The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 26 Copyright © 2023 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 11, Number 1, June 2023 pp. 26 - 35 The Effect of Using Controlled Writing Technique and Clustering Technique on Students’ Writing Skills at Junior High School Erika Sinambela1, Dorayanti Lumban Gaol2, Sahlan Tampubolon3, Arsen Nahum Pasaribu4 arsen.pasaribu@uhn.ac.id 1,2,3 Universitas HKBP Nommensen, Medan, Sumatera Utara Received: 2022-10-11 Accepted: 2023-04-03 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v11i1.3056 Abstract This study deals with the effect of using controlled writing technique and clustering technique on students’ writing skill. This study used an experimental quantitative research that incriminating three classes were experimental 1 class, experimental 2 class and control class, in the experimental class the writer applied controlled writing technique and Clustering technique while in controlled class applied conventional technique. The populations of this study were the students’ class of VII of SMP St. Ignasius Medan. The researcher used 75 students as the sample. The sample of this research was taken by using random sampling technique, 25 from VII-1 and 25 VII-2 as experimental class and 25 from VII-3 as controlled class. To obtain the data the researcher used writing test, as the instrument for collecting the data. These test consisted of two types, namely pre-test and post-test. As the result of the ANOVA test, P= 0.000 < 0.05 or F count = 23.40 > F table = 2.28 significant affect. It means that hypothesis alternative (Ha) was accepted while the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected. The experimental class 1 and 2 scored higher than the control class, according to the results of the study. Controlled writing technique and clustering technique are both successful in boosting writing descriptive text, according to the result. The statistics also indicate that the clustering technique outperforms the controlled writing technique. Keywords: Controlled Writing Technique; Clustering Technique; Writing Skill; Descriptive Text http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 mailto:arsen.pasaribu@uhn.ac.id IDEAS, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 2023 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 27 Introduction Teaching writing is the process in which teachers have to give writing direction to the students, practice, and work with the language they have been studying (Harmer, 2011; 2001). Teaching writing requires additional preparation in order to pique the students' interest. Teachers must also provide feedback on content and construction in order to improve students' writing and evaluate them by highlighting where they write well and where they make mistakes. Raimes, (1983:3) states that writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that teachers have been teaching. The reasons writing to the students of English as a foreign language are for reinforcement, language development, learning style, and most importantly, writing is a basic skill. That is why, writing becomes and essential skill to be learnt. In the teaching writing of 2013 curriculum for grade seven , one of the competence standards of writing skill expects the students are able to compose very short and simple spoken and written descriptive texts, related to people, animals, and objects, taking into account social functions, text structures, and linguistic elements, correctly and in context. Descriptive text is a text to describe a particular person, place, or thing in detail. Students find it difficult to learn descriptive text because they must write on a topic assigned by the teacher. They must express their thoughts in writing. Based on the researcher's experience in teaching writing in SMP St. Ignasius Medan, besides other three language skills (Bakara & Pasaribu, 2022; Khadijah & Pasaribu, 2022; Tampubolon & Pasaribu, 2022; Ginting, Manik, Sinambela, & Pasaribu, 2021). There are some problems in the field: (1) the students have difficulties in writing a descriptive text. (2) The students are hard to understand how to get the idea especially on writing a generic structure of descriptive text. (identification and description). (3) The students are lack of motivation to learn, lack of vocabularies, and lack of understanding grammatical structures. (4) Most teachers do not provide many opportunities for students to practice and improve their writing skills. (5) Most teachers do not provide many opportunities for students to practice and improve their writing skills. Marzelia (2014:1-14) found that the using clustering technique is effective in improving the students’ skill in writing Hortatory Exposition Text. Another previous study was done by Nisa and Suharjito using controlled writing technique improving the writing skill. The motivation of SMP Negeri 1 Tempurejo students to explore their ideas in written descriptive text is lacking. The findings of this study indicate that the controlled writing technique is an effective method for increasing students' proficiency in English writing, particularly descriptive text. Raimes (1983:95), states that, unlike free writing, controlled writing takes place when learners are supplied with “a great deal of the content and/or form such as an outline to complete, a paragraph to manipulate, a model to follow, or a passage to continue”. Controlled writing is a technique in teaching writing in which the great Erika Sinambela, Dorayanti Lumban Gaol, Sahlan Tampubolon, Arsen Nahum Pasaribu The Effect of Using Controlled Writing Technique and Clustering Technique on Students’ Writing Skills at Junior High School 28 deal of the content or form is supplied to the students. Free writing is defined as writing that is not guided or strictly controlled. Another opinion, Langan (2008:19) argues that in questioning, you can generate ideas and details by asking question about your subject. Based on the opinion above, It can be concluded that the controlled writing, especially question and answer type can give some guidance to the students to write a paragraph in an essay way, so the students will not think that writing is complicated. According to the preceding theory, controlled writing Technique is a technique where students generate, organize, and express their own ideas, in their own sentences. Controlled writing can give benefits at all levels of teaching and not just in the early stages before students have the ability to compose free writing. Clustering is the result of active design mind participation in the writing process, which brings to the writing process the awareness of having grouped together, connected, and related elements of an idea from the infinite possibilities available to our brain. Rico (2000:5) observed that when students express their ideas, their papers may resemble in figure 2.1. The model above shows that this writer had the most ideas about the first house he lived in as a child. When he thought about his house more, he remembered a stairway and a mysterious lady at the top. The large number of circles in the stairway indicates that he or she has many ideas about it, which leads him or her to choose it as the topic of the writing. Clustering technique is a powerful tool or technique that assists writers in organizing, generating, and developing their ideas in order to produce good writing. According to Rico (2000:5), clustering teaching technique is a technique for touching the mental life of the day dream, random thought, image, and sensation by passing the writer's logical, orderly sign-mind consciousness. Furthermore, clustering is another method for managing and narrowing down the topic for a short essay from an expansive subject (Buscemi, 2002). According to Wyrick (2011), clustering assists learners in gathering important details on specific topics and emphasizing what they want to write or describe in their writing. Based on the theory expert above clustering the researcher conclude that technique is a technique for condensing a broad subject into a more focused and manageable topic for a short essay or text. It is a technique for coming up with ideas for writing. It's also referred to as diagramming, webbing, looping, or mapping. Method This study was conducted by using a quantitative approach with an experimental design. This study used a 2 x 2 factorial design because it looked at more than one variable. There were two independent variables in this study: the first is teaching techniques, which were of two types: controlled writing technique and clustering teaching techniques as a Cooperative Learning, and the second was personal traits, which were extrovert and introvert. The students' writing IDEAS, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 2023 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 29 achievement was the dependent variable. As a result, the research design was two- way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). Table 1. Research Design Groups Pre-test Treatment Post-test Experimental Class 1 √ Controlled Writing Technique √ Experimental Class 2 √ Clustering Technique √ Control Class √ - √ The populations of this research were all students grade seven in SMP St.Ignasius Medan which consists of 100 students and divided in three classes. The following table describes the number of the seventh-grade students at SMP St. Ignasius Medan. The sampling technique cluster sampling. It was one of the sampling techniques in which sampling unit which were not identified independently but in group. It is supported by Arikunto (2012) explanations explains that cluster sampling involves grouping the population and then selecting the groups or the clusters rather than individual elements for inclusion in the sample. Results The total mean of pre-test in controlled technique class was 60.6 and the total mean of post-test in controlled technique class was 79.6. While in clustering class the mean of pre-test was 49,5 and the mean of post-test was 73.7. In control class the total calculated means score in pre-test was 65.5 and post-test 74.4. Based on the table explanation the mean score students in pre-test is lower than the mean score in the post-test, students have increased grades after the post-test. Table 2 The Calculation of the Pre-Test and Post-Test in Experimental and Control Group No Pre-test (Controlle d) Post-test (Controll ed) Pre-test (Clustering ) Post-test (Clustering ) Pre-test (Conventio nal) Post-test (Convent ional) 1 60 65 35 55 79 85 2 75 95 40 60 60 65 3 60 80 55 80 68 75 4 65 81 35 76 55 60 5 50 68 50 78 73 80 6 45 60 40 75 80 85 7 65 81 40 75 75 85 8 70 83 60 95 75 80 9 45 70 50 78 48 60 10 45 90 38 70 70 75 Erika Sinambela, Dorayanti Lumban Gaol, Sahlan Tampubolon, Arsen Nahum Pasaribu The Effect of Using Controlled Writing Technique and Clustering Technique on Students’ Writing Skills at Junior High School 30 11 80 90 40 85 83 90 12 50 80 50 86 85 90 13 50 60 70 78 68 75 14 63 85 55 70 80 87 15 66 90 60 80 75 80 16 60 78 40 60 75 86 17 45 97 50 80 65 75 18 80 95 60 75 60 70 19 63 68 60 70 50 60 20 55 65 50 70 45 60 21 82 96 50 65 65 70 22 35 60 45 65 70 75 23 50 75 60 75 70 78 24 81 90 55 75 40 50 25 75 90 50 70 50 60 ME AN 60.6 79.6 49.5 73.7 65.5 74.4 Then the normality and homogeneity test is carried out, normally testing is done using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The following are the criteria for making decisions: 1. If the value of Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) > a significance level of 0.05 0r 5%, and then the data is normally distributed. 2. If value of Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) & lt is a significance level of 0.05 or 5%, and then the data are not normally distributed. 3. Table 2 Test of Normality Tests of Normality Kelas Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statisti c df Sig. Statisti c df Sig. Hasil Belajar Pre test Experiment 1 (controlled technique) .145 25 .184 .948 25 .227 Post test Experiment 1 (controlled technique) .160 25 .096 .922 25 .057 IDEAS, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 2023 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 31 Pre test Experiment 2 (clustering technique) .166 25 .073 .935 25 .115 Post test Experiment 2 (clustering technique) .152 25 .138 .969 25 .620 Pre test control class .146 25 .181 .940 25 .146 Post test control class .167 25 .070 .932 25 .098 Based on the table 2 above, the score of Smirnov Sig. for data of pre-test- controlled writing technique was 0.184 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution, then the score of Smirnov Sig for data of post-test-controlled writing technique was 0.96 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution, then the score of Smirnov Sig. for data of pre-test clustering technique was 0.73 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution, the score of Smirnov Sig. for data of post-test clustering technique was 0.138 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution, then the score of Smirnov Sig for data of pre-test control class was 0.81 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution, and also the score of Smirnov Sig. for data of post –test control class was 0.70 > 0.05, it means the data had normal distribution. The homogeneity test was carried out using the Levene test. The following are the criteria for making decisions: 1. If the value is Sig. & gt; a significance level of 0.05 or 5%, then the data is homogeneous. 2. If the value is Sig. & significance level of 0.05 or 5%, then the data is not homogeneous. Table 3 Test of Homogeneity of Variances Test of Homogeneity of Variances Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. Hasil Belajar Based on Mean 1.841 5 144 .109 Based on Median 1.658 5 144 .149 Based on Median and with adjusted df 1.658 5 134.724 .149 Based on trimmed mean 1.756 5 144 .126 Based on the table above, the statistical coefficient value of Levene F = 1.56 and p = Erika Sinambela, Dorayanti Lumban Gaol, Sahlan Tampubolon, Arsen Nahum Pasaribu The Effect of Using Controlled Writing Technique and Clustering Technique on Students’ Writing Skills at Junior High School 32 0.126., It means the p > 0.05, and based on the criteria for making decisions If the value is Sig. & gt; a significance level of 0.05 or 5%, then the data is homogeneous. After the homogeneity and normality assumption tests are met, so that the test was continued by using ANOVA test Table 4 Test of ANOVA ANOVA Learning Results Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 15142.433 5 3028.487 23.404 .000 Within Groups 18633.760 144 129.401 Total 33776.193 149 F count = 23.40 F table = 2.28 F count = 23.40 > F table = 2.28. It means Ho was rejected, meaning that there was a difference in writing achievement between students who are taught controlled writing technique and clustering technique. Or Significance level 0.05 The significance of the test results p = 0.000, P= 0.000 < 0.05. It means Ho was rejected, meaning that there was a difference in in writing achievement between students who are taught controlled writing technique and clustering technique. The Validity of the Research In this research the writer used content validity to saw the students' score in speaking. The writer used content validity to find out the score on speaking assessment. The writer used several types to find out the score of the students' speaking achievement there are accent, grammatical, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension in the table 5. Table 5 Validity Content Score Percentage Pronunciation Grammatical Vocabulary Fluency Comprehension 20 % 20 % 20 % 20 % 20 % Testing Hypothesis Testing hypothesis was done to find out whether it was rejected or accepted. There was a rule of testing hypothesis. If the hypothesis was accepted if F observe > IDEAS, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 2023 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 33 F table and the hypothesis was rejected if F observe >F table. After got the result of F observe, where 23.40 was higher than F table 2.28. It shows that Ha was accepted and Ho was rejected. It can be concluded the controlled writing technique and the clustering technique were accepted and these techniques can affect students’ achievement in writing descriptive text on the seventh-grade students in SMP St. Ignasius Medan. Discussion Regarding on the result of data analysis, it was found that Controlled Writing technique is effective to teach recount text. The previous research had proved that Controlled Writing technique can be effective. Based on the first previous research the Controlled Writing technique was used in teaching speaking ability the research conducted by using experimental research and the second previous research the Controlled Writing technique used in teaching reading skill this research aim at describing the implementation of Controlled Writing technique. Based on the two previous research the Controlled Writing technique not only used for teaching writing, the result of the test its depend on how teacher convey the material good or not and how about the students conditions in English also can influenced the result of the test. Based on the test result, the Controlled Writing technique was more effective in teaching writing. The result of this research showed that there was effect of students score both pre-test and post-test. The hypothesis (Ho) was rejected and alternative hypothesis was accepted. It means that the use of technique significantly effective because students showed the improvement test result. Based on the result, the factors that the process of learning English used presentation practice production technique teaching writing recount text was more effective. This technique helped students understanding of text because there was that made students easier in learning process. The first stage focused on teacher transfer material for learners in this stage the students' focused about the material, in second stage focused on teacher and students working and interacting together put new material into practice, and last stages focused students demonstrating their ability to teacher so the teacher observe the individual have learned and which students need additional support was proved the result the students treatment than before giving the treatment. writers hopes this technique help the teachers process teaching recount text because this technique more effective transfer new material the students, by apply technique in learning process make teacher and students have a good interactions because there was stages make them interact and work together learning, and the advantages use this technique make teacher more understand about the students condition in learning process. Erika Sinambela, Dorayanti Lumban Gaol, Sahlan Tampubolon, Arsen Nahum Pasaribu The Effect of Using Controlled Writing Technique and Clustering Technique on Students’ Writing Skills at Junior High School 34 Conclusion The result of this research shows that controlled Writing technique and clustering technique significantly affect to improve the students' ability in writing descriptive text. It can be seen at the conclusion of this thesis that is: 1. There is affect positive of using controlled technique and clustering technique to improve student’s achievement in writing descriptive text of the first-grade students of SMP St. Ignasius Medan in the academic year of 2012/2023. It shows by means of pre-test and post-test in experimental 1 and experimental 2 classes and control classes. It means the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted and null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected. Thus, it can be concluded that using controlled technique and clustering technique significantly effects the students' achievement in writing recount text. 2. There is any significant effect of using controlled writing technique and clustering technique to improve student's achievement in writing recount text of the first- grade students of SMP St. Ignasius Medan the academic years of 2012/2023. It shown by the result of calculation the formula of ANOVA. References Arikunto, Suharsimi. (2012). Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta. Bakara, J., & Pasaribu, A. N. (2022). The Implementation of Cooperative Learning by Using a Jigsaw Technique in Speaking to the Grade XI Students of SMK Negeri 9 Medan. Jurnal Ilmiah Aquinas, 5 (1), 10-23. https://doi.org/10.54367/aquinas.v5i1.1552 Buscemi, S. V., (2002). A Reader for Developing Writers. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.14. Ginting, G., Manik, S., Sinambela, E., & Pasaribu, A. N. (2021). 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