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1. Laziness
Laziness was considered as the major source of the diction errors. Most of the errors found were made because the students were probably too lazy to consult
the dictionary and thesaurus. The students were unaware that they lack academic words. The errors found in all categories showed that they still generally used
everyday expression and spoken words in expressing their scientific and academic ideas. However, in academic writing they should use more academic and precise
words. They might be able to avoid less academic and precise words or phrases if they often looked up a dictionary or thesaurus. For example:
The students’ intelligences are grants from God that will be very pity if they are
not realized and optimized. This example clearly showed that the student had difficulty to find the
precise word for very pity. This sentence would turn out better if the student looked up a dictionary or thesaurus to find a more appropriate word. In this
sentence, worthless would be more suitable than very pity. Laziness is often closely related to the student’s lack of motivation. This source of error is thus
included as one of context of learning revealed by Brown 1983: 177.
2. Showing Off From the overall errors found in the concision category, the researcher
concluded that the students were trying to show off. They often used long and complicated phrases that seemed academic. However, they did not convey the
meaning clearly. The students did not realize that their diction might lessen the
readers’ interest. Consider these following examples:
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a. In order to make the development work well, a material design that is good should follow the teaching of the subject.
b. Pair work is an activity of learning that is only done by two students are face to face to give information through reading by taking turn.
In these sentences, the student seemed trying to show off by using quite long phrases just to convey an idea. They seemed awkward since they did not
straightforwardly express the meaning. The researcher tried to revise them by not showing off and avoiding “indirectness”. The plausible revision would be:
a. To accomplish the process, a well-designed material should follow the objective of the subject.
b. Pair work is a learning activity where two students take turns reading and sharing information face to face.
3. Context Ignorance
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