DIFFICULTIES IN WRITING OF THE SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN PALEMBANG

Abstract

This study was intended to find out the difficulties in writing faced by students of the second grade at three junior high schools in Palembang. Qualitative research was used and phenomenology was employed as the research methodology. This study was conducted at SMP Patra Mandiri 1 which is accredited A, SMP Nurul Qomar which is accredited B, and SMP Sejahtera which is accredited C. The total participants of this study were nine students taken from the second grade of three junior high schools in Palembang by using purposive sampling. The researcher used observation, documentation, and interview to collect the data. The data were analyzed by using the thematic analysis technique. The results of this study showed that there were some difficulties that second-grade students of three junior high schools faced in writing. There were: 1) difficulty in composing the content of writing, 2) difficulty in organizing their writing, 3) difficulty in choosing the diction in writing, 4) lack of English grammatical competence, and 5) difficulty in using mechanics in writing. Thus, students found it difficult to understand the aspects of writing.