Technology to develop student writing skill: A portrait of english language teaching in remote area

Abstract

The significant change of technology drives teachers to have much better teaching performance. Teachers need to incorporate technology into classrooms. It is widely discussed as Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The objectives of this research are to describe technology - Aegisub - in developing students writing competence of vocational school including its strengths and weaknesses. This research belongs to Classroom Action Research (CAR) and it was conducted at grade 10th of private vocational school in remote area. Observation, semi structured interviews as well as document are employed to gain data. Finding shows that teachers used technology to develop students writing competence. Procedures of teaching and learning activity referred to Indonesian's Education Minister Decree, the so-called, scientific approach - observing, questioning, experimenting, associating, and communicating - to teach descriptive texts. Students do installing the software, selecting video using Aegisub and eventually modify the text using features provided by Aegisub. The strengths of the use of Aegisub application is students' engagement in learning process. Meanwhile, the error system and automatic grammar correction become the weaknesses of the application. Overall, technology can be a means of students to increase students' motivation and creativity in the teaching-learning process, in particular to develop writing skills.