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Vol. 1, No. 2, October 2020 

e-ISSN: 2723-4126 
 

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Using Story Mapping Technique in Teaching Writing Skills at 
SMAN 1 Palopo 

 
1Ashar Daung Allo, 2Wahibah, and 3Magfirah Thayyib  

1,2.3Institut Agama Islam Negeri Palopo (IAIN Palopo), Palopo, Indonesia 
asharplp22@gmail.com1  

*wahibah@iainpalopo.ac.id2 

magfirah_thayyib@iainpalopo.ac.id3  

 
ABSTRACT 

The purpose of this research was to find out whether the use of story mapping technique 
effective to improve students’ writing recount text at the first grade of SMAN 1 Palopo. This 
research applied quasi experimental. The research was carried out in two classes, 
experimental and control classes. The population of this research was the first grade 
students of SMAN 1 Palopo. The samples of this research were Class X MIPA 2 as a control 
class and Class X IPA 3 as experimental class. The sampling technique in this research was 
random sampling. The instrument of this research was writing test. The writer gave pretest 
and posttest to the students. The data was analyzed by using SPSS 20.The result of this 
research showed that the use of story mapping technique in teaching writing recount text 
is effective. It could be seen from the result of calculation that the students’ score in 
experimental class which was higher than students’ score in control class. The mean score 
of posttest in experimental class was higher than the mean score of pretest 
(76.7667>61.6667). While in control class the mean score of posttest was also higher than 
the mean score of pretest (71.0667>67.8000). It means that there was significant difference 
between the students’ score in teaching writing recount text by using story mapping 
technique and students’ score in teaching writing recount text without using story 
mapping technique at the first grade of SMAN 1 Palopo.  
Key Words: Writing, Technique, Recount Text. 
 
INTRODUCTION 

English is very important in daily life. As an international language, it plays an 
important role in communication which many people are involved in. English has many 
connections with various aspects of human being. There are four skills that have to be 
mastered. They are speaking, writing, reading and listening. Listening and reading are 
receptive skills, because student just receive and understand language without producing 
it. These skills are known as passive skills. On the other hand, speaking and writing are 
productive skills because students are producing a language. They are also known as 
active skills (Irvy, 2020). Writing is a skill that must be improved by the students. In the 
process of teaching and learning writing, some teachers do not know how to teach writing 
appropriately (Yahya et al., 2020). The teacher usually only asks the students to write as 
much as possible without knowing how to make the students do the instruction. This fact 
motivated the researchers to focus on encouraging the students to write recount text or 
to tell stories of their past experience in the written form (Anwar et al., 2020). 

However not all students can adopt the methods used by the teacher. Learning with 
the same technique make students bored and have no idea to write. That is why teachers 
must master various methods and creativity in teaching in order to assist student in 
learning process. There are many factors affecting the students in writing. The difficulty 

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to get ideas, low in grammar skills, lacked of vocabulary are the problem in the classroom. 
These problems are the causes of students’ poor writing ability. The activities done by the 
teacher did not encourage the students to learn and write more. The teacher usually just 
asks the students to write based on the instruction, but it is very difficult for them to write 
directly in an empty paper. Asking the students to rearrange words into sentences or 
sentences into paragraphs cannot stimulate their willingness to write (Anggraeni et al., 
2020). Based on the observation in SMAN 1 Palopo that had been done and had been 
explained above, the low writing ability was affected by some factors and that would be 
impossible to analyze all of them one by one in this research. Story mapping is the best 
solution to solve students 'problems in writing recount text, because it greatly facilitates 
students in organizing students' stories into a mapping. 
 
METHODS 

The research applied a quasi-experimental design. The research involved in two 
groups, experimental and control group. The experimental group received treatment by 
using story mapping technique, the control group received treatment by using 
conventional method.  

 

Group Pre Treatment Post 

Treatment class 
Control class 

O1 

O2 

X O3 

O4 

Where: 
Treatment class : Experimental method 
Control class  : Conventional method 
O1   : Result of Pre-test (in experimental method) 

O2   : Result of Pre-test (in conventional method) 

X    : Treatment (story mapping technique for treatment class) 
O3   : Result of Post-test (in experimental method) 
O4   : Result of Post-test (in conventional method). 

 
Variable 

This research consists of two variables. Dependent variable is ability of the student 
in writing recount text. Independent variable is story mapping technique 
 
Population and sample  

The writer took the first grade students of SMAN 1 Palopo as a population. The 
writer took two classes as sample, X MIA 2 and X MIA 3 of SMAN 1 Palopo academic year 
2019/2020. There were 60 students (30 students of control class and 30 students of 
experimental class). Random sampling was used to take a sample of this research 
 
Research Instrument 

The data collected by using writing test. The writer used writing recount text to know ability 
of the students in English before and after giving treatment. The writing test is about their 
experiences in the most memorable experience. 

 
Technique of Data Analysis 

The data were analyzed by using Statistical Produce and Service Solution (SPSS) ver. 

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20 for windows. it would be tabulated into independent sample test, mean score, standard 
deviation, and standard error deviation. 
 
RESULTS 

The students score of experimental class 
Table 1. the students’ pre-test result in experimental class 

Classification Score frequency Percentage 
Excellent 90-100 0 0% 

Good 80-89 0 0% 
Adequate 70-79 8 26.66% 

Inadequate 60-69 12 40% 
Unacceptable Below 60 10 33.33% 

Table 1 shows that there are 30 students observed in experimental class before 
giving treatment. There are eight students (26.66%) who get adequate score, twelve 
students (40%) who get inadequate score, ten students (33.33%) who get unacceptable 
score.  
   

Table 2. the students’ post-test result in experimental class 
Classification Score Frequency Percentage 

Excellent 90-100 6 20% 
Good 80-89 5 16.66% 

Adequate 70-79 12 40 % 
Inadequate 60-69 7 23.33% 

Unacceptable Below 60 0 0% 

The table shows that there are 30 students observed in experimental class after 
giving treatment. There are six students (20%) who get excellent score, five students 
(16.66%) who get good score, twelve students (40%) who get adequate score, seven 
students (23.33%) who get inadequate score. 
 
The students score in control class 

 

Table 3. The students’ pre-test result in control class 
Classification Score Frequency Percentage 

Excellent 90-100 0 0% 
Good 80-89 1 3.33% 

Adequate 70-79 13 43.33% 
Inadequate 60-69 12 40% 

Unacceptable Below 60 4 13.33% 
Table 3 shows that there are 30 students observed in control class before teaching 

without using story mapping technique. There is one student (3.33%) who got good 
score, thirteen students (43.33%) who get adequate score, twelve students (40%) who 
get inadequate score, five students (13.33%) who get unacceptable score. 

 
Table 4. The students’ post-test result in control class 

Classification Score Frequency Percentage 
Excellent 90-100 1 3.33% 

Good 80-89 3 10% 
Adequate 70-79 13 43.33% 

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Inadequate 60-69 11 36.66% 
Unacceptable Below 60 2 6.66% 
Table 4 shows that there are 30 students observed in control class after teaching 

using conventional method. There is one student (3.33%) who get excellent score, three 
students (10%) who get good score, thirteen students (43.33%) who get adequate score, 
eleven students (36.66%) who get inadequate score, two students (6.66%) who get 
unacceptable score. 

 
The students’ mean score in pre-test and post-test and post-test in experimental 
class and control class 

Table 5. The mean score and standard deviation of students’ pre-test and post-test in 
control class 

 

Descriptive Statistics 

 

N Minimum Maximum Sum Mean 
Std. 

Deviation 

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic 
Std. 

Error 
Statistic 

Pretest 30 48.00 82.00 2034.00 67.8000 1.47967 8.10449 

Posttest 30 55.00 90.00 2132.00 71.0667 1.60955 8.81587 

Valid N 
(listwise) 

30       

 
Table 6. The mean score and standard deviation of students’ pre-test and post-test 

 in experimental class 
 

Descriptive Statistics 

 
N Min. Max. Sum Mean 

Std. 
Deviation 

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic 

Pretest 30 42.00 78.00 1850.00 61.6667 1.72162 9.42972 

Posttest 30 61.00 93.00 2303.00 76.7667 1.64190 8.99304 

Valid N 
(listwise) 

30       

Table 5 and table 6 show that the distinction between the pre-test and post-test 
mean score and standard deviation. The scores of control class after teaching using 
conventional method show good progress from 82 becomes 90 and the scores of 
experimental class after giving treatment (using story mapping) show very good progress 
from 78 becomes 93. The standard deviation of control class in pre-test and post-test is 
8.81 and the standard deviation of experimental class in pre-test and post-test is 8.99. To 
know whether the control class and experimental class are significantly different, and 
also to know acceptability of hypothesis of this research, the researcher use test analysis 
and calculate it by using SPSS 20. The result could be shown in the table of group statistic 
and independent sample test. 

 
 

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The calculation of t-test pre-test and post-test in experimental and control class 
 

Table 7. the probability value of t-test of pre-test in experimental and control classes 

Independent Samples Test 

 

Levene's 
Test for 
Equality 

of 
Variances 

t-test for Equality of Means 

F Sig. T Df 
Sig. 
(2-

tailed) 

Mean 
Difference 

Std. Error 
Difference 

95% Confidence 
Interval of the 

Difference 
Lower Upper 

score 

Equal 
variances 
assumed 

.966 .330 2.702 58 .009 6.13333 2.27011 1.58921 10.67746 

Equal 
variances 

not 
assumed 

  2.702 56.719 .009 6.13333 2.27011 1.58702 10.67964 

Table 7 show that the mean score of difference between control class and experimental 
class did not have significant difference 

 
Table 8. The probability value of t-test of post-test in experimental and control class 

Independent Samples Test 

 

Levene's 
Test for 
Equality 

of 
Variances 

t-test for Equality of Means 

F Sig. t Df 
Sig. 
(2-

tailed) 

Mean 
Difference 

Std. Error 
Difference 

95% Confidence 
Interval of the 

Difference 

Lower Upper 

Score 

Equal 
variances 
assumed 

.026 .872 
-

3.185 
58 .002 -7.30000 2.29212 

-
11.88818 

-
2.71182 

Equal 
variances 

not 
assumed 

  
-

3.185 
57.989 .002 -7.30000 2.29212 

-
11.88820 

-
2.71180 

The table 8 show that the probability value was lower than alpha (α) (0.002 < 0.05) 
which means that there is significant difference in post-test. It indicated that the 
alternative hypothesis (H1) is accept and the null hypothesis (H0) is reject it show that 
the use of story mapping strategy effective to improve the students’ writing and give 
significantly contribution the students’ writing skill.   
 
 
 

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DISCUSSION 

There are five items of writing assessment that is used by the researcher to analyze 
the data namely content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics. Based 
on the students’ score in pretest, for both experimental and control class had a little 
different significant before giving treatment. Students’ score of both classes in post test 
had significantly difference. In experimental class, there is item had significant result in 
writing between pre-test and post-test. Organization criteria in pre-test, the data shows 
that most of students got good to average score. There are thirteen students who got good 
to average score, eleven students who got fair to poor score, six students who got very 
poor score. Organization criteria in post-test, the data shows that most of students got 
good to average score. There are seven students who got excellent to very good score, 
nineteen students who got good to average score, four students who got fair to poor score. 
This is because students found it easier to group storyline from the beginning, the middle, 
and ending, because they had already been made their own storyline in the story mapping 
technique. 

Based on result of the data analysis above shows that use story mapping technique 
effective to improve students’ writing skill, it can be seen on the table before after giving 
treatments continually (by using story mapping technique) the mean score students’ 
experimental class is 77.90 while students’ control class is treat by conventional teaching 
or teaching without using story mapping technique is 71.06. Besides that, the students 
score in post test of experimental class is higher than the students score in post test of 
control class that is 96>90. It means that after giving treatment using story mapping 
technique is better than teaching without using story mapping technique. Pertaining to 
the result of the research, it is consisted with the theory proposed by Li (2007) who says 
story mapping is used to help the students to plan their writing because a story map contains the 
components of a story such as settings, events, and re-orientation. This practically can be their 
guidance to process their ideas before writing a well-organized text. ( Li, 2007) 

In fact, teaching writing recount text by using story mapping technique at SMAN 1 Palopo, 
the students got significant improvement in their score writing recount text. Therefore, it could 
be stated that story mapping technique in teaching learning of writing have solved the students’ 
writing problem and increase the students’ writing skill for the first grade of the students at SMAN 

1 Palopo. So, the hypothesis proposed in this research which says ‘’story mapping 
technique effective to improve the student ability to write recount text’’ is accepted. 

 
CONCLUSION 

Based on the findings and discussion that had been presented in the previous 
chapter, it can be concluded that there is significant differences in learning result of the 
students who learned writing through story mapping technique with the students who 
took the learning with conventional method. Based on the data analysis the probability 
value was lower than alpha (α) (0.002 < 0.05) which means that there is significant 
difference in post-test. It indicated that the alternative hypothesis (H1) is accept and the 
null hypothesis (H0) is reject it show that the use of story mapping strategy effective to 
improve the students’ writing and give significantly contribution the students’ writing 
skill. The mean score of post-test was higher than the mean score of pre-test 
(76.7667>61.6667). While in control class, the mean score of post test was also higher 
than the mean score of pretest that (71.0667>67.8000). Based on data analysis it can 
concluded that teaching writing recount text by using story mapping technique is 

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effective to improve the students’ ability. It can be proved that the students score in 
experimental class higher than students in control class. 
 
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