THE IMPACT OF USING COMPUTERS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The purposes ofthis study were to determine the impact of using computers
on the quantity and quality of students’ writingas well as the attitudes of the students toward
writing. The participants of this study were the first yearstudents of English Study Program of
FKIP Riau University. As the students learned the steps of the writing process, together with a
partner theywrote a paragraph by using computers. The results of this study indicated that
there were improvement of the students’ writing performance in all components of writing.The
students wrote better quality paragraph, wrote longer, and had a better overall attitude toward
writing. The mean score of students’ pretest was 53,93 and improved to 70,74 in thepost test.

Key words: computers, writing perpormance, paper and pencil.