Journal of English Language and Education ISSN 2597- 6850 (Onlin.
, 2502-4132 (Prin.
Journal Homepage: https://jele.
id/index.
php/jele/index Article Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang https://doi.
org/10.
31004/jele.
A Himatul Ulya.
Widhiyantoab 12 Universitas Negeri Semarang.
Indonesia Corresponding Author: himatululya@students.
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the genre analysis of descriptive texts written by tenth-grade students at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang.
It examines studentsAo mastery of generic structures and linguistic features, focusing on identification, description, present tense, adjectives, relational verbs, and action verbs as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Using a qualitative descriptive design, data are collected from 25 students and analyzed through the genre framework of Tardy and Swales .
Findings indicate that most students apply the generic structures correctly, though the level of descriptive detail ranges from minimal to fairly elaborate.
Linguistic features are generally appropriate, yet limited vocabulary and frequent mechanical errors persist, reducing accuracy and coherence.
The study addresses a research gap in local contexts where descriptive writing is often assessed only for structure, not for linguistic sophistication.
It concludes that while structural mastery is achieved, explicit language development remains necessary through genre-based scaffolding.
Keywords: Genre Analysis.
Descriptive Text.
Linguistic Features.
Merdeka Curriculum.
Senior High School Article History:
Received 15th January 2026
Accepted 15th February 2026
Published 17th February 2026
INTRODUCTION
Writing is a central skill in English language education, particularly in Indonesian senior high schools, where it is positioned as both a communicative competence and an academic In line with Kusmiati et al.
, among the different genres introduced in school curricula, descriptive writing plays an important role, as it enables students to convey their perceptions, feelings, and detailed observations of people, places, or objects.
In the Merdeka Curriculum, descriptive writing is emphasized not merely as a mechanical exercise but as a means of fostering deep learning, encouraging students to connect language use with cognitive development and creativity.
Within this framework, genre-based pedagogy has become increasingly important, as it provides systematic scaffolding for students to understand how texts are structured and how language features function within those structures (Tardy et al.
, 2.
Genre analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of how language functions within specific discourse communities and represents an effective model of applied linguistics by drawing on linguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives to illuminate patterns of language use and language learning in educational contexts (Swales, 1.
The basic competency that must be mastered in English writing is the ability to develop and produce simple and functional written texts, and descriptive text is one of the basic material for improving students' writing skills (Siregar et al.
Despite the emphasis on descriptive writing in the curriculum, students continue to face persistent challenges in producing texts that are both accurate and coherent, particularly in relation to grammar, mechanics, and vocabulary, which often hinder communicative clarity and reduce the effectiveness of their writing.
Composing descriptive texts requires students to master several aspects, and this can measure their abilities.
Descriptive texts are defined in this study as the A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang form .
of the discursive function of providing factual information (Stavans & ZadunaiskyEhrlich, 2.
Several studies have examined studentsAo ability to produce descriptive texts within a genre-based framework.
Rufaida .
analyzed seventh-grade studentsAo writing and found that while most learners could apply basic generic structures, their texts often lacked elaboration and lexical variety, limiting communicative effectiveness.
Similarly.
Dzukhriyah and Rini .
demonstrated that a genre-based approach significantly improved studentsAo descriptive writing performance, with post-test scores showing greater mastery of organization and linguistic accuracy.
More recently.
Hulwa and Gunawan .
highlighted persistent gaps between model texts and student-produced descriptive texts, particularly in transitivity choices and genre-level sophistication, underscoring the need for explicit Collectively, these studies emphasize that while structural awareness is developing among Indonesian learners, challenges remain in achieving linguistic richness and genre conformity, thereby justifying further inquiry into pedagogical strategies that integrate genre analysis with language development.
Studies have demonstrated that applying a genre-based approach can lead to notable improvements in studentsAo writing performance, especially regarding organizational structure, coherence, and clarity (Dzukhriyah & Rini, 2.
Previous studies have shown that genre analysis in descriptive text writing plays an important role in understanding students' ability to develop texts systematically.
Rusmawan .
found that genre-based learning helps students understand the stages of descriptive text writing, although the linguistic quality of the texts still needs improvement.
Madjdi and Rokhayani .
reported that students were able to consistently apply the generic structures of identification and description, but still faced obstacles in linguistic aspects such as diction and clarity of meaning.
Meanwhile.
Maulani .
showed that although the Genre-Based Approach did not produce significant differences compared to conventional methods, students still had difficulty developing ideas and structuring paragraphs according to genre structures.
Research by Fauzi et al.
reveals that most students can apply the generic structure of descriptive texts well, but limited vocabulary remains a major factor affecting text quality.
In addition.
Tanner .
emphasizes that genre awareness is not only related to fulfilling text structure but also to understanding the communicative purpose and social context of the text.
These findings collectively establish the empirical problem: although students often succeed in applying the generic structures of descriptive texts namely identification and description, but they struggle to use linguistic features such as the simple present tense, adjectives, and relational verbs with accuracy, resulting in texts that are structurally complete but linguistically flawed.
The theoretical problem lies in the need to apply genre analysis frameworks systematically to student texts to uncover how structural mastery interacts with linguistic performance.
While genre pedagogy has been widely adopted in Indonesia, much of the research has focused on whether students can reproduce generic structures rather than analyzing the deeper relationship between structure and language features.
As Tardy.
Hyland, and Paltridge .
argue, genre analysis provides a lens through which texts can be examined not only for their formal organization but also for the ways linguistic choices enact communicative purposes, and applying such frameworks to student writing allows researchers to move beyond surface-level evaluations to explore how learners negotiate the demands of genre, accuracy, and meaning-making.
Recent studies across Indonesia have established that students generally understand the generic structure of descriptive texts.
Husna .
notes that students may understand writing rules but experience difficulty implementing them in actual writing tasks.
For instance.
Sipayung et al.
and Ulfa .
found consistent use of identification and description, though with varying degrees of completeness regarding to the generic structure of the descriptive text.
Kusmiati et al.
underline the significance of reinforcing grammatical competence and vocabulary development in descriptive writing pedagogy.
While Jayanti .
found that students experienced difficulties in clearly identifying objects, developing related ideas, understanding simple present tense structures, using appropriate vocabulary, and applying correct writing mechanics.
The students have difficulties in many different A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang aspects (Duha, 2.
These findings collectively suggest that while genre pedagogy has helped students grasp text structure, it has not fully addressed linguistic accuracy.
While previous research has provided valuable insights, several gaps remain.
First, most studies emphasize either generic structure mastery or pedagogical innovation, with limited attention to the interplay between structure and linguistic features.
Second, few studies have systematically applied genre analysis frameworks to student texts, particularly in the context of the Merdeka Curriculum.
Third, existing research often focuses on specific schools or regions, leaving a need for studies that examine descriptive writing in Semarang, a major urban center with diverse student populations.
This study seeks to address these gaps by conducting a detailed genre analysis of a class of tenth-grade studentsAo descriptive texts at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang, focusing on both structural and linguistic dimensions.
By situating the research within the broader field of discourse and genre analysis, and by applying the framework of Tardy and Swales .
, this study aims to bridge the gap between empirical observations of error patterns and theoretical insights into genre-based In doing so, it extends previous findings by examining how students negotiate the demands of genre while simultaneously addressing the persistent weaknesses in grammar and mechanics.
Based on the gap analysis, this study addresses the following research questions: .
What generic structures .
dentification, descriptio.
are found in tenth-grade studentsAo descriptive texts? .
How do students use linguistic features .
resent tense, adjectives, relational verb.
? .
What are the common strengths and weaknesses in their descriptive The objectives of this study are to analyze the structural and linguistic features of studentsAo descriptive texts, identify patterns of strength and weakness, and provide pedagogical implications for improving writing instruction.
The novelty of this research lies in its application of Tardy and SwalesAo genre analysis framework to student texts within the Merdeka Curriculum context, thereby combining theoretical rigor with practical relevance.
focusing on SMA Teuku Umar Semarang, this study contributes new empirical data to the field and offers insights into how genre pedagogy can be refined to support both structural mastery and linguistic accuracy.
METHOD
This research employed a qualitative descriptive design with a focus on genre analysis.
The purpose of this design was to examine the structural and linguistic features of studentsAo descriptive texts in detail, rather than to measure their performance quantitatively.
applying the framework of genre analysis, the study sought to uncover how students construct texts, how they employ linguistic features such as tenses, adjectives, and relational verbs, and what strengths and weaknesses emerge in their writing.
The qualitative approach was chosen because it allows for a rich exploration of textual data and provides insights into the ways students negotiate the demands of descriptive writing within the context of the Merdeka Curriculum especially in the Deep Learning Approach.
Respondents The research focused on a tenth-grade class at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang in the 2025/2026 academic year.
The class comprised 25 students, each tasked with producing descriptive texts for data collection.
A purposive sampling technique was employed to capture a range of writing abilities, ensuring both diversity and representativeness within the sample.
This approach enabled the researcher to conduct a thorough genre analysis while keeping the dataset manageable.
Consequently, the selected sample provides a solid foundation for examining variations in studentsAo descriptive writing performance.
Instruments The primary instrument of this study was the studentsAo written descriptive texts.
additional instruments such as questionnaires or tests were used, as the focus was on the written products themselves.
Students were instructed to write free descriptive texts.
The texts A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang served as authentic data, reflecting how students applied generic structures and linguistic features in their writing without external constraints.
Procedures Data were collected in collaboration with the English teacher of the class.
The teacher and researcher worked together to assign students the task of writing a descriptive text.
Importantly, no specific instructions were given regarding the topic or object of description, so that students could freely choose what they wanted to describe.
This open-ended approach was intended to capture authentic writing samples and to allow students to demonstrate their ability to apply generic structures and linguistic features without external constraints.
The written texts produced by the students served as the primary data for analysis.
No additional instruments such as questionnaires or tests were used, as the focus of the study was on the written products themselves.
The following sections are explained using Tardy and Swales .
Data Analysis Students' written descriptive texts were first transcribed into Microsoft Word to ensure consistency in formatting and ease of analyze.
The analysis followed the genre analysis framework of Tardy and Swales .
, focusing on two main dimensions: generic structures and linguistic features.
In terms of structure, texts were examined for the presence of identification .
ntroducing the topic, naming the object, person, or plac.
and description .
etailing attributes, qualities, or characteristic.
Linguistic features were analyzed through the use of the simple present tense, adjectives, relational verbs, and action verbs.
Each text was carefully coded to mark instances of these features, and strengths and weaknesses were identified in relation to structural completeness, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary use, and overall coherence.
This process allowed for a systematic evaluation of how effectively students constructed descriptive texts and whether they adhered to the expected genre conventions.
The findings were then categorized to highlight common patterns across the sample, revealing both strengths and recurring challenges.
Some texts demonstrated strong performance, with clear identification, detailed descriptions, accurate grammar, and varied vocabulary, while others showed partial completeness, providing identification but limited elaboration.
Weaknesses were also observed in linguistic features, such as tense inconsistency, limited adjective use, and incorrect relational verbs, as well as coherence issues where descriptions lacked logical sequencing.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The analysis of ten descriptive texts written by tenth-grade students at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang revealed consistent patterns in the way learners constructed their writing.
Following the framework of Swales .
and Tardy & Swales .
, the results are discussed in terms of generic structures, linguistic features, and the strengths and weaknesses observed across the sample.
Generic Structure The analysis of studentsAo descriptive texts revealed that all respondents demonstrated awareness of the expected generic structures, namely identification and description.
Identification serves as the obligatory move in descriptive writing, introducing the subject clearly, while description elaborates on its qualities, parts, and characteristics (Indah, 2.
Across the dataset, identification was consistently present, showing that students have internalized the basic convention of beginning with a clear statement of the subject.
AuCurug Lawe is a waterfall on the slopes of Mount Ungaran.
Semarang.
Known for its flow resembling fine white threads from a high cliff.
hence the name "lawe" (Javanese for its pristine location.
managed by Perhutani .
he State Forestry compan.
Offers cool air.
Views of pine forests and clove gardens and the presence of another near by curug benowo visitors can trek along a Path that offers beautiful natural scenery before reaching the water fall, making it a Perfect Place to enjoy nature and engage in outdoor activities.
Ay A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang For example, in Curug Lawe, the text begins with AuCurug Lawe is a waterfall on the slopes of Mount Ungaran.
Semarang.
Ay This opening provides a straightforward identification of the subject.
The description then expands into physical features (Auflow resembling fine white threads from a high cliffA.
, cultural notes (Auhence the name AolaweAoA.
, environmental context (Aucool air, views of pine forests and clove gardensA.
, and visitor activities (Autrek along a pathA engage in outdoor activitiesA.
This demonstrates how students can extend the description stage to cover multiple dimensions.
Similarly, in My Mother.
AuMy mother is a kind person.
She has long black hair and a warm smileAAy, the text begins with AuMy mother is a kind person,Ay which introduces the subject before elaborating on age, personality, and hobbies.
However, the depth of description varied significantly.
Texts such as A Beautiful Beach and The Old Bookshop provided rich, multi-dimensional elaborations.
A Beautiful Beach included sensory detail (Ausoft, white sand that feels like powder under your feetA.
, evaluative language (Aua perfect escape from the busy worldA.
, and natural imagery (Audolphins playfully jumping out of the waterA.
The Old Bookshop offered atmospheric detail, combining sensory impressions (Ausmells sweetly of vanilla and aged leatherA.
, physical description (Aunarrow aisles crammed with towering shelvesA.
, and evaluative reflection (Auevery spine holds a secret story waiting to be foundA.
These texts illustrate how some students are able to move beyond factual description to create vivid imagery and atmosphere.
In contrast, texts like AndriAos Dog remained brief and factual.
The identification was clear (AuAndriAos dog is a large black dogA.
, but the description was minimal, limited to obedience and sleeping habits.
Similarly.
My Mother provided only basic descriptors such as AukindAy and Augood,Ay without sensory or evaluative elaboration.
This unevenness reflects SwalesAos .
move-structure theory: obligatory moves .
were consistently achieved, but optional moves .
xtended description, evaluatio.
were unevenly realized.
The variation in descriptive elaboration can be explained by differences in lexical resources, exposure to genre models, and individual writing proficiency.
Students with richer vocabulary employed adjectives and figurative language, while those with limited vocabulary relied on repetitive descriptors.
Those familiar with reading descriptive texts in English appeared more capable of integrating sensory detail and evaluative language.
Stronger writers demonstrated coherence and fluency, while weaker writers produced fragmented or list-like Linguistic The analysis of studentsAo descriptive texts revealed consistent use of linguistic features expected in the descriptive genre, particularly the simple present tense, adjectives, relational verbs, and action verbs.
These features are crucial because they function as linguistic resources that realize the communicative purpose of descriptive writing (Swales, 1990.
Flowerdew.
While students generally applied these features appropriately, the level of sophistication varied across texts.
The simple present tense was consistently used across most texts, aligning with the conventions of descriptive writing.
For instance, in My Cat Popo, the student wrote: AuPopo is a cute and adorable pet cat.
His fur is pure white, making him look very elegant.
Ay Similarly, in Indonesia, the text began with AuIndonesia is the largest archipelagic country in Southeast Asia with more than 17,000 islands.
Ay These examples demonstrate studentsAo awareness that descriptive texts require timeless statements rather than narrative progression.
However, minor inconsistencies were observed in texts such as My Cat Siti, where tense usage occasionally shifted or was obscured by grammatical errors (AuHer fur are orange and blackA.
, indicating incomplete mastery of subject-verb agreement.
Adjectives were widely used to enhance imagery, though their range differed across In A Beautiful Beach, adjectives such as Ausoft, white sandAy and Aucrystal clear waterAy enriched sensory detail, while in The Old Bookshop, descriptors like Auquiet dust,Ay Auaged leather,Ay and Aumagical placeAy created atmosphere.
In contrast, texts like My Mother and AndriAos Dog relied on basic adjectives such as Aukind,Ay Augood,Ay and Aularge,Ay which conveyed meaning A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang but lacked stylistic richness.
This variation suggests that while students recognize the role of adjectives in descriptive writing, many remain limited to high-frequency, general descriptors.
Relational verbs such as is and has were frequent, especially in identification stages.
For example.
AuMy mother is a kind personAy (My Mothe.
and AuCurug Lawe is a waterfallAAy (Curug Law.
show how relational verbs establish identity and attributes.
These verbs were used correctly in most cases.
However, errors appeared in texts like Indonesia, where subject-verb agreement was problematic (AuIndonesia are known as friendly peopleAy instead of AuIndonesia is knownA.
Such errors indicate that while students grasp the function of relational verbs, they sometimes struggle with grammatical accuracy.
Action verbs added dynamism to descriptions, particularly in texts about animals and In Curug Lawe, verbs such as AutrekAy and AuengageAy conveyed visitor activities, while in My Cat Popo, verbs like Aumeowing,Ay Auroll,Ay and AusleepsAy described habits and behaviors.
These verbs enriched the texts by moving beyond static attributes to depict actions.
However, some texts lacked this dynamism, focusing solely on static qualities, thereby limiting descriptive Students also attempted nominal group technique, producing phrases such as AuDespite the black stripesAAy (The White Tige.
and Auround brown eyesAy (My Cat Pop.
These show awareness of how noun phrases can be elaborated to add detail.
However, many texts remained simple, with phrases like Aulong black hairAy (My Mothe.
or Aularge black dogAy (AndriAos Do.
, which conveyed meaning but lacked complexity.
Mechanical errors were a recurring issue.
Capitalization mistakes .
akarta instead of Jakart.
, spelling errors .
hire instead of shin.
, and inconsistent pronoun use (My Cat Siti switching between AusheAy and AuheA.
reduced accuracy.
These errors suggest that while students can apply linguistic features functionally, they struggle with surface-level correctness.
Strengths and Weaknesses The analysis of studentsAo descriptive texts revealed a balance of strengths and weaknesses that reflect both mastery of genre conventions and ongoing challenges in linguistic These findings provide insight into studentsAo current abilities and highlight areas for pedagogical intervention.
Among the strengths, the most consistent was clear All texts began with a direct introduction of the subject, whether a person, an animal, a place, or others.
This demonstrates that students understand the obligatory move of identification and can apply it effectively.
Another strength was the presence of rich description in several texts.
A Beautiful Beach integrated sensory detail (Ausoft, white sand that feels like powder under your feetA.
, natural imagery (Audolphins playfully jumping out of the waterA.
, and evaluative language (Aua perfect escape from the busy worldA.
The Old Bookshop conveyed atmosphere through multisensory detail (Ausmells sweetly of vanilla and aged leather,Ay Ausoft rustle of turning pagesA.
, creating a vivid, immersive description.
These examples show that some students are capable of producing multi-dimensional texts that go beyond factual statements.
The use of adjectives and figurative language was another strength.
Phrases such as Aufine white threadsAy (Curug Law.
and Auheaven of quiet dust and paperAy (The Old Booksho.
enriched imagery and demonstrated creativity.
Positive and affectionate tones were also evident in texts like My Mother and My Cat Popo, which conveyed respect and emotional connection.
This strengthened the communicative purpose of descriptive writing, making texts engaging and However, several weaknesses were consistently observed.
Sentence fragments and runons reduced coherence, as seen in Curug Lawe (Auits pristine location,Ay as a fragmen.
and The Old Bookshop .
ense run-on sentence.
Mechanical errors were frequent, including inconsistent capitalization .
akarta instead of Jakart.
, spelling mistakes .
waring instead of swayin.
, and pronoun inconsistency (My Cat Siti alternating between AusheAy and AuheA.
These errors undermined clarity and accuracy.
Limited lexical variety was another weakness.
Many students relied on overused adjectives such as Aubeautiful,Ay Aucute,Ay and Augood,Ay which weakened descriptive richness.
texts like AndriAos Dog and My Mother, vocabulary was basic and repetitive, reducing stylistic A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang Genre blending also appeared, with some texts mixing descriptive, narrative, and expository elements.
For example.
My Cat Siti included narrative elements (AuHe came from nowhere to my house one month agoA.
At the same time.
Indonesia leaned toward informative exposition (Aumanaged by Perhutani,Ay Aucapital city is JakartaA.
, diluting the descriptive focus.
Coherence issues were evident across several texts.
Ideas were often presented sequentially but without smooth transitions, making texts feel list-like rather than unified.
For instance.
My Cat Siti moved abruptly from physical description to habits and feeding routines, while Indonesia shifted from geography to culture to tourism without clear connections.
Taken together, these findings confirm that students generally understand the generic structures of descriptive texts and can apply basic linguistic features.
Their strengths lie in clear identification, occasional rich description, and effective use of adjectives and figurative Weaknesses include mechanical errors, limited vocabulary, genre blending, and coherence problems.
Pedagogically, these findings suggest that instruction should focus on editing skills, vocabulary enrichment, and coherence-building strategies.
Teachers can provide scaffolding through guided writing exercises, peer feedback, and exposure to model texts.
Emphasizing transitions, varied vocabulary, and accuracy will help students refine their descriptive writing.
Within the Merdeka Curriculum, this means integrating structural scaffolding with explicit language development, ensuring that students not only reproduce genre conventions but also achieve stylistic sophistication and communicative clarity.
Discussions The findings of this study show that tenth-grade students at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang have achieved a basic mastery of descriptive text conventions.
They consistently applied the obligatory move of identification, which demonstrates their understanding of the structural foundation of descriptive writing.
However, the uneven implementation of optional moves, such as extended description and evaluation, indicates that many students remain at the level of reproducing form rather than fully exploiting the genreAos communicative potential.
This aligns with previous research by Fauzi et al.
, which reveals that most students can apply the generic structure of descriptive texts well.
However, limited vocabulary remains a significant factor affecting text quality.
This supports SwalesAos .
view that genre competence requires not only recognition of obligatory structures but also the strategic use of optional moves to achieve rhetorical purpose.
The analysis of linguistic features highlights a similar tension between mastery and Students employed the simple present tense and relational verbs appropriately, aligning with genre conventions.
Adjectives and action verbs were also present, but their range varied widely: some texts demonstrated rich imagery and figurative language, while others relied on repetitive, basic descriptors.
Mechanical errors such as capitalization mistakes, spelling inaccuracies, and subject-verb agreement problems were frequent, suggesting that surface-level accuracy remains a challenge.
These findings resonate with FlowerdewAos .
argument that linguistic resources are essential tools for realizing genre moves.
Without sufficient lexical variety and grammatical accuracy, texts risk losing coherence and stylistic Strengths in studentsAo writing included clear identification, occasional rich description, and effective use of figurative language.
Texts such as A Beautiful Beach and The Old Bookshop demonstrated how sensory detail and evaluative language can create vivid imagery and Weaknesses, however, were consistent across many texts, including sentence fragments, run-ons, limited vocabulary, genre blending, and coherence issues.
These weaknesses reduce communicative clarity and highlight the gap between structural awareness and linguistic sophistication.
The variation in performance suggests differences in exposure to genre models, vocabulary knowledge, and writing proficiency among students.
The findings of this study, which show that students generally master the generic structures of descriptive texts but struggle with linguistic sophistication, are consistent with results reported in other EFL contexts.
Nagao .
found that Japanese university students A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang improved in organizing texts through genre-based instruction, yet their writing continued to display limited vocabulary and cohesion.
Similarly.
Thaksanan and Chaturongakul .
reported that Thai EFL learners demonstrated stronger control of text organization following genre-focused instruction, but grammatical errors and a restricted lexical range persisted.
the Indonesian context.
Dzukhriyah and Rini .
observed that junior high students achieved structural gains in descriptive writing, though mechanical errors and weak vocabulary use remained problematic.
These parallels suggest that while genre-based approaches effectively scaffold structural mastery across EFL settings, linguistic development requires more explicit pedagogical intervention, particularly in vocabulary enrichment and grammar accuracy.
From a pedagogical perspective, these findings carry important implications for the Merdeka Curriculum.
The curriculum emphasizes deep learning, encouraging students not only to reproduce structures but also to refine linguistic accuracy, coherence, and stylistic To achieve this, teachers must integrate genre-based scaffolding with explicit language development.
Modeling extended descriptive moves, providing vocabulary enrichment activities, and teaching editing strategies can help students move beyond basic reproduction toward stylistic sophistication.
Peer feedback and guided writing exercises may also support coherence-building, while exposure to authentic descriptive texts can expand studentsAo lexical repertoire.
CONCLUSIONS
This study examined the descriptive texts of tenth-grade students at SMA Teuku Umar Semarang, focusing on their mastery of generic structures, linguistic features, and overall strengths and weaknesses.
The findings revealed that students basically applied the obligatory move of identification, demonstrating awareness of the structural foundation of descriptive However, the elaboration of the description stage varied, with some texts offering rich sensory and evaluative detail while others remained limited to factual statements.
Linguistic features such as the simple present tense and relational verbs were generally used appropriately, but limited vocabulary, repetitive adjectives, and frequent mechanical errors reduced stylistic sophistication and coherence.
Strengths included clear identification, positive tone, and occasional vivid imagery, while weaknesses involved grammar inaccuracies, run-on sentences, and genre blending that diluted descriptive focus.
These results highlight a tension between structural mastery and linguistic development, suggesting that genre pedagogy has succeeded in teaching form but not fully in cultivating stylistic precision.
Theoretically, the application of Tardy and SwalesAo .
framework underscores the interaction between form and function, offering a diagnostic lens for pedagogy.
Practically, the study emphasizes the need for teaching strategies that integrate genre scaffolding with explicit language development to help students produce descriptive texts that are not only structurally correct but also linguistically rich, coherent, and engaging.
It should be noted, however, that the study was limited by its relatively small sample size, which consisted only 25 students of tenth-grade students from a single school.
SMA Teuku Umar Semarang.
This narrow context restricts the generalizability of the findings, as variations across different schools, grade levels, or regions were not captured.
Future research should therefore expand the sample size, diversify the contexts, and explore longitudinal data to provide a more comprehensive understanding of studentsAo genre mastery and linguistic development.
Despite these limitations, the study contributes meaningfully to the discourse on genre pedagogy and highlights practical strategies for aligning writing instruction with the Merdeka CurriculumAos emphasis on deep learning, helping students transform descriptive texts from structurally correct but linguistically limited products into vivid, coherent, and stylistically engaging pieces of A 2021 The Author.
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Genre of StudentsAo Descriptive Text: A Case of Texts Developed by Tenth Grade Students of SMA Teuku Umar Semarang
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to express sincere gratitude to SMA Teuku Umar Semarang for granting permission and providing the necessary facilities to conduct this study.
Special appreciation is extended to the English teacher.
Mrs.
Fira, whose guidance and assistance in collecting the studentsAo texts were invaluable to the completion of the research.
The researcher is also deeply thankful to the students of SMA Teuku Umar, whose participation and willingness to share their descriptive writings enabled this analysis.
Finally, heartfelt thanks are extended to Sir Widhiyanto, the researcherAos supervisor, for his continuous guidance, constructive feedback, and meaningful suggestions, which greatly improved the quality of this Without the support of the institution, the teacher, the students, and the supervisor, this research would not have been successfully carried out.
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