Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

As a foreign language in Indonesia, English has an important position and clearly needed by many learners to deliver thought and interact in a variety of situations. Therefore, people realize without mastering the language, interaction and all kinds of activity among the people will breakdown. Because when we learn a language, we learn to communicate through the language we have learned. But, with mastering English, the students can develop their knowledge: science, technology, art and relations with other countries. It is necessary for them to know and master the grammatical rules of the language to get good understanding, some students find some difficulties in learning grammar. Nowadays, English is the most common language used throughout the world. English is the most widespread medium of international communication because of both the number of geographical spread of its speakers, and the large number of non- native speakers who use it for part at least of their international contact. 1 In Indonesian school, English is determined as a compulsory subject in the national curriculum. It is taught beginning from junior high school up to the university. English is also used not only to apply for a job but also to communicate with people from different nations. Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers noted that “today English is the world’s most widely studied foreign language; five hundred years ago it was Latin, for it was the dominant language of education, commerce, religion and government in the western world.” 2 Many writers believe that in learning English as a foreign language or second language the learner should, first of all, master the grammar structure system, the basic structural patterns of the present perfect tense items. Grammar is one of the language aspects which are taught to every language learners. It is the basic knowledge and important role in understanding the English 1 C. J. Brumfit, English for International Communication, Oxford: Oxford Pergamon Press, 1981, p. 1 2 Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching; Description and Analysis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, p.1 language. As said by Paul Robert that “grammar is a body of generalization about how people says things. In order to make generalizations, we must agree on the meaning of terms for the things we wish to talk about. Grammar accuracy is only part of communication to convey a message, where grammar is merely a tool”. 3 By learning grammar, we can communicate our message clearly and precisely. Penny Ur noted that “grammar is defined as words are put together to make correct sentences. It doesn’t only affect how the units of words are combined in order to make correct sentences but also affects their meaning. 4 But students who learned English meet a number of problems, especially with the grammar as the language that can be confusing. Some students think of grammar as rather boring subject.. We all know that English is different from other language whether on the vocabulary, phonology and structure system those have great deal of influence to Indonesian students in learning English. Teaching all foreign language is stressed on mastering the four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. And also the knowledge of grammar is one of the important factors that students should master. Because a grammar is needed even in communicative ways. Grammar traditionally has a central role in language teaching particular theories of grammar and learning associated with them have provided justification for syllabus and in methodology in language teaching for decades. In Understanding English, the student must understand the structure of English or grammar, understand to using it in oral or written. Because most of the students get difficulties to make sentences correctly with a tense. It is usually happened in – the past, present or present perfect tense. Tense is usually defined as relating to the time of an action, event or state. 5 Thus Kathryn Riley asserted that, “Tense is a classification system for verbs, indicating, in general the of the action: Past tense e.g The tide rose, present tense e.g the tide rises, future tense e.g the tide will rise. English like all Germanic 3 Paul Robert, Understanding Grammar New York, 1954 p. 123 4 Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, London: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 75 5 Laurie Bauer, English Word-Formation, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983, p. 157 language, has only two inflected tenses: Past and Present. 6 The time of the action is commonly expressed by the verb. With tense, student can know when the time action occur, and understand the correspondence between the form of the verb and their concept of time. The present perfect tense is a construction made up of a construction made up of the auxiliary have + the past participle form of the main verb. It is used to indicate an action that took place at an indifinite time or over a period of time in the past, but still has relevance in the present. The time of the actions is not mentioned and it is not implied. W. Stannard Allen in living English structure stated: “English has three main divisions, Past, Present and Present Perfect Tense…” 7 Absolutely, the verb in English influenced by the “time”, when it happens or will happen past, present and present perfect tense. So a verb should be concord or related with the time. When “state” happened in the past it must be followed by the “adverb of time”. Because In Indonesian language there is now use “the time”strictly even now, past or future. Beside that there is a tense that used to indicate an action or “state” happened in the past, but it was contiunous to the present or still true at present we call “present perfect tense”. And the common signals are: since. For, this week, up to now, so far, not yet, once, often, twice and three times etc. 8 Most learners also confused with the forms of present perfect tense and their usage and they have difficulty in using them appropriately. Based on the background above the writer takes a title of this paper” Student’s difficulty in Learning Present Perfect Tense” A case study at SMK Puspita Bangsa

B. Limitation of the Study