2 Addition
Addition errors are the presence of an item which must not appear in a well-formed utterance.
26
There are three types of addition errors, namely: double marking, regularization, and simple addition.
a Double Marking
Many addition errors are more accurately described as the failure to delete certain items which are required
in some linguistic construction, but not in others.
27
Double marking is two items marked for the same feature. Learners who have acquired the tensed form for
both auxiliary and verb often place the marker both, as in;
28
He doesn’t knows my name. We didn’t went there.
Which the correction of the sentence above is; He doesn’t know my name.
We didn’t go there.
b Regularization
Regularization errors that fall under the addition category are those in which a marker that is typically
added to a linguistic item is erroneously added to exceptional items of the given class that do not take a
marker.
29
It means that regularization error occurs when learners add morpheme to the exceptional words, for
example:
26
Ibid., p. 156.
27
Ibid.
28
Ibid.
29
Ibid., p. 157.
Table 2.3 Example of Regularization errors
No. Regularization Errors Correction
1. Sheeps
Sheep 2.
Putted Put
3. Deers
Deer 4.
Hitted Hit
5. Beated
Beat
c Simple Addition
No particular features characterize simple additions other than those that characterize all addition errors
— the use of an item which should not appear in a well-
formed utterance.
30
Table 2.4
31
Simple Addition Errors
Linguistic Item Added Example
3
rd
person singular –s
The fishes doesn’t live in the water Past tense irregular
The train is gonna broke it Article a
a this Preposition
in over there
3 Misformation
Misformation errors are characterized by the use of the wrong form of the morpheme or structure. In misformation
errors the learner supplies something, although it is incorrect.
32
For example: The dog eated the chicken.
There are three types of misformation errors, they are
regularization errors, archi-forms, and alternating forms. The explanation is elaborated as follows:
30
Ibid., p. 158.
31
Ibid.
32
Ibid.
a Regularization Errors
Regularization errors
that fall
under the
misformation category are those in which a regular marker is used in place of an irregular one, as in runned
for ran or gooses for geese.
33
b Archi-forms
The selection of one member of a class of forms to represent others in the class is a common characteristic
of all stages of second language acquisition.
34
For example;
Give me that. Me hungry.
That dog.
That dogs. c
Alternating Forms As the learner’s vocabulary and grammar grow, the
use of archi-forms often gives way to the apparently fairly free alternation of various members of a class
with each other.
35
For example; Those dog.
I seen her yesterday.
4 Misoreder
As the label suggests, misordering errors are characterized by the incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of
morphemes in an utterance. For example, in the utterance:
36
He is all the time late. What Daddy is doing?
I don’t know what is that. The correct utterances are:
He is late all the time. What is Daddy doing?
I don’t know what that is.
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid., p. 160.
35
Ibid., p. 161.
36
Ibid., p. 156.
c. Comparative Taxonomy
The classification of errors in a comparative taxonomy is based on comparisons between the structure of L2 errors and certain other types
of constructions.
37
These comparisons have yielded the two major errors categories in this taxonomy: developmental errors and
interlingual errors. Two other categories that have been used in comparative analysis taxonomies are derived from the first two:
ambiguous errors, which are classifiable as either developmental or interlingual; and of course, the grab bag category, other, which are
neither.
38
1 Developmental Errors
Developmental errors are errors similar to those made by children learning that target language as their first language,
take for example:
39
Dog eat it. 2
Interlingual Errors Interlingual errors are similar in structure to a semantically
equivalent phrase or sentence in the learner’s native language.
40
Interlingual errors simply refer to L2 errors that reflect native language structure, regardless of the internal processes or
external conditions that spawned them.
41
For example the word order of Spanish adjectival phrase e.g. el hombre flaco which converted in English to be:
The man skinny. 3
Ambiguous Errors Ambiguous errors are those that could be classified equally
well as developmental or interlingual. That is because these errors reflect the learner’s native language structure, and at the
same time, they are of the type found in the speech of children acquiring a first language. For example, in the utterance:
42
I no have a car.
37
Ibid., p. 163.
38
Ibid., p. 164.
39
Ibid., p. 165.
40
Ibid., p. 171.
41
Ibid.
42
Ibid., p. 172.
4 Other Errors
Few taxonomies are complete without a grab bag for items that don’t fit into any other category. For example, in the
utterance;
43
She do hungry. d.
Communicative Effect Taxonomy The communicative effect classification deals with errors from the
perspective of their effect on the listener or reader. It focuses on distinguishing between errors that seem to cause miscommunication
and those that don’t. Errors that affect the overall organization of the sentence hinder successful communication, while errors that affect a
single element of the sentence usually do not hinder communication.
44
It means that the errors of communicative effect taxonomy can lead to be misunderstood by the listener or reader to get the intended
message. Some of the learner’s speaking or writing errors can be
comprehended because there is a minor infraction in the sentence therefore the intended meaning can be guessed but some of the errors
prevent the information to be comprehended.
Burt and Kiparsky in Dulay et al discover two types of errors based on communicative effect taxonomy.
1 Global Error
Errors that affect overall sentence organization significantly hinder communication.
45
It means that Global Error is happened in the sentence which has a big portion of violation therefore it’s difficult to be
comprehended. The most systematic global errors include:
46
a Wrong order of major constituents
e.g. English language use many people
43
Ibid.
44
Ibid., p. 189.
45
Ibid., p. 191.
46
Ibid.
b Missing, wrong, or misplaced sentence connectors
e.g.
if
not take this bus, we late for school He will be rich until he marry.
when c
Missing cues to signal obligatory exceptions to pervasive syntactic rules
e.g. the student’s proposal
was
looked into
by
the principal d
Regularization of pervasive syntactic rules to exceptions e.g. We amused that movie very much
That movie amused us very much
47
2 Local Error
Errors that effect single elements constituents in a sentence do not usually hinder communication significantly.
These include errors in noun and verb inflections, articles, auxiliaries and the formation of quantifiers.
48
It means that Local Error is the error that can be comprehended by the hearer or reader by guessing the intended
meaning because there is a bit violation in a part of the sentence.
For example:
49
Why like we each other?
and
Why we like each other? Further Corder in Brown gives another view of errors, he talks about Overt
and Covert Errors that: Overtly erroneous utterances are unquestionably ungrammatical at the
sentence level. Covertly erroneous utterances are grammatically well formed at the sentence level but are not interpretable within the context of
communication. Covert errors, in other words, are not really covert at all,
if you attend to surrounding discourse before or after the utterance. “I’m
47
Ibid.
48
Ibid.,pp. 191 —192.
49
Ibid., p. 192.
fine, thank you” is grammatically correct at the sentence level, but as a response to “who are you?” it is obviously an error.
50
It can be highlighted that Overt Error is incorrect grammatically at the sentence level and Covert Errors is correct grammatically at the sentence level but
inappropriate in the context of communication, e.g.; “Who are you? I’m fine, thank you.”
Meanwhile, Betty Schrampfer Azar explains the type of errors into fourteen kinds. The explanation is elaborated as follows:
a. Singular-Plural
Number is the form of word to show whether it is singular or plural. Singular number is when a noun denotes one object e.g. I have
one pen. Plural number is a noun denotes more than one object e.g. I have two pens. In addition, singular can be identified by putting a or
an before noun e.g. I has a bird. Generally, plural nouns can be added by
–s as in friends or –es as in classes after noun. Moreover, in irregular noun form, plural has various types e.g. child-children, ox-
oxen, foot-feet, man-men, wife-wives, etc.
51
b. Word Form
“Word form is the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify
something; the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached”.
52
It means that word form is the change form of word based on the grammatical rules, for example, beautiful adjective, beautifully
adverb. The error word form in a sentence e.g. I saw a beauty picture. See table 2.6
50
Brown, Op. Cit., p. 260.
51
J. C. Nesfield, M.A., Outline of English Grammar, New York: St. Martin Press, Inc., 1957, pp. 6
—7.
52
http:www.thefreedictionary.comword+form , retrieved on November, 5
th
2013.
c. Word choice Diction
Diction will be effective only when the words you choose are appropriate for the audience and purpose, when they convey your
message accurately and comfortably. The idea of comfort may seem out of place in connection with diction, but in fact words can
sometimes cause the reader to feel uncomfortable.
53
Word choice is to use the word that suits to the context of utterance, the error in word choice for example in the sentence; I am
looking at you. d.
Verb tense Tense means time. However, it should be pointed out that time in
relation to action is a concept that exists in the mind of the speaker, reader, or listener. Tense, in actual usage, refers consistently only to
grammatical forms. Often tense and time do not correspond at all. In addition to denoting time relationship, the verbs tenses may indicate
whether an activity has been completed, has extended over a period of time, or still in progress.
54
Verb tense indicates the relationship between an action or state of being and the passage of time. The present tense indicates that
something is taking place now. The past indicates that something was completed in the past. The future indicates that something will take in
the future.
55
It means that verb tense is the changing form of verb as symbol which expresses or tells about activity or condition and statement
happened in the past, present and future. e.
Add a word Add a word has slight similar example with the term of Omission
in Dulay, et al. According to Dulay et al, Omission is the absence of an item of morphemes that must appear in a sentence or utterance
56
, e.g.
They want go to the museum. The absence preposition is to, the
sentence called Omission Error of preposition to according to Dulay et
53
http:grammar.about.comoddgdisctionterm.htm , retrieved on November, 15
th
2013.
54
George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English, New York: Litton
Educational Publishing Inc., 1980, p. 192.
55
Linda C. Stanley, et al., Ways to Writing: Purpose, Task and Process, New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1988, p. 427.
56
Dulay et al., Op. Cit., p. 156.
al, while according to Betty S. Azzar e.g. They want go to the
museum is categorized as error Add a word, because the preposition to must be added in the sentence.
f. Omit a word
Omit a word is same as Addition in Dulay et al theory in the term of example. Betty S. Azzar gives example the error of Omit a word e.g.
She entered to the university. The preposition to is not a necessary
morpheme in the sentence therefore the morpheme must be omitted and it called as Error of Omit a Word. While according to Dulay et al
e.g. She entered to the university is categorized as Addition Error
which the preposition to considered as a morpheme that mustn’t be
added in the sentence. g.
Word Order In linguistic, word order typology refers to the study of the order of
the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different language can employ different orders.
57
It means that word order is to place the word correctly based on the rules, the error in word order e.g. I saw five times that movie. See
table 2.6 h.
Incomplete Sentence “Incomplete sentences are missing necessary words or phrases.”
58
The incomplete sentence happens when a necessary morphemes of words or phrases is missing in a sentence or utterance.
There are causes and examples of incomplete sentences: 1
In a compound construction, a word that functions as but differs grammatically from a preceding word should not be
omitted. For example, The car was given an oil change, and its wheels ?
aligned.
57
http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiWord_order , retrieved on November, 5
th
2013.
58
Stanley et al., Op. Cit., p. 439.
2 An incomplete sentence also results when a comparison is
made completely or illogically. For example, My car is faster ?
59
i. Spelling
Spelling rules apply to a relatively small number of words, and unfortunately almost all rules have exceptions. Nevertheless, some of
the rules may help you to spell common words especially those words form with suffixes.
1 Final Silent –e
Drop a final silent –e before suffixes beginning with a
vowel ing, age, able. Keep a final silent –e before suffixes
beginning with a consonant ful, ly, ness. Hope + ing = Hoping
Hope + ful = Hopeful Dot + age = Dotage
Late + ly = Lately Love + able = Loveable
Pale + ness = Paleness Learn the following exceptions: dyeing, hoeing, gluey,
awful, ninth, truly, duly, wholly. The -e is retained in such words as the following in
order to keep them soft sound of c and g: noticeable, peaceable, courageous, and outrageous.
2 Doubling Final Consonant
When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel to words ending in one consonant proceed by one vowel Red, Redder,
notice where the word is accented. If it is accented on the last syllable or if it is a monosyllable, double the final consonant.
Prefer + ed = Preferred Benefit + ed = Benefited
Omit + ing = Omitting Profit + ing = Profiting
Occur + ance = Occurrence Differ
+ ence
= Difference
Red + er = Redder Travel + er = Traveler
Note that in some words the accent shifts when the suffix is added.
Referred Reference
Preferring Preference
There are a few exceptions to this rule, like transferable and excellent; and many words that should follow the rule have
alternate spellings: either worshiped or worshipped; traveling or travelling; traveler or traveler.
59
Ibid.
3 Words Ending in –y
If the –y is preceded by a consonant, change the –y to –i
before any suffix except –ing.
Lady + es = Ladies Lonely + ness = Loneliness
Try + ed = Tried Accompany
+ es
= Accompanies
60
Another example, He won the game successfully.
j. Punctuation
“Punctuation can help a reader to follow the separations or links that you wish to make between sentences and parts of sentences are the
same.”
61
According to Stanley et al., there are 12 types of punctuations. They are period ., the question mark ?, the exclamation point , the
comma ,, the semicolon ;, the colon :, the dash - or – , the
parenthesis , the brackets [ ], the elli psis …, the quotation mark
“”, and the apostrophe „.
62
k. Capitalization
Capitalization is to capitalize the first letter of a word. In English there are many rules for using capital letters. Notice the following
table:
Table 2.5 Capitalization Rules
63
No. Rule
Example
1. The first word in a sentence
M y best friend is my dog.
2. The Pronoun I
He and I never argue.
3. Abbreviations and acronyms formed
from the first letters of words USA, IBM, AIDS.
4. All proper nouns.
G od, New York City, Asian,
etc.
60
Langdon Elsbree and Frederick Bracher, Heath’s College Handbook of Composition,
Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 1967, pp. 493 —496.
61
Ibid., p. 458.
62
Ibid., pp. 458 —474.
63
Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Introduction to Academic Writing 3
rd
Edition, New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007, p. 7.
l. Article
The articles are a, an and the. They modify noun. A and a are indefinite; a car could mean any car. The is indefinite: the car indicates
a specific car. The article a precedes nouns that start with a consonant sound a rocket. The article an precedes noun that start with a vowel
sound an astronaut.
64
m. Meaning Not Clear
Meaning not clear happens when a sentence or utterance is not interpretable, for example: He borrowed some smoke. See table 2.6
n. Run-On Sentence
A run-on is two complete thoughts that are run together with no adequate sign given to mark the break between them. Some run-ons
have no punctuation at all to mark the break between the thoughts. Such run-ons are known as fused sentences: they are fused, or joined
together, as if they were only one thought.
65
It means that run-on sentence is two simple sentence joined together without a comma and without a connecting word.
The example of error sentences based on the type of errors above as follows:
Table 2.6 The types of Error based on Betty Schampfer Azar
66
No. Types of Error
Example
1. Singular-plural
Incorrect: He have been here for six month.
Correct : He has been here for six months.
2. Word form
Incorrect: I saw a beauty picture.
Correct : I saw a beautiful picture.
64
Stanley, Op. Cit., pp. 431 —432.
65
John Langan, College Writing Skill with Readings 5
th
Edition, New York: McGraw- Hill, 2001, p. 432.
66
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989, pp. A29
—A30.
3. Word choice
Incorrect: She got on the taxi.
Correct : She got into the taxi.
4. Verb tense
Incorrect: He is here since June.
Correct : He has been here since June.
5. + Add a word
Incorrect: I want go to the zoo.
Correct : I want to go to the zoo.
6. Omit a word
Incorrect: She entered to the university.
Correct : She entered the university.
7. Word Order
Incorrect: I saw five times that movie.
Correct : I saw that movie five times.
8. Incomplete Sentence
Incorrect: I went to bed. Because I was tired.
Correct : I went to bed because I was tired.
9. Spelling
Incorrect: An accident occured.
Correct : An accident occurred.
10. Punctuation
Incorrect: What did he say.
Correct : What did he say?
11. Capitalization
Incorrect: I am studying english.
Correct : I am studying English.
12. Article
Incorrect: I had a accident.
Correct : I had an accident.
13. Meaning Not Clear
Incorrect: He borrowed some smoke.
???
14. Run-on Sentence
Incorrect: My roommate was sleeping, we didn’t
want to wake her up.
Correct : My roommate was sleeping. We didn’t want to wake her up.
There are several types of errors according to some experts as elaborated above. The writer decides to use the types of error based on Betty S. Azar’s
classification of errors to measure the error of students’ writing in grammatical
aspect.
6. The Procedure of Error Analysis
It needs some steps or stages of procedure in conducting Error Analysis. Theo Van Els, et al., states that there are some procedures in Error Analysis,
namely: a.
Identification of errors. The first step in the process of analysis is recognitionidentification of errors. In this step, teachers recognize the
students’ errors from the task given by the teachers. b.
Description of errors. The next step is describing errors; it begins when an identification stage has taken place. The description of student
errors involves classification of kinds of errors made by the students. c.
Explanation of errors. The third step in the process of analysis is the explanation of error that can be regarded as a linguistic problem. This
step attempts to account for how and why the students’ errors occur.
d. Evaluation of errors. In this step, the teacher gives evaluation from the
task done by the students depends on the task that the teacher will be giving to the students.
e. Preventingcorrecting of errors. The last step is correction of errors;
the teacher checks the errors and then gives the correct one. It is done to make the students realize with their errors in order to prevent the
students make the same errors later.
67
Carl James in his book “Error in Language Learning and Use: Exploring
Error Analysis” explains that there are five procedures in identification of errors: a.
Error detection. It’s a stage which the errors are detected, so the researcher becomes aware of its presence.
b. Locating error. The researcher locates the errors, but error location is
not always so straightforward. Not all errors are easily localizable in this way. Some are diffused throughout the sentence or larger unit of
the text that contains.
67
Theo Van Els, et al., Applied Linguistics and the Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages, London: A Division of Hodder Stoughton, 1983, p. 74
c. Describing error. The grammar used for describing them must be the
most comprehensive we have, and the one capable of maximum „delicacy’ of descriptive detail.
d. Classifying error. The errors are classified based on the errors
classification. e.
Counting error. The last stage is counting error that the researcher counts the errors made by learner.
68
Gass and Selinker state that the great deal of the work on Error Analysis was carried out within the context of classroom. Therefore, there are a number of
steps taken to conduct error analysis. a.
Collect data. Although this typically done with written data, oral data can also serve as a base.
b. Identify errors. What is the error e.g., incorrect sequence of tenses,
wrong verb form, singular verb form with plural subject? c.
Classify errors. Is it an error of agreement? Or is it an error in irregular verbs?
d. Quantify errors. How many errors of agreement occur? How many
irregular verb forms of errors occur? e.
Analyze source. See later discussion. f.
Remediate. Based on the kind and frequency of an error type, pedagogical intervention is carried out.
69
According to Corder in Ellis and Barkhuizen the procedure of Error Analysis includes the following steps:
a. Collecting a sample of learner language. Collecting a sample of
learner language provides the data for the EA. The researcher needs to be aware that the nature of the sample that is collected may influence
the nature and distribution of the errors observed.
b. Identification of Errors. The identification of errors involves a
comparison between what the learner has produced and what a native speaker counterpart would produce in the same context. The basic
produce is as follow: 1.
Prepare a reconstruction of the sample as this would have been produced by the learner’s native speaker counterpart.
68
Carl James, Op. Cit., pp. 91 —114.
69
Gass and Selinker, Op. Cit., p. 103
2. Assume that every utterancesentence produced by the learner is
erroneous and systematically eliminate those that an initial comparison with the native speaker sample shows to be well-
formed. Those utterancessentences remaining contain errors.
3. Identify which parts of each learner utterancesentence differs
from the reconstructed version. c.
Description of Errors. The Description of errors is essentially a comparative process, the data being the original erroneous utterances
and the reconstructed utterance. Thus, description of learner errors involves specifying how the forms produced by the learner differ from
those produced by the learner’s native-speaker counterparts. d.
Explanation of Errors. Explaining errors involves determining their sources in order to account for why they were made. From the point of
view of SLA research this is the most important stage in an EA.
e. Error Evaluation. It involves determining the gravity of different
errors with a view to deciding which ones should receive instruction.
70
Based on the detail explanation of the procedure of EA above it can be summed up that actually in the procedure of EA has the same stages to conduct,
firstly is collecting the data, next the data is identified to find the errors made by students, thirdly the researcher describers the error based on the error
classifications and then shehe explains the sources the students’ error and the last
stage the errors are counted to get the total of errors made by students as evaluation. In her study, the writer chooses the procedure of EA which identified
by Corder cited in Ellis and Barkhuizen to conduct the research.
8. The Goal of Error Analysis
Some experts reveal their opinions of the goal of EA. According to Norrish, “Error Analysis can give a picture of the type of difficulty learners are
experiencing. If carried out on a large scale such a survey, it can be helpful in drawing up a curriculum.”
71
It means that EA has significant to check the students’ difficulty in learning. Then the teacher can rearrange the curriculum that
70
Ellis and Barkhuizen, Op. Cit., p. 57 —67.
71
Norrish, Op. Cit., p. 80.
suits for the students. While Corder has parallel opinion with Norrish, he divides the significant of EA in three aspects:
1 The teacher. EA gives information of the learners’ progress in
acquiring the language, and it tells him what remain for him to teach. 2
The researcher. EA give evidence to the research of how the learner learn and acquire the language, what strategies or procedures they use
in discovering the language. 3
The learner. Making error can be used for the learner as device to learn.
72
He further explains that EA as branch of applied linguistic activity has two functions, they are: theoretical and practical.
a. The theoretical aspect of error analysis is part of the methodology of
investigating the language learning process. b.
The practical aspect of error analysis is its function in guiding the remedial action we must take to correct an unsatisfactory state of
affairs for learner or teacher.
73
Based on the explanation above, the writer sums up that the goal of EA in theoretical aspect is as a tool to investigate the language learning process and it
also gives information of the learners’ progress in the process of acquiring
language in the practical area. It can be a very useful feedback for the teacher, the researcher, the learner and the curriculum in how
to overcome the students’ difficulty and how to deal against the error.
B. Writing
1. The Understanding of Writing
Writing has a significant function as a medium of communication to express our ideas, to share knowledge and to exchange information. As Ann
72
Jack C. Richards ed, Error Analysis: Perspective on Second Language Acquisition, London: Longman, 1973, p. 25.
73
Corder, Op. Cit., p. 45.
Brown states that “Writing is important in our lives and as a communicative act that transmit inform
ation and link people together”.
74
Related to the opinion, Raymond points out that,
“Writing is more than a medium of communication. It is a way of remembering and a way of thinking as well. Write makes words
permanent, and thus expands the collective memory of human beings from the relatively small store that we can remember and pass on orally to the infinite
capacity of a modern library”.
75
It can be summed up that writing develops human’s lives by informing the knowledge and the idea. People can forget spoken
information in second but writing makes it permanent. Writing skill for foreign learners is the most challenging activity because it
is a complex skill that involves knowledge, concepts and writing’s rules. Moreover, for second language L2 or foreign language FL learners, the
difficulty in writing does not only lie in creating and organizing ideas but also translating the ideas into readable writing, Richards and Renandya explain that:
There is no doubt that writing is the most difficult skill for L2 learners to master. The difficulty lies not only in generating and organizing ideas, but
also in translating these ideas into readable text. The skills involved in writing are highly complex. L2 writers have to pay attention to higher
level skills of planning and organizing as well as lower level skill of spelling, punctuation, word choice, and so on.
76
Celce-Murcia and Olshtain give their idea about writing that: Writing is the production of the written word that results in a text but the
text must be read and comprehended in order for communication to take place. The writer, in order words, communicates hisher ideas in the form
of a written text from which known or unknown reader will eventually extract the ideas and their meanings.
77
74
Ann Brown, Helping Children’s Write, New York: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd., 1993, p. 2.
75
James C. Raymond, Writing: Is an Unnatural Act, New York: Harper Row Publisher Inc., 1980, p. 2.
76
Jack C. Richards and Willy A. Renandya, Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002 p. 303.
77
Marianne Celce-Murcia, Elite Olshtain, Discourse and Context in Language Teaching, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 142.
In means that writing is a hard skill for foreign learners because the learners don’t only concentrate in communicating and composing the idea into
co mprehended writing but also must pay attention to the writing’s rule.
English teacher can use writing as a means of learning or evidence of successful learning. A good writing reflects a plenty of practicing because it needs
processes of thinking and then evaluating and revising it. White highlights that “Writing can be viewed as involving a number of thinking process which is drawn
upon in varied and complex ways as an individual composes, transcribes, evaluates, and revises
”.
78
Richards hints that “Writing is used either as evidence
of successful learning or as a means of learning ”.
79
It can be summed up that writing can be as a tool for learning feedback.
It can be concluded that through writing many information and knowledge can be shared, therefore writing can develop human’s life. While, writing in the
sense of learning English is a challenging activity for foreign language learners because the FL learners not only have to interpret the idea into comprehended text
but also they have to pay attention to the writing’s rules. However, writing reflects the FL learners competency because it can be such a tool that gives feedback in
the learning process.
2. The Purpose of Writing
There are some purposes of writing that many experts have explained, according to Penny Ur the
“The purpose of writing, in principle, is the expression of ideas, the conveying of a message to the reader.”
80
Diestch states that “The
general purpose of writing may be primary to inform, to persuade, to express and to entertain. The specific purpose involves responding to a certain need for
78
Ronald V. White, New Ways in Teaching Writing, Bloomington, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc., 1995 p. 15.
79
Jack C. Richards, The Language Teaching Matrix, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 100.
80
Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1991, 163.