IMPROVING WRITING SKILL OF THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP PGRI 8 DENPASAR IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018 THROUGH MIND MAPPING

The purpose of this study was to know whether or not writing skill of the eighth grade students of SMP PGRI 8 Denpasar in academic year 2017/2018 can be improved through mind mapping. The researcher used classroom action research design in this study. The subjects were the eighth grade students of SMP PGRI 8 Denpasar in academic year 2017/2018 that consisted of 30 students. In the present study, the researcher used some instruments to collect the data, namely: a pre-test, post-tests, and questionnaire. The researcher conducted a classroom action research in which the study was divided into two cycles (cycle I and II). Each cycle consisted of two sessions. Pre-test was conducted to know the students’ mean score which was still low. The researcher then continued the research by conducting cycle I. The results of cycle I showed that mind mapping could improve the subjects’ writing ability. It could be seen from the increasing mean scores of cycle I and cycle II. The result of the questionnaire analysis showed positive responses of the subjects on the implementation of mind mapping in teaching writing. It could be concluded that writing skill of the eighth grade students of SMP PGRI 8 Denpasar in academic year 2017/2018 can be improved through mind mapping.