In addition, Ellis provides five steps which are originally proposed by Corder,
21
they are: collecting of a sample of learner language, identification of errors, description of errors, explanation of errors, and evaluation of errors.
From some theories above, the writer uses steps in analyzing of error proposed by Ellis in this research.
6. The Goal of Error Analysis
There are some goals of error analysis; one of them is as Rebecca M Valette said: “One of the goals of error analysis is to reveal learners. A strategy is
to help in the preparation of more effective learning material”.
22
Next argument is While Pit Corder makes a distinction between the theoretical and applied goal of
error analysis. They are: a.
Applied goal aspect is, correcting and eradicating the learners error at the expense of the more important and logically prior task of evolving an
explanatory theory of learners performance. b.
Theoretical goal aspect is as worthy of study in and on itself as is that of child language acquisition and can, in turn, provide insights into the
process of language acquisition in general.
23
Another theory about the goal of error analysis from Dullay stated that studying students‟ errors serves two major purposes:
a. It provides data from which inferences about the nature of language
learning process can be made.
21
Rod Ellis, The Study of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008
, p. 46.
22
Rebecca M. Valette, Modern English Testing, Boston: Boston College, 1977, p.66.
23
Pit Corder in Jacek Ficiak, Contrastive Linguistics and Language Teacher, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981 p. 225
b. It indicates to teachers and curriculum developers, which part of the target
language students have most difficulty producing correctly and which errors types detract most from a students‟ ability to communicate
effectively.
24
The theoretical aspect of error analysis is part of the methodology of investigating that the language learning process
B. Gerund
1. Definiton of gerund
Betty scramfer Azar in Understanding and Using English Grammar stated that “a gerund is the –ing form of a verb used a noun. A gerund is used in the
same ways as a noun, i.e, as a subject or an object walking is good exercise”.
25
The same essence is stated by George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, the gerund is “the ing form of a verb used as a noun. A gerund is used in the same
ways as a noun i.e, as a subject or an object”
26
. Besides the form verb -ing as gerund, the form verb -ing also use as an
original verb in present participle. In this case there is a different function each other.
Verbal constructions function as parts of speech other than verbs, usually as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. In these constructions the elements of simple
sentences are more changed in form than they are in dependent clauses. The verbs are generally reduced to participial
–ing or –ed form, or to infinitive form. However, these verbal forms, like the finite verbs in full sentences, can take
complements or adverbial modifiers.
27
In verbal constructions, the subjects and objects from original simple sentences may remain unchanged in form, or they may be reduced to possessive,
24
Dulay. et al., op cit., p. 138.
25
Betty Scramfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar 4
th
edition, Mc Graw. Hill companies, 2002 , p. 321.
26
George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English Revised Edition, New
Jersey: Prentice. Hall, 1989, p. 268.
27
Marcella Frank, Modern English; A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1972, p. 304.
objective or prepositional form. Also, they may not occur in the verbal construction at all but may be found elsewhere in the sentence or be implied from
the general context. In brief, to distinguish between verbal and gerund is verbal cannot be as a
subject or an object in a sentence, in contrast gerund can be as a subject or an object in a sentence.
For example : - He is smoking now present participle, smoke with
–ing in this sentence has a function as an original verb; it can be called as a verbal
construction 2.
Kinds of Gerund George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks noted that there are two kinds of
gerund, they are:
28
a. Simple Gerund is a gerund that is the –ing form of the verb used as a
noun. Notice that the gerund has the same form as the present participle. However, it functions differently in the sentence. It is
always a noun and can function in any position noun, e.g. Swimming is good exercise.
b. Gerund Phrase. While gerund functions as a noun, it also retains some characteristics of a verb. Although it may have modifiers like a noun
usually before it, it may also have adverbial modifiers like a verb usually after it. If a noun or pronoun precedes a gerund, it must be in
the possessive or adjective form. e.g. Your singing is beautiful.
28
Ibid., p. 268
