MAYA NURMAYANTI

The Use of Pair Composition Method

THE USE OF PAIR COMPOSITION METHOD ON

STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE WRITING SKILL
Maya Nurmayanti
Galileo English Course, Indonesia
E-mail: [email protected]

APA Citation: Nurmayanti, M. (2014). The use of pair composition method on students’ descriptive
writing skill. English Review: Journal of English Education, 2(2), 158-166

Received: 01-04-2014 Accepted: 27-04-2013 Published: 01-06-2014

Abstract: This research was aimed to find out roles of pair composition method on students’
behaviour in learning processes and their writing assessment, and also to find out students’
attitude toward learning process of pair composition method in writing descriptive text in the
classroom. Descriptive qualitative method was used in this research. The participants were 33
students of X grade of Senior High School. The data were collected from observation, the result
of analysis showed that 66% of the seriousness of students during learning process was high,
78% of enthusiasm of students in doing task was high, and 58% of students’ participation was
high. The increasing of students’ assessment was 18,7 from the average score before. The data
collected from interview and questionnaire indicated that pair composition method provided
the opportunities for sharing ideas, developing text, corresting writing errors, motivating
students being active, and 50% students strongly agreed that pair composition method on
writing descriptive text was lively and enjoyable.
Keywords: Active learning strategy, cooperative learning, pair composition method, descriptive
writing, descriptive text.

INTRODUCTION listening, speaking, reading, and

Teaching strategies that teachers writing. Those four skills are explored
apply in the classroom support students in the classroom activities using
learning process emphasizing to be active learning strategy. From active
more responsive and active in the learning strategy, teachers used various
classroom by various methods. Also, to techniques and methods depends on the
make teaching and learning aimed on goal of teaching. One of active learning
the planning lesson in order to achieve techniques is cooperative learning.
the goal of teaching and learning. However, the strategies used must give
Brown (2000: 131) states that “teachers the effect and change for every language
can benefit form an understanding skill of students, and pair composition
of what makes learners successful method as one of cooperative learning
an unsuccessful and establish in the techniques focuses on the desire outcome
classroom a milieu for the realization for the participants group and individual
on successful strategies.” Many as a result of learning activity, especially
teaching strategies have been applied on students’ writing assessment.
in teaching process. Teachers choose Writing as one of productive skills
various techniques of teaching strategies is a set of thinking, expressing the
as specific ‘attack’ on given problem feeling, proposing idea and knowledge,
(Brown, 2000: 122). creativity in words processing are
One of teaching strategies is active included of writing development
learning strategy, where students do learning process. Brown (2001: 335)
everything in learning process from writes that “Written product is often the

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result of thinking, drafting, and revising Many factors appearance guide teacher
procedures that require speacialized and students to be mastered in learning
skill, skills that not every speakers and teaching language, aspecialy English
develop naturally.” In the process of as the foreign laguage.
writing some text at school, students Two of language skills in learning
may be get a little problem, it can be English are speaking and writing.
from theirselves or from the other factors Both of the skills called productive
out of them. The ability to write depends skills. According to Bashrin (2013:
on the ability to think creatively and put 3), the productive skills consist of
it into written text. speaking and writing, because learners
This research focused on students’ need to articulate words and write to
writing descriptive text which one of produce language. Teaching writing
materials in English lesson for ten grade means guiding the students to explore
students at one of Senior High School in their idea, feel, and knowledge in
Kuningan. It is using pair composition written. Heaton (1990: 135) states that
method that part of cooperative learning “the writing skills are complex and
techniques, where students doing sometimes difficult to teach, requiring
exercises in pairs, giving idea each other, mastery not only grammatical and
giving feedback, and correcting each rethorical devices, but also of contextual
other their text composition included of and judgement element.”
content, structure, error analysis, and In order to measure the students
completing the compotion of the text. ability in any language skills, included
Students sometimes get difficulties writing skill, need to be examined and
when starting to write, they got stuck take the students assessment. Pinter
to develop their ideas in writing how (2006: 131) notes “Assessment refers
to describe person, thing or place to the process of data analysis that the
detailed, or writing something in teachers use to get evidence about their
particular structures such as orientation learners’ performance and progress in
and description. Pair composition as English.” Method of scoring composition
a method of cooperative learning is included some components, those are;
used to solve the difficulties writing the content, organization, vocabulary,
text. In order to get good writing, pair language use, and mechanics (Heaton,
composition method was important 1990: 146).
in the learning process of writing than Teacher needs some strategies in
independent learning. order to support teaching and learning
Teaching and learning language process. Activities in the classroom must
process is not the simple sets, both be planned as good as possible and being
of them have own characteristic and effective activities to achieve the goal of
relationship each other. Communication, teaching and learning language. Brown
interaction and other activities built in (2000: 113) note “strategies are specific
this learning and teaching language, methods of approaching a problem or
between teacher and students. Scarino task, modes or operation for achieving
and Liddicoat (2009: 41) states that “in a particular end, planned design for
planning for interaction, teachers plan controlling and manipulating certain
the sorts of things that students will information.” 
be able to say, whether in speaking Learning is an active process, when
or in writing.” Learning and teaching children are motivated to do something,
language is the complex activities that they will try the new thing and doing the
influence on teacher and students’ skills. experiment of their ideas or discussing

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with adults and teachers (Pinter, 2006: Firs, the teacher devided students
5). According to Prince (2004: 1), active into pair groups; one class consists of 34
learning is generally one of instructional students.
method that engages students in the Second, the teacher doing review by
learning process. In short, active learning giving some questions about descriptive
requires students to do meaningful text to the students, and ask them to
learning activities and think about what making summary of descriptive text.
they are doing, learning by doing. One of Third, the teacher explain what
active learning technique is cooperative the students to do and how students
learning. must do their assignment in pairs
Cooperative learning focuses but for individual descriptive writing
on grouping study, but the target is assessment.
comprehension of students in applying Fourth, Student A describes to
the assigment individually. One of Student B what he or she is planning
cooperative learning methods is pair to write related to descriptive text
composition that guides students to be (describing person, thing or place).
more active to make some composition After asking probing and clarifying
in pair. According to Johnson, Johnson, questions, Student B outlines Student
& Smith (1998) in Felder and Brent A’s composition and gives it to Student
(2004: 4), pair composition works when A. Then the procedure is reversed. Each
students work in pairs to complete student researches the topic.
individual writing assignments such Fifth, the two students together write
as summary of article, research paper, the first paragraph of each composition.
position or reflection paper. Then each student writes his or her
Using pair composition method, composition individually.
students can change their idea each Sixth, when completed, the students
other, analyzing and correcting in pair to read each other’s compositions and make
get the good result in writing descriptive suggestions for revision included generic
text. Descriptive text is defined as structure (identification and description)
“domain writing that develops images and language features (using specific
through the use of precise sensory words participant, using noun phare, using
and phrases and through devices such relational process, using adjectives, using
as metaphor and the sounds of words.” simple present tense).
Gerot and Wignell (1994: 208) notes Seventh, after individual revision,
“the social function of descriptive text students proofread both compositions
is to describe particular person, place, and sign them to indicate there are no
or thing.” There are some criteria for errors.
assessing the task of genre of text based This process of learning using pair
on appropriate generic structure and composition is important to investigate
grammatical features, those are: Genre in order to know about the roles of the
based criteria deal with generic features method in students behaviour during
of the text, textual criteria deal with the learning processes, and then finding out
way that the text is held together, the the good outcomes from the learning
way that the text is held, syntactical process in writing skill, especially in
language criteria deal with the internal descriptive writing assessment, and also
structure of the sentence used (Knapp to know the students’ attitude toward
and Watskin, 2005: 119). There will learning processes of pair composition
be several stages of pair compossition method.
method provided.

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METHOD The observation sheet applied was

The research conducted was checklist table of students’ behavior in
descriptive qualitative research design. the learning processes (Sa’diah, Vol. XL :
Qualitative method investigated the 171-172).
quality of relationships, activities, The following step to collect data
situations, or materials (Fraenkel and in this research was interviewing.
Wallen, 2009: 422). In this descriptive Fraenkel and Wallen (2009: 446) state
qualitative method, data analyzed “the purpose of interviewing people
was described and explained in is to find out what is on their mind-
detail. Creswell (2009: 175) states what they think or how they feel about
that, “description involves a detailed something.” The interview conducted
rendering of information about people, in order to get more information about
places, or events in a setting.” This students’ attitude toward the use of pair
research was conducted in a class composition method that the teacher
that consists of 33 students at one of used in the classroom. Not only using
Senior High School in Kuningan in the interview, but also quesionnaire for
academic year 2013/2014 from April students was used in this research to
until May. know students atittude toward the use of
This research used some techniques pair composition method. According to
to collect the data to be analyzed then, Oskamp and Schultz (2005: 9), there are
those are documentation, observation, three components of person’s attitude
interview, and quesionare. Creswell about something. Those components
(2009: 164) write, “Qualitative are affective, behavioral, and cognitive
researchers collect data themselves component.
through examining documents,
observing behavior, or interviewing RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
participants.” The findings of this research were
Using documentation in collecting about roles of pair composition method
data was private document to obtain on students’ behaviour in learning
result of participants’ language and processes and their writing assessment,
words (Creswell, 2009: 168-169) , in and about the students’ attitude toward
this research was students’ descriptive learning process of pair composition
writing. Students’ descriptive writing method on writing descriptive text in the
was taken before and after implementing classroom.
pair composition method (pre-test and
post-test), in order to get data would The roles of pair composition method on
be investigated to know students’ students’ behaviour in learning processes
descriptive writing assessment. The data analyzed showed that
In learning processes, the actions of pair composition method had roles
the students are the important thing to on increasing students’ behaviour
be observed, it could be their behaviour in learning processes, included of
or their productive skill. According seriousness of students, enthusiasm
to Fraenkel and Wallen (2009: 440), students in doing task, and their
“certain kinds of research question participation in the classroom during
can best be answered by observing learning processes. It was drawn by
how people act or how things look.” the seriousness of students that can be
During the observation, this research observed from the data analyzed that
used an observation sheet for taking 50% in the second and third meeting was
the data during learning processes. high, and in the fourth meeting was 100%

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Table 1. The observation result of students’ behaviour in learning processes

Learning Process 2nd Meeting 3rd Meeting 4th Meeting

H M L H M L H M L
1. The seriousness of students during
learning process:
a. Giving attention to the teacher √ √ √
explanation and instruction
b. Making comments or asking √ √ √
question about explanation and
instruction
c. *Giving attention to the material, √ √ √
examining them seriously
d. *Making comments or asking √ √ √
questions about the material (to the
teacher or their friends)
50% 0% 50% 50% 50% 0% 100% 0% 0%
2. The Anthusiasm of the students in
doing the task
a. Trying to understand the instruction √ √ √
by using various learning aids
(dictionary, text book, etc.,
asking the teacher or their friends
whenever they do not understand)
b. Moving to form small group √ √ √
c. Taking notes on whatever they √ √ √
think important
d. Using various aids to accomplish √ √ √
their task, for examples: dictionary,
text book, work-sheet, etc.
e. Actively observing the material to √ √ √
elicit idea
f. Actively having discussion with the √ √ √
teacher and friends
50% 20% 30% 83% 17% 0% 100% 0% 0%
Students’ Participation
1. The students’ participation in asking √ √ √
question
2. The students’ participation in √ √ √
suggesting idea
3. The students’ participation in group
work
a. Taking the initiative to do the task √ √ √
b. Helping their friends to understand √ √ √
the instruction
c. Helping their friends in examining √ √ √
the material
d. Helping their friends to generate √ √ √
idea and to find the vocabulary
needed to do the task
e. Actively involved in group √ √ √
discussion
f. Helping motivate their friends √ √ √
50% 0% 50% 50% 38% 13% 75% 25% 0%
Note: H = High M = Medium L = Low

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high. It meant that almost all students descriptive text well, construct the text
gave attention to the teacher’s explanation by good identification and description.
and instruction, and gave attention to the The students tried to find out the difficult
material, examining them seriously, or words to translate from bahasa Indonesia
at least not more than five students who into English using dictionary, or asking
were reluctant to pay attention. teacher or friends. It was caused pair
The enthusiasm of students composition method was done to build
increased when the pair composition the cooperation between two students
method was implemented; second (pair) in form of cooperative learning
meeting was 50%, third meeting that members held accountable for doing
was 83%, and in the fourth meeting their share of the work and mastering all
was 100%. It was indicated by the materials (Felder and Brent, 2004: 2).
observation data showing that the
enthusiasm of students was in the The role of pair composition method on
high level. Almost students tried to students’ descriptive writing assessment
understand the instruction by asking the Pair composition method had the
teacher or their friends whenever they role as a method that can be applied
did not understand, and using some to improve students’ descriptive
learning aids such as dictionary, text writing skill. It was showed by the data
book, etc. Also, there were some students analyzed of students’ assessment before
actively having discussion with the implementing (pre-test) pair composition
teacher and friends, and observing the method and after implementing (post-
material to elicit their ideas. test) pair composition method. The data
Implementing pair composition clearly could be seen as below:
method in writing descriptive text also
could activate the students’ participation. Table 2. Result of students’ descriptive
From the data analyzed showed that writing assessment
in the second meeting the students’ Stage Average of total score
participation was 50% high and 50% Pre-test 63,8
low, there were half students being Post-test 82,5
high participation, and half students Increase in score 18,7
were less of their participation. Then
in the fourth meeting the students’ From the above table, the average
participation was getting increased of students’ score in pre-test or before
tobe 75% high. The observation data implementing pair composition method
showed that there were several students is 63,8 and the students’ score after
participate in giving ideas, and in group implementing pair composition method
working there were many students who was getting increased with the average
participated in taking initiative to do the score was 82,5. The increasing of
task, helping their firends to understand students’ assessment was 18,7 from the
the instruction, to generate idea in pair score before (pre-test).
to make good descriptive writing, to find The result of students’ score before
vocabulary needed to write descriptive implementing pair composition method
text, and actively having pair discussion. was classified into four categories.
The students were supported to There were 6% students’ score that was
find help of their friends each other categorized as excellent, 24% students’
to complete their writing, share idea, score categorized as good, 12% students’
and correct errors analysis each other. score categorized as fair, and students’
They tried to understand how to write score dominated 58% as poor category.

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Before implementing pair composition Then, when they tried to make

method, almost students’ assessment good descriptive writing using pair
were poor, because there were some compoosition method, they also tried
students who have not known the to understand what the descriptive
construction of descriptive text detail, text is and how to write it well by
especially description part on generic implementing generic structure and
structure, and there were some errors on language feature of descriptive text
their language features. There were still that they have learnt, it regarded doing
several students using simple past, and by learning in active learning, such as
incorrect in using simple present tense. Prince (2004) said that active learning
The students’ descriptive writing requires students to do meaningful
skill improved after implementing learning activities and think about what
pair composition method. It could be they were doing, learning by doing. So,
described from the students’ descriptive after implementing pair composition
writing post-test assessment. The score method in writing descriptive text, they
of students were increased. There were were getting more understand how
17 students (more than a half of students generic structure and language feature
in the class) got score more than 85, 12 construct the descriptive writing.
students got score for about 71-84, 2
students got 68 and 70, and 2 students The students’ attitude toward learning
got score less than 65. process of pair composition method
The students’ score after This research found that the students
implementing pair composition method gave positive attitude toward learning
was classified into four categories. There process using pair composition method
were 52% (more than a half of students in writing descriptive text. More than
in the class) students’ score that was a half of students strongly agreed that
categorized as excellent, 36% students’ they felt enjoy learning descriptive text
score categorized as good, 6% students’ using pair composition method and
score categorized as fair, and 6% students’ they were interested in implementing
score categorized as poor. Here, excellent it. The students’ attitude toward
category was dominated than in the result learning process was observed from
of students’ score before implementing the data collected using interview and
pair composition method. questionnaire.

Table 3. Categories of students’ score Before implementing pair composition method

No Interpretation Score Student %
1 Excellent (85-100) 86, 86. 2 6%
2 Good (71-84) 77, 77, 79, 78, 75, 76, 72, 83. 8 24%
3 Fair (66-70) 70, 69, 68, 70. 4 12%
4 Poor (0-65) 57, 52, 50, 52,58, 52, 52, 51, 49, 56, 59, 58, 55, 19 58%
58, 51, 62, 62, 61, 61.

Table 4. Categories of students’ score After implementing pair composition method

No Interpretation Score Student %
1 Excellent (85-100) 88, 89, 97, 98, 89, 95, 91, 87, 89, 89, 86, 87, 86, 17 52%
89, 89, 96, 88.
2 Good (71-84) 80, 83, 73, 84, 74, 76, 78, 73, 79, 84, 75, 77. 12 36%
3 Fair (66-70) 68, 70. 2 6%
4 Poor (0-65) 61, 63. 2 6%

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Based on the interview, the students pair composition method can make them
have never learn descriptive text using brave to write descriptive text in English.
pair composition where they could write These happened because pair
the descriptive text in pair, giving ideas, composition method creates alive and
correcting, and evaluating each other to enjoyable condition and increases
complete the writing. Pair composition participation among the students
method had several advantages for demanded to be more active in
students in writing descriptive text; (1) learning, moreover having discussion
Providing the opportunities for sharing with their partner, Felder and Brent
ideas, developing the text, giving and (2009: 5) said “Instructors who switch
asking the vocabulary (2) Correcting the to active learning and follow those
writing errors each other (3) Increasing recommendations almost always say
the knowladge in writing descriptive that their classes are much more lively
text, how to write the descriptive text and enjoyable and the quality of learning
well based on the generic structures goes up dramatically”.
and language features (4) To motivate
students being active to write and CONCLUSION
understand about descriptive text The research objectives of this
(5) To make easy finding the difficult research were to find out and describe
vocabulary because the students were the roles of pair composition method on
able to ask and share each other. Almost students’ behaviour in learning processes
all the students who were interviewed and their descriptive writing assessment,
stated that pair composition method had and to know students’ attitude toward
no disadvantages, and only one student learning processes of pair composition
stated that sometimes it made the method. The data was collected from
atmosphere of class noise. observation data of students’ behaviour,
From ten statements of questionnaire students’ descriptive writing asessment,
presented by researcher, the students’ interview and questionnaire for students.
attitude toward learning processes Based on the data processing and
using pair composition method was discussion, the roles of pair composition
dominated strongly agree and agree. It method are increasing students’
meant the students gave positive attitude behaviour in learning processes and
toward pair composition method. 70% their descriptive writing assessment, as
students strongly agreed that learning drawn on data that 66% the seriousness
English increase the knowledge in of students during learning process was
learning foreign language, 64% students high, 78% the enthusiasm of students
strongly agreed that learning English in doing task was high, and 58% the
aspecially in writing descriptive text students’ participation was high. The
using pair composition method made increasing of students’ assessment can
students more active in pair group work, be seen when before implementing pair
so that could help students to develop composition method there were 58%
their descriptive writing. 55% students students categorized poor and after
strongly agreed that pair composition implementing there were 52% students’
method made students understand score categorized as excellent.
how to write descriptive text well, and From students’ attitude along with
agreed that students felt enjoy learning interview and questionaire found that
English and they could focus to the more that 50% students gave positive
material given by teacher. And only 6% attitude as strongly agreed that pair
students stated that they disagreed that composition method on writing

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descriptive text was lively and enjoyable, Gerot, L. and Wignell, P. (1994). Making sense
supporting the students to be more of functional grammar. Sydney: Gerd
active and understand how to write Stabler.
descriptive text well. Heaton, J. B. (1990). Writing English language
tests. England: Longman group (FE)
Ltd.
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