HOW TO USE “FISHBONE” TO TEACH WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE

AND HORTATORY EXPOSITION

Liza Oktarini

Abstract:

Writing is one of the important ways to deliver people’s thought. People

can write freely in order to communicate their mind. Fishbone method is a kind of
method that uses cause and effect diagram. This method uses a diagram-based
approach for thinking through all of the possible causes of a problem. This method
helps people to carry out one problem through analysis of the situation. It will
show the causes of a particular effect and the relationships between cause and
effect. It is effective to be used in teaching writing argumentative & Hortatory
Exposition text.

I. Introduction

Writing is one of the important skill that should be mastered by the

students in order to master English well. According to Nickerson, et al (1985),

writing ability depends on the ability to think clearly about substantive matters. It

means that the students are expected to be able to write down their thoughts

become systematic writing. Brown (2007) also said that writing products are

often the result of thinking, drafting, and revising procedures that require

specialized skills, skills that not every speaker develops naturally. It shows that

writing is one of the important ways to deliver people’s thought. People can write

freely in order to communicate their mind. It can be in term of novel, short story,

or even personal diaries.

According to Broadmen and Frydenberg (2002) the purpose of writing is

to communicate the messages. It means that the writer has to pay much attention

to convey ideas in written form in order to make the reader understand about the

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meaning of the messages that the writer intended to deliver. However, it is

difficult for students to write because they need to think critically and have to be

aware of expressing their ideas in order to make their writing readable and

understandable. As Barkoui (2007) states that writing is one of the most difficult

skills which learners are expected to acquire, requiring the mastery of a variety of

linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural competencies. The students should also

consider the language use when the students engage in their writing process. This

activity will provoke language development because the students resolve

problems that writing puts in students’ minds.

In the senior high school level, the students are intended to master many

genres of text in order to measure their writing ability. There are many genres of

texts such as report, explanation, analytical explanation, review, news item,

spoof, anecdote and argumentative text. Every text has its own generic structures.

From some genre of the texts above, the researcher will use argumentative text.

Argumentative text is the important text that should be mastered by senior high

school’s students. Argumentative text is a kind of text which refers to the writer’s

opinion about surrounding phenomenon. It also persuades the readers to agree

with the writer’s opinion.

Fishbone diagram method which known as cause and effect diagram found

by Kaoru Ishikawa is one of the best methods in teaching writing argumentative

text. A fishbone diagram consists of three parts. First, the head, it is as a problem

or topic which will be analyzed. Second, the body, it is as a description of a

problem or topic. The last, the tail, it is as a result of the problem. Moreover, this

method can help the students to determine the cause and effect of one problem

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 statement by using a model like a skeleton of a fish. It can be very enjoyable for

students to be creatively in writing.

II. Discussion

Writing ability is one of the ability that should be mastered by students in

learning english. It is a way to express idea, feelings, thinking and opinion in

written form. It means that by written form, someone can express ideas, sense

more freely and correctly. If the students are successful in delivering their

message in written form, they will have good writing abiity. Ur (1992) said that

writing purpose is to express the writer’s ideas and communicate the message, and

the ideas itself are the most important point in writing. Moreover, Peim (1993),

states that writing is a form of thinking, because writing is transforming the

writer’s thought or ideas into written text. Therefore, it can be learned in school

and others, such as in course, private, etc.

Writing is a complex process because it consists of complex activities.

Alamargot and Lucile (2001) said that writing activities need cooperation and

collaboration in people mental activities, so that writing becomes a complex task

for people. In writing, people have to plan the topic clearly, organize the ideas,

choose the good vocabulary, considere the right grammar and revise what they

have written.

Generally, argumentative text contains three generic structures are : the

issue, arguments, and conclusion or recommendation. The function of

argumentative text is to present (at least) two points of view about an issue and

argumentative text is the kind of essay where the writer has to make the reader

believes. In argumentative text, the writer not only express his/her own opinion,

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but also presents an argument with the Pros (supporting ideas) and Cons

(opposing ideas) to the reader.

The argumentation text has four types, namely : analytical exposition,

hortatory exposition, discussion and review. Analytical exposition has purpose to

persuade that something is in the case. Hortatory exposition has purpose to

persuade that something should or should not be in the case. Discussion has

purpose to present, at least, two points of view about an issue. The last, review

text has purpose to criticize an art work/event for public audience and to review

certain product for commercial purpose.

Hortatory exposition text is one of the texts that students learn in English

subject. In this text the writer will show his arguments based on specified topics.

It consists of cause and effect. Coffin (2004) said that a hortatory exposition text

is a text which puts forward a point of view and recommends a course of action. It

means that hortatory starts from a controversial issue then it is explored by some

perspectives before reaching a position and giving recommendation in the end of

the text.

According to Doddie et all (2008) hortatory exposition is a kind of

text which has a function to persuade the listener that something should or should

not be the case. This text is divided into three parts, first is thesis or

introduction, second is argument or body of the text, and the last is

recommendation. In introduction, the writer will introduce the topic and

indicating the writer’s position. In arguments, the writer will give some

arguments to support or oppose the writer topic. The last is recommendation.

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Recommendation is where the writer gives opinions about the text which should

or should not be the case.

In writing hortatory exposition text, there are many problems that

come from students. When they were asked to write a hortatory exposition

text, they feel confused to choose the topic for the text. Moreover, hortatory

exposition text is closely related to writer’s arguments. Some students feel

difficult to arrange the arguments and to make the ideas do not jump. They know

what they want to write but they cannot organize their ideas. Besides that,

they were bored with the teacher’s method that used in classroom. The method

that used by the teacher just make them confused in writing hortatory exposition

text. Because of that, they need an appropriate method to improve their ability in

choosing the topic and organize their ideas in hortatory exposition text.

Fishbone method is a kind of method that uses cause and effect diagram.

This method uses a diagram-based approach for thinking through all of the

possible causes of a problem. This method helps people to carry out one problem

through analysis of the situation. It will show the causes of a particular effect and

the relationships between cause and effect.

Garvey (2008) argued fishbone method can help to construct some factors

that associated with a particular topic and show how they can relate together. This

method is appropriate to use in writing hortatory exposition text because hortatory

exposition text is one of the argumentative texts. It consists of thesis as an

introduction, arguments as the body of the text, and recommendation as a

conclusion. In other words, the topic of this text is the effect and the arguments as

the causes of the effect.

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 Gupta (2007) said that fishbone method is a method that used

cause‐and‐effect diagram. It can be used to identify the potential (or actual) cause

for a performance problem. Fishbone diagrams provide a structure for a group’s

discussion around the potential causes of the problem. It also used to illustrate and

communicate the relationship among several potential or actual causes of a

performance problem.

Gupta (2007) said that there are some advantages of using fishbone

method. They are:

1. The fishbone method used fishbone diagrams permit a thoughtful analysis to

avoids any possible root causes for a need.

2. The fishbone technique is easy to implement and creates an easy‐to‐understand

visual representation of the causes, categories of causes, an the need.

3. By using a fishbone diagram, the students are able to focus on the group on the

possible causes or factos influencing the problem or need.

4. Even after the need has been addressed, the fishbone diagram shows many areas

of weaknesses that can be revised before the causing more difficulties.

Gupta (2007) gave some tips to success in using fishbone method. He

said that, make sure that there is consensus in the group about both the “need” and

the characteristics of the “cause statementʺ before beginning the process of

building the fishbone diagram. If appropriate, the students can graft branches that

do not contain a lot of information onto other branches. Likewise, they can ʺsplitʺ

branches that have too much information into two or more branches. Write the

simple words while populating the fishbone diagram or use as many words as

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necessary to describe the cause or effect. Kinds of fishbone that can be used will

be displayed below:

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III. Conclusion

To conclude, Fishbone diagrams provide a structure for a group’s

discussion around the potential causes of the problem. It also used to illustrate and

communicate the relationship among several potential or actual causes of a

performance problem. It is effective to be used in teaching writing argumentative

& Hortatory Exposition text.

REFERENCES

Boardman, Chyntya A, Frydenberg, Jia. 2001. Writing to Communicate :

Paragraphs and Essays. USA: Pearson ESL.

Graham, Steve. 2008. Effective Writing Instruction for All Students. USA:
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Hogue, Ann., Alice Oshima. 2007. Introduction to Academic Writing. New York:
Pearson Longman.

Langan, John. 2005. College Writing Skills with Reading. Newyork: Lisa Moore

Merina. Peningkatan Kemampuan Menulis Narasi Ekspositoris Melalui Jurnal

Pribadi. JPGSD Volume 01 Nomor 02 Tahun 2013, 0-216.2013.p.42

Nash, Walter., Stacey, David. 1997. Creating Texts : An Introduction to the Study
of Composition. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Nickerson, R. S., Perkins, D. N., & Smith, E. E. 1985. The Teaching of Thinking.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Olateju, Moji. 2010. Advanced English Composition I. Nigeria: National Open

University of Nigeria.

Sundem, Garth. 2007. Improving Students Writing Skills. USA: Corinne Burton,
M.A.Ed.

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