RETAIN (RESEARCH ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN INDONESIA)
Vol. 14 No. 01 (2026)

The Effectiveness of Spider Diagrams in Improving Descriptive Writing Skills of 7th Grade Students

Seychella Arvian Widya Putri (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
28 Mar 2026

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of Spider Diagrams in improving the descriptive writing skills of 7th-grade students at a junior high school in Jombang. Using a quasi-experimental design, 56 students were selected via purposive cluster sampling and divided into an experimental group (taught using Spider Diagrams) and a control group (taught using traditional methods). Students' descriptive writing skills were assessed through pre- and post-tests, evaluated using the Jacob et al. (1981) rubric, which covered content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. A Mann-Whitney U test revealed a statistically significant difference (p=0.001) in post-test scores, with the experimental group showing higher improvement. The highest improvements were observed in content (M=27.07) and language use (M=21.17), though the improvement in mechanics (M=3.77) was the lowest. While effective in facilitating writing ideas, Spider Diagrams should be combined with other strategies to ensure comprehensive improvement, particularly in the technical aspects of writing.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

retain

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

RETAIN publishes articles within the scope of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. RETAIN publishes articles within the scope of English Language Teaching and Applied ...