Role of Executive Functions in Improving Students' Narrative Text Writing Ability

Abstract

This research was motivated by the low ability of students to engage in narrative writing. The purpose of this research was to examine the role of executive function in the process of students writing narrative texts and to investigate the contribution of executive function to various aspects of narrative text composition. The research method used in this study was a factorial analysis design to find out which executive functions contribute the most to the students' narrative writing skills. The participants of this study were 250 elementary school students with an age range of 9-12 years old. The data collection was carried out through several tests. The tests conducted assessed the transcription skills, language skills, and executive functions involved in the students' writing process, specifically using menggunakan CLAN (Computerized Language Analysis), Mean Length of T-unit in words (MLTUw), and the ERRNI test (Expression, Reception and Recall of Narrative Instrument). The research findings show that executive function contributes directly and indirectly to the students' narrative writing abilities. Aspects of the constraints encountered, updating, and planning contribute directly to both the long and short aspects of the text. In addition, the constraint and renewal aspects indirectly contribute to the length of the text, the level of complexity of the sentences, and the quality of the story content. The implication of this research is that a teacher must be able to optimize the implementing function, namely by planning, revising, and reviewing the students' abilities using various writing strategies and methods. The development of this executive function is very beneficial for students in relation to improving their writing skills, especially the writing of literary texts.