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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher presents a review about the theories used as the bases for conducting the research. The discussion is divided into two major
parts which are the theoretical description and the theoretical framework
A. Theoretical Description
In the first part, the researcher provides the discussion about the nature of interrogative word questions, the identification of interrogative word questions,
the sentence construction in English, the rules of interrogative word question constructions, the construction of interrogative word questions, language errors,
sources of errors, error analysis, and survey research.
1. The Nature of Interrogative Word Questions
According to Quirk and Greenbaum, there are three major types of English question based on the type of expected reply. They are yes-no questions,
interrogative word questions, and alternative questions. Different from the other two types of questions, interrogative word questions, which use wh-words as the
question words, have typical and open range of replies 1990. Svartvik and Leech 1975 state that interrogative word questions are
questions which begin with an interrogative word or wh-element operator then they are followed by head or auxiliary verb like do, did, can, will, and to be. The
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purpose of interrogative word questions is to achieve the reply based on the missing element or missing information posited by the wh-words.
In addition, Svartvik and Leech 1975 claim that the interrogative words used in interrogative word questions involve what, who, where, when, why, which,
whom, whose, and how. Furthermore, to gain information based on the expected reply, particular interrogative words used in interrogative word questions can be
modified, for examples, how becomes how much, how many, how long, how big, and who becomes who else.
2. The Identification of Interrogative Word Questions
According to Quirk and Greenbaum 1990, interrogative word questions or known as wh-questions are constructed by the addition of wh-words as the
question words. Formally, the wh-word is placed in the initial position of a question. As a matter of fact, each wh-word used in interrogative word questions
has its own meaning which is different from the other wh-words. The meaning is basically related to the purpose of the questions.
Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999 define the interrogative words based on the purposes or functions as follows:
a. Subject Noun Phrase
According to Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, the wh-words who and what are used to gain information about subject which is in the form of noun
phrase. The example is “What went wrong?” The answer to that interrogative
word question might be “The machine went wrong”.
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b. Object Noun Phrase
Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999 state that the wh-words whom and what require the object of sentence in the form of noun phrase as the answer.
Mostly, the use of whom requires addition of related preposition. The example is
“Whom did you tell the story to?” or “To whom did you tell the story?” The answer to those questions can
be ‘I told the story to Wendy’.
c. Possessive
The wh-word whose is used to question about possession or something
which belongs to someone, for example, “Whose idea was it?” The answer might
be ‘The idea was hers’.
d. Demonstrative
Based on Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, the wh-words which and what are used to gain demonstrative information about something pointed out.
The example is
“Which house is yours?” The answer to that question might be “My house is the one painted green”. Another example is “What date is the
concert?
” The answer to that question can be “The concert is 7
th
July
”. e.
Quantifier According to Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, how much, how
many, how long, how big, etc. are type of question words used for indentifying the quantifier embedded in a statement. The question word how much is for
uncountable quantifier, meanwhile the question word how many is for countable
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quantifier. The example is “How much money did they get?” The answer to that
question can be “They got Rp 3.000.000”.
f. Adjective
How and what are two question words which are used to gain the
information about quality, condition, type, color, or any other adjectival phrase in a statement Murcia, Freeman, Williams, 1999. The example is
“How did they look?
” The answer to that question can be “They looked good”. Another example is
“What kind of dress did she wear last night?” The answer to that question might be “She wore a very sexy dress last night”.
g. Adverb of Time
When is a question word which is used for gaining information about
time, for example, “When did they come?” The answer to that question can be
“They came yesterday morning”.
h. Adverb of Manner
How is a question word which is used for gaining information about
manner, for example, “How did you open the box?” The answer might be “I
opened the box by using a crowbar ”.
i. Adverb of Reason
Why is a question word used for identifying the reason state in a
statement, for example, “Why did not you return the book you were borrowing?”
The answer to that question can be “I did not return the book I was borrowing
because I forgot ”.
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j. Adverb of Frequency
According to Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, the wh-elements how often and how many times are used to reveal the information about
frequency of an action. The example is “How often did you visit a zoo?” The
possible answer might be “I visited a zoo very often”. Another example is “How
many times did you skip the class during this semester? ” The answer to that
question can be “I skip the class three times during this semester”.
k. Adverb of Position
Where is a question word used for identifying the position of noun phrase
it could be subject or object, for example, “Where did they go?” The answer to
that question can be “They went to the park”.
3. The Sentence Construction in English
Sentence construction in English is different from sentence construction in Bahasa Indonesia. In English a sentence can be constructed by smaller units or
sentence elements which obviously are called as parts of sentence. Those parts of sentence are subject, predicate, operator, auxiliary, and predication Quirk,
Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik, 1973.
a. Subject and Predicate
According to Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1973, subject and predicate are two major elements which build a sentence. Subject is closely
related to ‘what is being discussed’, ‘the theme’ of a sentence. Subjects are defined as nouns or pronouns, for examples, John, Mary, I, she, house, cat, etc.
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Subjects in English can be both singular and plural. The examples of singular subjects can be she, he, cat, flower, Budi, etc. The examples of plural
subjects can be they, we, cats, flowers, people, etc. On the contrary, predicate is part of sentence which says something about subject Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech,
Svartvik, 1973. Further, whenever subject and predicate of sentence change their position from statement to question, the position will be like this:
Had he given the girl an apple? or What had he given to the girl?
b. Operator, Auxiliary, and Predication
According to Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1973, a predicate tends to be more complex and heterogeneous unit. A predicate can be subdivided
into smaller elements. Further, after being subdivided, an auxiliary as operator and predication will be found inside the predicate. The distinctions may be illustrated
in figure 2.1. Sentence
subject predicate
auxiliary predication
as operator He had
given the girl an apple Had he
given the girl an apple?
Figure 2.1 Distinctions of Auxiliary and Predication
Quirk et al., 1973, p.11
4. The Rules of Interrogative Word Question Constructions
According to Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1973, a sentence in English consists of some parts, which are subject, predicate, operator, auxiliary,
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and predication. Further, those parts of sentence can be separated into 5 sentence elements, which are subject S, verb V, complement C, object O, and
adverbial A. Particularly, those 5 sentence elements are used in interrogative word questions as well.
In addition, Quirk and Greenbaum 1990 state that in the application related to 5 sentence elements, interrogative word questions have specific rules to
follow. Those are: a.
The wh-element which contains wh-word comes first in the sentence. b.
The wh-word takes the first position in the wh-element. The illustrations of the rules can be seen in figure 2.2.
They make him the chairman every year. S V O C A
The interrogative questions:
- Who makes him the chairman every year? S
- Whom do they make the chairman every year?
O -
What do they make him every year? C
- When do they make him the chairman?
A
Figure 2.2 Illustrations of Interrogative Word Question Rules
Adapted from Quirk et al., 1973, p. 23
From the illustrations above, the researcher agrees with the rules showing that interrogative word questions begin with an interrogative word. To gain
information about the subject, the interrogative word can be immediately followed by verb or can be followed by auxiliary then followed by the rest of VP.
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Meanwhile, if interrogative question is used for gaining information about any sentence elements except subject, the wh-word must be followed by the operator
auxiliary which in turn is followed by the subject and predication Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik, 1973.
5. The Construction of Interrogative Word Questions
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