See Data Analysis[1]

8/9/2019 See Data Analysis[1]

1/41

AN ANALYSIS OF THE STUDENTS ERRORSIN WRITING PARAGRAPHSA Case of The Second Grade Students of SMU Negeri 8 Semarangin The Academic Year of 2004/2005FINAL PROJECTSubmitted in Partial Fulfilment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan in English

byLenny Agustina Indrawati2201401030ENGLISH DEPARTMENTLANGUAGE AND ARTS FACULTYSEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY2006


2/41

ii.. I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions(Lou Holtz)... The most important thing in communication is to hear what isnt beingsaid. (Peter F. Drucker).. Nothing but heart can change the heart. (Carroll OConnor)

.. The best of all things is to learn. Money can be lost or stolen, health andstrength may fail, but what you have committed to your mind is yoursforever. (Louis LAmour)


3/41

iiiTo my beloved family: father, mother,sister, and brothers.


4/41

ivACKNOWLEDGEMENTSFirst, I would like to express my deepest thank to God for giving meopportunity to finish this final project. I worked hard to make my dream cometrue, but this cannot be real without His great blessing.Then, I would like to say thank to Drs. Januarius Mujiyanto, M. Hum. and

Drs. H. Suprapto, M. Hum., as my advisers who gave me continuous guidance aswell as encouragement, and great patience in leading me to finish this report.My thanks also go to all lecturers of the English Department of UNNESwho have taught, motivated, and guided me since the first day of my study atUNNES.Furthermore, I would like to thank all my friends of C and D classes of2001, especially for Sumire, Tri-M, Wiwid, and Umi who have helped me forabout 4 years.I realize that this final project is still far from being perfect. I have a greatexpectation that this final project will be beneficial and useful for both teachers

and students of English.Semarang, February 2006The writer


5/41

vABSTRACTThe objective of this final project is to describe types of difficulties facedby the second grade students of SMU Negeri 8 Semarang in the academic year of2004/2005 when they write paragraphs.Before doing the field project, I tried to find out the meaning of writing

and paragraph. I also looked at the curriculum about kinds of paragraphs taughtinSenior High School grade 2. Based on that information I prepared an instrumentwhich was appropriate. Here, the students have to produce their own sentences.They could write their ideas on the form of paragraphs. It would show their realdifficulty in writing.When the data had been collected, I then analyzed each sentences. I foundmany errors and classified those errors into grammatical and semantic errors.On grammatical errors, I divided it into 5 kinds of errors. Those wereerrors in noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, and article. While on semantic errorsI

tried to analyze the meaning of studentssentences. These errors could be divided

into sentence errors and inter-sentence errors. Besides grammatical and semanticerrors, I also found the other errors which could not be classified into one ofthoseerrors.In my opinion, the students errors in sentences occurred because theyonly transferred rules from their mother tongue, and they did not really understandtheir target language. So, to minimize those errors, it is suggested that Englishteachers give clear explanation. They also have to give a lot of practices to us

ethose rules in writing sentences and paragraphs.


6/41

viTABLE OF CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vABSTRACT viTABLE OF CONTENTS .. viiCHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 11.1 General Background ... 11.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic . 31.3 Statements of the Problem... 41.4 Objectives of the Study 41.5 Significance of the Study. 41.6 Outline of the Study..... 5II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.... 62.1 Writing.. 62.2 Paragraphs for the Second Grade of Senior High School. 72.3 Error Analysis... 92.4 Mistake and Error. 10

2.4.1 Interlingual Errors

. 112.4.2 Intralingual Errors. 132.4.2.1 Overgeneralization. 132.4.2.2 Ignorance of Rule Restriction 142.4.2.3 Incomplete Application of Rules... 142.4.2.4 False Concept Hypothesized.. 142.5 Theoretical Framework. 14III METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 163.1 Population and Sample. 163.2 Choice of the Population.. 173.3 Technique of Sampling. 173.4 Instrument for Collecting Data. 18


7/41

vii3.5 Preparation of the Test......................................... 193.6 Data Collection.... 193.7 Method of Data Analysis..... 19IV DATA ANALYSIS... 214.1 Grammatical Errors....... 21

4.1.1 Noun.. 214.1.2 Verb...234.1.3 Adjective... 244.1.4 Pronoun. 254.1.5 Article... 264.2 Semantic Errors. 274.2.1 Sentence Errors. 274.2.2 Intersentence Errors.. 304.3 Other Errors.. 31V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 505.1 Conclusions... 505.2 Suggestions... 51

BIBLIOGRAPHY

.52APPENDIX 53


8/41

1CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the StudyAs social being people need a means of communication to express feeling,thoughts and desires, which is called language. This language must be understood

by the members of the group. Each group has its own characteristics of language,such as accent and stress.Some experts try to define what the meaning of language is. Hornby in theOxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English (1989:699) states thatlanguage is a system of sounds, words, patterns, etc. used by human tocommunicate thoughts and feelings. In tone with it, Wardhaugh in Brown (1987:4) says that language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for humancommunication. Furthermore, Brown in Websters Third New InternationalDictionary of English Language (1987:4) says that language is a systematicmeans of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs,

sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meaning. From those threedefinitions of language, I can say that language is a system of arbitrary vocalsymbols to communicate thoughts, ideas, or feelings by the use ofconventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meaning.There are two forms of language, spoken and written form. The spokenform comes first. It can exist freely without writing, whereas the written formhasnever been known to exist without speech. We start learning how to use spokenlanguage since we were still a kid. At that time, we just listened to other persons


9/41

2speech and tried to imitate them. By doing it everyday it becomes easier tocommunicate using the spoken language. On the contrary, written language ismore difficult to be learned. In writing, we need to pay attention to a lot of things.Some of those things are vocabulary, grammar and the arrangement of sentences

we make.Since we use language as a means of communication, we need to find theright words to send a message. Some words cannot be used in any context. Forexample, the word add in I can add my knowledge. is not appropriate. Thoughadd means put something together with something else so as to increase the size,number, amount, etc. (Hornby, 1989:13), but it doesnt mean that the word can beused in that sentence. It is better to use enrich in the sentence.The way we choose the right words is not enough to send a message toother people. We also need the right structure of words. It is known as Grammar.By looking at its definition we will get the figure of what grammar is and how i

tworks.According to Hornby in Oxford advanced Learners Dictionary(1989:542), grammar is defined as rules for forming words and combining theminto sentences. While Harman in Ulfa (2000:4) says that grammar is the study ofwords and their function. Moreover, Robert in Aswadi (2002:11) states thatgrammar is an analytical and analogical study of sentences. Still in Aswadi,Robert says that grammar is the total set of signals by which a given languageexpresses its meaning or the total structure of a language. So I can say that


10/41

3grammar is an analytical and analogical study for forming words and combiningthem into sentences to express its meaning or the total structure of a language.Verb as part of tenses in grammar is important. It contains someinformation. It tells an event and the time it happens, whether it happened in t

hepast, at present or in the future. Willis (1981:6) says that a verb gives an indicationof the time of occurrence of the action or state of being. For example, we cannotsay now I continued my study in SMA. By looking at its adverb of time, weknow that the process of study in SMA is still happening. So, it is moreappropriate to say now I continue my study in SMA.When we use the right verbs, it doesnt mean that the sentences we writewill be good sentences. The verbs should be combined in a good order with otherwords in the sentences. For example, it is better to write the benefit of doing it is

to make my body healthyrather than

the benefit of doing it is make health mybody.

So, we can see that the way we find the right words to send messages arenot an easy job. Some students who have been learning English as a secondlanguage for years still make errors. To analyze those errors, I decided to do aresearch in the second year students of SMU N 8 Semarang. Here, the studentsability to produce good sentences is tested.1.2 Reasons for Choosing the TopicThe reasons for choosing the topic can be illustrated as follows:1. Learning language is a difficult activity because each language has its ownsystem that is different from that in the students native language. The


11/41

4differences in the system of the language can bring about learningproblems for the foreign language learners. So, the teacher is expected topay attention to the difficulties which may be encountered by the students.2. By analyzing the students learning problems, it is hoped that everyonewill pay more attention and try to solve this writing problem, so it can be

prevented.1.3 Statements of the ProblemIn this paper, I intend to solve the following problems:1. What kinds of error do the students make in writing paragraphs?a. What grammatical errors do they make?b. What semantic errors do they make?2. Why do they make such errors?1.4 Objectives of the StudyThe objectives of the study are:1. To describe the grammatical errors made by students in writingparagraphs.2. To describe semantic errors made by students in writing paragraphs.

3. To provide reasons for the occurrence of such errors.1.5 Significance of the StudyThe result of the study will hopefully be useful both for teachers andstudents:


12/41

51. It gives information about the students difficulty in writing paragraphs.2. The students will realize that there are a lot of difficulties, so they willpaymore attention to some difficult parts of the English lesson.1.6 Outline of the Study

The outline of the report is:Chapter I : The Introduction involves background of the study, reason forchoosing the topic, statement of the problem, objectives of thestudy, significance of the study, and the outline of the study.Chapter II : The Review of Related Literature involves theoreticalbackground of the study, previous research from some journals,and the last is theoretical framework.Chapter III : The Method of Research involves the object of the study, roleof the researcher, types of data, Procedures of collecting data,procedures of analysing the data, and trianggulation.Chapter IV : The Result of Analysis involves the general findings, results,and discussion.

Chapter V : Conclusion and Some Suggestions.


13/41

6CHAPTER IIREVIEW OF RELATED LITERATUREThis chapter will give the definition and the explanation of each parts ofthe title. Those parts are writing, paragraphs for second grade of senior highschool, error and mistake, and error analysis.

2.1 WritingIt is difficult to find the definition of writing. Some experts usually defineit by looking at its characteristics. One of writing characteristics is its relation tospeaking. Tidyman (1959:257) says that writing is closely related to speaking, notonly in such items as content, organization of ideas, and vocabulary, but also inthe use of pauses and the modulation of the voice to show the devision and therelationship of ideas.The other characteristic is said by Nilson (1984:134). He says that writingis not something which is natural to humans. It is the most complex skill to be

developed. In tone with it Finochiaro (1974:86) states that writing skill needssome practices done step by step. It means that to really able to write is not aneasy job, it takes time. The practices will be worthless if they do not have amotivation to write, as Tidyman (1959:66) says that the important thing in writingis attitude-willingness to write.The purpose of writing is to give some information to other people bywrite it down. That is why writing is so important in the society. Nilson(1984:134) says that writing is a skill which has been developed in civilized


14/41

7society to pass on knowledge or messages. Furthermore he (1996:134) says thatwriting as one of the language skills has given an important contribution tohuman.From those characteristics of writing I conclude that writing is the mostcomplex skill to show the relationship of ideas which needs the willingness to

write and some practices done step by step to pass on knowledge or messages. So,writing is one way to speak what is on our mind. It involves more than justproducing words and sentences. To produce a piece of writing, we should be ableto write a connected series of words and sentences which are grammatically andlogically linked. If we choose the right words and in our sentences then the kindof purpose we have in our mind will suit the intended readers.2.2 Paragraphs for the Second Grade of Senior High SchoolAccording to Hornby (1989:895), paragraph is distinct section of a writtenor printed text, usually consisting of several sentences dealing with a single theme

and starting on a new line. In tone with it, Tidyman (1987:10) says that aparagraph is a group of sentences that develop a point on an idea. Further heexplains that the important feature of paragraph is that it has unity when all of itssentences are related to the main point. So, a paragraph is a group of sentencesdealing with a single theme that develop the main point on an idea.The form of paragraph can be written into 12 kinds of genre. Those genresare recount, report, discussion, explanation, analytical exposition, hortatoryexposition, news item, anecdote, narrative, procedure, description, and review.Each of them has different social function and characteristics.


15/41

8As second grade students of senior high school they have to be able towrite 10 kinds of genres. They have learned narrative, descriptive, anecdote,recount, review, and procedure in junior high school. Then in grade one of seniorhigh school they learned narrative, procedure, recount, report, and news item.

And in second grade they will learn narrative, descriptive, anecdote, analyticalexposition, and hortatory exposition.First genre for second grade students of senior high school is narrative. Itis used to amuse, entertain and to deal with actual or vicarious experience indifferent ways. Narrative text starts with orientation. Here, the writer sets thescene and introduces the participants. Then there will be complication in whichacrisis arises. After that resolution comes. It shows how to solve the crisis.The second genre is descriptive. This kind of text is used to describe aparticular person, place or thing. Before describing parts, qualities and

characteristics of something the writer should identify phenomenon to bedescribed. Descriptive text usually uses simple present tense.The third genre to be learned by second grade students is anecdote.Different from descriptive and narrative, the function of anecdote is to share withothers an account of an unusual or amusing incident. It starts with signals theretelling of an unusual incident or we call it abstract. Then orientation comes.Here the writer sets the scene. After that is crisis. It provides details of theunusualincident. Then, there will be reaction to crisis. And the last part of anecdoteiscoda. It is reflection on or evaluation of the incident.


16/41

9The next genre is analytical exposition. It is used to persuade the reader orlistener that something is the case. It starts with thesis which introduces topic andindicates the writers position. It also outlines the main arguments to be presented.

Then, arguments come. It restates main argument outlined before. The writer candevelop and support each point or argument. And the text ends with reiteration.Here the writer restates his position.The last genre is almost the same with analytical exposition, we call ithortatory exposition. It is used to persuade the reader that something should orshould not be the case. The generic structure of hortatory exposition starts withannouncement of issue of concern. Then there must be reasons for concern whichleading to recommendation. In the end of the text the writer will give statementofwhat ought or ought not to happen.

2.3 Error analysisAccording to James (1998:7) error analysis is a methodology for dealingwith data rather than a theory of acquisition. The data can be taken by conductinga test with the students as the respondents. Further he (1998:1) says that theprocess of determining the incidence, nature, causes, and consequences ofunsuccessful language learning. While Brown (1980:166) states that error analysisis the fact that learner do make errors and that these errors can be observed,analyzed, and classified to reveal something of the system operating within thelearners. The purpose is to show some problems faced by the students. It is a keyto understand the process of foreign language acquisition.


17/41

10From those explanations I conclude that error analysis is a methodologyfor dealing with data which can be observed, analyzed and classified to reveal ordetermine the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessfullanguage learning within the learners.

2.4 Mistake and ErrorMistake and Error are two different words with different meaning. Theycome within learning process. To learn something we need more thanunderstanding the concept of what we have learned. If we cannot get the main orimportant point, we will never know how to use it, then we make mistakes andeven errors.A mistake refers to a performance error that is either random on a slip ofthe tongue, in that it is failure to utilize a known system correctly (Brown,1980:165). Along this line, Huber (1983:134) says that when committingmistakes, the speaker is normally capable of recognizing and correcting them.When students make mistakes, they can correct them by themselves. Butwhen students make errors they cannot correct it. The teacher has to explain the

causes to make them understand. It is related to their interlanguage.Errors are typically produced by people who do not yet fully commandsome institutionalized language systems (Conder, 1971:79). In tone with it,Norrish (1983:7) says that error is systematic deviation, when a learner has notlearnt something and consistently get it wrong. Moreover Brown (1980:165)believed that the term error refers to noticeable deviation from the adult grammar


18/41

11of a native speaker, which reflects the interlanguage communication of thelearners. Usually learners do not recognize and cannot correct it.From those explanations I conclude that error is systematic and noticeabledeviation caused by lack of knowledge, ignorance of appropriate rule and do notyet fully command some institutionalized language systems reflecting the

interlanguage competence of the learner, interference of the learners mothertongue and the general characteristics of the rule learning. Another conclusionIcan draw is that if the students are unable to improve the mistakes they make arecalled errors, whereas if they are able to improve the mistakes are called mistakes.There are some reasons for this condition. Brown (1980:156) states thaterrors are caused by lack of knowledge about the target language. While Richards(1974:174) says that the source of errors in studying a language might be derived

from the interference of the learnersmother tongue and the generalcharacteristics of the rule learning. Furthermore, Corder (1970:62) says that er

rorsare caused by ignorance of appropriate rule on structure in foreign language.Essentially these are problems of knowledge, either of knowledge about someelements of the language, or of knowledge how to use some language features.In general, the sources of error are:2.4.1 Interlingual ErrorsAccording to Brown (1980:173) the beginning stages of learning a secondlanguage are characterized by a good deal of interlingual transfer from the nativelanguage.


19/41

12Richard (1974:35) says that interlingual errors are errors due to transferingrules from the mother tongue. Therefore, interlingual errors are errors which arecaused by interference from native language to the target language they learn. So,

before someone really master the concept of their target language they will alwaysuse the concept of their native language. When it happens all the time and theydonot realize it, it can be called interlingual errors.According to Brown (1987:156), there are hierarchy of difficulty. It willexplain some reasons why interlingual errors appear. It is divided into 5 levels.Level 0-TransferThere is no difference or contrast present between the two languages. Thelearner can simply transfer a sound, structure, or lexical item from the nativelanguage to the target language.

Level 1-CoalescenceHere, two items in the native language become coalesced into essentiallyone item in the target language. For example, in Indonesia we have kami and kitabut in English we only use we for those two words.Level 2- Underdifferentiation.It refers to items in the native language which are absent in the target language. Itis better if the learner avoids those items. For example, the learners often supplythe unnecessary structural items as in we will discuss about it.Level 3-ReinterpretationIn this level, an item that exists in the native language is given a new shape

or distribution.


20/41

13Level 4-OverdifferentiationThe learner must learn an entirely new item, which is little similar to thenative language. It is something to do with the forms and meanings. For example,it was her who received the message. Her and she is the form of pronoun with

the same meaning.Level 5-SplitThe learner makes new distinction because one item in the native languagebecomes two or more in the target language. Split is part of coalescence. Forexample, the word dia can be translated into he or she because Indonesiandoes not consider the distinction among masculine and feminine.2.4.2 Intralingual ErrorsAfter learning second language for some time, learners previousexperience and their existing subsumes begin to include structures within thetarget language itself. According to James (1998:183), the less the learner knowsabout the target language, the more he is forced to draw upon any other prior

knowledge he possesses. While Brown (1980:173) says that it is clear thatintralingual errors or intralingual interference-the negative transfer of itemswithinthe target language, or put another way, the incorrect generalization of ruleswithin the target language is a major factor in second language learning.Intralingual errors can be divided into 4 items:2.4.2.1 OvergeneralizationIt is a negative intralingual errors deal with items that are contrasted ingrammar of the language. It leads to the overindulgence of one member of a set of


21/41

14forms and the underuse of others in the set. For example the usage of muchinstead of many or a lot of in I have much best friends.2.4.2.2 Ignorance of rule restrictionHere the learner fails to observe the restrictions of existing structures. Forexample, I would enjoy to learn about English language. It is better to change

to learn about with the word learning2.4.2.3 Incomplete application of rulesThis kind of intralingual error is converse of overgeneralization andrepresents the degree of development of the rule required to produce acceptablesentences. For example, my mother working in P Mangkang. V-ing cannotstand by itself. It needs to be to make that sentence an acceptable sentence.2.4.2.4 False concepts hypothesizedThis is one that is sometimes called as a semantic error. It derives fromincorrect comprehending of distinction in the target language. These particularerrors are the result of poor gradation of teaching items.2.5 Theoretical FrameworkAs the most complex skill to learn, writing needs a lot of practices. It does

not only write down what is on our mind. We need rules to produce goodsentences. Since we have to write sentences in English, we have to understandEnglish rules well.


22/41

15It is difficult to apply English rules in sentences. Sometimes we makemistakes, or even errors. This error can be seen clearly when we write paragraphs.There are 12 genres of paragraphs.When we are on the second grade of Senior High School, we have already

learned 10 genres. We also have mastered general English rules in writing. But,errors still occur.There are 2 reasons of errors. First is interlingual error. Here, we transferrules from our mother tongue. The other source of errors is intralingual. It isbecause we do not know much about English as our target language.


23/41

16CHAPTER IIIMETHOD OF INVESTIGATION`In writing this paper, I decided to do two activities. Those are libraryactivity and field activity. The results of library activity is presented in cha

pter II,while in this chapter I report the results of the field activity since it was held atschool. Arikunto says that field research can be carried out at school, factory,family, hospital, society, etc (1993:10). The school that I have chosen is SMU N8Semarang..3.1 Population and SampleIn doing this research I need population. According to Koentjaraningrat(1986:89) population is all the subject involved in research as a direct targetor as

the sources of information. In line with it, Arikunto (1996:102) says thatpopulation is a set of all elements possessing one or more attributes of interest. So,based on those two statements I can say that my population is all of the secondyear students of SMU N 8 Semarang in academic year of 2004-2005. There are 7classes. Each class has 45 up to 48 students.By looking at the number of students, my population is too large. I needsome samples which represent the total population. Koentjaraningrat (1986:89)states that a sample is the sum of subjects that represents the population. Thesample which is taken in a study should be representative. It means that thesample must be able to represent the whole population. From that explanation, Itook 45 students out of the population as the sample of my research.


24/41

173.2 Choice of the PopulationI chose the second grade students of SMU N 8 Semarang in the academicyear of 2004/2005 as the population of this research. It was based on someconsiderations as follows:1. The location of SMU N 8 Semarang is near my house. So, it was easier to

consult with the English teacher about the condition of her students.2. In their level now, they should have learned at least 10 genres. This testwill show whether they are really able to write one kind of those genre ornot.3. I considered the population to be homogenous for my research because allof them are almost in the same grade, the same age, and have beenstudying English for the same amount of time too.4. The total number of the population is 322 students. Because of limitationof time, I cannot take the whole population as sample.3.3 Technique of SamplingTo determine the size of sample, Arikunto (1996:115) says that if thepopulation is 100 people or less, it is better to take the whole population as

sample, if the population is more than 100 people it is better to take 10-15% ofthepopulation, 20-25% of the population or more than 25% of the population basedon the capacity of the researcher. Based on Arikuntos explanation above I took45 students written work (10%) out of the population as samples. Those 45students are from the same class.


25/41

18I took this class as my sample because they have average ability inEnglish. It can be seen from their score, not too good but not bad either. I usedstudents registered number as their written work identity. By doing thistechnique, I hoped that the samples would be representative.

3.4 Instrument for Collecting DataAn instrument plays an important role in research. It influences the datawhich are collected. The instrument that I use in this research was to measure thestudents ability in producing sentences.Those sentences must be written in a specific form. Harris in Puryanto(1999:26) says that principally there are two kinds of test instruments namelyobjective and essay test. I could not use objective test since it would only give thestudents chance to recognize words and sentences, not to produce it. So, in myresearch essay test would be more appropriate.The essay was in the form of paragraphs. In those paragraphs the students

could write everything they wanted, but it must be about 150 words.The subject matter of this research was what was inside the studentswritten work, not what kind of written work whey have made. By giving themfreedom to write, it would show their real ability to write. Furthermore, it wouldtell us which kind of paragraphs they have mastered.


26/41

193.5 Preparation of the TestBefore administering the test, I consulted with the English teacher onSMU N 8 about the material. She had given three kinds of paragraph. Those werenarrative, descriptive, and anecdote. She also has asked her students to writeparagraphs using those three kinds of paragraph.

Based on that information, I could do what I have prepared. Thoughstudents were asked to write free paragraphs, they could use the form of narrative,descriptive, and anecdote, and also the other kinds of paragraph they want to.3.6 Data CollectionThe test was done on Mei 2005 in class II.7. The total respondents were 45students. They were asked to write paragraphs in a piece of paper. The paragraphswere about 150 words. It could be done in 90 minutes.After the students written work as data were collected, the next step wasto analyse the data.3.7 Method of Data Analysis

To analyze the studentswritten work I started with reading all of theirparagraphs. It helped me find some errors. Then I made columns for nouns, verbs,

adjectives, adverbs, article, pronoun, conjunction, preposition, and for sentenceswhich had no or strange meaning. These columns could be used for theclassification of grammatical and semantic errors. Every time I found error, Iwrote it on its classification column.


27/41

20Finished doing it, then I looked closer to each column. I tried to explainwhy those sentences were called error sentences. From that explanation I couldclassify error sentences into its type of error, whether it belongs to omission,addition, misformation, misordering, or blends.

After giving explanation and writing its type of errors, I tried to findsource of those errors from books.


28/41

21CHAPTER IVDATA ANALYSISIn processing the data, I classified students errors based on my problemstatements. Those were grammatical and semantic errors. For grammatical errors,I

divided it into 5 kinds of errors. Those were errors in noun, pronoun, verb, adjective,and article. While for semantic errors I looked through the meaning of each sentencesto find strange meaning. I divided it into 2 errors; sentence errors and intersentenceerrors (cohesion).4.1 Grammatical ErrorsAs I said before, there were 5 kinds of grammatical errors. It was based on itsfunction on sentences.4.1.1 NounThere were 2 kinds of noun errors found in students written work. First was

noun-verb agreement. Here, the verb must agree with the subject in number. If thequantity is only one, we should use singular form. On the other hand, if the quantityis more than one we use plural form.It was difficult for the students to apply the noun-verb agreement. Forexample:(1) My hobby are tarawitan.(2) The benefits of doing it is healthy.


29/41

22(3) My hobby is play football and play playstation.(4) I have two best friend is Ambar and Mujiati.In sentences number (1) and (2) the quantity was only one (only have one hobby),they should use is as verb and did not need to add s ending on the word benefit.

While in sentences (3) and (4), we used are as verb and added s/-es in its subject(my hobbies and 2 best friends).The second kind of noun errors was countable and noncountable nouns.Similar to noun-verb agreement, countable and uncountable nouns were still relatedto plural and singular form. There were some error sentences made by students:(5) My father have three worker.(6) I have two brother, two sister, and one younger sister.In those sentences, the quantity was more than one. We should add a final s onwords worker, brother, and sister.The students also have difficulty in using much and many in their sentences.

For example:(7) I am in SMA have best friends very much.(8) I have many friend, they are my best friend.(9) I often to use watching TV eksept if many homework.The word many is used to express the quantity of plural count noun. The rule ismany+ noun (-s/-es). On the other hand, much is used to express the quantity of plural noncountnoun. Best friends or friends were something that can be counted (plural countnoun), so in sentence (7) we should use many and in sentence (8) we should add s


30/41

23ending for the words friend and best friend. While in sentence (9), homework wasuncountable noun. We could not use many. We could use much or change thesentence into I often watch TV if I have no homework to do.According to Baker (1987:87), such kind of errors occur because of the

students mother tongue only has a grammatical category of number, similar but notnecessarily identical to that of English.4.1.2 VerbAlmost all students wrote about themselves. It meant they had to use Presenttense. But the way they used present tense was inconsistent. For example:(10) I watching Tv and listend in the radio, clean my house, etc.(11) I continued my study in SMA N 8.(12) My father work as driver and my mother work as tailor.In sentences (10), (11), (12), they have to use V1 (-s/-es). Watch TV, listen totheradio and clean their house were their habitual activity. While continue their s

tudyand their parents work were still exist now and would exist in the future.The other example of verb errors made by the students were:(13) I usually listening music and sleeping.(14) I always sharing with Wulan.(15) My father is work a mechanic.In sentences (13) and (14), though students used the words always and usually intheir sentences, it referred to present time. They still have to use V1. While in


31/41

24sentence (15), there were 2 verbs (is and work). It needed only one verb to makearight sentence. We could use the word work(s).The students also omitted the usage of verb in their sentences. For examplethey omitted be am as a verb in this sentence:

(16) I single son.Omission occurred since the students mother tongue did not have identical rules tothat of English.It was clear that the students made all of verb errors (except sentence (12))because they did not know what kind of verbs (tenses) they had to use. AccordingtoRichards (1985:5), sometimes this type of error results from poor gradation ofteaching items. While in sentence (12), error appeared when the studentsovergeneralize that the simple present only uses V1 with no s/-es ending for thethird person singular.4.1.3 Adjective

Most derivational suffixes form adjective. They merely serve as part of speechindicators. Such suffixes are usually added to nouns or verbs. This kind of changinggave another difficulty for the students. For example, they preferred to write interest,enjoy, and confidence in their sentence.(17) I like them because they are very interest.(18) I like English lissent because my teacher very enjoy.(19) She smart and confidence.


32/41

25Interest was not an adjective. It can be as adjective if we change the form. Inthatsentence, interest represented the original subject. According to Frank (1972:121), the-ing form often represents the original subject of a simple sentence. So, to be

anadjective, the word interest should become interesting.In sentence (18), enjoy was a verb. It could be changed into an adjective if weadded the suffix able. A general rule is to add able to an already existing word likeenjoyable, drinkable, comfortable, etc (Frank, 1972:121).Furthermore, Frank (1972: 113) says that the position of adjectives in relationto verb is used after the linking verbs be, seem, appear, and look. In sentence(19),adjectives came after linking verb be (is). Smart is an adjectives, but confidence isnot. The adjective form of confidence is confident.

These kind of errors occurred since the students overgeneralize the use ofwords they know. They only knew words like interest, enjoy, and confidence, so theyused it. Beside that, Richards (1985:51) says that this type of error results from poorgradation of teaching items. They do not know the rules of adjective making. Itiscalled semantic errors which may derive from faulty interpretation or comprehensionof the target language.4.1.4 PronounThere are some forms of pronoun. One of them is possessive pronoun.Though in students native language they have the similar form of possessive

pronoun, still they made errors. For example:


33/41

26(20) This name is Shanti.(21) Her name is Artika and Dini.(22) I have the best friend. It is Shenyo.As we know, the word this in sentence (20) was used to explained someones name.But generally this refers to what is near at head. The students should have used

theword her.Her as possessive pronoun always refers to a single person (female). While insentence (21), her refers to her 2 best friends, Artika and Dini. They should use theword their. In sentence (22), it refers to his best friend named Shenyo. In fact, theword it is only used to explain something which is inanimate. It was better if they usehis name is or he is.These errors indicated that they havent understood what possessive pronounis and how to use it in sentences. Brown (1987:171) says that an entirely new it

embearing little if any similarity to the native language item must be learned. Itmeansthat it may have something to do with form and meaning.4.1.5 ArticleIt is difficult for the students to use article in their sentences. It can be seen inthese sentences:(23) I dont have a much money.(24) Everything can happened in a years ago.(25) I have the best friend.


34/41

27As an article a is used with a singular count noun. It is not used in general statements,with non-count and plural nouns. The usage of a indicates that the object issomething new. Different with a, the occurs with names for familiar objects in the

manmade environment of the home and the community.In sentence (23), much money was non count noun. It did not need any article.While in sentence (24), years ago was plural noun, we could add the word many butcould not use any article. In sentence (25), the as an article is used to introduce a newobject called best friend. They should have used a.Beside have difficulty to use a and the as article, the students also havedifficulty to apply the rule that they have to place an article in front of a noun.(26) My mother is (a) housewife and father works in (a) factory.Words in the bracket were the words which were omitted.

These errors appear when students fail to observe the restrictions of existingstructures (ignorance of rule restriction). They ignore the usage of the and a rules.4.2 Semantic ErrorsSemantic errors are errors that affect text larger than the word. I divided it into2 groups of errors. These errors involved 5 types of errors since their sentences werecomplicated and did not have clear meaning.4.2.1 Sentence errorsSentence errors involved the selection and combination of clauses into largerunits. Usually the idea of the sentence was not clear. The structure was totallywrong.


35/41

28It was difficult for us to make those error sentences right. We did not know what wasthe meaning of each sentence. These were some of those errors:(27) I to use my this when holiday.(28) I most like the subject Biologi because biologi most to amuse, can

knew various animal reproduction system man.(29) I like geograpgy very much because I like geography about thecountrys because we can know the left country and situated the country.(30) I play guitar everyday and benefits is I am to be playing music arevery good and only to song.Besides those errors, the students also wrote complicated sentences.(31) My father is work in DLLAJR but father is dead 14 years old and mymother now to sell in the market.(32) She smart and confidence but I cant to name.(33) I very like study Biologi, because study it many practec.(34) My mother work workman and my father marhum late.Questions like did her father really die on age 14 or her father die when her age

was14? And was her mother a seller? arose when analyzed sentence (31). We couldmake it into 2 simple separated sentences, My father worked in DLLAJR but he haddied when I was 14 years old. Since that time my mother works as a seller in thetraditional market.


36/41

29In sentence (32), the meaning of the second clause was not clear. If hermeaning was that she could not tell her friends name, then we could change thesentence into she is smart and confidence, but I cannot tell her name.For sentence (33), it was better if we did not use the same 2 verbs (study) inone sentence. The meaning could be clearer by changing the sentence into I like t

ostudy biology because I can have a lot of experiment.In sentence (34), we did not know the real meaning of workman, but we couldmake the second clause right. We changed it into but my father had died.To explain something, sometimes the students used strange word and wroteunnecessary phrase/clause. For example:(35) My life always nomaden or to go abroad.(36) I like study is biology because I have feeling become a doctor.(37) My hobbies is reading, listening to music, travelling and everything Ilike to do.Go abroad meant go out of ones country. In sentence (35) did she really mean it?if

not, she could writeI always move from one to another place

. While in sentence(36), the reason did not make sense. What she felt may be something like desire.

Iwant to be a doctor was more acceptable.In sentence (37), it was not appropriate to write everything. The definition ofhobby is the things we like to do in our spare time. We could mention all the thingswe would like to do.


37/41

30This error occurred when students just translate their native language intoEnglish without realizing that English has its own rules. They used word-to-wordtranslation.4.2.2 Intersentence errors (cohesion)

It means errors between sentences in a text. Sometimes the students wroteunnecessary sentences. These errors occurred since the students only used word-towordtranslation. For example:(38) There is I have many friend. All my friend. My friend the best verymuch is all.(39) Everyone I look women is beautiful. She is someone arrougant.(40) My hobby is play a gitar. The benefits of doing it can I happy and havetalent to play a gitar.In sentence (38), the way he told the idea of his sentence was complicated. He couldsay all of my friends are my best friends. It meant that he had many friends and h

isfriends were his best friends.In sentence (39) and (40) the ideas were not clear, so we could not make anycorrection.Those errors occurred since the students have difficulty in transferring rulesand ideas from their mother tongue.


38/41

314.3 Other ErrorsBesides grammatical and semantic errors, I also found other errors on thestudents written work. These errors could not be classified into one of thegrammatical or semantic errors. It is spelling errors. It happened when the students

used their native language as English words. Here, the students thought that suchwords exist in English. For example:(41) Fisika(42) WiraswastaZiahosseiny and Oller in James (1998:58) say that such kind of errors in learning tospell an L2 that has a Roman Script is harder if ones L1 also uses a Roman Script.The learners expect the script to have the same spelling conventions in L2 as inL1, sothey transfer it from L1.

Students also wrote some words based on the way they pronounce it. Forexample:(43) Manick name(44) Lissent(45) ListendAccording to James (1998:151) if the pronunciation is correct, the speller havetoaccess and activate LT phonographic or sound-to-symbol rules to represent thepronunciation of each phoneme. Those errors occurred when students could notrepresent the pronunciation of each phoneme.


39/41

32To make the reader understand clearly about all of these analyses and itsexplanation, I drew a table which represents the real errors made by the students. Thefirst column of the table was number of error sentences. The second was errorsentences. It showed the error sentences made by the students. The third was typ

e oferrors. It explained what kind of errors they had made. Is it omission, addition,misformation, misordering, or blend. The fourth column was analysis. And the lastone was source of errors.


40/41

33BIBLIOGRAPHYArikunto, Suharsimi. 1996. Dasar-Dasar Penelitian. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia.Aswadi. 2002. An Analysis of Students Errors in Using Simple Past Tense.Brown, H. Douglas.1980. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. NewJersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Finochiaro, Mary. 1974. English as A Second Language from Theory to Practice.New York: Regent Publishing Company.Frank, Marcella. 1972. Modern English. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Hornby, A. S. 1989. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.James, Carl. 1998. Errors in Language Learning and Use. New York: AddisonWesley Longman Inc.Koentjaraningrat. 1986. Metode-Metode Penelitian Masyarakat. Jakarta: PT.Gramedia.Nilson, Jeffrey. 1984. Grammar and Composition. New York: Houghton MifflinCompany.Norrish, John. 1983. Language Learners and Their Errors. London: Mac Millan

Press.Richards, Jack C. 1977. Error Analysis Perspectives on Second LanguageAcquisition. London: Longman Group Limited.Tidyman, Willard. 1959. Teaching the Language Arts. Lodnon: McGraw-HillBook Company, inc.Ulfa, Khotijah. 2004. An Analysis of Grammatical Errors made by theParticipants of The Central Java at a Glance program on RRISemarang.Willis, Hulon. 1981. A Brief Handbook of English. New York: Harcourt BraceJovanovich, Inc.


41/41

Date post:	30-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	sangitarajesh
View:	214 times
Download:	0 times

See Data Analysis[1]

Documents