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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of The Study
The government of Indonesia has considered English language as the first foreign language and becomes compulsory foreign language subject is taught in
schools. This obligation is based on the government regulation that mention “Bahasa Inggris telah menjadi bahasa asing pertama yang wajib diajarkan, dengan
tujuan untuk mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan, teknologi, dan kebudayaan serta pembinaan hubungan dengan bangsa- bangsa lain
” English became the first foreign language that is obligatory to be learned, the purpose is to develop
science, technology, and culture; moreover the language is used as a way of the constructing the relationship with other nations.
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Foreign language especially English is an international language that is very important for global
communication bahasa asing terutama Bahasa Inggris merupakan bahasa internasional yang sangat penting kegunaannya dalam pergaulan global.
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English as a foreign language in Indonesia is taught from elementary school or even kindergarten up to the university level. It is learned as a local
content subject in primary school, as a core subject at Junior and Senior High Schools, and also as a complementary compulsory subject at university. The goal
of English teaching is not only to enable the students to understand the language, but also to enable them to use the language in oral and written activities as well.
There are two aspects that must be mastered by the students in learning English. First, language performances, or usually called as language skills, they
include listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Second, language competence, it is underlying knowledge of the system of language; involves its rules of grammar,
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Undang-undang Nomor 20 tentang Sistem Pendidikan Nasional, Jakarta: Tamita Utama, 2004, p. v.
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Undang- undang dan Peraturan Pemerintah RI tentang Pendidikan, Jakarta: Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Islam Departemen Agama RI, 2006, p. 66.
2 vocabulary, pronunciation, etcetera. All those skills are important in mastering
English. The main aim of English teaching in Indonesia, especially for Junior High
School, is students have to master the four language skills. To master those skills, students can not avoid studying grammar. They need to have a capability of
grammar. Grammar is necessary even in communication because it can avoid misunderstanding. With grammar, the students can communicate their message
clearly and precisely. Based on the writer
’s opinion, grammar is an essential part which is learnt as the basic knowledge and important role in understanding the English language.
Penny Ur states that “Grammar is sometimes defined as the way words are put
together to make correct sentences. ”
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It does not only affect how the units of words are combined in order to make correct sentences but also affects their
meaning. Grammar consists of form and rules, as Dianne Larsen- Freeman states
that : “Grammar is about form and one way to teach form is to give students rules;
however, grammar is about much more than form, and its teaching is ill served if students are simply
given rules.”
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It can be inferred from the statements above that without mastering grammar, the students can not write, read, speak, and listen well. Grammar has an
important role in learning English. Therefore, it is very important for students to master grammatical rules. As a mentioned by Penny Ur in his book, Grammar
Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for Teachers that “a learner who „knows
grammar ’ is one who has mastered and can apply the rules to express him or
herself in what would be considered acceptable language forms.”
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3
Penny Ur, A Cours in Language Teaching Practice and Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 75.
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Dianne Larsen- Freeman Marriane Celce- Murcia, editor, Teaching Grammar in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, USA: Heinle Heinle, 2001, third edition,
p. 251.
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Penny Ur, Grammar Practice Activities. A Practical Guide for Teachers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 4.
3 Therefore, the knowledge of grammar is very important to express what we would
to say and interpret correctly, accurately and meaningfully. Actually, there are many aspects which are discussed in English grammar;
one of them is degrees of comparison. In this skripsi, the writer will not discuss grammar in general. She is interested in writing about degrees of comparison.
Degree of comparison is the modification of an adjective or adverb to donate different levels of quality, quantity or relation. Another definition about degrees
of comparison is the process of comparing things, person, or places through the level of quality, quantity, or relation and it is formed from adjective and adverb.
But this study is only focused on adjective. There are three kinds of degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative.
Meanwhile, one of the reasons why the writer writes this case is because in fact, many students still lack of knowledge in mastering grammar, especially
degrees of comparison. According to the result of the observation at SMP N 3 Tangerang Selatan class VIII.10, it shows that they still find difficulties in
understanding or making comparative and superlative forms and also distinguishing the form and the usage of each function.
According to Marriane Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman in The Grammar Book, there are some common errors which are made by the students
with comparison, they are: 1.
Omission of the comparative inflection - and perhaps also the copula:
John is tall than Mary.
2. Subtitution of some other function word for than a or inappropriate use
of than b:
a John is tall er from Mary. b Paul is as tall than John.
3. Use of more where –er is required or vise versa:
a John is tall more more tall than Mary. b Mary is beautifuller than Karen.
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Use of regular pattern where an irregular form is required
His handwriting is badder than mine.
5. Double making of comparative.
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a Jim runs more faster than Paul b This car is more better than that one
Based on the facts above, the writer would like to analyze why it happened and what are the causes that students find the difficulties in mastering degrees of
comparison. Therefore, the writer is interested in discussing and analyzing what are the difficulties faced by students in mastering degrees of comparison and why
the difficulty of degrees of comparison mastery is considered as one of the problems for the students. Whereas the title of this research is an Analysis on the
Students’ Mastery of Degrees of Comparison A Case Study at Second Grade Students VIII .10 of SMPN 3 Tangerang Selatan.
B. The Limitation and Formulation of the Problem
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