\ Almost all of the tenth grade students’ texts have complication and
resolution. Even though some of the complication and resolution had some grammatical errors, they are considered correct for grammar is not comprised in
generic structure.
2. Linguistic Features
The writer found that the tenth grade students’ narrative texts almost had all of the linguistic features of narrative texts. The students actually understood
and mastered some linguistic features of a narrative text. They were able to apply the vocabulary, time transitions, and adjectives in developing a narrative text but
they have problem in applying past tense. The linguistic features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts are presented in Table 4.2:
Table 4.2 The Students’ Linguistic Features of Narrative Texts
Linguistic Features Vocabulary that
is relevant to the subject
matter events, context, setting
and characters Use the Past
Tense Use Time
Transitions Use adjectives
to describe setting,
characteristic and
appearances
1
√ √
√ √
2 _
_ √
√
3
√ _
_ √
4
√ _
√ √
5
√ _
√ √
6 _
_ √
_ 7
_ _
_ √
8 _
_ √
√
9 _
_ √
√
10
√ _
√ √
11 _
_ √
√
S tude
nt ’s
T ext
N um
be r
12
√ _
√ √
This table is continued to the next page
40 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ Linguistic Features
Vocabulary that is relevant to
the subject matter events,
context, setting and characters
Use the Past Tense
Use Time Transitions
Use adjectives to describe
setting, characteristic
and appearances
13 _
_ √
√
14
√ _
√ √
15
√ _
√ √
16 _
_ √
√
17 _
_ _
√
18 _
_ √
√
19
√ _
√ √
20 _
_ √
√
21 _
_ √
√
22 SPOOF
23 _
_ _
√
24 _
_ √
√
25 _
_ √
√
S tude
nt ’s
T ext
N um
be r
26 _
√ √
_
Total 9
2 21
23 Percentage
36 8
84 92
It can be seen that almost all of the narrative texts 84 had time transitions. There were 92 of the narrative texts that had adjectives to describe
setting, characteristic and appearances. And also, 36 of the narrative texts had vocabulary that is relevant to subject matter. Meanwhile, there were only 8 of
the narrative texts had past tense application. Thus, the most frequent errors in applying textual features are errors in past tense.
In order to give specific information concerning the students’ linguistic features, each linguistic feature is discussed in the following section. It discusses
the vocabulary, past tense, time transitions, and adjectives in developing a narrative text.
41 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ a. Vocabulary
In a narrative text, the vocabulary should be relevant to the subject matter. The subject matter refers to the events, context, setting and characters. There were
36 of the students’ narrative texts had vocabulary that is relevant to subject matter. For example, Student’s Text 12 see Appendix 11 titled “Lake Rawa
Pening” telling about the formation of a lake. The vocabulary used in text 12 is also related to the events, setting and characters andor issues in the story. There
are vocabularies such as: ‘long time ago’, ‘priest’, ‘snake’, ‘Mount Sileker’, ‘Ki Ajar’—the name of the character in the story, ‘Baruklinting’—the name of the
character in the story, ‘Benarawa’—the setting of the story, ‘meditate’, ‘hunting’, ‘spirit’, ‘stick’, ‘flood’, and ‘old widow’.
Another example is from Student’s Text 15 titled “Malin Kundang” see Appendix 13, there are also relevant vocabulary such as: “Malin Kundang”—the
name of the character in the story, ‘long time ago’, ‘beach’, ‘West Sumatera’— where the story took place, ‘sea’, ‘fish’, ‘sailing’, ‘wealthy merchant’, ‘pirates’,
‘huge ship’, ‘loads of trading goods’, ‘ship crews’, ‘cursed’, ‘wave’, etc. There were 64 of the students’ texts that did not have relevant
vocabulary. For example, Student’s Text titled “Sumber Tetek Temple” see Appendix 9 had these vocabularies that were not relevant to the context and
events of the story: examination in paragraph 3 trial
public in paragraph 4 people renovationed [renovated] in paragraph 4 restored
42 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ sined [sinned] in paragraph 4 guilty
except in paragraph 5 besides pit in paragraph 5 unindentified word
finished in paragraph 6 solve grandfather in paragraph 8 old man
Another text that did not have relevant vocabulary was Student’s Text 16 see Appendix 14. There were these irrelevant vocabularies in the text:
duty in paragraph 2 a chore reply in paragraph 3 answer back
peri an Indonesian word, in paragraph 6 fairy down in paragraph 7 get off
start in paragraph 7 unnecessary word that should be omitted reach in paragraph 8 look for
final in paragraph 8 last invite in paragraph 8 ask
b. Past Tense Past tense is usually applied in a narrative text. There were only 8 of the
students’ narrative texts that applied past tense. They are Student’s Text 1 see Appendix 7 and Student’s Text 26 see Appendix 16.
Meanwhile, most of the students did not apply past tense on their narrative texts. There were 23 out of 25 narrative texts that apply past tense incorrectly. For
example, in Student’s Text 5 titled “The Golden Snail” see Appendix 8, there 43
\ were erroneous past sentences. The following are some of the erroneous sentences
with their corrections: He have two princess
He had two princess[es]
Their name is … Their name[s] were …
Dewi Candra Kirana will married with … Dewi Candra Krana would get married with …
But Dewi Ajeng disagree because herself jealous and want marrid with Panji Asmoro Bangun
But Dewi Ajeng disagreed because she was jealous and wanted to get married
with Panji Asmoro Bangun. … when she walking in the beach.
… when she was walking in the beach.
And all house work already did. And all house work had already been done.
Meanwhile, Panji Asmoro Bangun searching Dewi Candra Kirana… Meanwhile, Panji Asmoro Bangun was searching Dewi Candra
Kirana…
Another text that had erroneous past sentences was Student’s Text 6 titled “Sumber Tetek Temple” see Appendix 9. The following are some of the
erroneous past sentences with their corrections in the text: This place was leadered by…
This place was led by…
…a king that wised, honested and etc. …a king that was wise and honest.
there are examination… there were examinations…
Airlangga king sad again. King Airlangga was sad again.
44 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ …queen very sad…
…queen was very sad...
…to finished… and so many more to+ past form in the text …to finish…
…all his problems can soon finished. …all his problems could soon be solved.
…to commanded to Airlangga to stoped… …to command Airlangga to stop…
The field grown vertile. The field grew fertile.
Another text that had erroneous past sentences was Student’s Text 16 titled “Cinderella” see Appendix 14. Some of the errors with their corrections
are: The girl is Cinderella.
The girl was Cinderella.
She clean them… and many more subject + present form in the text She cleaned them…
…there are … and many more isare were used in the text …there were…
Cinderella see her sister wear gown that very beautiful. Cinderella saw her sister who was wearing a gown that was very
beautiful .
A peri ready help her. A fairy was ready to help her
A fairy readied for helping her.
c. Time Transition Transitions are important in a narrative text. Narrative texts that do not
have any transitions often make the readers lost. Transitions that are used in a narrative text indicate the passage of time, e.g. ‘then’ and ‘next’. Most of the
45 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ students’ narrative texts had time transitions. There were 84 of the narrative
texts that had time transitions. There were time transitions applied in Student’s Text 1 see Appendix 7.
The time transitions are: ‘one day’ in paragraph 2, ‘the next day’ in paragraph 2 and ‘then’ in paragraph 2. Meanwhile, text 26 also applied time transitions.
Here are the time transitions in text 26 see Appendix 16: ‘one day’ in paragraph 2, ‘then’ in paragraph 4, ‘the next day’ in paragraph 6 and ‘after’ in
paragraph 7. Furthermore, time transitions were also applied in Student’s Text 15 see Appendix 13. Here are the time transitions used in Student’s Text 15: ‘one
day’ in paragraph 3, ‘many years later’ in paragraph 4, ‘when the mother came’ in paragraph 5 and ‘at last’ in paragraph 5.
d. Adjective In a narrative text, adjectives are used to describe characteristics and
appearance. Specific information in a narrative text is important, so that, adjectives are used to give specific information about the characteristics and
appearance of the characters in the text. Almost all of the texts had adjectives. For example, Student’s Text 12 see Appendix 11 had adjectives to give specific
information, such as: ‘little’ in ‘a little baby’ in paragraph 1 and ‘big’ in ‘a big snake’ in paragraph 2, ‘small’ in ‘a small boy’ in paragraph 2, ‘old’ in ‘old
widow’ in paragraph 2. Student’s Text 15 see Appendix 13 also used adjectives, such as:
‘healthy’ in paragraph 2, ‘diligent’ in paragraph 2, ‘strong’ in paragraph 2, ‘wealthy’ in paragraph 4, and ‘rich’ in paragraph 4 that described the
46 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
\ character, Malin Kundang. There were also ‘beautiful’ in paragraph 4 and ‘well
dressed’ in paragraph 5 that described the wife of Malin Kundang in the text. The text also described the mother of Malin Kundang using the adjectives ‘old’
paragraph 5, ‘poor’ in paragraph 5, ‘dirty’ paragraph 5, and ‘ugly’ in paragraph 5.
Another example would be Student’s Text 1 see Appendix 7. There were ‘golden‘ in ‘golden snail’ in paragraph 1, ‘evil’ in ‘evil witch’ in paragraph 1
and ‘beautiful’ in ‘beautiful girl’ in paragraph 2.
B. The Possible Causes of the Errors in Applying Past Tense in Developing a Narrative Text
