The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 874 Copyright © 2022 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 10, Number 1, June 2022 pp. 874 - 881 The Efficacy of Using Round Table Technique in Teaching Writing Descriptive Text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students Yanpitherszon Liunokas yanpiters69@gmail.com Nusa Cendana University, Kupang NTT Received: 2022-05-23 Accepted: 2022-06-26 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v10i1.2871 Abstract This research aims at finding out the efficacy of using round table technique in teaching writing especially descriptive text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. The main question of this research: Is the use of Round Table technique effective in teaching conditional sentences to Indonesian EFL students?. The research can be an addition to the persisting teaching writing in English particularly the descriptive text through the use of Round Table technique. This research was conducted at First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. The population of this research was First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. The research used a pre-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design. The pre-test was given to find out the basic ability of the students in mastering writing descriptive text and the post-test given to find out the students’ improvement in mastering writing descriptive text after giving the treatment by using round table technique. The findings show that using round table technique is effective in teaching writing descriptive text to Indonesian EFL students. It is supported by the result of the significance test through SPSS 20 program that the P was 0.00. Therefore, it is recommended to use the round table technique in developing students’ writing descriptive of Indonesian EFL students. Keywords: Indonesia EFL students round table technique; teaching writing descriptive text http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 875 Introduction Writing is a difficult skill to be mastered by the students in English classroom. included First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang in writing descriptive text, students need to have some special skills such grammar, vocabulary etc. When the writer did observation in First semester students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang in the 2020/2021 academic year, he found that some of the students do not know how write a correct descriptive text and she found that the students still didn’t understand about the material. Even though the students always learn it before the writer did observation there, they still confused about it. To solve these problems, the English teacher try to apply various teaching techniques, or the teacher has to create class atmosphere of how to encourage student’s writing ability. A teacher plays an important role in teaching and learning process in classroom activities. He or she is responsible to determine the aim of teaching and has to create favorable situation in motivation the students to study. To teach successfully, an English teacher has to use certain strategies to make the students understand the lesson.one of the techniques that can be used by a teacher in teaching writing namely round table technique. According to Barkley, Cross and Major (2005: 245), “round table technique encourages students to adjust their writing (in areas such as content, conventions, style, and vocabulary) as they respond and react to the comments of the writers that preceded them. Round Table technique can be adapted into several kinds of activities. The adaptation is created to meet the goal which should be achieved by the students. David (in Barkley, Cross and Major, 2005: 244) offers several ideas that are well suited for adaptation to Round Table as follows: Brainstorm, Complete “truth statements”, Write out a list of key points , Respond to a prompt, Jot down a few phrases, Construct a “storyboard”, and Identify evidence. In this study, the researcher chose to use Construct a “storyboard” as an adaptation to the use of Round Table technique. Round Table technique also encourages students to be active in learning process. Barkley, Cross and Major (2005: 243) state that the structure requires all students to post, and limits some group members from posting too frequently. It means that in Round Table every student needs to contribute their ideas for the group’s task. It also provides an opportunity where the students can get feedback on their task both from their friends and teacher. According to Barkley, Cross and Major (2005: 245), “round table technique encourages students to adjust their writing (in areas such as content, conventions, style, and vocabulary) as they respond and react to the comments of the writers that preceded them.” This technique concerns more on the process of writing which brings advantages to students. According to Raimes (1983:11), the process of writing is a valuable learning tool for all of our students. Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Table Technique in Teaching Writing Descriptive Text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 876 Based on the situation the researcher is interested in conducting a research under the topic “the efficacy of using round table technique in teaching writing descriptive text. to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) students” ,as a result in real situation he does not find an adequate and appropriate strategy teaching writing to the English Study Program students of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang it may be caused by most English teachers still teach by using conventional method in teaching writing. Therefore, it is very important to provide an alternative technique to improve student; it is assumed that using round table technique might for improve the students’ ability in writing. From the background of the study, the researcher formulated the research questions such as below: Does the use round table technique improve the ability in writing descriptive text of students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. Then, the researcher formulates the objective of the research as follows: To find out the effectiveness of using round tables technique in improving the ability in writing descriptive text of students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. This research is expected to be useful information for teacher and the students about teaching writing descriptive text by the students through round table technique. Also, it is expected to be a reference for the next researcher who wants to do a research about writing descriptive text. Method In this research, the researcher applied a pre-experimental method. Pre- experimental design used pre-test and post-test where pre-test was held before treatment and post-test after treatment. The design of the research is as follow: O1 X O2 Where: O1 = pre-test IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 877 X = treatment O2 = post-test (Best 1997:103) The population of this research was students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. In determining the sample of this research. The researcher took 24 students as sample of this research. The writer used writing test to measure the students’ ability in mastering descriptive text. The data was collected by using the procedure below: 1. Giving Pre-test Firstly, the researcher introduced himself to the students and explained purpose of her coming in their class. The researcher gave pre-test to the students to measure the skill of the students before giving treatment. 2. Giving Treatment The researcher conducted the treatment to the students for sixth meetings by round table technique in teaching conditional sentences. the steps as follows: (1) Before: in this stage, teacher needs to follow engage instruct-initiate sequence. It is to give understanding to the students about what they are going to do and when they have to finish their task. (2) During: while students are working in group, teacher can keep an eye on what happening and decide whether need to approach students or not. (3) After: teacher gives feedback after students finish their work. 3. Giving Post-test The students were given the same activity in the pre-test after the treatment. The researcher gave writing test and asked the students to answer. It aimed at finding out the students’ability in writing skill after giving treatment. In analyzing data, the researcher giving score to the students based on the result of their writing test in pretest and posttest. The last step of the data analysis was the hypothesis testing. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t- test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Results From the result data analysis, shows that the mean score of the student’s pretest was 40 and the mean score of posttests was 75 It means that using reciprocal teaching technique in teaching reading can enhance the students’ achievement especially for the students’ writing skill. From the statistical analysis, the researcher concludes that there is a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ writing ability through round table technique as a way to deliver learning material. round table Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Table Technique in Teaching Writing Descriptive Text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 878 technique is effective in enhancing the students’ writing ability. Based on the describing above, the researcher concludes that one of important point that teacher should accommodate he/she should give full the attention especially in writing skill. Therefore, in teaching writing one of technique that the teacher may use this technique in teaching, especially in writing or constructing ideas is greatly expected to make the students easier in generating and expressing their idea in different mode and sense. After calculating the result of the students’ pretest, the mean score and standard deviation of both groups are presented in following table: Pretest Posttest Mean 30 68 Standard dev. 8.30 10.49 Max 43 64 Min 21 37 The data shows the mean score of the student’s pretest was 40 and the mean score of posttests was 75. Standard deviation of pretest was 8.22 and the standard deviation of posttest was 11.27. It means that using CLT teaching technique in teaching writing can enhance the students’ achievement in writing descriptive text. The hypothesis was tested by using inferential statistics. In this case, the researcher used t-test (testing of significance) for paired sample t-test, that is, a test to know the significance difference between the result of students’ mean score in pretest and posttest. Assuming that the level of significance (𝛼) = 0.05, the only thing which is needed; the degree of freedom (df) = N – 1, where N = 25, then the t-test is 10.81 P is 0.00 From the analysis, the researcher concluded that there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest in enhancing the students’ writing ability trough pair work technique as a way to deliver learning process. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05) with degree of freedom (df)= N- IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 879 1, where (N) = 25, df = 24. The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it indicated that the alternative hypothesis (H1) was accepted and the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected. It means that round table technique is effective in enhancing the students’ writing ability especially descriptive text. Discussion Based on the result of data analysis, the researcher found out that the use of round table technique is effective in developing students’ competence in writing skill at the students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang in the 2020/2021 academic year. Actually, there are some techniques that we can use to teach writing but the researcher using round table technique technique, moreover the application of CLT gave good effect in enhancing the students’ skill in writing. Based on the data collected, using round table technique in teaching writing can enhance the students’ achievement. It was proved by students’ score on the writing test. All students’ score was improved after conducting the treatment through round table technique. The result of this research is supported by Harmer (2001:207) as cited in Mulya (2016:79) defines round table technique as a way of increasing students’ participation and language use. This technique can be used in enormous number activities whether speaking, reading, or writing. The results of this hypothesis are consistent with the previous researches. Lightbown and Spada (1990) conducted a research on 100 native speakers of French language (aged 10–12 years). Participants of this study had already got training of ESL for a period of five months. Study concluded that round table technique brings higher scores in language classes. Spada (1997) did the same study with native learners from Span. Fotos (1994) explored word order tasks in his study and found that these tasks successfully promote the proficiency gains and L2 interaction in the learners. Wong and Marlys (2012) in their study on the L2 teacher’s perceptions and implementations with regard to round table technique found that the college level teachers in Southern United States adopt CLT for explicit grammar instructions for good outcome. Richards and Rodgers (2014) and Rodgers (2001) recommend the round table technique for teaching in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) classes as they notice the positive results of this approach being used by most L2 teachers in their classrooms. This research has shown that round table technique can increase the students’ ability in mastering writing skills. So, in teaching writing, the students should be taught with round table technique that will be a useful situation where the students can share their knowledge and support their pair in mastering writing in English. Yanpitherszon Liunokas The Efficacy of Using Round Table Technique in Teaching Writing Descriptive Text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students 880 Conclusion The researcher concludes that the use of round table technique is effective in developing students’ competence in mastering writing skill of students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. It was proven by there was a significant difference between the students’ mean score of pretest and posttest. The result of statistical analysis for level of significance (p=0.05). The probability value was smaller than α (0.00<0.05). it indicated that there is significant differences between the result of pre-test and post-test after giving treatment in improving students’ competence in mastering writing skills through applying round table technique to the students of the English Study Program of Nusa Cendana University, Kupang. References Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P. & Major, C. H. 2005. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. San Fransisco: Jossey- Bass. Brookes, A. & Grundy, P. 1991. Beginning to Write: Writing activities for elementary and intermediate learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Budiningsih, Asri. 2005. Belajar dan Pembelajaran. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta. Dunbar, C. 2004. Best Practices in Classroom Management (A Report). 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