IMPROVING THE WRITING ABILITY OF GRADE VIII THROUGH CONTEXTUALIZATION AT SMP NEGERI 2 MOYUDAN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013

The objective of this research is to improve the writing ability of grade VIII through contextualization at SMP N 2 Moyudan. Contextualization means to teach language in a context or to provide a context for language teaching to the language teaching and learning process connected with real life. This research was action research that consisted of two cycles. Each cycle consisted of two meetings. The main subjects of this research were the students of VIII B, the researcher herself, and the English teacher as the collaborator. The data were acquired through classroom observations, interviews, and documentations. The data were in the form of field notes, interview transcripts, and documentations. The qualitative data were analyzed through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The quantitative data which were in the form of students’ writing performance task scores were analyzed by descriptive quantitative analysis. The results show some improvements in the students’ writing skills. First, students felt that their learning was meaningful and purposeful. Second, students were motivated in writing. Third, students could express their ideas and develop into paragraphs. Fourth, students’ grammatical mistakes became minimal. The result of quantitative data showed that in cycle 1, the average between meetings 1 and 2 was 3.1 for the content, 3.09 for the organization, 3.12 for the vocabulary, 3.11 for the language use, and 2.35 for the mechanics. In cycle 2, the mean improved. The average between meeting 3 and 4 was 3.52 for the content, 3.09 for the organization, 3.12 for the vocabulary, 3.11 for the language use, and 2.85 for the mechanics