RETAIN.

Volume 6 Nomor 2 Tahun 2018, 195-205

The Implementation of Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text to Eighth

Graders of Junior High School

Siti Alisah Rahmawati

English Education, Language and Art Faculty, Surabaya State Univeristy
[email protected]

Abstrak
Menulis adalah rumusan gagasan yang diekspresikan melalui bentuk tertulis. Namun itu diyakini
sebagai salah satu keterampilan yang paling sulit untuk dipelajari. Untuk mengembangkan
keterampilan menulis, keterlibatan strategi yang tepat dan banyak latihan diperlukan dalam
keterampilan ini. Salah satu alat yang dapat digunakan untuk mengajar menulis adalah teknik mind
mapping. Dengan demikian, tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan dan
menganalisis bagaimana guru menerapkan strategi mind mapping dalam mengajar teks recount
untuk siswa kelas delapan dan bagaimana penulisan teks recount siswa setelah diimplementasikan
oleh strategi pemetaan pikiran. Penelitian ini dilakukan di SMP Negeri 2 Jetis dengan guru bahasa
Inggris dan satu kelas siswa kelas delapan sebagai subjek penelitian. Penelitian ini merupakan
penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Data dikumpulkan dengan melakukan observasi kelas, dan
mengumpulkan karya siswa. Dari penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa guru telah menerapkan langkah-
langkah strategi pemetaan pikiran dan memberikan contoh peta pikiran yang baik secara tepat
dengan beberapa modifikasi sesuai dengan kebutuhan kelas. Selain itu, ditemukan bahwa teknik
mind mapping juga membantu siswa membuat teks recount pribadi mereka sendiri. Berdasarkan
rubrik, tingkat menulis siswa berada pada tingkat yang baik hingga sangat baik.

Kata Kunci : Mind Mapping, Teks Recount, Mengajar Menulis

Abstract
Writing is a formulation of ideas which is expressed through written form. However it is
believed to be one of the most difficult skills to learn. To develop writing skill, proper strategy and
much practice to engage with this skill are required. One of the tools that can be used to teach
writing is mind mapping. Thus, the objectives of this study are to describe and analyse how the
teacher implements mind mapping strategy in teaching recount text for eighth graders and how are
the students’ recount text writing after being implemented by mind mapping strategy. This
research was conducted at SMP Negeri 2 Jetis with an English teacher and a class of eight grade
students as the subjects. This study is descriptive qualitative research. The data was collected by
doing classroom observation, and collecting the students’ works. The research findings of this
study found that the teacher has already applied the steps of teaching mind mapping strategy and
gave the example of a good mind map appropriately with some modification according to the class
need. It was also showed that the students’ mind maps are helpful in assisting the students create
their own personal recount text. Based on the rubric, the students’ writing levels are in good to
very good level.

Keywords: Mind Mapping, Recount Text, Teaching Writing

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 Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text

INTRODUCTION Mind mapping is the innovative way for the

English is one of the most influential students in creating idea, noting what is being
languages in the world. Indonesian students are learned, or planning upcoming assignment. It can
expected to master English with the aim of facing help the students to recognise what materials they
the global era. Thus, English has been introduced have learnt. Besides, it also helps them to note what
and taught to students in Indonesia since early stage they have planned before. Mind mapping is words
of education. There are four main skills in English and images connection which make use of cortical
that needs to be learned, that are listening, reading, skill, namely a) word, b) image, c) number, d)
speaking, and writing. Among those four skills, logic, e) rhythm, f) colour, g) and spatial awareness
writing is believed to be the most difficult to learn. in a single, uniquely powerful technique (Buzan &
It is considered difficult because in order to make a Buzan, 1996). A mind mapping can be started by
comprehensible paragraph, a lot of vocabularies writing the main idea in the centre of a paper. After
and correct grammar are needed (Cholipah, 2014). that, draw some knots from the centre. Write the
Not only on planning and organizing at a higher sub-ideas from each knot that has been drawn. The
level, L2 learners are obliged to focus on spelling, use of colours is recommended to differentiate the
punctuation, word choice at a lower level (Richards main topic from the sub-ideas. If what students
& Renandya, 2002). In addition to these complex learn is related to their prior knowledge and the
skills, low English proficiency also takes a big role things or events that happen around them, it will
in this problem. ease them to understand about the material better.
Writing as one of the four basic skills of Moreover, previous research on the use of mind
English, functions as a means of communication in mapping in several fields like , computer science,
which written messages are delivered (Fitria, psychology, science, and social studies have proven
2016). Writing is a work of formulating ideas and that it could improve students’ writing quality
figuring out how to express them intro clear especially their sentence structures and coherence
paragraphs and statements to the reader (Nunan, (Al-Jarf, 2009)
2003). Thus, mastering writing skill enables Some researches about the use of mind
learners to communicate with others (Yolanda & mapping have been done by some researchers.
Al-Hafizh, 2014). Not only grammatical area, According to Marpaung & Sinulingga (2012), the
conceptual and judgmental elements is also needed use of mind mapping is effective in improving
in teaching writing. In line with this, Oshima and junior high school students’ achievement in writing
Hogue (2000) claim that academic writing is not skill. In line with that, Aulia (2011) states that
easy. To develop writing skill, study and much students’ writing ability in gathering ideas for the
practice to engage with this skill are required. topic is improved by using mind mapping strategy.
Based on Curriculum 2013, there are some In addition, a study by Waluyo (2017) shows that
kinds of texts that are being taught in high schools, based on the key words provided in mind mapping
namely descriptive text, recount text, procedure strategy, students can comprehend the text
text, narrative text, and report text. Text of recount organization, the tense, and the structure of
is taught in eight grade of junior high school. It is narrative text better.
in basic competence 3.11 and 4.11. Thus, this kind Based on the explanation above, there are
of text is taught on the second semester. In this many researches that discussed the use and
basic competence, the students are expected to effectiveness of mind-mapping in writing English
comprehend the function, structures, and language text in general. However, only a few that is focused
features of recount text based on the context. They on the implementation of mind-mapping in recount
are also required to create a simple and short text writing. Based on the research gap above, this
personal recount text related to their own research aims to find out how the teacher apply
experience. mind mapping strategy in teaching recount text and
Based on the previous researches that have how are the students’ recount texts writing after
been carried on at high schools, the majority of implementing mind mapping strategy. Based on the
students still struggled to write English text. The background, the research questions in this study are
students find it hard for them to generate ideas identified as follows:
when they start to write. In addition, they also had
difficult time in producing interrelated sentences 1. How is the implementation of Mind
due to the poor grammar, mechanical mistakes, and Mapping in teaching recount text for
lack of vocabulary (Fitria, 2016). One of the tools eighth graders of Junior High School?
that can be used to solve that problem is mind
2. How are the eighth graders of Junior High
mapping. Mind mapping can be used by students to
drill and learn vocabulary. It can also enhance School personal recount texts after
students reading comprehension that will be useful implementing mind mapping strategy?
for their independent writing process.

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 RETAIN. Volume 6 Nomor 2 Tahun 2018, 195-205

RESEARCH METHOD The data for this research were obtained by doing
The researcher aimed to find out the an observation of teachers and students action
implementation of Mind Mapping strategy in during the process of implementation of mind
teaching recount text and to explore how the eighth mapping strategy in teaching recount text. The
graders of Junior High School mind maps are observer observed the occurrence that happened in
before writing personal recount text. The study the class. The observation was taken place in SMP
conducted was considered as a descriptive Negeri 2 Jetis. It was done in one meeting in April
qualitative research which means that this study 19th. The researcher used field note to obtain the
focused more on describing words than numbers. It data. The field note was used to report how the
is because according to Ary, et all (2010), unlike teacher implemented mind mapping strategy and
experimental research, this study had no the students’ reaction.
experimental manipulation or random selection to After the teacher explained on how to apply
group. This study was carried out by observing the mind mapping technique, the students were asked
teaching-learning process of recount text during to make their own recount texts using mind
class. After that, students’ works of mind mapping mapping. Each student was asked to make a mind
would be collected and interpreted. mapping for their recount text. After the students
The place for gaining data for this research finished doing their texts, the researcher asked
was SMP Negeri 2 Jetis. SMP Negeri 2 Jetis is in them to submit their recount texts task. The
Jalan Raya Canggu, Mojokerto. This place was students’ mind mapping then would be analysed
chosen because it was known that this school used and interpreted by the researcher.
many techniques in teaching students, and one of The instruments used in this research were
them was mind mapping technique. Therefore, field notes and students’ mind mappings.
choosing this high school was suitable for a. Field notes
conducting this research. The research itself took In obtaining the first question, an observation
place on March 19th 2018 at 7.30 – 8.50 am. in the class was done. The instrument that was used
The subjects of this research were the was field notes. The researcher took notes on the
second graders of Junior High School who were situation that happened when the teacher explained
learning personal recount text, which based on about mind mapping strategy. The students’
Basic Competence 3.11 – 4.11, in the second reaction was taken notes too. Besides, the
semester. They are students of class 8B. The class conversation between the teacher and the students
consists of 32 students, with 13 boys and 19 girls. was also used to support the field notes. The
Another subject that was observed was the English teacher’s procedures while teaching mind mapping
teacher who teaches in the designated class. The technique would be compared and analysed using
teacher was asked whether she ever used mind Kureasin’s procedure in teaching mind mapping.
mapping strategy in teaching in the class, and she On the other hand, the example of the teacher’s
confirmed it by saying yes. The teacher has already mind map would be analysed using Buzan’s theory
given permission to be participating in this of how to make a mind map.
research. b. Students’ Mind Maps
The data of this study were in form of For the second question, students’ recount text
words. The data were taken from the observation tasks were used to gain the data. After writing their
during teaching-learning process in the class. After own personal recount texts, the students’ tasks were
that the participants’ works of mind mapping collected. Then, a rubric adapted from Brown
during their recount text writing were collected and (2007) was used to analyse the students’ writing
interpreted. In this research, the researcher’s role composition.
was being the observer. The observer observed the The data that have been collected in this
occurrence during the teaching –learning process. research were observation checklist and students’
To answer the first question, the researcher used writing of recount texts. According to Ary et al
field notes. This field notes would also be (2010), there are three stages that have to be carried
supported by documentation such as photographs out to analyse the data.
and transcription of teacher and students’ a. Familiarizing and Organizing
communication during the teaching- learning In this stage, the researcher is expected to
process in the classroom. familiarize the data that have been collected in the
Another data that was collected was field. This was done by reading the observation
students’ mind maps. After the teacher explained checklist over and over again. Also, rereading the
about mind mapping technique, the participants transcript of teacher and students interaction during
were asked to make recount texts by using mind the teaching-learning process was required. The
mapping strategy that they have learned. After rereading process of the data was to make sure that
finishing their text, the students’ writing tasks were there would be no misinformation or
collected. Then the data will be investigated by the misinterpretation in the data that have been
researcher. collected. The data was organized in chronological

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 Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text

order of time to ease the data analysis process. Student 2: (Raises hand) “Orientation, events, and
After familiarizing and organizing the data, the reorientation”.
next stage to do was doing coding and reducing. Teacher : “Great!Now please explain the
b. Coding and Reducing structures briefly. Tolong jelaskan secara
In this stage, coding and reducing were done in singkat apa saja”.
order to find relationship among the categories. The Student 2 : (Reading her note book)
coding was done by labelling the observation “Orientation consists of background
results. The labelling was done to make sure if the information, events consist of series of
data is different or similar with the theory. It also events that happened and orientation
helped to reduce the meaningless data. The consists of writer’s feeling about the
researcher labelled the teaching procedure events that happened”.
implemented and the example of mind map that the Teacher : “What tense do you use in recount
teacher showed by the teacher during the teaching- text?”.
learning process. The students’ writing would be Students : “Past tense, Ma’am”.
described based on the rubric used in this research. Teacher : “Now, do you still have any question
c. Interpreting and Representing about recount text before we start the
The last step is interpreting and representing. lesson today?”.
The data that have been coded and reduced were Students : “Okay then, let’s start the
analysed and described. The data is described in lesson today”.
detail with words, tables, and pictures to support
the description. In this research, the description is After making sure that there were no more
about the teacher’s steps in teaching mind mapping, questions from the students, the teacher told the
the mind map example that the teacher explained to students what they were going to learn today.
the students, and the students’ recount text task Before giving example of a mind mapping, the
after being taught mind mapping strategy. To teacher explained about the definition of mind
interpret the students’ writing, the researcher used a mapping. It was done in order to build the students’
rubric which focused on the writing elements. prior knowledge and let them had some sort of
conception about what mind mapping is.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Results Transcript of teacher and students’
The Implementation of Mind Mapping communication
Technique in Teaching Writing Recount Text Teacher : “Today, we’re going to learn about a
When the teacher came to the class, the technique. Do you know about mind
students were all already seated in their designated mapping?”.
seats. The teacher started the lesson by greeting and Students : “Mind Mapping? No, Ma’am”.
asking about the students’ well-being. The teacher Teacher : “Okay, let me explain. Mind mapping
then did a roll call to check the students’ adalah sebuah teknik untuk memetakan
attendance. In this section, the teacher did not pikiran atau ide dengan menggunakan
explain about recount text anymore, because it has kata-kata, warna, dan gambar. Biasanya
been taught beforehand. The teacher asked the mind mapping disebut juga sebagai
students whether they still had questions or any pemetaan atau peta pikiran”.
difficulty in understanding the previous lesson. Student 3 : “Examplenya gimana ma’am?”.
Teacher : “Okay, let me show you some examples
Transcript of teacher and students’ (showing some examples of mind maps
communication in LCD). Nah, those were some example
Teacher : “Class, do you remember about last of mind maps yah. Today, we will learn
meeting material?”. about using mind mapping in creating
Students : (Open their note books) “Recount text, recount text. Kita akan belajar
Ma’am/personal recount text Ma’am”. bagaimana cara menggunakan teknik
Teacher : “Okay, now tell me the definition of a mind mapping sebelum membuat sebuah
recount text and what are types of recount recount text, khususnya personal recount
texts?” text. Before we start, is there any
Student1 : (Raises hand while reading her note question?”.
book) “Recount text is a text that tells the Student 3 : (Raises hand) “Ma’am, jadi mind
readers about past experience. There are mapping itu gabungan kata-kata sama
three types Ma’am, factual, personal, and gambar tapi warna-warni terus ada
imaginative recount text”. bentuknya gitu ya, Ma’am?”.
Teacher : “Very good. What about the structures? Teacher : “Yes, that’s right”.
Terdiri dari apa saja sebuah recount text
itu?”.

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 RETAIN. Volume 6 Nomor 2 Tahun 2018, 195-205

From the transcript above, it is shown that helpful in making the mind mapping because the
all students had no background knowledge about more related the picture with the story is the easier
mind mapping technique and never made any mind they would in imagining the events in their recount
map before. Thus, the teacher needed to explain text. However, after explaining about the
and gave example to make them. In this process, importance of image or picture the teacher forgot to
the teacher did a good job because the teacher did give an example in whiteboard.
not only explain about the definition of mind c) Use more than one color.
mapping, but also provided examples of mind In giving the example of mind mapping, the
mapping to the students. The teacher also gave time teacher did not only use one color of board marker.
for the students to ask in case they were still The teacher used different colors of board markers.
confused about the explanation. This action proves For the main idea, the teacher used black board
that the teacher tried to get the students engaged in marker, blue board marker for the first branches,
the teaching-learning process. and red board marker for the advanced branches.
d) Connect the central image and its branches.
Transcript of teacher and students’ After writing the title in the centre of the
communication whiteboard, the teacher drew six branches around
Teacher : “Class, now please open your note the circle and each branch contained of a single
about last meeting. There was a text word. The word in each branch was ‘Who’, ‘What’,
with a title ‘Holiday at the Beach’, ‘Where’, ‘When’, ‘Why’, and ‘How’ (5W+1H) and
right?”. they were written in the blue board marker.
Students : (In unison) “Yes, ma’am”. The teacher explained that each branch had to
Teacher : “Good, we will use that text to make a be broken down so that it could help the students to
mind map. Actually, you have to make form their story. Began from the first branch
a mind map before writing your ‘Who’, the teacher asked the students to figure out
recount text, but in order to make you who were characters in the story “Holiday at the
easy we will do it in reverse. Beach”. The students were allowed to answer the
Sebenarnya, mind map ini dibuat question by raising their hand first, so that it would
sebagai semacam kerangka sebelum not make a chaos. Each answer would be written in
membuat recount text, tapi untuk red board marker.
mempermudah pembelajaran jadi There were some students who felt unclear
prosesnya dibalik. Kita akan membuat about the instruction, so they haven’t understood on
sebuah mind map dari sebuah teks what they had to write in each branch. Thus, the
yang sudah ada. Oke, any question?”. teacher gave some assistance questions to form the
Students : (In unison) “No, ma’am”. mind mapping. For instance, to fill the branch in
Teacher : “All right, let me start then” ‘Who’ the teacher gave question “Who were
involved in the story”. Also, question “When did
The transcript above shows that the teacher the activity happen?” in the branch ‘When’, and so
would teach them how to make a mind map out of on. Each answer that the students gave was written
an existing recount text instead of making a mind in other branches that were connected to the prior
map before making the text. Apparently, it was an six branches.
effort from the teacher to ease the students in e) Draw or write the branches in curved.
understanding about mind mapping technique. The teacher drew the connectors for each
There were several rules that were applied by the branch in curved line. The use of straight line
teacher in writing a recount text by using the mind would make the mind map looked plain. Thus, the
mapping technique. reason for this was to make the mind map less
a) Start in the center. monotonous and be more attractive.
The teacher started the mind mapping by (See appendix 1)
drawing a big tree trunk in the middle of the f) Use one key word per line.
whiteboard and wrote the title of the story inside The teacher encouraged the students to use
the tree trunk with black board marker. The teacher only one word or phrase per line. It was to make
then explained that they have to write their main the mind mapping more effective and less wordy.
idea or in this context was a title of the personal However, the teacher made an exception for the
recount text that they would make. The teacher student. The students were allowed to use more
emphasized that the students should start the mind than one word in their mind maps if they had the
mapping from the center of their papers. tendency to forget about some vocabulary. It was
b) Draw an image for central idea. an effort to prevent the student from making
After writing down the title of the story, the spelling errors in their text.
teacher explained that the next rule was to draw an g) Draw images.
image or picture for the central idea. The teacher The teacher drew some images in the example
explained that related picture would be more of mind mapping. The teacher explained to the

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 Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text

students to use images in their mind map, but if The example above shows that in terms of
they found it difficult to do they were allowed to content, the student’s writing has already been
use word or phrase instead. developed well. The story is about the writer being
After completing the mind mapping example, lazy on Sunday last week. The supporting ideas and
the teacher asked the students if they were still details are related to the topic. Thus, this story is
confused or had any questions. When everything interesting and makes sense.
was clear, the teacher assigned the students to make In terms of organization, this story was
their own personal recount text using mind made up of appropriate structures; orientation,
mapping technique. The teacher explained to the series of events, and reorientation. The student
students that they could make any shapes of mind started the text by stating the background of her
mapping, they also could use as much colors and story in paragraph one. Then, it was followed by
pictures as they preferred. series of events which were arranged in
The classroom atmosphere became more active chronological order so that the reader can get
because the students began to discuss about the engaged in the story. The student also used suitable
assigned task. The teacher monitored the students’ connectives such as ‘after’ and ‘after that’. Lastly,
work by approaching them one by one. Not long it was ended with the writer’s feeling about the
after, the class was over but before leaving the class experience in the text.
the teacher reminded the students to do their task The student almost used past tense
because it would be submitted in the next meeting. throughout her writing such as ‘Last week, I spent
all day…’, ‘it was Sunday…’, I woke up at…’, ‘I
The Result of Students’ Recount Texts watched…’ etc. Nevertheless, there were still some
The students were asked to create their own grammatical errors in the student’s writing. In the
mind mapping and personal recount texts. The text, the student wrote some verb base instead of
researcher found that most of the students have verb two such as in the sentences ‘I feel bored with
already comprehended how to apply mind mapping my phone,…’, and ‘I got up of my super
technique to create personal recount text. It was comfortable bed and walk out the room’, the
indicated by how the students collected their suitable verb should be ‘walked’ not ‘walk’
assignment on time and how well their recount because recount text requires past tense. There was
texts compositions were. an inadequate use of an article ‘the’ in the sentence
‘I watched K-drama on the my bed’. However, the
grammar inaccuracies in this student’s writing is
only a few and did not affect the meaning of the
text.
The next thing to be analysed is the
vocabulary or word choice. The student already
used the effective choice of words. It is proven by
the use of the common words so that the text can be
understood easily. Nonetheless, there is a confusing
word form in the sentence ‘I opened the fridge and
found a bottle ice’. It is quite hard to grab the idea
of the the student here. The student probably
wanted to write ‘cold water’ but has not found an
appropriate term so that the student wrote ‘bottle
ice’ instead.
The last writing component is the
mechanics. It consists of the effective spelling,
Figure 1. Mind Map of Student 1 capitalization, and punctuation to make the writing
readable and understandable. In this text, the
student did some minor errors in those three areas.
The student had no error in spelling; aside from all
the inappropriate tense the words in the text are
correct. In the sentence ‘Then I Took it with my
hand’ the student does errors in terms of
capitalization and pumctuation. There should be a
comma (,) after the word ‘then’ and the letter T in
‘Took’ should not be in capital because it is not the
Figure 2. Personal Recount Text of Student 1 first letter of a sentence. Aside from that error, the
rest was okay.
 RETAIN. Volume 6 Nomor 2 Tahun 2018, 195-205

two in some of the sentences namely ‘It is not the

first time I have a rat carcass’, ‘I did not felt
disgusted, but I could not standed the smell’. Also,
there is useless conjunction of ‘at’ in the sentence
‘I once killed 5 rats at using a stick’. They need to
be more careful in selecting the tense and
conjunction that thay use in the text.
Another thing that is important in writing is
the word choice. The dictions that the student used
in the text were appropriate. The student used
straightforward words so that there is no ambiguity
in the sentences. Therefore, it is easy for the
readers to understand the story. The problem is
only found in sentence ‘The body of the rat was
very sot’, the student might mean ‘short’ but wrote
‘sot’ instead.
In terms of mechanics which includes
Figure 3. Mind Map of Student 2 spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, the
student did a good job. There is almost no error in
those three aspects aside from the sentence ‘The
body of the rat was sot’. The student needs to
improve the line spacing in the text because there
are still unproper line spacings between each
sentence, and each word. A good line spacing will
make the writing looks more orderly.

Figure 4. Personal Recount Text of Student 2

The next student recount text consists of

more words than the previous one. In terms of
content, the student developed the ideas quite well.
The story itself is pretty interesting. It was about
the writer’s experience in having rat carcass in the
house. The supporting sentences in the story were
relevant with the main topic. Thus, the story has
good unity.
The student arranged this story in the right Figure 5. Mind Map of Student 3
order. Starting with the orientation in the first
paragraph, and followed with some events to
support the idea. Then, series of events were
written in the second paragraph. The series of
events consisted of the activity that the student did
after coming home from school, looking for the rat
stench until finding the rat carcass and getting rid
of it. The student already wrote the events in the
chronological order of time. In the last paragraph,
the student shared personal feeling and motivation
about the experience that has been told in the story.
The story is written in the past form, so the
tense used is past tense that are ‘Yesterday, I came
home after school’, ‘I went home with…’, ‘…my
teacher gave me…’, and so on. Nonetheless, there
is still grammar inaccuracies found in the text Figure 6. Personal Recount Text of
especially in the use of verb. The student seems to Student 3
be still confused in using the verb base and the verb
 Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text

The recount text of the third student consists research finding about the implementation of mind
of more words than the previous ones. The story mapping technique in teaching writing recount text.
was about the writer’s holiday in Jogjakarta. The
student wrote the orientation of the story in The Discussion of the Implementation of Mind
paragraph one which consists of who, what, when, Mapping Technique in Teaching Writing
and where the activity happened. The following Recount Text.
paragraphs after paragraph one were related to the No Steps of Teaching Mind Presence
topic and can support the story well. Mapping Technique Yes No
This story consists of appropriate structures 1 Teacher explains to the √
of recount text. It was started with orientation in the students about the components
first paragraph, and followed with some series of to write recount text.
events in the following paragraphs. The series of 2 Teacher explains the √
events were divided in three paragraps and written correlation between writing
in the chronological order of time. Lastly, the recount text with Mind Map.
student shared about the personal feeling after 3 Teacher puts a picture and √
having that experience. draw mind map with the
The student used verb base and verb two in student in whiteboard.
the recount text. There were some correct sentences 4 Teacher makes writing √
that were written using verb two, but there were recount based on the mind
also some sentences that used verb base. It seems map in the whiteboard.
that the student was still having difficult time in 5 Teacher explains and uses the √
deciding the correct verb in the sentences. The use relevant media for the process.
of tense was inconsistent in this text. There is also 6 The teacher asks the students √
an incorrect order of sentence structure. For to write recount text based on
instance, in the sentence ‘Last week, my sister and their Mind Map and gives
I to go Jogja’, the word ‘to go’ should be reversed limitation in the task.
to ‘go to’ and the verb ‘go’ must be changed to 7 Teacher asks the students to √
‘went’ because past tense requires verb two. implement the laws
In terms of vocabulary, the student used of Mind Map
common vocabularies that were easy to understand.
8 Teacher asks the students to √
The words were also to the point so there was no think critically and gives
multiinterpretation from the sentences. There is problem solving about
only one mistake that the student did. It was in the
difficult materials.
word ‘tired ness’ which should be connected not
Table 1. The Steps of Teaching Mind Mapping
separated by a space. Overall, the word choice in
in Writing Text by Kureasin
the story is appropriate for the plot of the story.
The last thing to analyse is the mechanics. It
The teacher explained about recount text
includes spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
specifically in the first and second meeting, the
There are some errors in those three areas. The
teacher only reviewed the material about recount
spelling errors that the student wrote were
text in the third meeting to make sure that the
‘refresing’ instead of ‘refreshing’ and ‘werw’
students already understood about the material. The
instead of ‘were’. While the capitalization errors
indicator that the students have understood about
were found especially in the use of some letters
recount text materials was that the students could
namely ‘i’, ‘s’, ‘f’, and ‘j’. The student wrote most
answer the teacher’s question about recount texts
letter ‘i’ in capital eventhough it was not needed.
well.
Same goes with the letter ‘s’ and ‘f’, while for
The teacher explained the correlation
letter ‘j’ is the contrary. The student wrote the word
between writing recount text with mind map by the
‘Jogja’ with small j while it should be in capital
use of 5W+1H questions. The teacher explained
letter beause it is a name of a district. As for the
that the use of 5W+1H questions could help them
punctuation, the student did a good job in giving
in arranging the recount text. The teacher did use
the right punctuation. There was only one miss
pictures in the example of mind map that the
punctuation in the sentence ‘After that we
teacher made, but not as the central idea.
continue….’. the student forget to put a comma (,)
Instead of making a recount text based on
after the word ‘after that’.
the whiteboard, the teacher did the reversal. The
teacher reasoned that it was done to make the
Discussion
students understood about the technique more
The steps of teaching mind mapping
easily. The teacher used LCD, whiteboard, and
technique by Kureasin and the rules of making a
colourful board markers during the process of
mind map by Buzan were used to analyze the first
teaching-learning writing recount text using mind
mapping strategy. Those media were helpful in

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explaining the material. Therefore, it can be said After writing the title in the centre of the
that the media were relevant for the process. whiteboard, the teacher drew six branches around
After explaining about mind mapping and the circle and each branch contained of a single
giving example, the teacher asked the students to word. The word in each branch was ‘Who’, ‘What’,
make their own recount text based on mind ‘Where’, ‘When’, ‘Why’, and ‘How’ (5W+1H) and
mapping technique. The teacher limited the they were written in the blue board marker. The
students’ task by three paragraphs which consist of teacher explained that each branch had to be broken
orientation, series of events, and reorientation. The down so that it could help the students to form their
teacher reminded the students to apply the seven story. The teacher drew the connectors for each
rules in making mind mapping in their upcoming branch in curved line. The reason for this was to
task. make the mind map less monotonous and be more
Teacher asks the students to think critically attractive.
and gives problem solving about difficult materials. The teacher encouraged the students to use
This stage was remarked by how the teacher and only one word or phrase per line. It was to make
the students communicatively discussed about the the mind mapping more effective and less wordy.
difficulty during the making of mind mapping However, the teacher made an exception for the
example in the whiteboard. For example, the students. The students were allowed to use more
teacher gave assistance questions to help the than one word in their mind maps if they had the
students in filling the branches in the mind tendency to forget about some vocabulary. It was
mapping. an effort to prevent the student from making
From the explanation above, it is shown that spelling errors in their text. Some images in the
the teacher have already followed the steps of example of mind mapping. The teacher explained
teaching mind mapping strategy in writing recount to the students to use images in their mind map, but
text well but not perfectly. The teacher modified if they found it difficult to do they were allowed to
one of the steps above. Among those eight steps of use word or phrase instead.
teaching mind mapping in writing above, the From the explanation above, it can be noted
teacher modified the part when the teacher makes that the teacher already followed the rules on how
writing recount based on the mind map in the to make a mind map by Buzan. However, there was
whiteboard. This stage was reversed by the teacher, a modification made by the teacher during the
so the teacher used an already complete recount process of teaching mind mapping technique to the
text as a guide to make a mind map. By doing this, student. For example, the students were allowed to
the teacher believed that that the students would use both word and image in one line. Additionally,
understand the technique better. they were allowed to use more than two words in a
line. It was done because the teacher believed that
No Rules of Making a Mind Presence the students would learn more precisely and get
Map Yes No exposed to more vocabulary. However, it would
1 Start in the center. √ have been better if the teacher made the writings
2 Draw an image for central √ and images bigger and the shading bolder. Also,
idea. one thing that was missed by the teacher was that
3 Use more than one color. √ after explaining the importance of using an image
4 Connect the central image and √ or picture for the central idea, teacher forgot to give
its branches. an example in whiteboard. Aside from that matter,
5 Draw or write the branches in √ everything was fine.
curved. In conclusion, the teacher already taught
6 Use one key word per line. √ steps in teaching mind mapping in writing recount
7 Draw images. √ text well. Moreover, the teacher provided a good
Table 2. The Rules of Making a Mind Map by example of mind mapping with a clear explanation
Buzan for each step. Even if there were some modification
during the process, but the teacher adjusted it with
the students’ needs. The students also became
The teacher started the mind mapping by
engaged in the teaching-learning process. It was
drawing a big tree trunk in the middle of the
shown by how the students keep asking for more
whiteboard and wrote the title of the story inside
explanation when they found difficulty in
the tree trunk with black board marker. Then,
understanding the technique. Moreover, the teacher
explained about the importance of image or picture
did a good job in supervising the students while
for central idea, but the teacher forgot to give an
they were making their mind maps. Therefore, the
example in the whiteboard. The teacher used
students’ works and errors can be guided directly
different colours of board markers. For the main
by the teacher.
idea, the teacher used black board marker, blue
board marker for the first branches, and red board
marker for the advanced branches.

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 Mind Mapping in Teaching Writing of Recount Text

The Discussion of the Result of Students’ Mind students were allowed to use both word and image
Mapping and Recount Text in one line. Additionally, they were allowed to use
The results of students’ personal recount more than two words in a line. It was done because
texts showed that most students could already the teacher believed that the students would learn
apply the technique independently. They could more precisely and get exposed to more
develop their mind maps as creative as they could. vocabulary. Thus, it avoided misspelling.
From the examples in the research findings, it can Moreover, the teacher provided a good
be noted that the students’ mind maps followed the example of mind mapping with a clear explanation
rules that have been taught by the teacher. They for each step. The students also could also take part
started the key word in the center of the paper then in the teaching-learning process. It was shown by
linked them to some advanced key words, and so how the students asking questions and seek for
on. They also used pictures and more than one more explanation when they found difficulty in
color in the mind mapping. Nevertheless, there is understanding the technique. Moreover, the teacher
still shortcoming in students’ works which the lack did a good job in supervising the students while
of pictures or images. Most of the pictures in their they were making their mind map. Therefore, the
mind maps were not relevant with the story in their students’ works and errors can be guided directly
recount text. As for the personal recount text that by the teacher.
the students have made, they were in the The results of students’ personal recount
appropriate structures, and consisted of only minor texts showed that this technique was helpful to
mistakes or errors. students in creating their own personal recount text.
Additionally, the students’ mind maps were Most students could already apply the technique
helpful to the students in making their personal independently. The students’ mind maps followed
recount text. It was because the mind maps that the procedures that have been taught by the teacher.
have been made by the students facilitated them They started the key word in the center of the paper
with the components that must be existed in the then linked them to some advanced key words, and
story. Those components included the characters so on. The personal recount texts that the students
(who), the time (when, the place (where), activities made were in the appropriate structures, and
that happened (what) how it happened and why it consisted of only minor mistakes or errors.
happened. The students had an easier way to make According from the rubric used to analyse students’
their recount text since they already had a plan recount text, they are in very good and good level
beforehand in the form of mind map. All that left with a few that is in the poor level.
for them to do was to develop the plan into a
complete story. It could be said that mind mapping SUGGESTIONS
helped the students in creating recount text more The teacher can apply the mind mapping
easily. strategy in other kind of texts and other grades of
students. Since this strategy was taught to the eight
CONCLUSION graders of junior high school, the teacher can also
Based on the result of the research that has use this strategy to the seven graders and nine
been done by the researcher, it can be concluded graders of junior high school. Also, the strategy can
that the teacher already implemented the steps in be adjusted with the type of text that is being taught
teaching mind mapping technique well. The for every grade of the students. More media and
procedure that the teacher did is similar with the fun activity are also recommended during the
steps of teaching writing using mind mapping implementation of this technique, so that the
technique by Kureasin. There was a difference students will feel more relaxed in receiving the
during the implementation which is the step where material.
the teacher makes a text based on the mind map As for further researchers, they can conduct
that has been made. In this research, the teacher similar research with different level of students and
reverse the activity by making a mind map out of different types of text, or different skills. Also, it
an existing recount text as an example. It was done would be better if they can combine or compare
with the aim of making the students easier in mind mapping technique with any other techniques.
gasping the idea of how to make a mind map before
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