21 higher level of learning than before. Moreover, the descriptive writing was also
learned in this level. The collected data were the documents analyzed by the researcher.
At first, the grammatical errors collected from the students were checked; the researcher tried to find what were the grammatical errors commonly made by
the students based on the first checklist. After the researcher checked the grammatical errors, then the researcher marked the composition of students’
descriptive writing by using the second checklist, that was the assessment scale of written work mentioned before.
The seventh grade students in SMP N 1 Muntilan were supervised by a teacher. The teacher was also being interviewed related to the result of students’
descriptive writing. From the interview, the researcher also tried to find what the teacher can do to improve the students’ descriptive writing.
C. SETTING
This research was conducted in SMPN 1 Muntilan. The seventh grade students were the samples of the research. It was done on April 28, 2008 in the
second semester of academic year 20072008 The research was conducted in SMPN 1 Muntilan because this school was
one of the best quality schools in Muntilan. It was proven from the students who were carefully selected. That was why the seventh grade students of SMP N 1
Muntilan were chosen as the subjects of the research. They were believed to have good skills in English acquisition.
22
D. DATA COLLECTION
In order to meet the data about the grammatical errors made by the seventh grade students in their descriptive writing, the researcher gathered the students’
assignments about descriptive writing from the teacher. The descriptive writing could be about places, people, or things. However, the data of descriptive writing
about people was the focus and analyzed in this research. There were two data used by the researcher. The first was the students’
descriptive writing data. From the data collected, the researcher made an analysis of the grammatical errors that the students made. The grammatical errors were
marked from any students’ mistakes in their writing. The aspects for analyzing students’ errors were based on checklists. These checklists included some frequent
errors made by ESL students and they were first taken from LAS ESL La Trobe University Australia http:www.latrobe.edu.aulaseslassetsdownloadserror.doc
{online} accessed on March 31
st
2007. This checklist was relevant to the minimum requirements proposed by R.L Fountain and issued by the English
Department of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The minimum requirements included the use of concord or agreement, finite verbs, tenses, verb
groups, articles, punctuation, and also spelling. The second was evaluating students’ descriptive writing based on an
evaluative checklist. “There are five major aspects of a piece written are evaluated and each of these aspects is accompanied by explicit descriptors of what is meant
by the different band-scales.” Tribble, Christopher, 1996: 130. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
23 After the researcher found out the grammatical errors commonly made by
the students, then the researcher analyzed their written works and marked the works based on the above checklists.
E. DATA ANALYSIS
