TEACHING WRITING RECOUNT TEXT BY USING A TOPICAL APPROACH TO THE – ResearchGate

Vol 8, No 1 (2025): ESTEEM

TEACHING WRITING RECOUNT TEXT BY USING A TOPICAL APPROACH

TO THE EIGHTH-GRADE STUDENTS’ STATE OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

NUMBER 42 OF PALEMBANG

Cindy Maharani1, Mulyadi2, Herlina3

the language because writing is a

productive skill that helps the language

user express a message in written form.

In Indonesia, junior high school

students learn several short functional

texts, such as descriptive, recount,

narrative, procedural, and report. These

types of texts introduce students to the

social function, the generic general

structure of each text, and the language

features used by the text type. That way,

students understand the difference

between text and text and can write their

texts correctly according to the social

function, general structure, and language

features.

One of the texts that junior high

school students should learn is a recount

text. A recount text involves retelling past

events, while a narrative text is a creative

story designed to entertain and convey

moral lessons. This research mainly

concentrates on recount text. Anderson

and Anderson (2003), a recount text

typically narrates past events

chronologically. The primary purpose of

this text is to share past experiences by

systematically recounting events.

Examples of recount text include

personal experiences, diaries, personal

letters, and incident reports.

The teacher of English should be

creative to find an excellent way to help

them improve not only their writing but

also their vocabulary and grammar. We

should make writing an exciting subject

for learning so they do not feel bored in

the class using a topical approach. The

topical approach in writing skills involves

focusing on a specific topic or event to be

recounted. The topical approach in

writing skills involves focusing on a

specific topic or event to be recounted

Based on the researcher’s

interview and investigation at State

Junior High School Number 42 of

Palembang, the researcher found some

problems in the writing process. The

problems are that most students still have

difficulties in constructing the idea of

using English for writing and students

often made grammar errors in their

writing. Besides that, the students had

difficulties telling their experiences,

especially in writing recount paragraphs

and realizing the importance of

improving students’ writing skills

because students often have difficulty

generating ideas in writing skills. For

example, they often write sentences such

as “Yesterday, I go to market and buy

some food,” which should be corrected to

“Yesterday, I went to the market and

bought some food.” Additionally,

students struggle to narrate their

experiences clearly in recount paragraphs.

A common mistake is writing, “Last

holiday, I happy because I go beach with

family,” which should be, “Last holiday, I

was happy because I went to the beach

with my family.” Furthermore, students

often find it hard to generate ideas,

resulting in incomplete or disorganized

recount texts. By practicing

brainstorming and outlining their

thoughts before writing, they can improve

their ability to develop paragraphs with

clear and detailed supporting information,

enhancing the overall clarity and

effectiveness of their writing. This study

focuses on teaching writing recount text

by using a topical approach to the Eighth-

grade Students’ of State Junior High

School Number 42 of Palembang.

To address these challenges

effectively, implementing a topical

approach in teaching recount text writing