THE TENTH-GRADE STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO WRITE SIMPLE SENTENCES USING SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE ABOUT PICTURES OF DAILY ACTIVITIES AT SMKN 6 PADANG

ABSTRACT

Masfar, N.H.L. (2025) “The Tenth-Grade Students’ Ability to Write Simple Sentences Using Simple Present Tense about Pictures of Daily Activities at SKMN 6 Padang”.
Advisor: Dr. Joni Alfino, S.Pd, M.Pd
This descriptive research aimed to analyze the tenth grade students' ability to write simple sentences using simple present tense about picture of daily activities at SMKN 6. The study was specifically conducted using daily activity pictures as a visual stimulus. Student performance was evaluated across four criteria: Content (relevance to the picture), Grammar, Vocabulary, and Mechanics. A writing test was administered to a cluster random sample of 32 students, and the instrument's reliability was confirmed by an inter rater technique with a coefficient of 0.88 ( very high correlation).
The overall results indicated that the students' writing ability was moderate (62.5% of students). While students demonstrated superior ability in Content (87.5% very high) and Vocabulary (78% very high), a severe deficiency was found in Grammar, which was rated very low (53.13% of students). Similarly, Mechanics was rated low to very low (40.5% each).
Consequently, the study concludes that teachers must prioritize structured and intensive practice focused strictly on the rules of the Simple Present Tense, ensuring students master the use of the s or es suffix on singular verbs and the proper application of the auxiliaries 'do' or 'does' in negative and interrogative forms. Furthermore, consistent correction of capitalization and punctuation errors is essential. The researcher strongly recommends that future studies conduct a detailed qualitative error analysis or interviews to accurately diagnose the specific underlying causes, such as issues with current teaching methods or difficulties in conceptual understanding, that contribute to the persistent low scores in Grammar and Mechanics.