Improving Writing Skill through ESA combined with Picture of the Seventh-grade Students of SMPN 2 Ubud in Academic Year 2023/2024

Writing is a special skill for academic and workplace success. Writing allows students to explore and develop their ideas. Preliminary investigation revealed that most of her VII C students in SMPN 2 Ubud had problems with their writing in her 2023/2024 academic year. They found it difficult to organize their ideas into well-organized paragraphs. Furthermore, the purpose of the study was to find out whether the writing ability of her seventh-grade students in SMPN 2 Ubud could be improved by the implementation of ESA. Therefore, to achieve this specific purpose, the researcher conducted classroom action research conducted in two cycles. Research instruments: tests and questionnaires. The data were then analyzed by comparing the pretest and posttest results. In cycle I, 32 subjects were able to pass the minimum passing grade. Finally, the posttest in cycle II showed that 38 subjects passed the minimum passing grade. The average values of precycle, cycle I, and II were 61.40, 66.56, and 73.78 respectively. These results indicated a significant improvement in terms of the subject's writing skills. The research results showed that ESA through Picture was an effective teaching technique. The subjects showed a significant improvement in their mean scores from pre-test to post-test. As supporting data, a survey was also completed at the end of the last cycle and the results showed a positive response to the implementation of the ESA strategy. Based on the results of the research instrument, it can be concluded that seventh-grade students' writing ability can be improved by the ESA strategies.