2 A study of one’s native grammar is helpful when one studies the grammar of a foreign language;
3 A knowledge of grammar is a help in the interpretation of literary as well as nonliterary texts, since the interpretation of a passage sometimes depends
crucially on grammatical analysis; 4 A study of the grammatical resources of English is useful in composition: in
particular, it can help you to evaluate the choices available to you when you come to revise an earlier written draft.
From the explanation above, it is no doubt that grammar has an important role in a language to support the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading,
and writing. It eases us to read a well-written piece of literature or listen to an everyday conversation where grammar is well-spoken. Not having good grammar
mastery causes our messages or ideas cannot be understood well by other people.
e. Difficulties in Learning Grammar
There is no doubt that grammar is very essential to learn to furnish the four language skills. For many students, learning grammar often means learning the
rules of grammar and having an intellectual knowledge of grammar. A better approach is perhaps to see grammar as one of many resources that they have in
language which helps them to communicate. They should see how grammar relates to what they want to say or write, and how they expect others to interpret
what our language use and its focus Al-Mechlafi, 2011: 71. According to Widdowson 1990: 86, . . . grammar is not a constraining imposition but a
liberating force: it frees us from a dependency on context and a purely lexical perpustakaan.uns.ac.id
commit to user
categorization of reality. It means that having knowledge of grammar does not mean that the students only have knowledge of the rules of the language, but they
also have knowledge of how to use it into meaningful language. There are many types of difficulties the students face with regard to the
learning grammar. Al-Mechlafi 2011: 72 says that the hard fact that most teachers face is that learners often find it difficult to make flexible use of the rules
of grammar taught in the classroom. They may know the rules perfectly, but are incapable of applying them in their own use of the language. Meanwhile, Haudeck
in European Commission 2006: 84 has reported that many learners have difficulty in internalizing grammar rules, although these have been taught
intensively. In line with Haudeck, Harmer 1989: 7 state that there are three important aspect that the students are difficult to learn grammar; 1 the clash
between function and form, 2 similarities and differences between students’ own language and the language that is being learnt, and 3 various exceptions and
complications. In this study, I will underline the students’ difficulty in learning grammar in the use of correct rules.
f. Testing Grammar
