ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 37 The Effectiveness of Using Advertisements to Improve Students’ Writing Skills Tien Rafida Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia tienrafida@uinsu.ac.id Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia sholihatulhamidah@uinsu.ac.id Elsa Septriana Wijaya Nasution Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia elsaseptriana02@gmail.com Abstract This research was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of using advertisements in improving students' writing skills. The subjects of this research were an English teacher and 26 students in X-MIPA class. An interview was conducted with the teacher to gather the data, and the questionnaires were distributed to the students. The data were then qualitatively analyzed. To analyze the data, the steps used were data reduction, data display, and conclusion. This study concluded that using advertisements helped students feel happy, enthusiastic, and motivated in their writing lessons. However, some students needed help expressing their thoughts in writing lessons due to a need for more vocabulary. The usage of advertisements in the classroom has helped students' writing abilities. Based on these findings, it is recommended that all teachers use advertising intensively in their teaching to improve their students' writing skills further. Keyword: Advertisement, English Teaching, Writing Skill INTRODUCTION Writing is the most complex skill to learn because there are so many writing-related aspects that students must be aware of (Babayiǧit & Stainthorp, 2010). Writing lessons require advanced vocabulary; otherwise, it is impossible to express ideas in writing. Many high school students struggle with writing in English as a foreign language. The main reasons students struggle to write well in English are the lack of vocabulary and knowledge of several essential writing mailto:tienrafida@uinsu.ac.id mailto:sholihatulhamidah@uinsu.ac.id ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 38 components. These aspects of writing include vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and sentence coherence. On the other hand, teachers must explain the genre before assigning students to write and the types of text assigned to students. The students must be familiar with various text types, including recounts, narratives, descriptive, reports, procedures, persuasive, and arguments. The representation of a language by a writing system is called a written language. Students can provide feedback when applying for jobs in the field and when writing letters, instructions, and reports. Furthermore, the medium of instruction is one of the critical elements determining teachers' performance in enhancing students' writing abilities. A teacher must be able to devise an appropriate method for a more effective, engaging, and beneficial teaching and learning process. Writing in English is the subject that students find the most challenging because students have to write with proper grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. The media of teaching are necessary for teaching and learning the communication and information technology era, particularly in writing topics. Writing is challenging to teach and learn because it necessitates mastery of more than just grammatical and rhetorical features but also proper conceptual and emotional aspects. Students' difficulties can be seen when they write an English text; most of them make mistakes in their writing. Students struggle with writing because they must gain writing skills and adhere to proper writing rules. Some English teachers need help resolving the issue of using appropriate techniques in teaching English writing (Munir, 2016). It can be seen in the way English teachers teach writing during the process of teaching and learning. It is influenced by how the teachers teach; for example, teachers must teach all writing rules and provide students with enough writing exercises. Sometimes the teacher asks them to read about writing topics. As a result, students' writing skills in schools could have improved. Furthermore, to succeed in writing well, students must learn to write correctly and according to the rules; thus, they must know and understand the correct writing rules. To help students understand the rules, teachers must instruct students in writing using appropriate methods and techniques, such as images, videos, and commercial media. Based on the preceding statement, it is assumed that the students' quality can be improved when the teacher implements innovative models or activities to make the students more participating. In analyzing the teaching of English, specifically writing skills. Previous research has shown that using media increases the skills and performances of students during teaching-learning activities (Xodabande, 2017). Unlike previous studies that focused on the effectiveness of media in teaching English writing, this study examines English writing as a foreign language. Furthermore, most previous studies investigated the effectiveness of teaching media such as video, movies, network telegram, and games; this study focuses its analysis on the use of advertisement media in ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 39 improving students' writing skills. The use of advertisements as teaching media in English writing classes among senior high school students has received little attention, so this study aims to fill that void, taking the case of the tenth grade of Senior High School of Teladan Sei Rampah. An advertisement text is a written or typewritten advertisement that intends to share a narrative about a product. The findings of this study will provide evidence of the effectiveness of using advertisement media to improve English writing skills. This study will also shed light on how English teachers can use advertising effectively to improve their students' writing skills. METHODS The researchers in this study used the descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview and questionnaires. The interview aimed to gather more data and information from the teacher on using advertisements in writing persuasive text and the teachers' difficulties in using advertisements in teaching writing. The questionnaire was used to discover the effectiveness of advertisements in teaching learning writing. The data was analyzed using data analysis based on Miles, Huberman, and Saldana's (2014:8) data analyzing technique; data condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. FINDINGS The primary participant of this study was an English teacher at the Senior High School of Teladan Sei Rampah. Some questions were given to the teacher. First, the researcher asks the teacher about the process of English in the classroom. The teacher said that she usually starts the teaching and learning process with activities such as; giving the students apperception, brainstorming, or a little ice breaking to get the students' focus. The second was about the importance of writing English. According to her, writing in English is essential and needed in activities. The third question was about what activities were carried out in the writing teaching process. She usually explained writing from the structure of the text first, then the characteristics of a text she would teach. After that, students were asked to understand the text first. Then students were asked to write examples of similar texts, sometimes done alone or in groups. The fourth question was about students' participation in English class. In her opinion, the participation of the students in English class was good, and they were interested in the class when learning English in her class. The next question that the researchers gave to the teacher was about how to increase students' participation in the class that the teacher teaches. From her perspective, she used the appropriate learning material with exciting methods to make the students easily understand. The next question was about the difficulties of using media in the teaching process for the teacher. Moreover, she said some things could be improved in teaching and learning. For example, the teacher needed to prepare the materials and learning video. Using advertisements in the teaching and learning process also had a little obstacle faced by the teacher because she had to prepare the materials by searching ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 40 websites, newspapers, magazines, etc. The teacher needed a long time to prepare the material well. Another question was about the findings on students' learning difficulties in English class, especially in expressing in writing during the learning process. According to the teacher, the students struggle to write rather than speak in English. It was because the spelling of words in English is different, and the students also needed to learn how to start writing; there was no idea in their minds. The eighth question was why these difficulties occur. She answered that these difficulties occurred because the students did not master vocabulary in English. The ninth question was about the English writing ability of the students. In her opinion, Students'Students' English ability needed to improve because they rarely practiced writing. The tenth question was about the motivation of students to learn to use media (advertisement). She said that students are interested in writing using media because it can increase their English to write. The next question was about the teacher's teaching method for writing. The teacher used the direct method or face-to-face in learning to write. The twelfth question was whether the teacher used media (advertisement) in teaching and learning, especially writing. The teacher said, "never before." Question thirteen was about the students' enthusiasm to use learning media. She said, " yes, because if you use media, the material will be more interesting and easy to understand. It made the students enthusiastic about learning". The fourteenth question was about students writing skills improvement after using media in the teaching and learning process. The teacher said the students' writing skill has to improve after using media in the teaching-learning process because using advertisement in the teaching-learning process can increase vocabulary in English. Moreover, the last question was about whether implementing teaching using media (Advertisement) effectively increases students' participation in learning English. From her perspective, implementing teaching using media (Advertisement) more effectively increases students' participation in learning English because it is easier to convey the materials for learning, so it is not rigid. Furthermore, the findings from interviews with the English teachers'' were further confirmed by the questionnaires to 26 students. Based on the results of the questionnaires researchers gave students, here is the percentage of each statement in chart form. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 41 I enjoy learning English  I like learning to write in English 4% 96% 0%0% Statement 1 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree strongly Disagree 8% 81% 0% 11% Statement 2 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree strongly Disagree ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 42  Writing in English is difficult  I have difficulty expressing ideas when writing in English  I have no difficulty in expessing ideas when writing in English 4% 58% 38% 0% Statement 3 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree strongly Disagree 4% 31% 10% 55% Statement 4 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 43 DISCUSSSION In this section, the researchers would like to discuss and explain the findings regarding using advertisements as media in teaching writing. The following section discusses the results of interviewing the English teacher and questionnaires to 26 students. According to the above results of interviews and questionnaires with the teacher and students, using advertisements to teach writing was very effective. Students reaped benefits in their studies. Using advertisements to teach English writing Advertising as a medium for teaching English writing was influential in the teaching and learning process. It was critical to improving the students' ability to master English skills, particularly in learning English writing. It can be seen from the teacher's answer given to the researchers. The researcher asked the teacher the first question about learning English in the classroom. In the first question, the teacher said that she usually starts the teaching-learning process with activities such as; giving the students apperception, brainstorming, or a little ice-breaking to get the students' focus. The ice-breaking that the teacher means can be a quiz or guesswork. The teacher made sure that the class was in a new condition. After that, she instructed students to open the book that would become the topic of discussion that day, then the study process as usual. Sometimes the teacher uses small groups in learning, or usually with lecture methods. The second question was about the importance of writing English. According to her writing, English is essential and needed in daily activities. Writing activities can develop our written communication, especially with the students. The third question was about what activities are carried out in the writing teaching process. She answered this question with the usually explain, writing 40% 40% 20% 0% Statement 5 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 44 from the structure of the text first, then she will explain the characteristics of a text that she will teach during the day. After that, students were asked to understand the text, and then the teacher asked the students to create examples of similar texts. This activity is to make sure that students understand the text. The exercise did alone or in a small group. The fourth question was about the students' participation in English class. In her opinion, the participation of the students in English class is excellent, and they are interested when learning English in her class. However, sometimes their participation can be less than enough to follow the teacher's material because she emphasizes scores. She will reduce their score if someone needs to follow the lesson well. In addition, the students responded well when teachers used advertisements in their teaching English writing classes, and they were motivated to learn writing. Students' positive responses in the learning process were signed that they are motivated to learn English writing. Students felt happy and enthusiastic about learning English writing when the advertisement was used as the teaching medium. The next question the researcher gave the teacher was about increasing students' participation in the teacher's class. From her perspective, she used the perfect learning material with an exciting method to make the students easily understand the teaching-learning process. It means the teacher should make an exciting method or technique when teaching the class. The next question was about the difficulties of using media in the teaching process for the teacher. She said there are some difficulties in the teaching-learning process for this question. For example, the teacher must prepare the materials and make learning videos. Using advertisements in the teaching-learning process also get difficulties for the teacher. She had to prepare the materials by searching the website, newspaper, magazines, etc. The teacher needed a long time to prepare the material well. For a better situation, the teacher should prepare the material well before entering the class and give the material to the students. Another question was about finding students with learning difficulties in English class, especially in expressing in writing during the learning process. According to the teacher, the students sometimes need help to write rather than that speak in English. It was because they spelled the words in English differently, and also, the students needed to learn how to start writing. There is no idea in their mind. Also, students' interest in writing English could be more vital. Then they need more vocabulary mastery and understanding of grammar. So the teacher has to guide them in writing lessons. The student's difficulties could be more vocabulary, grammar, and interest when learning English. Therefore, teachers must use appropriate media according to student's needs and interests to help students improve their skills in English writing class. The difficulty is widespread in learning; There are no students who do not ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 45 experience difficulties. The teacher is responsible for providing feedback to students in learning, and the difficulties faced by students can be easily solved. The eighth question was, "why do these difficulties occur." She answered that these difficulties occur because the students need to gain mastery of English vocabulary. According to (Dian & Hapsari, 2007), Teaching English vocabulary to young learners takes work. Teachers must have many ideas. The introduction of the review of vocabulary items must be done through learning media. The ninth question was about the English writing ability of the students. In her opinion, Students' abilities in writing English needed to be improved. Not only do they need more vocabulary they also rarely practice writing. Having sufficient vocabulary is very important to help students more easily express their ideas in writing. Thus, the teacher motivates students to master or memorize more vocabulary. In addition, teachers should also be responsible for monitoring students during English writing sessions and providing guidance to students if they have problems expressing their ideas in writing. English teachers should encourage students to practice writing more at home. To improve writing skills, students should be encouraged to practice writing both in and outside school. The tenth question was about the students' motivation to learn media (advertisement). She said, "Students' are interested in writing using media because it can increase their English to write." The teacher's statement is the same as the previous study (Ismaili, 2013): using media in teaching has improved students’ ability in English writing classes. The next question was about the teacher's method of learning to write. The teacher used the direct method in learning to write. She used the direct method because the teacher has to guide the students in writing lessons. The twelfth question was whether the teacher used media (advertisement) in teaching and learning, especially in writing. The teacher said, "Never before." It means that the teacher never used media or anything in the teaching-learning process, but she knows about the using advertisement in teaching English. She only never implemented this method in her class. Question thirteen was about the student's enthusiasm for learning to use learning media. She said, "yes, because if I use media in the teaching-learning process, the material will be more interesting and easier to understand. It made the students enthusiastic about learning". The fourteenth question was whether students' writing skills improved after using media in the teaching and learning process. The teacher said that the student's writing skill has improved after using media in the teaching-learning process because advertisement can increase their vocabulary in English. Furthermore, the last question was about whether implementing teaching using media (advertisement) effective or not in increasing student participation in ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 46 learning English. From her perspective, implementing teaching using media (Advertisement) more effectively increases student participation in learning English because it makes it easier to convey learning, so it is not rigid. Using media to teach English was adequate for the students and the teacher in the teaching-learning process. Furthermore, students' participation can be seen by their interest in learning English gained through questionnaire scores. Based on the questionnaire the researcher gave students, here are the result of the percentage of each statement. For the first statement, "I enjoy learning English," it was found that 4% strongly agreed that students enjoy learning English, 96% agreed, and 0% of the students chose disagreed and strongly disagreed. The researcher can conclude from the previous percentage that most students enjoy learning English. It is also relevant to what the teacher said before. During the teaching- learning process, the students can follow the teacher's material. It shows that the students enjoy learning English. In the second statement, "I like learning to write in English, " 8% strongly agreed with this statement, while 81% agreed and 11 % strongly disagreed, and no student or 0% chose strongly disagreed with the second statement. So it means that most students like learning English in writing text. The third statement was about "Writing in English is difficult" the percentage shows that 4% strongly agreed, 58% agreed, 38% disagreed, and 0% strongly disagreed with the third statement. The researcher can see that some students did not find it challenging to write English, but most students also had difficulty writing English, which is involved with the teacher's statement. The students had difficulty expressing their idea in writing and needed to learn how to start the writing process. The teacher said above is also relevant to the following statement on the questionnaire students’ field. The following statement, "I have difficulty expressing ideas when writing in English," 8% strongly agreed with this statement, 69% agreed, 23% disagreed, and 0% strongly disagreed. This statement proves that the previous statement affects the students' difficulties in expressing their ideas. Also, teachers know about these problems and are responsible for solving them and improving the students' learning process. The fifth statement, "I have no difficulty in expressing ideas when writing in English," and the percentage of students were; 0% strongly agreed, 8% agreed, 46% disagreed, and also 46% strongly disagreed on this statement. Because the percentage of disagreed and strongly agreed were the same, most students complicated expressing their ideas when writing in English, which is also involved in the previous statement above. Overall, our findings demonstrated the importance of media in teaching and learning. As a result, teachers must use appropriate media following their students' needs and interests in order to assist students in improving their ability in English writing classes. ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 47 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS This study analyzed and described the effectiveness of using advertisements to teach English writing at the senior high school Teladan Sei Rampah. The study discovered that the teacher in the school used advertisements in their teaching English writing class, based on interviews and questionnaires with the English teacher and students. Advertisements were discovered to be effective in teaching English writing. It made the students happy, and they were eager to learn English writing. The advertisement has helped students improve their English writing skills as long as it is provided based on their needs and interests. When teachers used advertisement media in their English writing classes, the students were effectively engaged and enthusiastic in completing English writing assignments assigned by the teachers. However, most students struggled with writing due to a lack of vocabulary. Therefore, having a rich vocabulary is critical for students to express themselves more easily in writing. As a result, it is the teacher's responsibility to motivate students to master or memorize more vocabulary. Furthermore, a teacher should be responsible for monitoring students during English writing sessions and providing guidance to students with difficulty expressing their writing ideas. English teachers should encourage their students to write more at home. Students should be encouraged to practice writing not only at school but also outside of school in order to improve their writing skills. It is suggested that teachers select and use teaching and learning media based on the student's needs and interests during teaching and learning English writing, such as advertisements and pictures. Finally, after correcting the results of students' writing, teachers must provide feedback. It is one of the teachers' rules in the teaching and learning process, along with the use of media in improving English writing skills among high school students. Further research on media use in teaching English writing should include more students from various levels of schools across Indonesia to provide more comprehensive findings on the topic of interest. Furthermore, comparing various types of media, including internet social media such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatApps, and others, in improving students' writing skills could contribute to the existing literature on media use in teaching and learning. REFERENCES As, A., Wardarita, R., & Wardiah, D. (2021). Improving the ability of writing advertising sentences in students. JPGI (Jurnal Penelitian Guru Indonesia), 6(2), 358. https://doi.org/10.29210/021055jpgi0005 Austen-Leigh, J. E. (2010). Chapter I. In A Memoir of Jane Austen (pp. 1–30). https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511702990.002 ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 48 Babayiǧit, S., & Stainthorp, R. (2010). Componnt processes of early reading, spelling, and narrative writing skills in Turkish: A longitudinal studye. Reading and Writing, 23(5), 539–568. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145- 009-9173-y Brodsky, A.E et all. (2016). Handbook of Methodological Approaches to Community- based Research: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods. Oxford University Press. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (Fifth Edition). United Kingdom: SAGE Publication. Daulay, S. H., Dalimunte, M., & Ningrum, D. W. (2021). The Importance of Linguistics for Teachers in English Language Teaching. ENGLISH FRANCA : Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 5(2), 339. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v5i2.2721 Daulay, S.H, Syaukani, Damanik, ESD., Wandini, RR., & Dinda, J. (2021). The Effectiveness of Beyond Centre and Circle Time Method on the Students ’ Vocabulary Mastery. Paedagoria : Jurnal Kajian, Penelitian Dan Pengembangan Kependidikan., 12(1), 69–74. Daulay, SH., (2019). Teaching Writing Recount Text through Quick on the Draw Strategy. 66th TEFLIN International Conference and English Language Education Expo. Universitas Negeri Medan. ISSN/ISBN. 978-623-92504- 1-6. (86-91). https://teflin.unimed.ac.id/index.php/proceeding/ Daulay, SH., (2011). Introduction to General Linguistics. Medan: La-Tansa Press. ISBN. 978-602- 8992-36-7. Fithriani, R., Dewi, U., Daulay, S. H., Salmiah, M., & Fransiska, W. (2019). Using Facebook in EFL Writing Class: Its Effectiveness from Students’ Perspective. KnE Social Sciences, 2019, 634–645. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i19.4892 Hartig, H. (1962). Aims in Communication Courses. Improving College and University Teaching, 10(4), 187-189. Hutagalung, I. S. (2017). Error Analysis on Students’ Writing of Recount Text at Grade Ten in SMK Negeri 1 Bandar Masilam. Journal of English Teaching as a Foreign …, 1(December), 15. http://ejournal.uhn.ac.id/index.php/jetafl/article/view/139%0Ahttps: //ejournal.uhn.ac.id/index.php/jetafl/article/download/139/266 Ismaili, M. (2013). The Effectiveness of Using Movies in the EFL Classroom – A Study Conducted at South East European University. Academic Journal ELTALL (English language teaching, applied linguistics and Literature) Vol. 4 No. 02, 2023 Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 49 of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2(4), 121–132. https://doi.org/10.5901/ajis.2012.v2n4p121 Keshta, A. S. (2013). The Effectiveness of a Blended Learning Program on Developing Palestinian Tenth Graders’ English Writing Skills. Education Journal, 2(6), 208. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20130206.12 Keraf, G. (2007). Argumentasi dan Narasi. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka. Liu, J. (2010). An Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of Multimedia in College English Teaching. English Language Teaching, 3(1), 191–194. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n1p191 Munir, F. (2016). The effectiveness of teaching vocabulary by using cartoon film toward vocabulary mastery of EFL students. Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, 1(1), 13-37. Naz, A. A. (n.d.). Use of Media for Effective Instruction its Importance : Some Consideration. 18, 35–40. Nurhaeda, I. (2017). Metodologi Penelitian. Kementrian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia, 66, 37–39. O.D, O. (2014). Relevance of Educational Media and Multimedia Technology for Effective Service Delivery in Teaching and Learning Processes. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSRJRME), 4(2), 48–51. https://doi.org/10.9790/7388-04214851 Siahaan, S., & Shinoda, K. (2008). Generic text structure. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 73. Taiwo, S. (2009). Teachers’ perception of the role of media in classroom teaching in secondary schools. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 8(1), 75–83. Xodabande, I. (2017). The effectiveness of social media network telegram in teaching English language pronunciation to Iranian EFL learners. Cogent Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1347081 Yinger, R. J. (1987). Learning the Language of Practice. Curriculum Inquiry, 17(3), 293–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.1987.11075294 Tien Rafida Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia (1) Elsa Septriana Wijaya Nasution Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Indonesia (2) Abstract INTRODUCTION DISCUSSSION