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error could be categorized as misformation error. It was because in the indirect speech, the student used the wrong form of adverb in the indirect speech.
3. Errors in Indirect Yes-No Questions
The same as other types of indirect speech, yes-no questions were distributed in five items. They existed in items 3, 8, 13, 18, and 23. The
percentage of students who still made errors in forming indirect yes-no question was presented in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3: Percentage of Students’ Errors in Forming Indirect Yes-No Questions Item Number
Number of Students Who Made Errors Percentage
3 8
13 18
23 20
13 28
33 37
30.30 19.69
42.42 50.00
56.06
Errors in pronouns, word order, tenses, and demonstratives were found in indirect yes-no questions. The example of errors in tenses, word order, and
pronoun can be found in example [20]. [20]
a. Direct Speech “Can I get coffee on the train?” my aunt asked. b. Indirect Speech My aunt asked if she could get coffee on the train.
c. Incorrect Answer My aunt asked could I get coffee on the train. Pronoun error is indicated by the use of pronoun I as in the indirect
question. The pronoun I in the direct speech should be changed into she when it
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was changed into indirect speech because it referred to the reporter’s aunt. However, some students kept the pronoun I as it was in the direct speech. This
error, in surface structure taxonomy, was called as misformation error. It was categorized as misformation error because the wrong form of pronoun was used
by the students. Example [20] also shows an error in the word order. The form My aunt
asked could I get coffee… was considered as error in word order because there was a misplacement of the words could and I. The position of could should be
placed after the word she because the clause was changed from interrogative form into positive form. This error could be classified into misordering error because in
this case, the students used wrong order of some words. Additionally, example [20] indicates that there is an omission error.
Students omitted the conjunction if or whether. However, they directly used the auxiliary verb could after the reporting clause. The use of those conjunctions in
indirect yes-no questions, which can be translated as apakah in Bahasa Indonesia, cannot be omitted since they had an important role as the indicator that the
meaning and the form of the sentence was yes-no question. Errors in the tense and demonstrative were also found in students’ answer
in transferring direct yes-no question into indirect yes-no question. Those cases of errors are shown in example [21].
[21] a. Direct Speech “Does this train stop in New York?” asked Bill.
b. Indirect Speech Bill asked if that train stopped in New York. c. Incorrect Answer Bill asked whether this train stop in New York.
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Example [21] clearly shows that the tense and demonstrative error happened on the use of the verb stop and the demonstrative this in the indirect
question. In this item, the word this should be changed into that and the word stop should be stopped. The reported clause in the indirect question should be in the
form of past tense because the item had past reporting clause. Those two errors, which happened in the tense and demonstrative, could be categorized as
misformation error since the students used the wrong form of tense and demonstrative in the indirect yes-no question.
The last error made by the students in forming indirect yes-no questions was error in the adverb of time. This error can be found in example [22].
[22] a. Direct Speech “Will you watch the football match next week?” she
said to me. b. Indirect Speech She asked me if I would watch the football match the
following week. c. Incorrect Answer She asked me if I would watch the football match
next week. It is shown in example [22] that the students kept the form of the adverb as next
week. However, the adverb should be changed into the following week because the direct speech had past reporting clause. The same as the errors in example [21],
this error was categorized as misformation since the students used the wrong form of adverb. The adverb next week, which was should be changed into the following
week the indirect speech, was still used.
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4. Errors in Indirect Commands
Indirect commands existed in five items of the test. They were distributed in items 4, 9, 14, 19, and 24. Table 4.4 presents the percentage of students who
still made errors in forming indirect commands.
Table 4.4: Percentage of Students’ Errors in Forming Indirect Commands Item Number
Number of Students Who Made Errors Percentage
4 9
14 19
24 2
5 21
38 34
03.03 07.57
31.81 57.57
51.51
The number presented in Table 4.4 shows that the students’ answers in transferring direct commands into indirect commands contained errors. There
were various errors in forming indirect commands. The errors were in common with the previous types of indirect speech. They were in the form of tense, word
order, conjunction, adverb, and demonstrative. The first form of error in forming indirect commands was error in the
tense. The case is shown in example [23]. [23]
a. Direct Speech “Shut the door, Tom,” she said. b. Indirect Speech She asked Tom to shut the door.
c. Incorrect Answer She asked Tom shutted the door. The tense error in example [23] was found in the use of verb shutted in the
indirect command. The students change the word shut into shutted in the indirect
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speech. However, the tense change should be from shut into to shut because the verb in the direct command should be changed into to + infinitive in the indirect
command. This error could be categorized as both addition error and omission error. It was because the students omitted the word to, and they added –ed to the
word shut. Another form of students’ error in forming indirect command is shown in
example [24]. In this item, the students made addition error by adding if as the conjunction in indirect command. Indirect command should not use any
conjunction. There should be to + infinitive after the reporting clause. This error then could be categorized as addition error since the students added conjunction if,
which should not be added into indirect commands. [24]
a. Direct Speech “Lend him your pen for a moment,” I said to Mary. b. Indirect Speech I asked Mary to lend him her pen for a moment.
c. Incorrect Answer I asked Mary if she could lend him a pen for a moment.
Furthermore, the form …could lend him… was considered as tense error. The reported clause in indirect command can be changed without using to +
infinitive after the reporting clause but by using that +subject + should + V
1
. However, the students’ answer in this example was considered as error because
the students used could instead of should, which was considered as the wrong form. The use of if and could in indirect command, as shown in the incorrect
answer in example [24] then changed the meaning of the sentence into indirect question.
