THE CORRELATION BETWEEN LEXICAL AND GRAMMATIC

COMPETENCE TOWARD WRITING RECOUNT TEXT

( A case study at SMP Negeri 1 Takengon )

Compiled

By

EVI LESTARIA
8136112018
LTBI-CLASS B4

ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM

POST GRADUATE PROGRAM
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENT.i
LIST OF TABLE ......ii
CHAPTER I

: INTRODUCTION
1.1. The Background of the Problem..1
1.2. The Identification of the Problem2
1.3. The Limitation of the Problem.....2
1.4. The Formulation of the Problem.
1.5. The Significance of the Study...

CHAPTER II

: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1Theoretical

Framework

2.1.1 Theory of variable y

2.1.2 Theory of variable x1.
2.1.3 Theory of variable x2.
2.2Conceptual Framework
2.3. Research Hypothesis

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CHAPTER III

: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1Research

Objective

3.2 Place and Time of the Study..

3.3 Population and Sample
3.4 Research Method
3.4.1 Research Design (Factorial Design)...
3.5 Instrumentation
3.6 Techniques of Data Analysis (ANAVA)..

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. The Background of the Problem
Although English is not the most widely spoken language in terms of native speakers, it is
the most widely used language worldwide. The primacy of English in the global arena is
attributable to the fact that it is the language through which international trade

and

diplomacy are conducted, scientific and technological breakthroughs are highlighted, news
and information are disseminated, and as a communicative tool, English functions as a
mediator between different socio-cultural and socio-economic paradigms (Crystal, 1997,
2000; Graddol, 1997). To surmise, its multifaceted role enables English to transcend cultural,
social and economic barriers as the medium through which achievements and innovations in
the arts, commerce and technology are highlighted.
Essentially language functions as the system of human communication which according
to Richards, and Platt (1992: 283), consists of different units, such as morphemes, words,
sentences, and utterances. Crystal (1992: 212) on the other hand views language as, an act
of speaking or writing in a given situation. This spoken or written form of language is
referred to as, parole or performance whereas the linguistic system underlying ones use of
speech or writing is referred to as competence. Of the four skills in English, writing is
considered to be the most complex and difficult skill to master. This difficulty, according to
Richards and Renandya (2002: 303), lies not only in generating and organizing of ideas but
also in translating these ideas into readable texts.
The important role ascribed to writing is manifested in the status accorded to it in
differing situations within the teaching and learning environment. For instance, writing serves
as an important tool of assessing proficiency as attested by its inclusion in the form of writing

the task in the class etc. Beyond the realms of assessment, the skill of writing is an
essential feature of materials development (Cumming, 1997). In academia or school, the skill
of writing is visible in conference presentations, journals and book publication through which
the transmission of new ideas and concepts are affected.
As it is an important productive skill through which thoughts and ideas are disseminated,
it is incumbent for instructors of writing in different educational environments to exploit the
many different methods, approaches, and techniques that can serve to produce better writers.
Though over the preceding decades, the process approach to teaching writing has greatly
improved composition pedagogy especially in terms of creativity and organization. However,
these advances have been compromised through the generation of written products containing
grammatical and lexical competence, which often frustrate and distract readers (James 1998:
155). Hence, grammatical accuracy in writing is an issue of concern especially among in
writing text recount.
Words are not all created equally. Not only do they have different meanings, but they
also have different grammatical functions. In a sense, some words possess more meaning than
functionality, while other words possess more functionality than meaning. These two classes
of words are called "lexical" and "grammatical" words. The following questions explore the
differences between lexical words and grammatical words to help you understand their usage.
Lexical words, also known as content words, have concrete meaning that goes beyond
their function in a sentence. These words refer to things, people, actions, descriptions, or
other ideas that have more than just a grammatical usage. Their meaning is easily identified
by a clear concept or item.

The categories of English words that are lexical include nouns, adjectives, most verbs,
and many adverbs. Nouns, for example, refer to specified ideas, people, places, or things. The
concepts behind words like "dog," "love," or "Brazil," for example, are very clear.
Adjectives describe nouns in well-defined ways, providing information about colors,
texture, number, size, and so on. Likewise, adverbs can be lexical words if they specifically
describe nouns or verbs. Because they evoke specific ideas, descriptors like "red," "quickly,"
"heavy," or "effectively" are considered lexical. Most verbs also fall into the lexical category
because they refer to specific actions. For example, the meanings of words like "think,"
"sing," "understand," and "jump" are easy to grasp.
1.2. The identification of the Problem
Based definition of the study the writer want to know how dept the correlation between
lexical and grammatical competence toward writing skill at SMP Negeri 1 Takengon?
1.3 The Limitations of the Problem
There are three limitations identified in the present study. First of all, the findings of
the study do not reflect a continuum since each type of the test is administered only once.
Given the time limit, it is not feasible to do a test-retest procedure. Three weeks are needed to
administer all of the core instruments (Lexical Levels Test, grammar Levels Test, and ESL
Composition Profile in Writing Test) while, putting into consideration the time that is spent to
device the instruments, there are only 5 weeks that are effectively available for test
administrations. The participants were also late to be available due to some technical
problems in the course management. Regarding the writing ability assessment, it is difficult
to find competent raters that are both available and willing to rate 30-40 writing samples
twice. It is natural that most candidate raters from the English Department refuse to do it
because they are already busy with their workloads in the University.

Secondly, the findings of the current study cannot be generalized for a bigger
population since the subjects are not randomly sampled from the population. The sample size
is also relatively small (n = 32). It simply represents the nature of language laboratory
students at SMP N 1 Takengon In addition, one of the instruments has very low reliability,
thus any implications from the research findings are likely to be less accurate. If any
generalizations or implications are to be made, they are under the assumption that the
subjects are randomly sampled and the instruments are credible. Therefore, the present study
tends to be explanatory in nature and mainly describes possibilities and alternative
conclusions.
Finally, since the current study focuses on the lexical sixe (breadth), no claim can be
made regarding the lexical and grammatical depth. It is frequently suggested that a lexical
and grammatical knowledge test should cover size and depth and it can certainly give more
insight in the study. However, it is not feasible to administer such test as the study is already
occupied with the series of time-consuming tests, that is, the two kinds of writing ability
assessments and the two versions of lexical and grammatical size tests.

1.4 The formulation of the Problem

As related the background of the study, the problem of the study are formulated as the
following:
1. Is there any correlation between lexical competence and writing recount text ?
2. Is there any correlation between grammar competence and writing recount text ?
3. Are there any correlation between lexical and grammar competence toward
reading recount text ?

1.5 The Significance of the Study

The present study has several benefits that those mentioned below may find them interesting:
1. English Teachers.
The present study can give more insight in language testing for diagnostic purposes.
English teachers can learn how to utilize language tests to observe learners strengths and
weaknesses. From this point, it will give teachers better directions in designing the students
curriculum or lesson plan. It will also help them to avoid giving unnecessary materials or
exercises on the parts that the learners have already mastered.
2. The English Language Laboratory Students.
The participants of the present study may gain positive washback4 effect from the test
battery. This is one of the impacts of language assessment. The idea is that if lexical and
grammatical is being tested deliberately then the learners will assume that it is important for
their language learning. This way, it will enable them to learn more effectively as it directs
the students to the right path and prevents misinterpretation. For example, in terms of lexical
and grammatical competence, more attention should be given to the high frequency words
explicitly. By inserting the words in the test items, the students will learn other samples of
words within the frequency range that are not feasible to be taught one by one during the
lesson.

3. Applied Linguistic Researchers.

The current study will give a better understanding of the role of lexical and
grammatical size in language learning, especially in writing. It also provides additional
empirical evidences for the related studies. The present study may become the source of
inspiration for further replication, expansion, or evaluation in order to search more definite
perspectives of the investigated area.
1.2. Significance of The Study
5

This study revealed the language skills and components that are most correlated with
writing. This is a significant finding since the evidence of strong correlation between writing
and other variables suggest that each of them can be a predictor for writing (Gay, Mills, and
Airasion, 2003: 333). This means that the performance of the learner in other variables can be
predicted through his performance in writing or vice versa.
This study has several pedagogical implications in its delineation of a rank order of
frequency for the various categories of grammatical committed by recount text. Apart from
providing writing program planners with valuable information regarding Indonesian
curriculum and KKM learners performance, such a hierarchy could provide syllabus
designers with useful input that will allow them to select and sequence linguistic items for
language learners at different levels of language proficiency. Besides this, the hierarchy can
also serve to help teachers to better structure their lesson plans by providing them with data
about the problem areas that affect their students. Additionally, test designers could utilise
this hierarchy to draft tests items that are relevant and more accurate in assessing wring
recount text among students.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Chapter Review of Literature in this research describes two main sections. They are
Definition of The Terms and Review of Previous Studies. The first section is classified into
several subchapters such as a brief definition on Second Language Acquisition, several
Theories in Lexical and Grammatical, and also what scholars say about Writing Skill. This
first section allows readers to comprehend terms used in the research in such a way that it can
be read not only by students majoring in linguistics but by readers in general as well. Second
section covers review of studies in the similar topic or field. Researches in past time and
current time which become inspirations of this thesis are observed in this section. Three
subsections are arranged in this section.
2.1 Writing
2.1.1.Theories of writing
Writing instruction ( Sylvia, Khrol, 1990: 12 ) to be accountable need on sound principles,
such as the nation of the writing, the professional demand to instructor, and the assessment
( Khrol, 1988). With respect to the construct of writing, approaches to writing can be seen as
controlled composition, rhetoric and process. Writing is controlled composition assumes that
the learners are developed step by step in their linguistic controls to write a well developed
text. The learners are delivered graded writing instruction from controlling linguistic
elements such as tense, syntax and vocabulary and step by step move to expressive writing.
According to Concise Oxford English Dictionary, competence shares similar meaning
toskill. Both express the quality, ability, or knowledge to do something successfully. On
basic level, writing can refer to forming or producing graphic symbols on the surface of some
7

flat thing. On the upper level, writing is not merely arranging those graphic symbols
without any rule. It should be based on certain convention to form words and then sentences,
to form them into particular order and linked together (Byrne, 1991: 1). There are many
reasons for human to write. Below are some writings function based on brochures from
Brown University and the University of Missouri:
Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will
be judgedin college, in the workplace, and in the community. Writing expresses who you
are as a person. Writing is portable and permanent. It makes your thinking visible. Writing
helps you move easily among facts, inferences, and opinions without getting confusedand
without confusing your reader.
In this way, controlled composition approach does not accommodate the creative aspect of
writing and that writing teacher resort to writing models in L1 writing rhetoric or the rhetoric
model. The central concern in writing then the logical construction and arrangement of
discourse such as the topic, paragraph development and organization.
Writing is not plan-outline-write process that many believe it to be ( Taylor, Syla, P15).
The criticize that rhetoric approach puts writing problem as a matter of arrangements and
organization. Furthermore, they assume that writing is a compositing process and composing
means expressing idea, conveying meaning. Compositing mean thinking. In this way the
compositing process is seen as a non linear, exploratory and generative process whereby
writers discovers and formulates their ideas as they attempt to approximate meaning ( Zamel,
Silva,p 15 )
In a process approach, writing assumes a number of factor such as context, writer, text and
reader as the basis to develop the writing. Furthermore the basis elements of the writer
personal knowledge, attitudes, characteristics, cultural orientation, language proficiency,
8

motivation and the process of writing as well. The aspect of reader deals with the primary
audience and the way to read, the aspect of text constitutes genre, aims, moods, discourse,
styles, and linguistic entities. The context covers the aspect of background reality, the setting
of the text and its target reader. In short a writer situates herself in her orientation to do
writing in a given discourse community, this assumption holds for a process approach in
writing ( Silva, 1990:18 ).
This process approach in particular perceives writing as an active creative process of
communication. In this way, the writer develops the nature of the writer as text builder in a
discourse community, develop concern with the reader audience and do communicate in test
as accept text, style, genre and codes in the community discourse.
a. Factor Affecting Writing Quality
In Myles ( 2007 ), there are two factors that affect students text in writing . For Myles,
writing involves composing and transforming information into new text. It is viewed as a
continuum activities that range from the more formal aspects of writing down on the one end,
to the more complex act of composing on the other end. It is to say that formulating ideas can
be difficult because it involves transforming information which is much more complex than
writing as telling. In all this process, social and cognition factors affect language learning and
writing. The social factor are discussed by Gardners( 1985 ), the socio educational model that
mentions four social factors affecting language acquisition, namely, 1. The social and culture
milieu. 2. The individual learner differences, 3. The setting. 4. The learner outcomes.
The cognition factor, discussed by Anderso( 1985 ) in model of language production in
three stages, as follows, 1. Construction, 2.Transformation and 3.Execution. The construction
stage is the process in which the writer plans what he / she is going to write by brainstorming,
using a mind-map, or outlining. The transformation stage is the process where the writer
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produces meaning into the form of the message with composing and revising. The execution
stage is the writing act of the text. This stage process hold all together in structuring
information in the text. This is the process where the writer uses various types of knowledge,
such as discourse knowledge, understanding of audience, sociolinguistic rules, organization at
both sentence and text levels, all of which function to product effective communication of
meaning and ultimately the quality of the writing ( Scardamalia and Breitter, 1987. 1987 in
myles 2007 ). For instance, coherence problems may be due to not knowing how to organize
text, or not knowing how to store the relevant information. Due this complex process of
writing learner often finds difficult to develop all aspect of the stage simultaneously.
b.

Measurement of writing

There are two approaches to scoring writing ( Khroll, 1990 ), namely holistic scoring and
composition feedback scoring ( Cohen and Kapalcanti in Khroll, 1990: 155-176 ). The
holistic model is focused on six aspects of writing, as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Focus limitation of the topic

Remaining on the focus topic throughout the essay
Effective use of paragraphing
Consistency in point of view
Logical sequencing of ideas
Artful use of transition

The score is total sum of the five item The composition feedback model measures five aspect
of writing, namely :
1. Grammar
2. Mechanics
3. Vocabulary
4. Organization
5. Content
c. Material of writing in this thesis
Recount text the purpose of recount text is to retell something that happen in the past and
to retell a series of past event. Recount text is a text which contains about someone who has
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past experience. This text serves as a medium for serves as a medium for reconstruct past
experience authors. Recount text tells the story of the event, organized as an event or incident
that took plant past. Recount text can be ether real or fictional story in everyday life, more
recount text encountered in a scientific context but not in the form of stories legend, novel
and short story.
a. Generic structure of recount text
Orientation
Where events took place, when the event occurred, and anyone else involved in the
nearby
Event
Tell what happened and in what sequence
Reorientation
Consist of optional closure of events or ending.
b. Dominant language feature
In terms words forms, text recount has distinctive characteristic as follow:
Using past tense
Using action verb
Using adjective
Introducing personal participant
Using chronological connection, then, so first.
Using linking verb, was, were, saw, etc
2.1.2. Lexical Competence
As mentioned previously, one of the vocabulary learning strategies Nation (1990)
proposed is guessing words from context. While practicing lexical competence, students
should not only pay more attention to the words in context, but also enhance their writing.
Since this kind of vocabulary learning is incidental, through large amounts amount of
reading, students can accumulate a lot of vocabulary. As a result, this section discusses
incidental vocabulary learning, the value of lexical competence, and factors that influence
successful competence in context.
a. Incidental Vocabulary Learning

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Research shows that vocabulary learning mainly occurs through extensive writing,
especially through learners guessing at the meaning of unknown words and how to product
the writer (Huckin&Coady, 1999; Nation, 2001), which is called incidental learning.
Furthermore, Nation (2001) mentioned, "incidental learning via guessing from context is the
most important of all sources of vocabulary learning (p. 232). That is, vocabulary can be
learned incidentally through lexical competence.
Huckin and Coady (1999) proposed three advantages of incidental vocabulary learning
that make it superior to direct vocabulary instruction. These are as follows.

Firstly,

incidental vocabulary learning is contextualized and it provides learners with richer word
usage and meaning than traditional vocabulary instruction. This means that students not only
learn words in context but also know how words are used in context. In this way, they can
better know the usage of the word rather than only learn the word itself. Secondly, incidental
vocabulary learning can help vocabulary acquisition and reading writing occur at the same
time. This means students can acquire vocabulary through reading so as to learn vocabulary
and sharpen writing skill simultaneously.
Finally, it is learner-based, and the writing texts can be selected according to individual
factors. As a result, teachers can take the level of students into consideration and choose
genre of texts that are suitable for them in expectations that students can learn vocabulary
through these writing texts.

In conclusion, incidental learning takes place through writing.

Further, by guessing from context, writer can enhance their vocabulary learning. As Schmitt
(2000) mentioned, vocabulary acquisition is an incremental process. With the help of
guessing words from context through extensive writing, students can learn a large amount of
vocabulary incidentally.
b. The Value of Lexical competence
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As mentioned previously, vocabulary learning can occur through explicit study or

incidental learning. Therefore, when L2 learners get a threshold vocabulary of at least 2,000
word families, they can be provided with more low-frequency vocabulary learning through
extensive writing (Schmitt, 2000). However, no matter how many words learners know, they
will always encounter unfamiliar words in their writing texts. As a result, learners need to
learn how to guess word meanings from context intelligently.
Afterwards, they can have more impressions and a better understanding of the guessed
word. Finally, by using the skill of lexical competence, learners can practice seeking
information and making predictions of the word in context, which can in turn develop their
reading skill.
d.

The Factors That Affect Lexical competence

Paribakht (2005) divided the factors affecting lexical competence into two broad
categories: contextual factors and learner-related factors. According to Paribakht (2005),
contextual factors are referred to as the number of occurrences of the unknown words, the
importance of the unknown words to text comprehension, the density of unknown words in
the text, text length, comprehension tasks and word characteristics and the existence of clear
contextual clues (p. 703). It seems that the design of the text and the use of vocabulary both
play a crucial role in the success of lexical competence.
On the other hand, learner-related factors include learners backgrounds; previous
learning experience; size of receptive vocabulary knowledge; procedural knowledge;
attention to details in context, including ability and inclination to use context effectively;
preconceptions about the meaning of the word; and the usefulness of previously known
information in cue utilization (ibid.).

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From the description of these learner-related factors, it is obvious that what affects the
success of lexical competence is strongly connected to learners knowledge of words and
texts. As mentioned previously, lexical competence is a very important way of incidental
vocabulary learning.
2.1.3.Grammatical Competence
EFL leaners of Indonesian acquires English as a set of abilities, knows as English
proficiency. This proficiency consist of language component and skills, namely,
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, and writing ( Haris, 1979 ).
These abilities are assumed as discrete or interdependent. As discrete ability some teachers
teach them separately, while others teach all together.
Grammar is partly the study of what forms ( structure ) are possible in a language.
Traditionally grammar has been concerned almost exclusively with analysis at the level of the
level of the sentence.
Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk about
language. Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentences not
only in English but in any language. As human being, we can put sentences together whether
even as children we can all do grammar, but to be able to talk about how sentence are built,
about the types of words and word groups that take up sentences that is knowing about
grammar.
For quite a number of centuries grammatical competence hold primacy in language
mastery and language teaching, ELT teachers of the past assumes that the learners must
understand and acquire grammar as their preliminary base to English competence. Until now,
the primacy of grammar is still felt in TEFL. In traditional grammar and grammar translation
approach, the primacy of grammar to English competence is must.
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The primacy of grammar gets reduce when the audio-lingual explains that the mastery of
grammar is to be functional in speech, not as language knowledge alone. Through pattern
practice, the audio linguists do this. The communicative treat the formal knowledge of
language such as grammar as learning, not acquisition and assume formal learning of
grammar is meaningless to language acquisition.
Nowadays, the hypothesis about the primacy of grammar falls into the pendulum that
teachers are either to hold the principle the primacy of grammar, to reach it through pattern
practice, or abandon it by putting communication priority. This thesis views wether this
grammatical competence achievement supports to writing ability to certain extent.
Grammatical competence in teaching Indonesian as a foreign language ( HarnoldSchiffin
2004 ) and the adjectives or other modifiers are the left.
in the syntax of English noun phrases, the noun is on the right ( as we face the sentence )
and the adjectives or other modifiers are to the left, there is a direction of modification,
everything modifies to the right, and do not to the left. Modification needs to be established
as a kind of dependency, Modifier focused on the head that they modify. There is a hierarchy
( gaps ) of constituents in the noun phrase and the sentence general, the order of constituents
is not democratic. Adjective in English have no morphological marking that tells us that they
are adjectives, but adjectives do they marked in pronoun with stem alternates or with the
Saxon genitive ( apostrophe s ).
According to Mora ( San Diego Univ ) the principle and major components of teaching
grammar and these concept of grammar are important for two reason are ;
1. Knowledge of help teacher to assess and remediate the errors and errors patterns of
second language learners.

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2. The point of grammar can be used as the basis for teaching sentence structure and
vocabulary.
This includes as description of how to teach an explicit lesson and grammar based literacy
teaching activities such as ; component of grammar and syntax, structure of a grammar
lesson, sentence transformation, using sentence transformation to teach specific point of
grammar, sentence recombination and teaching grammar in situation contexts.
Grammatical competence consist of the following abilities ( Steinberg, 2001 ), ability to
produce and comprehend sentences with no limit as to length, product and comprehend an
unlimited and number of sentences, product and comprehend novel sentences, and produce
and comprehend grammatical sentences.
2.2 Conceptual Framework
According to Concise Oxford English Dictionary, competence shares similar meaning to
skill. Both express the quality, ability, or knowledge to do something successfully. On basic
level, writing can refer to forming or producing graphic symbols on the surface of some flat
thing. On the upper level, writing is not merely arranging those graphic symbols without any
rule. It should be based on certain convention to form words and then sentences, to form them
into particular order and linked together (Byrne, 1991: 1).
There are many reasons for human to write. Below are some writings function based on
brochures from Brown University and the University of Missouri:
Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be
judgedin college, in the workplace, and in the community.
Writing expresses who you are as a person.
Writing is portable and permanent. It makes your thinking visible.

16

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Writing helps you move easily among facts, inferences, and opinions without getting
confusedand without confusing your reader.
Besides, we can make a note, keep record on what we did, send messages, or as students,
we usually are asked to write reports and essays (Byrne, 1991:2). Writing can form in many
shapes such as notes, diaries, memo, and love letters until Peace Accord. In academic life,
schools (mostly higher education) use essays to assess students work. Following are step by
step how to write good essay based on Stephen Bailey: Taken from Handbook for Writing by
The Lake Zurich High School Writing Center, good essays should meet at least following
conditions:
1. Focus: effective introduction, logical idea progression, good closing
2. Support: enriched with sub points, illustration, evidence
3. Organization: logical coherence and cohesion
4. Convention: grammatically correct: punctuation, verb agreement etc, maintain 3rd person
view,
5. integration: ability to answer questions addressed or commanded
Looking at above phases and requirements, no wonder many learners and teachers
consider writing is one skill that is not easy to master. Three problems facing someone in the
purpose of making good writing proposed by Byrne (1991: 3, 4) are: a. Psychological
problem: there is no benefit of feedback from others directly. b. Linguistics problem: we need
to choose sentences and structure in such a way that it can be understood on its own. c.
Cognitive problems: to be able to write is not an instant process, but someone can acquire this
ability by process of instruction; how to learn certain structures, organize ideas and so on.
Students who set out on the path to greater lexical competence must have clear insight
into how their understanding of words is going to change. This 'advance organizing' (cf. Ellis,
1994, p. 537) orients them to the three activities of:

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(a) reception
(b) production
(c) resourcing
In the very first weeks of their university education, the students are given training in how
best to organize these three activities, which will now be briefly dealt with in turn.
Reception is presented as being in this context first and foremost a matter of identifying
lexical units (see 3 below) and establishing their meaning in the clause in which they occur,
i.e. as a function of the interaction with the other meaning-bearing words in that clause. But it
is equally important to stress that lexical tems are chosen in virtue of general communicative
strategies and thus also make a contribution to the coherence and purpose of larger textual
units such as sentences or paragraphs, and students need to be sensitive to this wider context
of interpretation (cf. Hoey, 1991). In many poetic contexts, for example, all the potential
meanings of a word are potentially in play, whereas in a legal document ideally only one
sense will apply. These factors need to be considered even with vocabulary that is familiar to
the student. However, where the student is ignorant of a word in a text, or notices something
peculiar about an item she has already acquired, more skills are called upon.
Production activities involve skills in selecting lexical items

which will effectively

convey the speaker/writer's intended meaning. At the same time, the tems should be used
correctly as to spelling or pronunciation. Alongside these rather obvious requirements,
students also need to become sensitive to the particular combinatorial properties of lexical
items within the clause, as well as the ways in which the use of words contributes to textual
cohesin or is determined by genre conventions.
These matters will return at greater length in 5 and 6. Just as with reception, production
often confronts the student with gaps in her knowledge. Lexical draws her attention to
various com-pensation strategies that allow her to retain her fluency in speech orin writing by

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using lexical dummies (words like thingummy in speech or, say, phenomenon in writing),
superordinate terms (piece offurniture to cover ignorance of the word couch), or paraphrases
(.advisesomeone not to replacing the unknown discourage). And by paying attention to
coinages in the texts that they read, students will gain a feeling for the circumstances under
which they, too, can dar to create a new word.

The third activity, which -following Chanot (1987)- we cali 'resourcing', relates to the use
of the many resources that are available to today's learner. Freshmen generally have limited
experience in the use of dictionaries, and have at best incidental knowledge of what Internet
has to offer. As we will see in greater detail in, lexical makes use of a computerized
environment which provides students with all the tools they need to structure their active
learning: annotated texts, with structured assignments, an electronic handbook on applied
lexicology, and an 'electronic card index' in which they can note all their discoveries. They
also have various electronically accessible monolingual and bilingual dictionaries at their
disposal.

Based on above difficulties, it also becomes consideration for writer/ the writer not to
conduct a test for sample students in the purpose of knowing their performance in writing in
L2. Sample students will highly possible not do the test this research will offer in proper way
since the hard work they need to commit does not contribute to any leading influence for their
scores in the transcript.
The competence of writing can be improved by several ways. Barnett (1989) and
Brookes et al (1990) stress writing as a process. This skill cannot be gained in such a
shortcut. People need to practice and practice to write since one learns to write by writing

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(Mayher, 1983). Meanwhile, Eisterhold (1990) gives opinion that good writers tend to be
good reader. In short, reading and practicing a lot will make our writing skill developed.
2.3 Research Hypothesis
The hypothesis of the study
Ha : 1. There is significant correlation between lexical competence towards writing
recount text
2. There is significant correlation between grammatical competence towards
writing recount text
3. There is significant correlation between lexical and grammatical competence
towards writing recount text

20

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21

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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 The Objective of The Study
In relation to the problems of the study, the objectives of the study are
1.
To know the correlation between lexical competence and writing recount text
2. To know the correlation between grammar competence and writing recount text
3. To know the correlation between lexical and grammar competence toward reading
recount text
1.2 Place and Time of the study
1.2.1 Description of SMP Negeri 1 Takengon
SMP negeri 1 Takengon is one of junior high school in central Aceh.it located at jl.
Kartini Subdistrict of Lut Tawar, central Aceh regency. Phone number ( 0643 ) 21293, that
about 100 m from high way.
Description of Facilities in SMP Negeri 1 Takengon
Table A1
No
1.

Facilities
Classroom

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Head masters office

Teachers office
Administrator room
Library
Toilet
Canteen

22

Average
24

Explanation
24 Permanent

1
1
1
1
1
1

Permanent
Permanent
Permanent
Permanent
Permanent
Permanent

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8.
9.
10.

Language laboratory
Saints laboratory
PJS

1
1
1

Permanent
Permanent
Permanent

11.

Computer room

Permanent

12.

Cooperation room

Permanent

13.

Consumption room

Permanent

1.2.2

Description of the students

The students of SMP Negeri 1 Takengon come from two regency, there are central Aceh
and Bener Meriah regency, for more detail lets see the table below from the first to third
grade 2013-2014.
Description of students in SMP Negeri 1 Takengon 2013-2014 for the first class
Table A2.1
No

Class

Average

1.

I.1

11

27

38

2.

I.2

12

28

40

3.

I.3

19

21

40

4.

I.4

12

30

42

5.

I.5

16

26

42

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6.

I.6

21

21

42

7.

I.7

17

24

41

8.

I.8

18

24

42

9.

I.9

17

23

40

Average

367

Description of students in SMP Negeri 1 Takengon 2013-2014 for the second class
Table A2.2
No

Class

Average

1.

II.1

13

31

44

2.

II.2

12

28

40

3.

II.3

19

25

44

4.

II.4

24

20

44

5.

II.5

23

21

44

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6.

II.6

23

17

40

7.

II.7

19

19

38

8.

II.8

21

15

36

Average

330

Description of students in SMP Negeri 1 Takengon 2013-2014 for the third class
Table A2.3
No

Class

Average

1.

III.1

19

28

40

2.

III.2

14

31

44

3.

III.3

16

25

44

4.

III.4

19

20

44

5.

III.5

20

21

44

6.

III.6

19

21

40

7.

III.7

18

20

38

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8.

III.8

18

18

Average

36

330

From the table above, we can see the average of the number of the students at SMP Negeri
1 Takengon are 929 students. The researcher take the population at the second grade who the
average of the students are 330, and take II.6 to be a sample in this research.

2.3 Description of the Teacher

Teacher is a person who provides education for students, teacher not only teach their
students but also give motivation to the students in studying.
Description of students in SMP Negeri 1 Takengon 2013-2014
Table A3.
No

Profession

Average

Explanation

1.

Head Master

Strata two ( S2 )

2.

Vice-head master

Strata one ( S1)

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3.

Civil teacher

80

2 Strata two ( S2)

78 strata one ( S1)

4.

Administration

16

5 Strata one ( S1 )

5.

Honorius teacher

2 DII
2 SMA

Average

102

From the table above, we conclude that the teacher and employer at SMP Negeri 1
Takengon 1 head Master, 1 vice-head master and 80 teacher, 4 Honorius teacher 16
administration employers.

2.4 Time of the Research

The researcher done the research on 8 February-26 April 2014 we can see from the table
schedule below.
Schedule program
Table A.4
N
o

Weeks
1.

Month

Activities

Observation the
school

February
2

March
1

April
4

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2.

Visited headmaster

3.

Observation the
teacher of the
school

4.

Observation the
students

5.

Reception test

6.

Analyzing
reception test

7.

Grammatical test
in writing

8.

Analyzing
grammatical test

9.

Revised

1.3 population and sample

Population: All students in junior high school, 90 persons.

b. Sample: 30 persons, using

simple random sampling technique.

Samples are randomly taken to meet condition that no specific requirements needed and
thus, every individual has similar chance to become sample. This random sampling technique
is chosen due to the limited opportunity to meet all the population person to person. As a
matter of fact, in their final year of study, some students of population attend few or no
classes at all at college. To cover this barrier, the writer takes a high number of participants or
samples in order to make the data as representative as possible. It is then expected that all
samples will represent entire population.

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Number of samples is planned to be around 44 percent (40 students) of all population.

However, as the research flows, only 30 exemplars (33% from the population) of data are
valid to be processed into the next stage.
1.4

Research Method
1.4.1

Research Design

Type of research = Quantitative and correlation Quantitative means that this research
emphasizes in collecting data in the form of numbers. Besides, its goal is to provide analysis
description in the correlation between two variables. 2. Subjects = a. Population: All students
in junior high school, 90 persons.

b. Sample: 30 persons, using simple random sampling

technique
Samples are randomly taken to meet condition that no specific requirements needed and
thus, every individual has similar chance to become sample. This random sampling technique
is chosen due to the limited opportunity to meet all the population person to person. As a
matter of fact, in their final year of study, some students of population attend few or no
classes at all at college. To cover this barrier, the writer takes a high number of participants or
samples in order to make the data as representative as possible. It is then expected that all
samples will represent entire population.
Number of samples is planned to be around 44 percent (40 students) of all population.
However, as the research flows, only 30 exemplars (33% from the population) of data are
valid to be processed into the next stage. Others are not valid or are not returned back to the
examiner. 3. Data collection = a. Questionnaire

b. Sample students score transcript. The

instruments used in this research are one of two major instruments for determining
personality of people. It is writing test by using recount text.

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1.5

Instrumentation
The instruments used in this research are one of two major instruments for determining

personality of people. Reception is presented as being in this context first and foremost a
matter of identifying lexical units (see 3 below) and establishing their meaning in the clause
in which they occur, i.e. as a function of the interaction with the other meaning-bearing words
in that clause and writing test by using recount text.

1.6

Techniques of Data Analysis

Regression which has one dependent variable and one independent variable. Simple linear

regression model with the following formula:

Y = a + bX
Y

= The predict Subjects in Dependent variables

= Y price when the price of X = 0 (constant prices)

= Figures direction or regression coefficient, which indicates the number Enhancement

or decrease in the dependent variable based on changes in the independent variables.
When the (+) direction lines go up, and when (-) then the direction of the lines fell.

= Subject to the independent variables that have a certain value

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b=

se =

a=

sb =

thitung =