<![CDATA[ABSTRACT This study aims to determine students’ understanding in writing persuasive texts before and after the application of the Make a Match learning method and to identify the effect of this method on students’ ability to write persuasive texts in class XI of SMK Gelora Jaya Nusantara Medan. This research used a quantitative approach with an experimental method and a one group pretest-posttest design. The sample of this study consisted of 30 students from class XI KC1. The data were collected through writing tests of persuasive texts given before the treatment (pretest) and after the treatment (posttest). The data obtained were analyzed by calculating the mean score, standard deviation, normality test, homogeneity test, and hypothesis testing using the t-test. The results of the study showed that students’ persuasive text writing skills before using the Make a Match learning method obtained an average score of 52.16, which was categorized as fair, while after using the method, the average score increased to 76.83, which was categorized as good. Based on the results of the t-test, the tcount value of 17.175 was greater than the ttable value of 1.671 at the significance level of 0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Make a Match learning method had a significant effect on the persuasive text writing skills of the eleventh-grade students at Gelora Jaya Nusantara Vocational High School Medan. ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pemahaman menulis teks persuasif siswa sebelum dan sesudah menggunakan metode pembelajaran Make a Match serta untuk mengetahui pengaruh metode tersebut terhadap pemahaman menulis teks persuasif siswa kelas XI SMK Gelora Jaya Nusantara Medan. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode eksperimen dan desain one group pretest-posttest. Sampel penelitian adalah siswa kelas XI KC1 yang berjumlah 30 orang. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui tes menulis teks persuasif yang diberikan sebelum perlakuan (pretest) dan sesudah perlakuan (posttest). Data yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan menghitung nilai rata-rata, standar deviasi, uji normalitas, uji homogenitas, serta uji hipotesis menggunakan uji-t. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan menulis teks persuasif siswa sebelum menggunakan metode pembelajaran Make a Match memperoleh nilai rata-rata 52,16 dengan kategori cukup, sedangkan setelah menggunakan metode tersebut memperoleh nilai rata-rata 76,83 dengan kategori baik. Berdasarkan hasil uji t, diperoleh nilai thitung sebesar 17,175 lebih besar daripada ttabel sebesar 1,671 pada taraf signifikan 0,05. Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa metode pembelajaran Make a Match berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap kemampuan menulis teks persuasif siswa kelas XI SMK Gelora Jaya Nusantara Medan.]]>
