AN ANALYSIS OF THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING PERSONAL RECOUNT TEXT AT SMA PERTIWI 1 PADANG

This research aimed to describe the tenth grade students’ ability in writing personal recount text at SMA Pertiwi 1 Padang. The focus was on six aspects: orientation, chronological events, re-orientation, language features, vocabulary, and mechanics. The research design was descriptive. The population consisted of 36 students, namely class X E3, but only 30 were taken as the sample because 6 students were absent due to illness. The sample was chosen through cluster random sampling. The instrument was a writing test, and its reliability was ensured using the inter-rater technique with a coefficient of 0.84, indicating high reliability.
In general, the results showed that students’ ability in writing personal recount text was high, with 87% categorized at this level. However, the findings varied across different aspects. Students’ ability in orientation was low, as 60% failed to include sufficient information about who, where, when, and why. In writing chronological events, the ability was high, with 87% of students presenting events in a logical order. The re-orientation aspect was also high, with 70% successfully giving conclusions or opinions. Language features, especially the use of simple past tense, were problematic, as 53% of students showed low ability. Vocabulary use was very strong, with 100% categorized as high, and mechanics were also high, with 67% demonstrating correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. It can be concluded that the tenth grade students’ overall ability in writing personal recount text was generally high.
Nevertheless, weaknesses were found in orientation and language features, which require more serious attention in the learning process. Teachers are suggested to focus more on guiding students to construct complete orientations by practicing who, where, when, and why. They should also train students to use the correct simple past tense and apply writing mechanics properly through feedback and exercises. For students, it is suggested to practice writing more frequently, especially in orientation and grammar, as well as to read more examples of personal recount texts to improve their knowledge of structure and language features. Future researchers are advised to investigate further the causes of students’ low performance in orientation and compare the results with other studies.