Students' Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Texts in Junior High School

The purpose of this study was to analyze the difficulties faced by ninthgrade
students at SMP Swasta Gajah Mada Medan in writing descriptive text.
This study used a qualitative descriptive method and was conducted at SMP
Swasta Gajah Mada Medan. Data were collected through a student writing
assessment test and interview. Six students were selected for interviews from 28
students who took the writing test. The data were analyzed using Brown (2004),
which discusses five aspects of writing: content, organization, vocabulary,
grammar, and mechanics. Based on the results of the writing assessment and the
supporting interview data, it is evident that ninth-grade students at SMP Swasta
Gajah Mada Medan encounter substantial challenges across all five aspects of
descriptive writing proposed by Brown (2004). In terms of content, 7 students
(25%) experienced difficulties in generate and expand ideas, resulting in
descriptions that lacked detail and coherence. Organizational difficulties were
more widespread, with 20 students (71%) unable to structure their texts according
to the required components of a descriptive text, often presenting information in
an illogical order. Vocabulary limitations affected 11 students (39%), who
commonly used basic or inappropriate word choices, making their descriptions
less precise and sometimes unclear. Grammar emerged as a major problem for 26
students (92%), who frequently made errors in verb forms, sentence structure,
tenses, and relative clauses, which weakened the accuracy and clarity of their
texts. Mechanics posed the most significant challenge for all 28 students (100%),
with recurrent issues in capitalization, spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing that
negatively impacted the readability of their writing. These findings were
reinforced by interview results, in which students described difficulties related to
generating ideas, distinguishing text structure, selecting appropriate vocabulary,
applying grammar, and using correct spelling.