The Effect of Using Clustering Technique to Improve Students' Writing Achievement in Descriptive Text at Eighth Graders of SMP Negeri 2 Tarakan
THE EFFECT OF USING CLUSTERING TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING ACHIEVEMENT IN DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT EIGHTH GRADERS OF SMP NEGERI 2 TARAKAN Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of using clustering techniques on achievement in writing descriptive texts of eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 2 Tarakan. Using a pre-experimental design, this study was to determine differences in the students’ writing achievement before and after taught using clustering techniques. The subjects of this study were 32 students of class VIII-C of SMP Negeri 2 Tarakan. The instruments used in this study were writing tests administered before (pretest) and after (posttest) the treatment. The result of this study indicated that there were a difference in the mean scores between the pretest (46.31) and the posttest (71.56). Furthermore, the results of paired sample t-tests showed that the calculated t value (12,877) was higher than the critical t value (2,039). It was concluded that the use of clustering techniques was effective in increasing the students’ achievement writing descriptive texts. In addition, the use of clustering techniques was able to develop students’ critical thinking, increase student learning motivation and make students more active in the class.