5 learnt English for several years often make the same mistake in the simplest
grammar. In this example, the possible cause of the error is that the teacher let the students make errors so that the students do not realize their grammatical errors.
B. Problem Formulation
Referring to the problems above, the researcher formulates the following questions:
1. How well have the sixth semester students of the 20092010 academic year in
the ELESP of Sanata Dharma University mastered the two types of English phrasal verbs, the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs?
2. What are the possible causes of the students’ errors in using the separable and
the inseparable phrasal verbs?
C. Problem Limitation
The focus of this research is on the mastery of English phrasal verbs among the sixth semester students of the 20092010 academic year in ELESP. The
researcher chooses the sixth semester students because they have definitely learnt about English phrasal verbs and they have learnt a lot about grammar and its
elements. Thus, the students at this level are supposed to be able to produce correct and proper sentences or utterances, especially using phrasal verbs.
This research also limits the English phrasal verbs only into two types. Actually, a phrasal verb, according to Peaty 1983: 5-23, has four types. Those
are 1 phrasal verbs without an object, 2 separable phrasal verbs, 3
6 inseparable phrasal verb, and 4 phrasal verb linked to an object by an extra
preposition. However, the researcher only focuses on two types of English phrasal verbs. They are the second and the third types of English phrasal verbs, the
separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs, according to Peaty 1983: 5-23. The researcher only discusses those two types of English phrasal verbs because of the
time limitations on this research. Furthermore, those two types of English phrasal verbs are already complex because according to Yule 2004: 168, the separable
phrasal verbs are still categorized into two categories and the inseparable phrasal verbs as well.
D. Research Objectives
The objectives of this research are: 1.
To find out how well the sixth semester students of ELESP of Sanata Dharma University have mastered the two types of English phrasal verbs, the separable
and the inseparable phrasal verbs. 2.
To find out the possible causes of the students’ errors in using the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs.
E. Research Benefits
