IMPROVING EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS IN INTRODUCING THEMSELVES THROUGH THE SNAKES AND LADDERS GAME

Abstract

English language learning is very complex because students need to master four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Writing is a challenging skill for students in the first semester of seventh grade. It involves not only composing words into well-structured sentences but also understanding the function, meaning, and components of each word. Realizing this, the research was conducted with the aim of improving students' writing abilities in self-introduction through the game of snakes and ladders. Eventually, the students will produce self-introduction texts that will be uploaded to the Padlet application. The research participants consisted of 32 students from class VII H at SMP Negeri 36 Semarang. The method used was Classroom Action Research. Data collected for this research included observations, questionnaires, and tests. Two sets of pre-tests and post-tests were used to record improvements in students' writing skills. This research was conducted in two cycles, with each cycle consisting of two meetings involving planning, implementation, observation, and reflection stages. The research results showed that the application of the snakes and ladders game in improving students' writing skills provided good achievement in producing self-introduction texts. With an average pre-test score of 57.78, the average writing test score in the second cycle was 63.214, and the average post-test score was 80.681. The analysis of the questionnaire and observation also supported the idea that the snakes and ladders game can be applied not only in writing self-introduction texts but also in various other subjects and materials.