THE EFFECT OF USING THESAURUS APPLICATION ON STUDENTS WRITING ABILITY OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT GRADE X OF SMA NEGERI 1 BUNTU PANE IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2025/2026

Abstrak

This research aimed to find out whether there was a significant effect of using Thesaurus Application on students’ writing ability of descriptive text at Grade X of SMA Negeri 1 Buntu Pane in the Academic Year 2025/2026. The background of this study was based on students’ difficulties in writing descriptive text, particularly in vocabulary mastery, lexical variation, and developing ideas into coherent paragraphs. To overcome these problems, the researcher applied the Thesaurus Application as a learning tool to enrich students’ vocabulary and improve their descriptive writing ability. This research used a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design. The population of this research consisted of all Grade X students of SMA Negeri 1 Buntu Pane, totaling 191 students. The sample was selected by using purposive sampling technique, consisting of 30 students in class X-1 as the experimental class and 32 students in class X-4 as the control class. The experimental class was taught by using Thesaurus Application, while the control class was taught through conventional teaching method. The instrument used in collecting the data was a writing test consisting of pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed by using the Independent Sample t-test formula. The result of the research showed that the students’ writing ability in the experimental class improved after receiving the treatment. The mean score of the experimental class in the post-test was higher than the control class. Based on the calculation of the t-test, it was found that the value of t-observed was higher than t-table at the level of significance 0.05. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted and the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected. It can be concluded that the use of Thesaurus Application gave a significant effect on students’ writing ability of descriptive text at Grade X of SMA Negeri 1 Buntu Pane in the Academic Year 2025/2026. The application helped students enrich vocabulary, avoid repetitive words, and produce more varied and meaningful descriptive texts.