Understanding Writing: Skills, Components, Process and Genres, Lecture notes of Law

Download Understanding Writing: Skills, Components, Process and Genres and more Lecture notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! 16 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION A. Writing 1. Definition of Writing According to Kane “writing is a process of involving and to know how to handle the words and sentences and paragraph become a good writing.”1 Langan also stated “writing is a realistic attitude to build on the idea and it is as way to communicate with others, discover what they want to write and explore their thought in writing.”2 In general, writing is a way in sending message from the writer to the reader. The writer can assumed that writing is an activity to create the words and the ideas to be sentences and paragraphs that will be a written text that use to communicate with other. With the writing the reader can communicate and understand the message of an author without speaking. In Islam writing is one of the important skill that should be learned by the peoples. The verses that state the existence of writing was stated in Al-Qur’an. 1 Thomas S. Kane, Essential Guide to Writing, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 17. 2 John Langan, College Writing Skills, (United States of America: McGraw Hill, 2011), 12. 17 Surah Al-Qalam verse : 1 َيْسُطُرْون َوما َواْلقَلَم ~ن Meaning: “ Nun, by the pen and by what they write”3 Surah Al-Alaq verses: 4-5 ْنَسانَ َعلَّمَ ٤ ب اْلقَلَم َعلَّمَ الَّذ ي َيْعلَمَ مالَمْ اإْل Meaning: “Who was taugh (the writing) by the pen He was taugh man that which he knew not”4 Writing is one of the skill that must be learned because by the writing the knowledge will be spread. Writing is the process of communication that use the graphic symbol to express the idea, feeling, or thoughts. 2. Component of Writing In order to measure the students’ writing ability, there are some aspect must be explained. According to Jacobs et al., the aspect focuses on content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics.5 They are explained as follow: 3 M. Taquiddin Al-Hilali, M. Mukhsin Khan, The Noble Qur’an, (Madinah Maktaba Darussalam, 1996), 774 4 Al-Hilali, Khan, The Noble Qur’an, 774. 5 Jacobs et al, Testing ESL Composition: A Practical Approach, (Rowley: Newbury House Publishers, Inc. 1981), 90. 20 about tree main issues such as purpose, audience, and content structure. b. Drafting We can refer to the first version of a piece of writing as a draft. This first ‘go’ at a text is often done on the assumption that it will be amended later. As the writing process proceeds into editing, a number of draft may be produced on the way to the final version. 1) Editing ( Reflecting & Revising ) Once writers have produced a draft they then, usually, read through what they have written to see where it works and there it does not. Reflecting and revising are often helped by other readers ( or editors ) who comment and make suggestion. Another reader’s reaction to a piece of writing will help the author to make appropriate revisions. 2) Final Version Once writers have edited their draft, making the changes they consider to be necessary, they produce their final version. This may look considerably different from both the original plan and the first draft, because things have changed in the editing process. But the writer is now ready to send the written text to its intended audience. 21 B. Writing Genres According to Law, there are six types of writing genres as follows:7 1. Narrative Writing Narratives entertain and engage the reader in an imaginative experience. Narrative texts are organized according to setting, event leading to a problem and solution. The main features of narrative writing are: defined characters, descriptive language, past tense. 2. Recount Writing Recount tells the reader what happened and this may involve the author’s personal interpretation of events. There are different types of recounts which including personal (my trip to the farm), factual (retelling an accident) and imaginative recounts (a day in the life of a puppy). Recount writing is organized by setting, events in chronological order and a concluding statement. The main features of recount writing are specific participants, action verbs and past tense. 3. Procedural Writing Procedures are written to explain how something is done, in a series of sequenced steps. They are organised by goal, material, method and evaluation. Features of procedural writing include: 7 Law, Writing genre - A structured approach, 17-20. 22 detailed factual description, reader referred to in a general way (draw a line), linking words to do with time, tense is timeless. 4. Report Writing Reports are written to describe or classify the way things are or seem to be. They organise and record information. Reports are organised by; classification, description and summarising comment. The features of report writing are; generalised participants, impersonal objective language, timeless present tense and subject specific vocabulary. 5. Explanation Writing Explanations are written to explain how something works or the process involved in actions, events or behaviour. E.g. How does a rainbow occur? Explanation texts are organised by: a definition or statement, and a sequenced explanation. The features of explanation writing are: non-human participants, cause and effect relationships, passives and timeless present tense. 6. Persuasive Writing Persuasive texts are written to argue or persuade. They promote the writers point of view. Persuasive texts are organised with: Proposition to be argued, arguments in logical order, reiteration. The features of persuasive writing are: generalised participants, passives to help text structure, linking words associated with 25 a single location”.12 Google Classroom is really can solve our educational problem. In pandemic era, we are cannot use a traditional method to teach writing, and Google Classroom can provide us a many features that we can use to teaching writing. Besides that, Google Classroom don’t need paper for making an assignment so that can support a paperless program. Google Classroom is, however according to Chaterine Korman is “a free program for teachers and learners to collaborate. Teachers can create classes online, invite students to attend the class, and create and hand out assignments. Inside the forum, learners and teachers can interact with the assignments, and teachers can track the progress of students.”13 By this context Google Classroom will role as the learning media in teaching and learning writing activity, with following the learning process there are: Giving announcement, Assignment, Class discussion, Feedbacking, Attending, Scoring or evaluating. Google Classroom is created by google for making our learning more easily. We can use Google Classroom in anywhere and anytime in our smart phone so it makes us more comfortable when using it. You should find it easy to set up and very natural to continue to use it. Follow those steps to set up your teacher account at Google Classroom:14 12 Page, Google Classroom for Teacher, 9. 13 Korman, Google Classroom for Teacher, 7-8. 14 Korman, Google Classroom for Teacher, 9-16. 26 1. Sign up You can use the Classroom by logging in using a G suite e-mail address when you go to classroom website or downloading the Google Classroom app, and entering your account information, you may sign in as a teacher or student to a Google Classroom session. 2. Create your first class In your computer upper right corner, click on the "+" button. Select "Form a Group" You fill in some info about your class here. Write down a name and section of a strong college. The name of the class will be your class title so that you can find it back in a few seconds. Then press the Build button. Google Learning helps teachers to create an online classroom environment where they will be able to access all the information their students need. Teachers can make assignments from inside the class that their students complete and turn in for gradation. 3. Invite students to your class You can then invite your students once you have built your class. Let them register by entering the unique code you've given them using the Google Classroom app. You can find the 27 code in your class which was developed. Go to the "students" page. Another choice is to allow your students to enter their e- mail address, one by one. One thing you should keep in mind: your students need an e-mail address from Gmail or Google. You can also visit classroom website to let your students go. You can select "join class" there, enter the class code, and you are in! This might be a little easier because you don't have to type in the e-mail address of every student. Now ready for your online lesson! At least, it's there, and it's open to everyone.