AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ABILITY AND DIFFICULTY IN WRITING EXPLANATION TEXT AT GRADE XI MIPA

Abstract

This research is motivated by the lack of students' writing skills in explanatory texts. This is caused by students' difficulties in using vocabulary, structure, and knowledge of natural or social phenomena. Based on this, a study was conducted to analyze students' abilities and difficulties in writing explanatory texts. The method of this research was descriptive research. Writing essays and questionnaires were used as instruments of collecting data. The subject of this research was XI MIPA of SMA N 1 Sungai Rumbai. The data collection technique in this study was using an essay test, and a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. Based on the results of research that has been done with descriptive methods, it can be seen that students' writing skills are good with an average score (of 88.73). The results of the questionnaire obtained by students (43,78) showed that students of MIPA  SMA N 1 Sungai Rumbai were easy in writing explanation texts.