Developing Writing Materials for Students of the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 2 Sewon

Abstract

The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify the learners’ needs of the eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Sewon, and (2) to develop appropriate writing materials for eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Sewon. This was a Research and Development (R&D) study. The subjects of the study were the students of eighth grade of SMP N 2 Sewon. The research procedures were adapted from Jolly and Bolitho’s model in Tomlinson (1998) with some modifications consisting of conducting the needs analysis, writing the course grid, developing the first draft, getting expert judgment and evaluating the first draft, and also revising the first draft of the materials. The instruments to collect the data were needs analysis questionnaire and expert judgment questionnaire. The data from the needs analysis were analyzed quantitatively using frequency and percentage, then, the results were used to develop the course grid. The data from the expert judgment were analyzed quantitatively through descriptive statistics while the suggestions were used to revise the first draft of the writing materials.  The product of this study is a set of writing materials entitled “Guides for Writing” for students of eighth grade of SMP N 2 Sewon. The writing materials consist of three units: “My Best Friend”, “My Unforgettable Experience”, and “My Favorite Story”. Each unit consists of Pre-writing, Drafting, Responding, and Editing tasks ranging from 15-17 tasks.