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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method
The method used in conducting the research was descriptive research. There were two kinds of study conducted in this research; these were survey
research and library research. The survey was conducted to get the data to be analyzed in studying the
preposition. The research was intended to describe the problems faced by students in mastering the English preposition of place and also some possible factors that
might caused the difficulties. The library research was conducted in order to get the data related to the
study by observing and studying related literature. The result of this research, both the survey and the library research would
be presented in a descriptive way.
B. Participants
The subject of this research was the first semester students of the 20072008 academic year in the English Language Education Programme of
Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta. They were chosen because the writer intended to measure their mastery in prepositions of place at, in and on. The
writer’s assumption was that they must have had learnt the preposition of at, in and on rules and its application during their study in Senior High School.
Since it is very difficult to include all the members of a target population all members of the first semester students, the writer then selected a portion of
the population as the representative sample to study the first semester students’ mastery on the preposition at, in and on.
In selecting the representative sample the writer used the cluster sampling technique. Within this technique, the chosen sample is not an individual but a
group of individuals who are naturally together. These individuals constitute a cluster insofar as they are alike with respect to characteristics relevant to the
variables of the study.
C. Research Instrument
The library research was primarily based on the literature related to the research. In collecting the data about the English preposition and the information
to support the research, the literature was used as the source of information. Shortly, the library research did not need a special instrument in collecting the
data. A test, as an instrument, was also used in collecting the data on the
student’s mastery of the English preposition. The test was constructed in the form of recognition and production types, in order to get the effective and efficient
measurement instrument. Heaton 1979 mentions the importance of choosing this type of test: “a good language test may contain either recognition type test items
or production type test items, or a combination of both”.
The recognition test was in the form of gap-filling test. The students were asked to complete the sentences containing the English prepositions of place at, in
and on. The objective of the test was that the students were able to demonstrate their ability to use the preposition of place at, in and on.
The production test was in the form of translation test. The students were asked to translate some Indonesian sentences into English. The objective of the
test was that the students were able to distinguish the differences between the rules underlying the preposition of place of their L1 Indonesian and the rules
underlying the preposition of place at, in and on in English. As it is mentioned before, the test was divided into two parts part A and
part B. The first part of the test part A contains 40 items of recognition test. The second part of the test part B contains 10 items of production test. Most of the
test items were taken from some authoritative English grammar book and few items were modified by the permission of the major sponsor and co sponsor. The
distribution of the test item is presented in table 3.1 below. Test item number
No Type of
prepositions of place
Part A Part B
Total number of items
1 at 1,6,18,20,23,26,27,
31,32,35,38,39,40 1,2,5,6 17
2 in 2,3,4,7,8,9,11,12,14,
22,24,30,34,36 3,4,10 17
3 on 5,10,13,15,16,17,19,
21,25,28,29,33,37 7,8,9 16
Since the test was intended to measure the students’ mastery of preposition of place at, in, and on, the scoring system used in this research was the 1-0 scale.
This scale was chosen with the assumption that the prepositions of place are disinter-changeable. The correct answer was scored 1 and 0 was for the incorrect
answer. There are two important characteristics should be possessed by every
measuring instrument in order to acquired the valid and reliable research result Ary, Jacobs and Rezavieh 1979. Therefore, the instrument to collect the data of
the research should meet what is called validity and reliability of the test.
D. Validity
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