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3.2.Population and Sample 1. Population
The population of this research is all students of English Department at Faculty of Language and Literature, Unsiq Wonosobo in 20132014 academic
year. They are in their even semester and they have all been taught grammar, reading, and writing, apart from the English skills they have learned in high
schools. The number of the students is 119.
2. Sample
The sampling method applied by the researcher in this research is random sampling method. In this method every individual in the population has the same
opportunity to be taken as the sample. In defining the sample, the researcher followed the below steps:
a. The researcher looked for the list of the students of English Department from
Academic Service at Faculty of Language and Literature, Qoranic Science University Central Java in Wonosobo.
b. Then the researcher wrote down the names of every student in small pieces of
paper. c.
The paper then be rolled and put into a bowl, then mixed. d.
The researcher took one roll randomly and open it. e.
The name that came out of the roll was written down in another paper, and therefore it was one of the samples.
f. The process then was repeated until all of the number is fulfilled.
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3.3.Methods of Data Collection
In this research the researcher uses two methods of data collection namely test and questionnaires.
a. Questionnaires.
The researcher asked the respondents to fill a form containing questions about knowledge, habits, obstacles they have in writing. The questionnaires are
taken and modified from the ones of O’Malley’s 1996:1540-157 surveys of interest and awareness.
b. Writing test Writing is not the object of the study here. It is merely a device employed to
analyze the grammar. Writing test was carried out in two forms. The first is the form in which students were asked to choose one of the options given or
to fill in the blanks with appropriate choice. The second form is the one in which the students demonstrated their writing through a free text. This test is
based on the one designed by Heaton 1988:135-157 These were carried out in the times convenient to students as to obtain as
best result as possible. The data were collected during students’ writing sessions outside formal classroom, where the students should feel free from burden of
perhaps rather stressing environment.
3.4.Methods of Data Analysis
The data obtained will analyzed according to the defined ways that resulting the more readable data. In analyzing the data from questionnaires, the
37 researcher follows the following steps. The first thing is checking the
questionnaires to see if there is anything improper there. Then the results are counted to see the percentage of each question category. The results are then
described in sentences as this is a descriptive one. To analyze the written test data, the researcher applied the below-
mentioned stages as stated by Corder 1974. a.
The collection of errors samples. The samples of errors made by the learners are collected.
b. The identification of errors. The error data collected are then identified according to the category.
c. The ranking of errors. The errors that had been identified are put in order
according to the frequency. d. The explanation of errors. Then the errors that had been ranked are described
according to the source. e.
The prediction of error area. After the errors are described, the areas in which they often occur are predicted.
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CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter elaborates the findings that the researcher found. It describes the errors made by the students of English Department Unsiq in their writings. It
also gives details on the students’ writing habit.
4.1. Findings
There were 42 students involved in this study. The eighth semester students could not participate due to the fact that some of them have already
graduated while those who have not were busy writing their final research. Therefore, this research only studies the actively attending lecture students. All of
the students were asked to fill a form containing questions related to pluralization 10 questions, punctuations 10, spellings 10, tense 10, and prepositions 20
questions. The questions were adapted from Heaton’s book and from grammar.yourdictionary.comspelling-and-words-listsmisspelled.html. Questions
in punctuation and capitalization were taken from Pinca et.al.’s Writing in English book 2. Meanwhile questions for the preposition and tense were taken from
Sargeant’s Basic English Grammar for English Language Learners. Book 2. The result of the research shows that students made errors in their writing.
It is found from the first instrument, in which the students have to complete several questions related to the mechanics of writing, that they made errors in
pluralizations, puncuations, spellings, tenses and prepositions. Out of those five
39 items, preposition is the item in which the number of errors exceeds the other
items. It can be seen from Table 4.1. that the most common errors appear are
those in prepositions, spellings, pluralization, tenses, and punctuations respectively. Apparently preposition is one of the areas in which careful attention
should be given. The errors appear might be caused by the fact that students have not mastered prepositions in English well – which have numerous forms and
function – although they have studied English for several semesters.
Table 4.1. Frequency of Errors Made by Students from Written Test
No. Item
Frequency of errors
1. Pluralizations
3 2.
Punctuations 7
3. Spellings
27 4.
Tenses 13
5. Prepositions
40 Total
100
Meanwhile from the second instrument, in which students were asked to write a composition, it is found that errors appear related to misused forms such as
subject-verb agreement, capitalization, spelling, tense, preposition, article, singular-plural form, pronoun, passive voice, diction, and sentence fragments. The
most common errors made by the students are those related to the subject-verb agreements. In this type of errors, the verbs do not agree with the subjects. It
should be noted as important because verbs indicate the number of the subject and vice versa. The next two types are diction and articles. The fourth commonest
