USING
FILM TO IMPROVE THE ABILITY
IN
WRITING THE STORY
By:
Lailis Syafiatis S.
Abstract
Teaching
learning English concerns on producing both oral and written texts conveying in
four integrated skills, consisting of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Among the four macro skills needed to be acquired by the students, writing is
considered to be the most difficult aspect to master. The difficulty of writing
lies not only in generating and organizing of ideas but also in translating
these ideas into readable texts. So to interact student in writing teacher
should have various methods. This research intends to examine
the use of film and videos to teach writing to stimulate their visual. Besides,
teachers have not made use of film and videos in teaching though they are
supposed to help retain students‟ motivation, lengthen students‟ memory and
better their skill. Furthermore, each technique still has some limitations so
this study also provides some suggestions for teachers to partly deal with
them.
Keywords: film, writing
ability, the story.
Introduction
An English
learner at least has to master kinds of the language skills. They are speaking
skill, listening skill, writing skill and reading skill. We have to balance our language skill
abilities in order to make our learning easier. If we can manage them well, we
have to be able to maintain them too. We should pay attention about the English learning in order to get the best result. But
some of students still feel that learning skill are very difficult and are not
interesting. Learning through media can be one of solutions to increase student
interest’s in the learning English. The media that can be used in learning
English are films, television, books, radio, etc. it means that there is no
limitation of learning English.
Film is one of
the audiovisual media in learning English. Bazalgette, C (1989) cited in Watson
state that television, film, video, radio, photograph, popular music, printed
materials, and computer software can increase children’s critical
understanding. This means that film is a language learning media that can build
student’s critical understanding. In order to build critical understanding,
students should understand the language used in the film.
However in
Indonesia, film is still not widely used as a tool in learning English in
publics schools, but TV or DVD Player can be used as a media to increase
student’s interest in learning English since there are sounds and pictures on
it, moreover every person is not only children but also adult like watch TV, so
this media can create learning English in interesting way.
Geddes &
Stutridge (1982) noted that student’s visual and critical awareness would
increase through watching film activity. Through watching films, students are
expected to understand what happened in the film and try to retell the story in
the film. In order to students can retell the story in the film by writing it
down in a piece of paper. student can improve their vocabulary, grammar and
etc.
Writing is very useful for us to write the
written text well. In this skill, we are demanded to write the text as well as
possible of course using some rules that are available.
Writing
is an activity in generating ideas and thoughts in written form. In learning to
organize informational content for writing, students gain insight into how
authors handle complex ideas on paper.
Kim (2007) stated that English test performed poorly even on
small writing tasks, and most of them happened because of some difficulties
such as choosing appropriate vocabulary, organizing the structure properly
depending on the topic or the purpose of
writing, following correct grammar rules, and integrating ideas. It means that
writing to retell story use film as media can improve student ability in
grammar, vocabulary mastery and etc.
Theory
A.
Writing
1.
Definition
of writing
Generally, writing is a way in sending massage from the writer to the
reader. Similar to Donald hall said on his book “writing well” that writing is
pretentious and wordy, but a massage comes through. Writing also is a way the
writer think or a way of thinking which is shared to the reader, like Robert
Scholes and Nancy R.Comley (1985)said that writing is a way of thinking as well
as a means of communication. Fred D.White (1986) also said that writing is more
than public communication, it is a way thinking?
Writing is an individual
activity similar to Jo McDonough and Christoper Shaw (1993) said that writing,
like reading, is in many ways an individual, solitary activity.
Similarly,
Trisha Phelps-Gunn and Diana Phelps-Terasaki(1982)said that writing is a
useful, effective, enjoyable, and above all necessary component of the modern
world. It provides the pleasure of sending a personal massage to a friend. It
assumes career and financial importance in composition of resume or a business
letter. They also said that writing is the most complex language mode, being four
times removed from inner language, and adds the component of written expression
to the earlier abilities. To Myklebust (1960), writing is composed of
successful development in the three other language modes, deriving its focus
from oral and visual receptive components.
From the opinions above, writing is
the way of thinking or sending massage from the writer to the reader which
becomes the part of language or language skills and it’s also means
communication.
2.
The
stage in writing process
Whatever you are writing habits, they are simply the
enabling conditions that allow you to begin and pursue writing process. These
habits are the physical and psychological scenery for the central action. The
intellectual procedure performs as move through of stage to produce a piece of
writing. According to McCrimmon (1983:
10) The writing process will be divided into three stages,
they are:
1. Planning
Planning is any orderly procedure
used to bring about a desired result. As the first stage in the writing
process, planning is of strategies designed to find and produce information in
writing. When you begin any writing project, you need to discover what is
possible. You need to locate and explore a variety of subjects.
2. Drafting
Drafting in procedure for drawing an
up preliminary, As the second stage in the writing process, drafting is a
strategies designed to organize and develop a sustained piece of writing .Once
planning has enabled to identify several subjects and encouraged you to gather
information on those different perspectives, you need to determine what you can
best accomplish in writing.
3. Revising
Revising is a procedure for
improving or correcting a work in progress. As the third and final stage in the
writing process, revising is a strategies designed to re-examine and
re-evaluate the choices that that have created a piece of writing. After have
completed the preliminary draft, than to stand back from the text and decide
what actions would seem to be most productive.
Writing is one of the language skills to be learned beside
speaking, reading and listening. The teaching of writing might be combined with
the teaching of the other language skill or component of language skills such
grammar and pronunciation.
The writing activities should be structures in ways that
help students learn to produce cohesive and discourse on their way to become self-sponsors
of their own writing.
Harries in hamidsyukrie (1992:4) state that the aspect that
build writing are the content of the writing (how to organize it), grammar (structures
and dictions) and how to writing the spelling, punctuation and capitalization.
According to Abisamra (1996) in her English journal of
teaching grammar in the context of writing said that an effective writing
should consist of elements below:
a.
Focused
on the topic and doesn’t contain extraneous or lose related information.
b. Has an organizational pattern that
enables the reader to follow the flow of ideas because it contains a beginning,
middle and end and uses transitional devices.
c.
A
written task should contain supporting ideas that are developed through the use
of details, example, vivid language, and mature of word choice.
d. A written task should follow the
conventions of standard written English (i.e. punctuation, capitalization, and
spelling) and has variation in sentence structure.
B.
General Concept of Narrative Text
Parera (
1993 : 5 ) had opinion that a narrative was one of the forms of developing
writing, for example character told the history of something based on the
development of writing from time to time.
1. Generic Structure of Narrative
The
generic structure of narrative are :
a. First is an orientation. The readers
are introduced to the some minor characters. Some indication is generally given
of where the action and when an action happen.
b.
Secondly
is complication. This is where the writer tell how the problem arises, sometime
something unexpected events will happen.
c.
Thirdly
is resolution. It is an optional closure of event. The complication may be
resolved for better or for worse, but it is rarely left completely unresolved.
The writer can conclude that resolution is the end of a story.
- Teaching Writing of a Narrative
Text
Many students find writing to be the
most difficult lesson since they have to write in English to procedure an
English text. They have to write down what they think of in their mind and
state in on a paper by using a correct procedure. So the writer will try use of
media which make students more comfortable.
D.
General
Concepts of Media
Media in a process of teaching is not a new thing for the
teacher. Most of the teachers use media to help them giving particular
information to the students. Media itself according to Azhar (2011:4) is a tool
that to convey or deliver the message of learning. He also said that media is a
component of learning resource or physical vehicle that contain instructional
material on students’ environment that can stimulate student to learn.
There are a lot of media in teaching and learning
processes. Nasution (2005:102) classify media into 5 type:
1. Blackboard
This teaching tool is very populer,
used by traditional or modern school and can be combined with other teaching
tools such as radio, TV. Tool is used in every method of teaching. Blackboard
can be used for writing that makes pictures, graphs, diagrams, maps and so on
with white or colored chalk.
2. Picture
Picture can be collected from various
sources such as calendars, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets from travel agents,
and etc.
3. Model
Models can be an imitation of real
objects such as model cars, trains, houses, animals, etc.
4. Collection
Various collections can be organized as
a variety of textiles, stones, dry leaves, currency, stamps, etc.
5. Map and Globe
Geography and history lessons will be
crippled without a map. kinds of maps shall be provided on each part of the
world, also our economy, population, and so forth.
While Azhar
(2011:33) divide a media into two categori:
1.
Traditional
media
a.
A visual
silence that projected.
- Opaque
projection (invisibility)
- Overhead
projection
- Slides
- Filmstrips
b.
A visual that
not projected
- Picture, poster
- Photo
- Charts, graphs,
diagrams
- Exhibition,
information boards
c.
Audio
- Recording disc
- Cassette tape,
reel, cartridge
d.
Multimedia
presentation
- Slide plus
noise (tape)
- Multi-image
e.
A dynamic
visual which is projected
f.
Print
- Textbooks
- Module,
Programmed texts
- Scientific
magazines, period
- Loose-leaf
g.
Game
- Puzzle
- Simulation
- Pantomimic
h.
Realia
- Model
- Specimen
(sample)
- Manipulative
(maps, dolls)
2.
The latest
media technology
a. Media based on
technology
- Take conference
- Distance
schools
b. Media based on
microprocessor
- Computer-assisted
instruction
- Computer game
- Intelligence
tutor system
- Interactive
- Hypermedia
- Compact (video)
disc
E.
Learning through the visual image
Several
researchers (Knobel and Lankshear, 2003; Larson and Marsh, 2005;
Livingstone and Bovill, 1999) have noted
that a great many visual activities take place in students’ lives outside of
the classroom, such as ‘television, DVDs, computers, handheld computers, mobile
phones and console games’ (Larson and Marsh 2005, p 70). Indeed, today’s
students are exposed to more visuals than ever before. Not least of these is
the Internet, which can be used for a variety of inherently visual purposes: to
watch clips on youtube, create facebooks. Many students are also proficient
with text messaging which involves the use of visual icons (i.e. emoticons),
and computer games which often feature realistic images. Whereas static images
(e.g. shapes, icons, and pictures) are the main focuses of the above studies,
this paper looks specifically at the potential benefits of using moving visual
images respect, They explore the role that moving images play in young people’s
daily literacy practices and, like McFarlane et al (2002), argue that working
with moving image media can lead to increased literacy. Reid et al (2002, p 3)
suggest that such approaches can lead to the development of ‘problem-solving,
negotiation, thinking (and) reasoning’ skills, and Horn (1998, p 172) notes
that showing moving images (as opposed to film stills) ‘increases the
expressive possibilities of visual language’.
- Definition
of Film
In this study, I use film as media of improving writing skill. A movie is
one of the visual aids that can be used in a class, it makes lessons more fun.
But movies or film can also teach
people about history, science, human behavior and any other subjects. Some
films combine entertainment with instruction, makes the learning process more
enjoyable. In all its forms, cinema is an art as well as a business, and those
who make motion pictures take great pride in their creation ( Mery:2011).
An opinion
movie given by Summer (1992: 476), film is:
a. A roll of
material which is sensitive to light and which is used in camera for taking
photographs or moving pictures for the cinema,
b. A story, play,
etc. recorded on film to be shown in the cinema, on television, etc.
Meanwhile, Azhar (2011:49) define movie
as picture in a frame where frame by frame is projected through the projector
lens mechanically so that the pictures in the screen looks alive. Jesse (2007)
states that movie is a photographic record of an artistic performance, but not
an artform in it’s own right.
Based on the definition of movie I can
conclude that movie is a photographic record of history, science, and human behaviour that projected through
the projecter lens and shown in the cinema or television.
- Using Film in Classroom
One common way in which film can be utilized in the
classroom is as an alternative means of delivering course material. Goldfarb
(2002) notes that since the 1980s in the USA, there has been a turn toward
using the moving image as a teaching method. The use of film/TV in the EFL
classroom (very often in the form of videos which illustrate real-world English
communication such as ordering a meal) is considered particularly useful as ‘no
teacher alone can reproduce the variety of situations, voices, accents, themes
and presentation techniques that are a feature of this medium’ (Hill 1999, p
2).
A movie has a
very significant role to motivate the student to learn writing and to make
the atmosphere of teaching and learning more interesting. They will feel
something new and different from what they usually get in their class. The writer
hopes that with the use of English movie they will become more active as
participant and more confident in express their feeling.
- Advantages and Disadvantages Using English Movie or Film
a. Advantages
using English movie
Nasution (2005:104) states that the
advantages of using movie in teaching and learning process are:
1) Movie is very
good in describing a process, if necessary by using a “slow motion”.
2).
Each student
can learn something from the movie, from the clever one or less intelligent.
3)
Movies can take
a child from one country to another country and from one period to another
period.
4)
Movie can be
repeated if necessary to add clarity.
b. Disadvantages
using English movie
According to Azhar (2011:50), he states
that the disadvantages of using movie in teaching and learning process are:
1)
Procument of
English movie generally is expensive and cost a lot of time.
2)
When the movie
showed, the pictures will keep changing making all students are not able follow
the information given through the movie.
3)
Movies not
always approriate with the needs and desired learning objective.
This is the reason why the writer is
interested in taking up the title of the research, because movie
gives a new enjoyable atmosphere when they are learning in class. Altough this
procument movie has disadvantages, the writer has some planning to overcome the
problem by doing strategic stopping and rewind giving student a chance to
receive the information given from the movie and remove some approriate scene
shown in the movie so the students’ concetration will not wane if they watch
for too long.
Conclusion
Language
is very important that we need to communicate with the other people. It is a
tool that is used to share the feeling or the idea of the people. It is very
important because by using language we can express our desire. In English
learning, a language is considered is more important especially in writing. To
write a written text, we should use our own language to convey the message in
our writing. There are so many ways to develop our writing. One of them is
retelling the story. But to make it is easier; we need a media to help us. It
is film. Film is considered as an interesting media in English learning
process.
References
1.
Febrianti and anny. 2011. Using Music Videos To
Improve The Ability In Writing Narrative Texts Of The Eleventh Graders In Sma
Negeri 4 Malang. Unpublished S1 Thesis. Malang:State University of Malang.
2.
Clemenston, Theresa. 2005. natural english reading
writing skill. Oxford: Oxford university Press.
