Background of the Study

1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of six parts which present the introduction of the study. It includes background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms.

A. Background of the Study

English is widely used around the world. It is used for communicating and interacting among nations because English is an international language. Furthermore, in globalization era, people are demanded to be able to use English in many aspects. Therefore, they need to learn English. In learning English, the students learn the four basic skills namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In addition to learning the four basic skills, the students also learn the elements of language namely vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. These elements of language give a contribution to the four basic skills. The examples are vocabulary as in speaking, writing, reading and listening; pronunciation as in speaking; and grammar as in writing and speaking. Having good vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation helps people to communicate well. Those four basic skills and three elements of language are important in building the mastery of English. Grammar is one of the important elements in building the mastery of a language. By learning grammar, the students know the rules of the language. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 When the students want to convey information, grammar is one of the important things to be considered in order that the information can be understood well. It is supported by Nunan 1991: 153, he states that grammar is present to make us understand and possible to communicate beyond a rudimentary level. Using grammar, people are able to communicate appropriately, correctly, and meaningfully. Ur 1988, as cited in Nunan, 1991: 154, also argues that the elements of a language, be they lexical, phonological or grammatical, are essential toward the ability to communicate in the language. It means that grammar is one of the elements that should be paid attention to in communication. Purpura 2004, ix also argues that grammar is the rule of language, the heart of language use, which is used in speaking, listening, reading or writing. There are a lot of aspects in grammar. One of them is tense. In learning grammar, English tense is important because in English, tense or time cannot be avoided . According to Nesfield as cited in Mas‟ud 2005: 18, “tense is a form of a verb that shows time of happening of an event or an action and it shows the level of perfection of an action at the time it happened.” According to Jackson 1982: 74, time is divided into past, present and future. In English, each tense indicates the time; therefore it is clear whether he spoke in the past, he speaks in the present or he will speak in the future. The study discusses the ELESP students‟ errors and mastery in using tenses. ELESP stands for the English Language Education Study Program. The students of the English Language Education Study Program are prepared to be qualified English teachers. To be a teacher, people should be able to communicate well, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 moreover for a language teacher, in this case an English teacher. She is expected to communicate well in English. To communicate well and correctly, it needs rules. Grammar provides rules to produce communicative and effective utterances. Therefore, as teacher candidates, it is important for them to be proficient in using grammar, especially the tenses. It is needed, for example in teaching learning processes, when the teacher explains the lesson in the past, present, or future time. Based on the writer ‟s experience, the students of the English Language Education Study Program still have difficulties in mastering English tenses. Considering that English tenses are essential, measuring the students‟ ability on tenses is important. The study is conducted to find out the students‟ mastery of the tenses of ELESP students. This study is conducted to the third semester students of the English Language Education Study Program students in the academic year of 20082009. The third semester students are considered to have enough knowledge about tenses during the learning processes for one semester at the first semester in the English Language Education Study Program. In addition to finding out the students‟ mastery, the writer also tries to find out the students‟ errors on tenses. Since their errors are recognized in the early stage of the study program, the lecturer will be able to do remedial actions.

B. Problem Formulation