This article discusses about the use of mind mapping to improve students' writing skills. English is one of the languages which is used by people to communicate with one another. Although English is not the language with the largest number of native language speakers, it becomes a lingua franca. Harmer (2001:16) defines a lingua franca as a language widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other's and where one or both speakers are using it as a second language. English is used in many aspects such as economics, entertainment, law, medicine, education, and so on. However English has become the most studied foreign language today.
Introduction
Four basic skills are taught in the teaching and learning process of English. They are speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Writing is one of the basic skills which has to be learned by students. Harmer (1998:79) says, "By far the most important reason for teaching writing, of course, is that it is a basic language skill, just as important as speaking, listening, and reading". It means that writing is one of the basic language skills which is important to be learned by students.
Writing is a difficult skill for second language learners to master. Â Based on Richards & Renandya (2002:313), "the difficulty lies not only in generating and organizing ideas but also in translating these ideas into readable text." So, the writers should pay attention to higher-level skills of planning and organizing as well as lower-level skills of spelling, punctuation, word choice, and so on.
Mind Mapping for Writing
Mind mapping is a map of people's mind which interpret their interpretation of something. It shows people's idea which is generated from the center then it has branches that support the central idea.
There is some definition of mind mapping strategy according to some experts. According to Buzan (in Riswanto and Putra, 2012:62), mind mapping is a graphic representation of ideas ( usually generated via a brainstorming session). It shows the ideas which are generated around a central theme and how they are interlinked. It is a tool primarily used for stimulating thought. He realized that the education system primarily focused on the left and brain strength, which include the use of language, logic, numbers, sequence, looks at detail, linear, symbolic representation and judgemental characteristics.
It means that mind mapping strategy is a graphic which represented the ideas which can be developed into a writing. The students will use their prior knowledge to make graphics in mind mapping based on the topic and they will interpret it into written form.
There are some steps to make mind mapping. According to Buzan in Purnomo (2014:16), some steps to make mind mapping are as follow:
- Start in the center of a blank page turned sideways.
The idea of beginning in the center is designed to give the brain freedom to branch and spread out in all directions to express the idea.
- Use an image or picture of your central idea.
Using an image can help to imagine and keep attention focused.
- Use color throughout
Color can stimulates creative thinking which helps to distinguish areas of creative thought and stimulates the visual centers of the brain and captures the eyes' attention and interest.
- Connect mind branches to the central image and connect the second and third levels of branches to the first and second levels. It is caused by the brain which works by association. If the branches are connected, the ideas also connect in one's head which will spark more creative thought.
- Make the branches curved rather than straight. Â A mind map with straight lines is boring to the eyes and does not reflect its creative intent.
- Use one word per line
A single word or image generates its own vast array of creative thought. They leave the mind to spark new thoughts whereas phrases or sentences tend to dampen that triggering the effect.
- Use images throughout.
Each image like the central image, it worth a thousand words. Besides the image is easy to remember, they can stimulate new creative associations.
Those are some steps that should be done in making mind mapping. Those steps will help how to make mind mapping proper and easy. Mind mapping strategy has some advantages and disadvantages.
According to Buzan in Muhib (2014:18), the advantages of mind mapping are:
- The center of a mind map (main idea) is defined clearly.
- The level of each idea is shown clearly. The important idea is near of the center and on the other hand.
- The relation between keywords can be shown quickly because of its relation. It makes the remembering of students more effective.
- A mind map is seen differently from other maps
- The structure of the mind map has probably added new information.
     While disadvantages of mind mapping are that it needs a lot of time in the organization, difficulties in allocating time, need many times to find an effective keyword. It can be concluded that the mind mapping strategy has more advantages than disadvantages. It means that it is recommended to be used as a strategy in teaching-learning.
Conclusion
      The writing process is divided into three stages: planning, drafting and revising. Mind mapping is a technique pre-writing activity that becomes an important start in the planning stage. By drawing the Mind Mapping first it can guide the students to the next steps, drafting and revising.
      Mind mapping offers some advantages. It can be combined with other activities. Secondly, it can introduce the students to the stages of writing, the generic structure, and the language features of text types. Thirdly, it helps students to get a deeper understanding of the topic and generate ideas easily. Thus, the students are encouraged to apply the writing process. As a result, they could produce better results in writing.
References
Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman: Pearson Education Limited.
Muhib, A. (2014). Mind Mapping and Everybody Writes Techniques For Students With High and Low Writing Achievement. English Education Journal. Semarang:State Semarang University.
Purnomo, A. (2014). Improving Descriptive Writing Skill Through Mind Mapping Technique. Graduating Paper. IAIN Salatiga
Richards, J., & Renandya, W. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching (An Anthology of Current Practice). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Riswanto&Putra, P.P. (2012). The Use of Mind Mapping Strategy in the Teaching of Writing at SMAN 3 Bengkulu, Indonesia. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(21).