66 We can see from the examples above that in each sentence written by the
students, there is more than one finite verb without any conjunction in between. Students’ errors were mostly on the inexistence of subordinator. Yet, for some
sentences, as represented by the first example, the errors can be categorized as the omission of subject, too.
Double finite verbs cases often happen on those who have not understood the concept of subordination. That was why, that such errors were still made by the
respondents, who had obtained five Structure classes, was a little bit strange. To cope with this problem, there is no other way but to deepen their understanding on
the basic concept of sentence structure as well as the way to make subordinations in a sentence.
To minimize the occurrence of such basic errors, additionally, students’ mastery on non-finite clause should be improved. Non-finite forms can be the
focus because of its simplicity compared to the finite clause. In dealing with long sentences, complete clause, which is usually quite long, can be a problem. On the
other hand, once students understand the concept of making a non-finite clause, they will more easily avoid making double finite verbs in their sentences.
d. Subject Verb Agreement violation
The form of the main verb of a sentence should rely on the subject of the sentence itself. It means that different subject can lead to different form of the
main verb. Third person singular subject will have a different present form of verb
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
67 from plural subject, for instance. Here, if the main verb of a sentence does not
concord with its subject, the sentence is said to violate Subject Verb Agreement. Written intended or not, this grammatical error was quite frequent among
grammatically well-written sentences. Some of the Subject Verb Agreement violations could be seen as follows.
1 Original : The respondents of this study was from fourth semester students
who is taking Prose 1 class.
Corrected : The respondents of this study was were from fourth semester students who is were taking Prose 1 class.
2 Original : As an Indonesian and Javanese people, it will impolite if the
speaker use non-standard language to the older people, parents, or teacher.
Corrected : As an Indonesian and Javanese people person, it will is impolite if the speaker uses non-standard language to the older people,
parents, or teachers.
3 Original : The objective is to identify whether self concept really influence
the performance of sixth semester students in Public Speaking II or not.
Corrected : The objective is to identify whether self concept really influences
the performance of sixth semester students in Public Speaking II or not.
e. Verb omission
As previously stated, a sentence or a clause must have a subject and a finite verb, at the least. In other words, a finite verb is an essential element which cannot
be dropped. A series of words ending with a full stop cannot necessarily be called a sentence if it lacks the essences, either its subject, or its finite verb, or both.
Such ungrammaticalities were made by a large number of students as seen in their writing.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
68 The following were the representatives.
1 Original : Based on questions number 2, 3, 5, students also knew how
importance the feedbacks for their improvement in writing. Corrected
: Based on questions number 2, 3, 5, students also knew how importance important the feedbacks was for their improvement in
writing. 2 Original
: So the first question whether the respondents joining English Speaking Club or not.
Corrected : So, the first question is whether the respondents joining English
Speaking Club or not. 3 Original
: Most large classes are teacher-assisted classes which normally regarded as a challenge for the teachers themselves.
Corrected : Most large classes are teacher-assisted classes, which are
normally regarded as a challenge for the teachers themselves. 4 Original
: If the objectives could be achieved this research hopefully able to give the contribution toward Language Teaching Study
Programmed in micro teaching class for both teachers and students.
Corrected : If the objectives could can be achieved, this research will,
hopefully, be able to give the a contribution toward Language Teaching Study Programmed in micro teaching class for both
teachers and students.
In most cases, the verb omission happened in subordinate clauses as seen in the first and the third example. Mostly, the students’ errors were in adjective
clauses and noun clauses. In adjective clause cases, most omissions of verb
happened in producing subordinator + be pattern like in example 3. Meanwhile, in noun clause cases, omission of verb, to be pattern more precisely, happened in
producing WH clauses. It could be seen in example 1.
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69
2. Students’ other problems
Besides the problems that have been mentioned above, there were a number of other problems, less frequent in occurrence, not less important to look at,
however. Those were incorrect or unnecessary use of subordinators, use of comma, incorrect verb formation, and subject omissions.
a. Incorrect or unnecessary use of subordinators
As in Research Paper Writing research report, it is important to write problem formulation, which is in interrogative sentences, the necessity to write a
declarative sentence containing a dependent clause which carries question
meaning, whether clause, becomes very important too. And it was simply proved.
All students wrote one or two sentences each, at the least. Many of them wrote them ungrammatically, however. Some of them could be seen below.
1 Original : But, it is still to be a question that microteaching class has
influent the student teacher self confidence to speak in front of the class.
Corrected : But, it is still to be a question that whether microteaching class has influent influenced the student teacher’s self confidence to
speak in front of the class is still a question.
2 Original : In this paper, the researcher wants to know does teaching using
pamphlet may help students to improve their speaking skill in transactional class or not.
Corrected : In this paper, the researcher wants to know does whether
teaching using pamphlet may help students to improve their speaking skill in transactional class or not.
3 Original : The objective was to know does microteaching class affect
toward self confident of the student who joined the microteaching class.
Corrected : The objective was to know does whether microteaching class affected toward self confident confidence of the students who
joined the microteaching class.
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70
From the examples above, it could be seen that some students used does instead of whether to introduce a noun clause. According to the result of the
interview, however, the students committing these errors could simply correct them as they reread their sentences. And so, such errors were seen as temporary.
The next errors were related to the inappropriate use of subordinator which, who
, and that. These three subordinators should, definitely, be followed by a
finite verb. In many instances found in the students’ writing, these two subordinators were very often followed by words indicating non-finite clause,
such as V-ing and V-3. These sentences would be grammatically correct simply by the omission of the subordinator or by the changing of the non-finite verb into
finite. Some of the made errors could be observed below.
4 Original : The researcher has interviewed the students who joining English
Speaking Club in SMKN 1 ROTA Bayat.
Corrected : The researcher has interviewed the students who joining had joined
English Speaking Club in SMKN 1 ROTA Bayat. 5 Original
: Therefore, the content of handout in Structure consisted the important points material which being discussed.
Corrected : Therefore, the content of the handout in Structure consisted of the important points of the material which being discussed.
b. Use of comma
