EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 92 zzzzzz z Developments Of Writing Skills Through Collaborative Activities At English Department Of A Private Doktor Nugroho University Abd. Syakur Postgraduate Program of English Education, STKIP PGRI Sidoarjo, Indonesia Email: syakurabdmpd@gmail.com Accepted: Jan 3th 2021 Reviewed: March 5th 2021 Published: May 30th 2021 Abstract: Writing is an activity that requires high concentration so this activity requires a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to describe the collaborative writing process applied to students and analyze it so that it becomes an ideal model to be applied to students. The method used in this study is a qualitative method based on data sources from observations conducted during one semester. The total sample used was 60 students, with a duration of 90 minutes. Data collection techniques are interviews, questionnaires (30 students). The results of this study are that there are three stages of the collaborative writing process carried out in the classroom; 1). Pre-writing stage (reading written texts, small group discussions, and class discussions), 2). Drafting, Revision, and Editing stages, (first draft, proofreading, and editing), and 3). Collaborative writing could be effective for correcting students' mistakes, for developing students' writing skills, for combining their strengths, and for strengthening between peers and lecturer. The collaborative technique is an effective method for developing writing, reading, correcting, and suggesting skills. Keyword: writing skill, collaborative writing, Classroom INTRODUCTION English is a skill that is used in very broad communication. English language activities include speaking, reading, writing and listening. These four aspects are the main things that must be owned. Writing is a difficult thing faced by students, compared to speaking, reading and listening1. Many colleges print students who have the ability to speak, read and listen, but it is rarely found in terms of writing in a scientific paper using what is written in English. As we have seen, not many postgraduate students' scientific works are included in reputable 1 Lidwina Sri Ardiasih and Yumna Rasyid, "Online Collaborative Writing Technique Using Wiki: How Effective Is It to Enhance Learners' Essay Writing?," Journal of Asia TEFL 16, no. 2 (2019). mailto:riyu.choirul57@gmail.com Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 93 zzzzzz scientific articles. Writing is one of the most difficult things faced by universities today. Based on the results of the study that there are 62.1% of education (elementary school to college) failed in providing skills in writing 2. Writing activities do not necessarily do it, but writing skills must always be trained, one of which is learned by experience 3. Practicing writing both informally (exploratory based on experience) in a structured manner is one way to stimulate, direct and develop students' critical thinking and creative abilities 4. Therefore, writing skills must be practiced and learned through experiences. By practicing informal or exploratory writing regularly, it can lead the students to develop and stimulate their critical and creative thinking. In principle, writing activity is not only the transfer of spoken language into written form, but how to apply knowledge-based ideas written in a structured, coherent and free from technical errors 5. Because writing activities are heavy brain work, they must always be trained both from the aspect of sentence structure, and other technical matters such as punctuation. As the results of previous studies that writing is a communication model and the process of transferring ideas into writing products 6. Through this approach, it can be interpreted that writing also includes translating thoughts into written products. This kind of writing product is a communication medium that can arouse feelings, persuade and convince readers and articulate ideas in writing 7. The teacher's task in dealing with these conditions is not only to focus on teaching grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and writing theory, but how to practice writing, so that past experiences do not repeat themselves and look to the future better 8. A good writing is able to deliver the message to the readers, thus they would not ask for further explanation. One of ways to improve the ability of writing is through collaborative activity 9. Lecturers of writing often complain that they cannot teach in big classes of 20-40 students, so they cannot teach effectively and efficiently. Good writing is able to communicate with readers through messages that are poured so that readers understand without asking further. One method that is considered capable of improving writing skills is the collaborative method. Based on the results of the study that 2 Ong Poh Lin and Nooreiny Maarof, "Collaborative Writing in Summary Writing: Student Perceptions and Problems," Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 90, (2013). 3 Fatih Tanrıkulu, "Students’ Perceptions About the Effects of Collaborative Digital Storytelling on Writing Skills," Computer Assisted Language Learning, (2021). 4 Tanju Deveci, "Student Perceptions on Collaborative Writing in a Project-Based Course," Universal Journal of Educational Research 6, no. 4 (2018). 5 Neomy Storch, "Collaborative Writing: Product, Process, and Students’ Reflections," Journal of second language writing 14, no. 3 (2005). 6 Zaini Amir, Kemboja Ismail, and Supyan Hussin, "Blogs in Language Learning: Maximizing Students’ Collaborative Writing," Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 18, (2011). 7 Linda Bradley and Sylvie Thouësny, "Students’ Collaborative Peer Reviewing in an Online Writing Environment," Themes in Science and Technology Education 10, no. 2 (2017). 8 Ala'a Ismael Challob, Nadzrah Abu Bakar, and Hafizah Latif, "Collaborative Blended Learning Writing Environment: Effects on Efl Students' Writing Apprehension and Writing Performance," English Language Teaching 9, no. 6 (2016). 9 Soumendra Sahoo and Ciraj Ali Mohammed, "Fostering Critical Thinking and Collaborative Learning Skills among Medical Students through a Research Protocol Writing Activity in the Curriculum," Korean Journal of Medical Education 30, no. 2 (2018). Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 94 zzzzzz the collaborative method is able to improve students' abilities effectively and efficiently. Based on the results of the study further research needs to be done in different cases and situations. For example, research is directed at developing argumentative text writing skills. Technically, through collaborative activities, it can be applied in training students' abilities. Collaborative writing activities include a series of processes, observations on student development and opinions on student involvement. Based on these problems, the purpose of this study is to analyze the collaborative writing process and the development of student skills. METHODS This study uses a qualitative method through purposive sampling technique and inductive data analysis. Research with a model like this includes naturalistic qualitative methods, where activities are carried out naturally, as they are, in normal situations that cannot be manipulated, and emphasize natural descriptions 10. Intervention actions on objects were avoided in this study so that the data obtained were pure without any intervention from the researcher. This study focuses on the activities carried out in the Argumentative writing class and analyzes the development of students' writing skills through collaborative writing and the responses and expectations of students towards collaborative activities. Data collection was carried out for one semester (13 meetings), each meeting is 90 minutes long. Data collection techniques through questionnaires to 30 students, and 1 lecturer. The data collected was analyzed qualitatively at several stages of a series of processes, namely: 1) Pre-writing stage: the stage of forming a discussion group forum and conducting reading and writing tests. The goal is to determine students' reading and writing abilities. 2) Drafting, Revision and Editing Stage: this stage reviews the first draft made, proofreading and editing. 3) Learn to deliver to a wider audience. RESULT AND DISCUSSION This chapter discusses the findings of the research problems. The research findings are divided into five sub-titles. The first is the process of collaborative writing applied in the classroom. The second is the students' activities through collaborative process. The third is the students' writing skills developed through collaborative activity. The fourth is lecturer's approaches, technique, opinion and expectation on collaborative activity. The fifth is students' opinions and expectations on collaborative writing. A. The Process of Collaborative Writing Applied in the Classroom The writing process begins with some form of pre-writing activity, first draft, revising, 10 Deveci, "Student Perceptions on Collaborative Writing in a Project-Based Course." Universal Journal of Educational Research 6, no. 4 (2018): 721-732. Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 95 zzzzzz editing and shared with a wider audience, this research finds that the process of collaborative writing that is applied by the lecturer in the classroom of Argumentative Writing of third semester students is divided into three stages: 1) Pre-writing, 2) Drafting, revision, and editing, and 3) Shared with a wider audience . These stages can be seen in the following observation: 1. Pre-writing stage. This stage was divided into several learning activities as follows: a. Read written text (discourse, article and etc); Obs #1: Read telegram, Obs #4: Read the students self reflection "All about Me", obs #7: Read the students' assignment "Lebaran", Obs #9: Read the one of Jakarta Post articles, and Obs #11: Read the students' comments on the article. b. Small group discussion; Obs #3: Discussed on the students' telegram, Obs #5: Collaborated and discussed to do the peer critique of their written assignment, self reflection "All about Me" which each group consists of four students, Obs #7: They discussed and done peer critique toward their written assignment about Lebaran Day, obs #9: Discussed in small group and each group consisted of four persons for one article to do peer critique toward the Jakarta Post article, Obs #10: Collaborated in a small group to do peer critique toward their article discussion repot (first revision), Obs #12: Collaborated and discussed the students' article discussion report (second revision). c. Class discussion; Obs #4: RL asked the students to read and identify their own mistakes on the assignment and they were allowed to discuss with their friends (class discussion), Obs #8: RL asked the Ss to discuss and check their assignment revision #1 Lebaran day in big circle before they were ordered to make second revision. 2. Drafting, Revision, and Editing. This stage covers several activites as follows: a. First Drafting: in this stage the lecture asked the students to write based on their reading and discussion result; Obs #1 and 2: The students were asked to write a telegram after they read telegram that the lecture shown in the class, and wrote a telegram and students' self reflection, Obs #6: They wrote about Lebaran Day, and Obs #9: They wrote an article after they read the Jakarta Post article and discussed with their friends. b. Proofreading: In these activities the students were asked to read each other on their writing; Obs #3: The students read their friends' telegram, Obs #4: The students read their friends' assignment and identified their mistakes and they were allowed to discuss with their friends. Obs #7: RL asked the Ss to read their assignment and to work in small group discussion to do peer-critique and peer editing toward their written assignment (draft #1 Lebaran day). Obs #10: RL asked the Ss to collaborate in a small group to do peer-critique and peer editing toward their article. In peer critique, Ss read, comment, and critic on the organization and content of each other's writing in small group. Obs #11: Ss read, comment, and critic on the organization and content of each other's writing in small group. Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 96 zzzzzz c. Editing: in this activity the Ss did the editing of their collaborated writing; Obs #5: RL asked the Ss to collaborate in small group discussion to do the peer critique and peer editing of their written assignment which each group consists of four students (Revision #1 "All about Me") and ordered them to make revision #2. Obs #7: RL asked the Ss to read their assignment and to work in small group discussion to do peer-critique and peer editing toward their written assignment (draft #1 Lebaran day). Obs #8: The Ss were told to make revision #2 Lebaran Day. Obs #10: RL asked the Ss to collaborate in a small group to do peer editing toward their article. The students identified problems with the mechanics; usage and grammar by underline the mistakes. Then she asked the students to make revision #1. Obs #11: RL asked the students to make revision #2 for the following week. 1. . Sharing with Wider Audiences RL ordered the Ss to discuss in a small group (revision #2). Then she asked each group to report the result of the discussion in small group to the whole class discussion. The discussion was about the mistakes that they found in their assignment. The students should submitted and bundle their whole assignments from the first until the last meeting (there were nine assignments). After that the Ss were asked to share with friend and family and tried to send to a newspaper or magazine. (Obs #12). A. The Students' Activities Through Collaborative Process 1. Lecturer’s Role When the lecturer began the class by doing a whole class discussion, the roles were as an organizer, facilitator, and resource. The lecturer organized the activity and told the students to read, discussed, gave comment on other works and made revision and became the facilitator of discussion. Finally, she became a resource who answered students' questions, gave advice, checked the students' final assignments and offered help. In small group activity, the lecturer's role was as organizer, facilitator, resource and tutor. The lecturer asked the student to work individually, pair and group work and then she facilitated them by giving articles. The lecturer also monitored the activity, became the resource by answering the students' questions that related to the activity and tutor. She also gave advices, guidance, and help. After the activity, the lecturer's role was as organizer and facilitator. The lecturer organized the students to report the result of discussion to whole class until they bundled their whole assignments and when class discussion was running, she became a facilitator who guided the discussion. Related to lecturer's roles 11states that "the teacher as facilitator role is facilitating the process of learning of making easier for students and allow the students, with teachers' guidance here and there, to find their own pathways to success". Teacher as organizer role, the main aim of the teacher when organizing an activity is to tell the students what they are going to talk about write or read 12. He also added that teacher's role as tutor is seen when the teacher acts as a coach and as resource where the students are involved in their own work, and call upon 11 Sahoo and Mohammed, "Fostering Critical Thinking and Collaborative Learning Skills among Medical Students through a Research Protocol Writing Activity in the Curriculum." 12 Kiky Soraya, "The Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing Strategy (Cws) in Writing Lesson Regarded to the Students’ Creativity," Lingua Cultura 10, no. 2 (2016). Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 97 zzzzzz the teacher mainly for advice and guidance. The lecturer applied some teaching and learning activities that were divided into three stages; pre-writing stage, drafting, revision, and editing stage, and shared with wider audiences. The students' activities through collaborative process can be seen as generally as follows: The purposes of these activities are to practice the students' writing skills through collaborative process and at the end the students accustom to write and change their thought of how difficult of writing becomes how easy it is. It can be seen from the respondents' interview below: IQ#12 : Menurut anda apakah tujuan dilakukan aktivitas menulis kolaboratif? RS1 : Tentu ada, kita mengoreksi tulisan teman sambil belajar grammar juga, terus belajar mekanisme penulisannya. Pokoknya dari hal yang kecil sampai yang besar. RS2 : Manfaatnya kita jadi belajar mencari tau kesalahan-kesalahan yang dibuat teman. RS3 : Tujuannya agar mutu suatu tulisan bias lebih berkualitas lagi dari yang kita tulis sebelumnya. Itu dilihat dari hasil-hasil revisinya. Based on the questionnaire, it was found that 29 students of 30 students like to write and feel easier to write after they followed this class using collaborative activity. B. The Students' Writing Skills Developed Through Collaborative Activity Error-free writing requires more than just using good grammar. It is also use correct mechanics of writing. The mechanics of writing specify the established conventions for words that you use in the documents. This study finds the developments of students' writing skills through collaborative activities are page numbering, recognizing the dosa kecil and dosa besar (mistakes) on the grammar, titling, paragraphing, and using the punctuation like comma, apostrophes, full stop, exclamation, and question mark and also good words choices. It can be seen in the interview results of three respondents: IQ#8 : Bisakah anda memberikan contoh kesalahan yang kecil sampai yang besar tersebut? Menulis judul yang benar. Penggunaan tanda baca seperti koma, titik dan lain-lain. Hal yang besarnya, misalnya menulis paragraf yang benar, terus adanya hubungan atau koherensi antar satu paragraf dengan paragraf yang lain. Sebenarnya yang paling sering terjadi adalah bagaimana memulai menulis, dan itu yang paling sulit buat saya. After they followed this writing class which used collaborative activity, they feel Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 98 zzzzzz progresses in their writing skills such as identifying an interesting title, grammar, mechanic of writing, and giving comments and responses to peers' writing. The students' self- confidents on writing are increase and they accustomed and motivated to write. The students’ progress on writing skills can be seen in the interview below: IQ#18 : Dan bagaimana kemampuan menulis anda sekarang setelah mengikuti perkuliahan ini? RS1 : Ya jelas ada peningkatan dong, ya... walaupun gak terlalu banyak yang saya rasakan. Tapi setidaknya saya sudah mulai membiasakan menulis dan anggapan-anggapan bahwa menulis itu sulit sekarang sedikit lebih mudah. RS2 : Ada, salah satunya yang paling kerasa oleh saya adalah, saya jadi senang menulis, terus saya jadi lebih mudah dalam menemukan ide-ide asalkan mood saya lagi bagus, dengan malakukan teknik kolaborasi dengan teman-teman, saya jadi belajar grammatikanya, apalagi mekanisme penulisan juga banyak belajar, misalkan penulisan paragraf yang benar, halaman gak lupa lagi, penulisan judul, penggunaan tanda baca dan lain-lain. RS3 : Ibu Senny selalu bilang tulisan juga harus bisa sound English, saya ingat terus kata-kata Bu Senny itu dan mencoba menulis dengan menggunakan bahasa Inggris yang baik. From the interview result above it can be clearly described that the significances of using collaborative technique is while they were correcting others' works they were also learn how to identify the mistakes about grammar and the mechanics of writing. The terminology of mistake is quite famous from the lecturer and it called minor and major mistakes (dosa kecil dan besar). These mistakes are also the aspects of writing that able to develop students' writing skills through the collaborative activity. Student's Text Peer's Feedback Student's Revision 1. Dear Mum. 1. Dear Mom. 1. Dear Mom. 2. But I have used the 2. But I had used the 2. I have received the money improperly. money improperly. money from you last month but I had used the money umproperly. 3. I borrowed Rp. 150.000 3. I borrowed Rp. 3. I borrowed Rp. to my friend but it was 150.000 from my 150.000 from my 1. In HIS eyes, it is only 1. In His eyes, it is a 1. In His eyes, it is a our charity we have charity that we have charity that we have done when we still done when we are done when we are alive to get the merciful alive to get His alive to get His from HIM. mercy. mercy. Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 99 zzzzzz 2. In this lebaran, I wished 2. In this lebaran, I 2. In this lebaran, I that i could be a baby wished that I could be wished that I could who born and back to a baby who has born be a baby who has the start as a clean man. and back to the start born and back to the as a clean human. beginning as a pure human. 3. Me and my family 3. My family and I went 3. My family and I went to the cemetery to the cemetery and went to the and visited my late visited my late cemetery and visited grandfather and my late grandfather and my my late grandfather aunt who had passed late aunt who had and my late aunt away. passed away. who had passed away. The aims of collaborative activity are to identify the grammar mistakes, and the mechanics of writing. In this activity, the students take and give comments from different point of view through peer, small and whole class discussion, and the smallest thing is we can keep our silaturahmi (interaction) with friends and lecturer. The students could share their knowledge through collaborative activity. After reading the students' assignments, the writer also finds out that after they read a controversial article about smack down programs influence the children attitudes, they are required to choose a side or take a stand for or against that article. The students are able to make an argumentative writing by expressing their opinions by arousing the statement or comment that there will be a bad impact for kids after they watch this program. A. Lecturer's Approaches, Technique, Opinions and Expectations on Collaborative Activity 1. Lecturer's Approaches in Collaborative Writing There are three approaches toward writing collaborative: product, practical and process. From the observation above, it is clearly seen that in this activity the lecturer mainly applied practical and process approaches in writing classroom that lead to the finished written product. In a true collaborative environment, each contributor has an equal ability to add, edit, and remove text. The writing process becomes a recursive task, which each change prompts others to make more changes. It is easier to do if the activity has a specific end practical and process approaches in a careful focus on the result or the product of writing 13. Meanwhile, there were feedbacks from the lecturer by giving notes and comments on their writing and also from individual sharing between lecturer and student during the writing process. Based on 14 statements as a point of my long- term observation that showed me some evidences above, the activities in collaborative 13 Mark Feng Teng, "The Effectiveness of Incorporating Metacognitive Prompts in Collaborative Writing on Academic English Writing Skills," Applied Cognitive Psychology 35, no. 3 (2021). 14 Prathibarani Veramuthu and Parilah Md Shah, "Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing among Secondary School Students in an Esl Classroom," Creative Education 11, no. 1 (2020). Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 100 zzzzzz writing that were carried out in the class are based on the process approach. Furthermore, the lecturer implemented balancing process and product. 2. Lecturer's Technique on Writing Activity From the observation and interview result, it was found that the lecturer uses collaborative technique to encourage students to develop their writing skills. The activities are group collaboration, read, and discuss in a small group, peer critiques, give comments, revise and do peer editing on students' written assignments. After that the students should submit their whole assignments from first until the last meeting (there were nine assignments). These findings can be seen in Obs #3, Obs #5, Obs #7, Obs #9, Obs #10, Obs #11 and Obs #12. The lecturer has been seven years becomes writing lecturer. She has a lot of teaching method variations. The lecturer always gives lecture in the morning because the situation is fresh and the students still have strong motivation to study. Making the students comfortable in the classroom is her priority, if not the students will be easier to get bored. Based on the process of teaching and learning in the writing collaborative class the lecturer used collaborative technique and divided into three stages: 1) Pre- writing, 2) Drafting, revision, and editing and 3) Sharing with a wider audience. I can state that the lecturer focuses on the writing process that led to the final written product and helped students to understand their own composing process. 3. Lecturer's Opinions and Expectations on Collaborative Activity From the lecturer's interview, it was found that the lecturer has opinions and expectations in reaching goal in writing activity that was implemented in third semester students. It can be seen in the interview result as follows: RL #2 : Writing dibanding dengan mata kuliah yang lain itu mata kuliah yang selain sulit dipelajari sulit juga diajarkan. RL #4 : Menulis itu bukan menuliskan kata-kata yang diucapkan, menulis itu adalah menuangkan gagasan atau mentransfer gagasan dari benda ke bentuk tulisan, secara umumnya. RL #7 : Saya sering menggunakan teknik kolaborasi karena efektif untuk mengembangkan kemampuan siswa untuk saling membaca pekerjaan temannya mengkoreksi dan memberikan masukan dengan harapan setelah memberikan masukan kepada teman-temannya mereka mengerti mana yang salah dan benar atau kurang tepat. Mahasiswa belajar dari kesalahan teman, teknik kolaborasi ini bukan ajang saling menghantam, tapi sebenarnya belajar dari kesalahan teman sehingga mereka tidak berbuat hal yang sama. RL #8 : Kelebihan dan kekurangan pengajaran menggunakan kolaboratif. Baiknya, siswa menjadi lebih tau mana yang kira-kira benar dan mana yang kurang. Negatifnya, ada semacam rasa bosan, bosan karena terus-terusan berulang-ulang seperti itu dan saya sedang pikirkan bagaimana menjembatani rasa bosan itu. RL #9 : Tidak semua anak suka menulis sehingga kita harus memaksa dalam Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 101 zzzzzz tanda kutip memaksa mereka untuk menulis dengan berbagai cara gitu dimulai dari tak kenal maka tak sayang, saya buat mereka mencintai dulu mata kuliah ini, kemudian mencintai menulis. Akan memudahkan saya menggiring mereka ke arah yang lebih baik kepada suatu moment dimana mereka enjoy menulis itu tanpa harus dipaksa. RL #12 : Latihan yang diterapkan setiap hari, sehingga mereka tidak belajar teori secara langsung, tapi mereka mendapatkan teori itu sendiri dari proses belajar mengajar tersebut. RL #13 : untuk menambah kemampuan menulis adalah tiga M: menulis, menulis dan menulis. Jadi, akan saya tekannya kepada anak-anak to keep writing, kapanpun dimanapun, dimulai dari hal kecil dulu misalkan membuat diary, atau membuat jurnal atau personal report. Tapi kalau hanya menulis itu saya rasa tidak cukup, karena ada semacam pepatah a good writer is a good reader jadi tanpa membaca itu kayaknya akan ketinggalan. Jadi bacalah ilmu-ilmu yang up to date setelah itu saya yakin kualitas tulisan akan menjadi lebih baik. From the interview result above, the opinion can be summarized that writing is difficult to be learnt and taught if it compares with other skills. Writing is not only writing words that spell but it relates to how to pour and transfer the idea from object to written product 15. Thus, it does not mean that what you say then directly written into a paper but describing the idea into the written product. During the writing teaching, lecturer is often used collaborative technique because lecturer thinks that this is the effective way to develop students' writing skills through reading, correcting and giving advice. Therefore, it is expected that the students are able to recognize and learn from their mistakes so they will not do the same mistakes again. Through the applicable practice every day, they do not learn about the theory directly but through practice itself they gain the theories or knowledge. The lecturer always motivates the students to be a good writer. The lecturer's expectation is after they finished the class they can write and she suggested sending their written product to be published in a newspaper or magazine. One of the motivations that the lecturer gave to the students were giving reward for those who written product being published, they would get an A. B. Students' Opinions and Expectations on Collaborative Activity 1. Students' Opinions and Expectations toward Teaching and Learning Collaborative Activity. There are many opinions about collaborative writing in Argumentative writing class that applied in third semester students toward collaborative activities. Firstly, when they entered the class they were told to arrange the seat into letter U. Secondly, the assignments that often given by the lecturer were writing telegram, self-reflection, others writing 15 Izaskun Villarreal and Nora Gil-Sarratea, "The Effect of Collaborative Writing in an Efl Secondary Setting," Language Teaching Research 24, no. 6 (2020). Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 102 zzzzzz subject and articles to be discussed then the students made comments through collaboration 16. The students were asked to write with different topics or latest issues. Thirdly, the collaborative technique was often given by lecturer was peer collaborative. The activities focused on writing practices and correcting the writing inter peer. This opinion can be seen in the following students' statements in interview: IQ1#1 : Untuk mata kuliah Argumentative Writing biasanya itu dimulai dari suasana belajar yang kursinya dibentuk huruf U dan kegiatan belajarnya biasanya dosennya lebih suka peer collaboration yaitu koreksi antar teman, trus kita dikasih suatu tema terus kita disuruh mengembangkannya, contohnya tentang isu yang hangat tentang Adam Air dan kita disuruh menulis tentang Adam Air. Setelah kita buat terus dikoreksi sama teman. IQ1#2 : Kegiatan mata kuliah Argumentative Writing itu dominannya praktek. Bu Senny memberikan wacana atau bahan yang akan dibahas di kelas. Wacana itu dikomentari kesalahan-kesalahannya. Selain itu kita disuruh menulis artikel dari berita yang terbaru, membuat telegram dan lain-lain. Setelah itu kita disuruh mengoreksi pekerjaan teman. IQ1#3 : Kegiatan belajar yang dilakukan di dalam kelas Argumentative Writing oleh Bu Senny biasa yang dilakukan adalah membahasa artikel orang lain, menulis dengan tema yang ditentukan atau bebas. Ibu Senny biasanya menggunakan teknik kolaborasi. Seringnya menggunakan peer collaboration atau partner yang koreksi dan sebalikya. Kondisi kelas dibuat bangkunya letter U supaya lebih fokus kepada pengajarnya. The students' opinions about collaborative technique that applied in the classroom were in many ways and effective to do the correction on grammar and mechanic of writing using their strenghtness rather than weaknessess. They seemed to enjoy this collaborative activity because they interact with one another in sharing knowledge. The students believe that if they work on the writing in a relax condition, they can write better. These opinions can be seen in the following students' statements: IQ09#1 : Kalau menurut saya sudah cukup efektif contohnya dengan kita mengoreksi tulisan teman atau membaca karya orang lain pasti ada kata-kata yang kita tidak tau jadi tau. Selain itu kita juga belajar grammar. Kalau penggunaan past tense gimana future tense gimana dan itu sangat membantu. Selain itu imajinasi orang beda-beda dan pastinya hasil karyanya juga berbeda-beda. Untuk teorinya dosen kami juga menyampaikan hal-hal yang berkenaan dengan cara-cara penulisan yang baik. IQ10#1 : Di kelas ini, pengajarannya lebih santai dibandingkan dosen lain, jadi suasana belajarnya tidak tegang, malah jadi enjoy. Dan menurut saya cara itu sangat membantu. Sesuatu yang santai dan enjoy hasilnya juga akan lebih baik. IQ15#1 : Menurut saya sudah cukup effektif, tapi lebih effektifnya lagi kalau tulisan kita dikoreksinya sama yang lebih berpengalaman, tidak hanya oleh temen-teman di kelas. Tiap orang memiliki opini yang berbeda, pastinya pengoreksiannya akan lebih variatif dan kita juga akan lebih belajar. 16 Yu-Chun Wang, "Promoting Collaborative Writing through Wikis: A New Approach for Advancing Innovative and Active Learning in an Esp Context," Computer Assisted Language Learning 28, no. 6 (2015). Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 103 zzzzzz IQ09#2 : Suasananya biasanya diciptakan secara nyaman dan rileks. Karena setiap ada tulisan atau kata-kata yang kita tidak mengerti, kita bisa langsung bertanya kepada dosennya. IQ11#2 : Cukup efektif dengan kolaboratif ini, selain kita belajar mencari tau kesalahan-kesalahan dari grammatikanya juga cara-cara penulisannya sampai ke mekanisme penulisannya. IQ12#3 : Cukup efektif. Contohnya, dengan teknik kolaborasi, khususnya peer collaboration tersebut kita banyak belajar mengkritik dan dikritik. Dan di akhir sesi Ibu Senny juga mengoreksi dan memberikan catatan-catatan yang harus diperbaiki. One of important efforts from the lecturer is how to motivate the students so they can enjoy the writing class and be able to practice their writing so they can publish their writing and be enjoyed by the readers. The students' opinions are the lecturer motivates them much in helping them and encourage their writing skills. These opinions can be seen in the following students' opinions: IQ06#1 : Untuk memotivasinya biasanya dosen memberikan nilai A apabila ada mahasiswa yang tulisannya diterbitkan. Untuk pengajaran menulisnya, dosen mengajarkan hal yang terkecil dulu misalnya menulis tentang diri sendiri, terus tentang orang lain terus artikel dan lain-lain. IQ07#3 : Ibu Senny selalu menganologikan bahwa tulisan itu adalah sebuah kado yang harus dibungkus dengan baik dibandingkan dengan kado-kado yang lain. Kata- kata ini selalu membuat saya untuk menulis dengan sebagus mungkin. Mmm... motivasi kedua, ibu Senny akan langsung memberikan nilai A apabila ada tulisan kita yang dimuat di media. IQ08#2 : Di kelas, Bu Senny selalu menyuruh kita menulis dan menulis, dengan tujuan supaya kita terbiasa. Dan kalau tulisan kita ada yang dimuat di media cetak, kita akan langsung dapat nilai A. Jadi kita berlomba-lomba deh buat tulisan yang bisa dimuat. The students' opinions of collaborative activities can be seen also in the following questionnaire as generally: The students' expectations from their lecturer are beside get an A for publishing their articles; they wish that the activities are not only inside of the classroom but outside Students' Opinions Number of Respondents 1. Like to write 29 students of 30 students 2. Easier in writing 29 students of 30 students 3. Help develop Ss writing skill 26 students of 30 students 4. Increasing cooperation 30 students of 30 students 5. Motivate Ss to write and publish 26 students of 30 students 6. Good method in teaching writing 30 students of 30 students Table : Students' Opinions on Collaborative Activities Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 104 zzzzzz of the classroom to get more inspiration. It would be better if the lecturer invites the expert writers, so they would gain more knowledge. They also put forward the variation of teaching writing materials so they would be more interested in writing and good in writing skills. CONCLUSION Based on the results of this study that writing activities require more concentration than other skills. Writing activity is not how to spell a word for word but expressing ideas that are changed in written form. The collaborative technique is an effective method for developing writing, reading, correcting, and suggesting skills. Activities through this collaborative technique provide a comfortable atmosphere for students so that all participants show their abilities without feeling shy, inferior, afraid, and anxious. A relaxed atmosphere can be indispensable in writing activities so that ideas can be poured out perfectly. Student creativity in writing provides more motivation due to the variety of materials used and poured into written form. Finally, collaborative writing could be effective for correcting students' mistakes, for developing students' writing skills, for combining their strengths, and for strengthening between peers and lecturer. REFERENCES Amir, Zaini, Kemboja Ismail and Supyan Hussin. "Blogs in Language Learning: Maximizing Students’ Collaborative Writing." Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 18, (2011): 537- 543. Ardiasih, Lidwina Sri and Yumna Rasyid. "Online Collaborative Writing Technique Using Wiki: How Effective Is It to Enhance Learners' Essay Writing?" Journal of Asia TEFL 16, no. 2 (2019): 531. Bradley, Linda and Sylvie Thouësny. "Students’ Collaborative Peer Reviewing in an Online Writing Environment." Themes in Science and Technology Education 10, no. 2 (2017): 69- 83. Challob, Ala'a Ismael, Nadzrah Abu Bakar and Hafizah Latif. "Collaborative Blended Learning Writing Environment: Effects on Efl Students' Writing Apprehension and Writing Performance." English Language Teaching 9, no. 6 (2016): 229-241. Deveci, Tanju. "Student Perceptions on Collaborative Writing in a Project-Based Course." Universal Journal of Educational Research 6, no. 4 (2018): 721-732. Lin, Ong Poh and Nooreiny Maarof. "Collaborative Writing in Summary Writing: Student Perceptions and Problems." Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 90, (2013): 599-606. Sahoo, Soumendra and Ciraj Ali Mohammed. "Fostering Critical Thinking and Collaborative Learning Skills among Medical Students through a Research Protocol Writing Activity in the Curriculum." Korean Journal of Medical Education 30, no. 2 (2018): 109. Shehadeh, Ali. "Effects and Student Perceptions of Collaborative Writing in L2." Journal of second language writing 20, no. 4 (2011): 286-305. Soraya, Kiky. "The Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing Strategy (Cws) in Writing Lesson Regarded to the Students’ Creativity." Lingua Cultura 10, no. 2 (2016): 63-67. Storch, Neomy. "Collaborative Writing: Product, Process, and Students’ Reflections." Journal of second language writing 14, no. 3 (2005): 153-173. Tanrıkulu, Fatih. "Students’ Perceptions About the Effects of Collaborative Digital Storytelling on Writing Skills." Computer Assisted Language Learning, (2021): 1-16. Abd. Syakur Developments Of Writing Skill Trough Collaborative Activities EDUCATIO : Journal Of Education Volume 6 , Number 1, May 2021 ISSN : 2579-8383 (Print) ISSN : 2579-8405 (Online) 105 zzzzzz Teng, Mark Feng. "The Effectiveness of Incorporating Metacognitive Prompts in Collaborative Writing on Academic English Writing Skills." Applied Cognitive Psychology 35, no. 3 (2021): 659-673. Veramuthu, Prathibarani and Parilah Md Shah. "Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing among Secondary School Students in an Esl Classroom." Creative Education 11, no. 1 (2020): 54-67. Villarreal, Izaskun and Nora Gil-Sarratea. "The Effect of Collaborative Writing in an Efl Secondary Setting." Language Teaching Research 24, no. 6 (2020): 874-897. Wang, Yu-Chun. "Promoting Collaborative Writing through Wikis: A New Approach for Advancing Innovative and Active Learning in an Esp Context." Computer Assisted Language Learning 28, no. 6 (2015): 499-512.