EXPLORING STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT AT A PRIVATE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN INDONESIA

This study aimed to explore students‟ difficulties in writing argumentative text at a private senior high school in Indonesia. This study applied qualitative research methods specifically case study design. The participants of this study were students of senior high school in eleventh grade. Data were gathered from documentation and semi-structured interviews. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. On the other hand, the documentation data were analyzed using content analysis. The aspects that related to students‟ difficulties in writing argumentative texts at a private senior high school were linguistic, cognitive, language features, and psycho-motor. Based on the findings of this study, students‟ difficulties in writing argumentative text were caused by moderate knowledge of linguistic aspects specifically in term of mechanics of writing difficulties. Therefore, understanding the difficulties experienced by the students in writing argumentative text is an important way to avoid any mistakes and advance the student’s ability in writing argumentative text.