the
sentence has been finished yet.
Besides that, some students also write a run-on sentence which is
caused by have no punctuation. As a result, the readers are difficult to
comprehend the text when check the students’ writing. Thus, by using
correct punctuation, the students can write sentence clear. Then, the
reader can comprehend the meaning of its sentence. It is supported by
Oshima and Hogue (1988:10) who state that “punctuation is necessary
to make sentence meaning clear.”
Secondly, spelling, many students did miss-spelling in writing
words. The data indicated that the students cannot differentiate
written of word to its pronunciation. Zaim (2005: 124) states that, “each
word has meaning.”If they do miss-spell in writing words, it will
probably have no meaning. It reflects to their writing, of course. It
means that they cannot inform the text about to reader. According to
Leo Sutanto, e.l. (2007), if the writer writes a clear word, the readers
can expect a clear picture of what the writer intends to tell them.
Related to this problem, the reader has difficulty to get information
related to subject of English descriptive text written by students. Even,
the reader was confused to read the text.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Conclusion
Based on the research findings, there are some conclusions which
can be derived from the analysis:
In general, the students’ writing ability of SMPN 33 Padang in
writing English descriptive text is fair to poor. In specifically, it is found
that the students’ ability in writing identification (14 students: Good to
average, and 9 students: Fair to poor), in writing description (20
students: Fair to poor, and 3 students: Very poor), in using language
features (1 student: Good to average, 12 students: Fair to poor, and 10
students: Very poor), in using vocabulary (1 student: Good to average,
20 students: Fair to poor, and 2 students: Very poor), and in using
mechanics ( 1 student: Good to average, 19 students: Fair to poor, and 3
students: Very poor) of English descriptive text. Meanwhile, the
 Ade Dwi Jayanti: Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in
SMPN 33 Padang|91

students have some problems in writing English descriptive text. They

are:
a. Identification: Few students don’t identify the object clearly in
identification.
b. Description: Some students do not describe parts, qualities and
characteristics of object in description. It was caused the students
cannot develop their ideas or information related to object in order
to make descriptive text clearly.
c. Language Features: In general, most of students do not know the basic
structure of simple present tense itself. So, it affects error structure of
sentences which is written by students. In specifically, most of them
have omission of be, wrong use of singular and plural be, omission of
suffix –s/-es and wrong use of verb. Furthermore, the students often
use ordinary verb “have” to third singular subject because they do not
know how to differentiate between singular and plural subjects in
writing a sentence. After that, many students also often make mistakes
in using V1 and V1+s/es. Finally, they often put adjective after noun/
object in writing sentence.
d. Vocabulary: Many students have poor vocabulary in English.
Furthermore, many students use vocabulary which are unsuitable
contextually. So, they need to enrich their vocabulary.
e. Mechanics: In punctuation, many students don’t use period (.) at the
end of sentence. Next, some students put commas (,) in uncorrected
position, such; putting comma at the end of sentence. Furthermore,
some students also write a run-on sentence which is caused by have no
punctuation. The students have to pay attention to punctuation
because it is necessary to make meaning clearly.

Suggestion
Based on the conclusions of the research, the writer would like to
propose some suggestions as follows: (1) The English teachers are
suggested to explain the generic structure and grammatical features of
descriptive text more deeply and clearly in order to get good results for
the students. (2) The English teachers are suggested to give more
practices to the students in writing especially when they are writing
English descriptive text by using interesting strategy related to the
students’ ability in developing their ideas. (3) The English teachers are
suggested to stimulate the students to build ideas related to the topic.
So, the students will be able to develop those ideas to be good writing.
(4) The English teachers are suggested to be more active in teaching-
92 | ENGLISH FRANCA, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019

learning process. Because of the English teacher has important role in

learning successful.

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