The Importance of Scientific Writing Ability for Students: Approach Methods, Teaching Obstacles, and Research Quality

The ability to write scientific papers is very important for students. Nowadays, the truth of a written work needs to be questioned considering the amount of fake news on social networks. One way to prove the truth and authenticity of a written work is to conduct research that will produce scientific works that are useful for the community

The Importance of Scientific Writing for Higher Education Levels

Scientific writings that have been documented or published will certainly be more valuable, especially the one that contains research. It is so helpful for other people to learn from our experience of success in finding solutions to a problem by applying the same thing in their context. Although the results may vary because we cannot generalize the results of research on a small scale, research still can be used for recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders, as well as a basis and recommendations for improvement

The difference Between an English and Indonesian Scientific Papers

Writing a good English scientific paper is not easy. For students majoring in English, the ability to write will be highly valued, especially for a scientific paper. There are several differences between writing Indonesian and English scientific papers

The Perspective of Writing Procedure

    In terms of writing, the difference depends on the author’s preference. The structure of the scientific work depends on the journal addressed, not on the language. For Elis Homsini, she always applies direct writing based on the language used so that the style is not mixed. “If I want to write a journal in English, I will try to write it directly in English.” She said.

    For beginners, we can start writing scientific papers by determining the object of research using Indonesian to sharpen ideas, then submitting them to Indonesian journals. If we are trained, we can try to write directly using English, so that it is not too thick with Indonesian elements. We can read many journals that discuss the same things to form our writing structure by looking from various sides of other research

The Perspective of Scientific Work Structure

    All scientific works are almost the same in structure. The difference is the way the author develops and expresses their writing. The structure of scientific papers must contain the title, author’s name, email, and other author’s information, abstract, introduction, research background and theory, methodology, finding discussion, conclusion, and references. Some introductions have been combined with theory, some are not. For now, most authors combine the introduction with the theory.

The Perspective of Grammar and Ideas

    In terms of grammar and vocabulary, of course, it will be different. However, from the perspective of ideas, scientific works made in any language will remain the same. Scientific works must contain the creativity of the author, the originality of the writing and research, and the novelty of the object of discussion.

The Obstacles in Writing Scientific Papers and How to Overcome Them

    We often find some obstacles in writing scientific papers using English. Not a few students find it difficult due to a lack of grammar skills and knowledge of vocabulary. There are some efforts that we might be able to do to improve our grammar and vocab skills.

Use the Learning Facilities in Class

    Elis Homsini said that to overcome the lack of grammar skills and knowledge of vocabulary, it could be facilitated by learning in class. However, we cannot rely solely on it because grammar is very complex and numerous, as well as vocabulary. “Vocabulary and grammar are something that needs to be integrated into your life, and must be made into a kind of lifestyle.” She said.

Learning Autonomy from The Teachers

    The efforts to improve vocabulary and grammar will depend on learning autonomy. If teachers or lecturers can motivate students to acquire their vocabulary according to their respective interests, then it will be very good for these students’ development.

Learning Independence

    Learning independently will also be very influential. For Elis Homsida, drilling is very useful to improve grammar skills. To consistently improve vocabulary, we can learn it from songs and movies. We can also enrich our knowledge by reading something in English, such as magazines, newspapers, articles, research, journals, etc. The extensive graded reading method is very helpful by starting from the easy one, to the complicated one. These processes will help us to find the right and comfortable learning style.

The Approach to Research Methods for Developing Scientific Writing Skills

    We can see the approach method in teaching scientific works from the research journal created by Pauziah Aisah Al Azhar, student guidance of Elis Homsini, entitled “Process Genre Approach in Teaching Writing Narrative Text: Its Implementation, Benefits, and Obstacles. Pauziah conducted qualitative research in a high school in Cianjur to examine the learning process using the Process Genre Approach in teaching writing narrative text. (Al Azhar & Maolida, 2019)

    The teacher has a big influence on developing students in writing. However, Elis Homsini said that it was not the only factor. “There is no single best method that can solve problems in all classes, but the most appropriate method to be applied in solving problems according to the context.” She said.

    Learning methods will be more focused by using the most appropriate method by adjusting the needs of students, and it will facilitate their optimal learning and development process. However, that does not mean that the method that is not used is not good. It could be the best, but not suitable to be applied elsewhere. There is no method in this world that is suitable for all contexts.

    The journal also states that there are three approaches to teaching methods, which is Process Based Approach, Genre Based Approach, and Process Genre Approach. Elis Homsisni stated that the reason for choosing the Process Genre Approach was because she saw that the student’s needs refer to a combination of process and genre. This selection process uses an eclectic approach method, so teachers can choose and combine methods from several approaches. The goal is that the methods used can complement each other.

    In the journal, it stated that there were six steps in applying the process genre approach conducted by the teacher following Badger and White (2000): preparation, modeling, planning, joint constructing, independent constructing, revising, and editing. Based on the teacher’s perspective, the benefits of using the process genre approach in teaching writing narrative text were the students can write a text step by step and learn about a genre of text in detail, that’s why this method is most appropriate for High School students there.

The Importance of The Research Quality and The Way of Writing Scientific Papers

 Both in terms of the research quality and how the work is written will affect the quality of our scientific work. Scientific work will be considered good if; First, the data is valid and correct. Second, contribute and benefit the reader. Third, the method of collecting data is correct, either from the approach, subject determination, or data analysis.

The quality of scientific work also depends on the ability of the author to convey his writing in a way that is correct and understandable to attract the attention of the reader. The scientific work must contain novelty and adapt to the latest information. Although we tend to be based on previous research, with this novelty element, we can continue the research of others with new things offered.

From this, we can conclude that writing scientific papers is very important for the continuity of our education, especially for those of us who want to continue to a higher level of degree. However, there must be challenges such as low mastery of grammar and vocabulary, especially if the scientific work is written in English. To face this challenge, we can use the facilities in the classroom, learn autonomy from the teachers, and learn independence. In addition, we can also use the most effective methods that can be obtained from the results of experiments and research. From this, we also realize that the quality of research and how scientific work is written is very important to determine its quality (Shofia Isna Noormuzakky, Mahasiswa Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris, FPBS UPI).

Source

Al Azhar, P. A., & Maolida, E. H. (2019). Process Genre Approach in Teaching Writing Narrative Text: Its Implementation, Benefits and Obstacles. Journal Jeopallt, 12.