An Error Analysis on the Use of Simple Past Tense in Students' Narrative Writing (A Case Study at First Grade Students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat)

A “Skripsi”

Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyahand Teachers’ Training in a Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata 1 (Bachelor of Arts) in the Department of English Education

By Saipul Anwar 108014000076

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLSIH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’

TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH ISLAMIC STATE UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

By Saipul Anwar 108014000076

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLSIH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH ISLAMIC STATE UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

iv

SMA Dua Mei Ciputat)”. ‘Skripsi’ of English Education Department at

Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training of State Islamic University

Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Advisors : 1. Drs. AM. Zainuri, M.Pd

2. Dadan Nugraha, M.Pd

Key Words : Error Analysis, Simple Past Tense, Narrative Writing

The objective of this study was to know and explain the most frequent errors made by the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat in writing narrative focused on simple past tense. The classification of errors in this study is divided into four categories; they are omission, addition, misformation, and misordering. The subject of this study consists of 20 students of the first grade of senior high school who have more than 100 words writing.

The method used in this study was descriptive analysis method to describe

students’ errors and analyze the data by using formula: = × %, P=Percentage, F=Frequency of errors made, N=Total of students’ errors. The data was taken from

the test; it was written test.

The findings showed that there are 152 errors made by the students. The most frequent errors made by the students in their narrative writing focused on the use of simple past tense is misformation which consists of 82 errors or 54%, it is followed by omission with 40 errors or 26%. The next is misordering which consists of 21 errors or 14%. And the last is addition with 9 errors or 6%.

v

Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta.

Pembimbing : 1. Drs. AM. Zainuri, M.Pd. 2. Dadan Nugraha, M.Pd.

Kata Kunci : Analisa kesalahan,Simple PastTense, Tulisan Narrative

Peneltian ini bertujuan mengetahui dan menjelaskan kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh siswa kelas satu SMA Dua Mei Ciputat dalam menulis narrativeyang difokuskan pada Simple Past Tense. Kategori kesalahan yang digunakan terbagi menjadi empat yaitu omission, addition, misformation,danmisordering. Sumber data dalam penelitian ini adalah 20 siswa SMA kelas satu yang mempunyai tulisan lebih dari 100 kata.

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah analisa deskriptif untuk menggambarkan kesalahan siswa serta menganalisis data dengan menggunakan rumus: = × %. P=Presentase, F=Banyaknya kesalahan yang dibuat, N=Jumlah keseluruhan kesalahan siswa. Data diambil dari tes; tesnya merupakan tes tertulis.

Temuan menunjukkan bahwa ada 152 kesalahan yang dibuat oleh siswa. Jenis kesalahan yang paling banyak dilakukan oleh siswa dalam menulis narrative yang difokuskan pada penggunaan simple past tenseadalah misformation yang terdiri dari 82 kesalahan atau 54%. Diikuti pula olehomissionyang terdiri dari 40 kesalahan atau 26%. Kemudian kesalahan padamisorderingyang terdiri dari 21 kesalahan atau 14%. Dan terakhir adalahadditionyang terdiri dari 9 kesalahan atau 6%.

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A“Skripsi”

Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training

In a Partial Fulfillment of Requirement for the Degree of Strata 1 (Bachelor of Art) in English Language Education

By:

Saipul Anwar 108014000076 Approved by:

Advisor I Advisor II

Drs. AM. Zaenuri, M.Pd. NIP. 1953 0304 1979 03 1 001

Dadan Nugraha, M.Pd. NIP.

-DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

vii

LEMBAR PENGESAHAN PEMBIMBING SKRIPSI

“Skripsi” berjudulAn Error Analysis on the Use of Simple Past Tense in Students’ Narrative Writing (A Case Study at First Grade Students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat) disusun oleh Saipul Anwar, NIM. 108014000076, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta telah melalui proses bimbingan skripsi serta dinyatakan sah sebagai karya ilmiah yang berhak untuk diujikan pada sidang munaqasah sesuai ketentuan yang ditetapkan oleh fakultas.

Jakarta, 30 April 20142012

Yang mengesahkan,

Pembimbing I Pembimbing II

Drs. AM. Zaenuri, M.Pd. NIP. 1953 0304 1979 03 1 001

Dadan Nugraha, M.Pd. NIP.

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Lord of the world who has blessed the researcher in completing this “skripsi" entitledAn Error Analysis on the Use ofSimple Past Tense in Students’ Narrative

Writing (A Case Study at First Grade Students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat). Peace and Blessing be upon the Prophet Muhammad SAW, his family, companion, and followers.

In this opening, the researcher would like to express his greatest gratitude, honor and thanks to his beloved parents, Tarjuki and Kamilah, who have given the greatest love, prayer, moral and financial support to him. It also will be expressed to the whole members of his family for their biggest love and kindness to support himin finishing this “skripsi".

Also, the researcher would like to address his greatest thanks to his advisors Drs. AM. Zainuri, M.Pd. and Dadan Nugraha, M.Pd. for their time, valuable guidance, helps, correction, suggestion and kindness during completing

this “skripsi."

The researcher realized that without support and motivation from people aroundhim, he could not finish this “skripsi." Therefore, he would like to give his deepest appreciation for:

1. All lecturers in English Education Department who always give motivation and valuable knowledge and also unforgettable experience during his study at Faculty of Tarbiyah And Teachers Training of State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

2. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd., as the chairman of English Education Department. 3. Zahril Anasy, M.Hum., as the secretary of English Education Department. 4. Dra. Nurlena, M.A, Ph.D., as the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers

Training of State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

5. Yayat Ruhiyat, M.Pd., as the principal of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat who has allowed the researcher to do research at that school. Also, all the English teachers for helping the researcher to do this research, especially for Miss.

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all the laughter and tears during his study.

7. To any other persons who are named cannot be mentioned one for their

contribution to the researcher during finishing his “skripsi”.

Hopefully, this “skripsi" can be useful to the readers, particularly to the researcher. Also, the researcher realized that this “skripsi" is far from being perfect. It is a pleasure for him to receive constructive critics and suggestion from everyone who readshis “skripsi" for valuable improvement.

Jakarta, 28 April 2014 The Researcher

Saipul Anwar

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ENDORSEMENT SHEET BY THE EXAMINATION COMMITTE….. _ii

SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI……….………._{. iii}

ABSTRACT………_{. iv}

ABSTRAK………._{. v}

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………..._{. vi}

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… _viii

LIST OF TABLES………. _xi

LISTOF FIGURES………... _xii

LIST OFAPPENDICES………... _xiii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……….. 1

A. Background of theStudy……….. 1

B. Research Focusand Research Formulation……….. 5

C. Objective of the Study……… 5

D. Theoretical SignificancesPractical………. 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………. 6

A. Error Analysis……… 6

1. Definition of Error Analysis……….. 6

2. Distinction between Error and Mistake………. 7

3. Procedures in Error Analysis………. 8

4. Typesof Error……… 9

a. Error Based onLinguistic Category Taxonomy….. 10

b. Error Based on Surface Strategy Taxonomy……... 10

c. Error Based on Communicative Effect Taxonomy.. 13

5. Sources of Errors……… 13

6. The Goal of Error Analysis……….... 15

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1. Definition of Writing... 22

2. Kinds of Writing... 23

3. Types of Writing ... 24

D. Narrative Writing ... 25

1. Definition of Narrative Writing... 25

2. Purposes of Narration ... 26

3. Elements of Narration ... 27

4. Narrative Time Signals... 27

5. Taking Point of View ... 28

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……….. 29

A. Place and Time of Research ... 29

B. Population and Sample ... 29

C. Methodof the Research ……… 29

D. Instrument of Research... 30

E. Procedures of the Research ………... 30

F. Data Analysis Technique... 30

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION… 31 A. Findings ... 31

1. Error Identification ……….. 31

2. Error Description and Explanation ………. 33

B. Data Interpretation... 41

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION……… 43

A. Conclusion... 43

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Table 4.1: Recapitulation of Types of Error in Narrative Writing

1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study

Nowadays, many people want to learn English for many reasons. For instance, the students want to learn English because it is in the school curriculum. They have to learn it whether they like it or not. In different case, some people want to study English because it offers a chance for advancement in their professional lives. In addition, many people want to learn it because they live in target language community; so they have to learn it in order they can communicate with the others.1

Many students in Indonesia also learn English because it is in the school curriculum. Based on Permendiknas tahun 2006 about Kurikulum Tingkat SatuanPendidikan (KTSP) or School-Based Curriculum, it is attaching that English is the one of the compulsory subject in middle schools and Senior high Schools.2 That’s why, English language teaching is important to get the goal of curriculum.

English language teaching includes four language skills such as Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. According to Jeremy Harmer in his book,

“speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore often

referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading, on the other hand, involve receiving messages and are therefore often referred to as receptive skills.”3

Productive skills need actions to produce the language. While in receptive skills do not need actions, they only receive the messages from the language.

1

Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching New edition, (New York: Longman Publishing, 1991), p. 1.

2

Kemendiknas, Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia Nomor 22 Tahun 2006 Tentang Standar Isi Untuk Satuan Pendidikan Dasar Dan Menengah, (Jakarta: Kemendiknas, 2006), p. 13.

3

Listening was traditionally seen as a passive process by which the listener receives information sent by a speaker.4 It means that listening only needs ability to understand the message from the speaker. Listening also the first language skill which is learned by the people naturally. They have started to listen to the language since they were born. It also becomes the foundation for other skills.

Speaking is the system of language which is manifested through the use of the organ of speech.5 Speaking is the second skill that language learner mastered after listening. It requires an action to produce; hence it is called a productive skill. Someone can speak after they hear about the language. It does not matter whether he knows about the spelling or he does not.

Another skill is reading, Geoffrey Broughton has a notion “reading is essentially an intellectual skill; this is the ability to correlate the black marks on the paper by way of the formal elements of language.”6 It shows that reading is the ability to recognize the messages from written language. It requires readers’

ability to translate the meaning from formal language into informal language. The last skill is writing, According to Robert M. Gorrell and Charlton

Laird in their book Modern English Handbook, “Writing requires thinking, and

thinking is always complicated and hard. Writing is complicated also because the writer needs to do everything at once. The writer produces words, sentences, paragraphs, and extended compositions all at the same time; words must be spelled, sentences punctuated, and paragraphs unified”.7 Writing is a complete skill among Listening, Speaking, and Reading. Writing is the most difficult skill to learn because it needs hard thinking and produces words, sentences, paragraphs

at the same time. That’s why writing is the highest order thinking.

Based on my experience, one of the language skills which is very difficult to learn is writing. English writing is a subject that learns about how to express

4

I. S. P. Nation and J. Newton,Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, (New York: Routledge, 2008), p. 39.

5

H.G. Widdowson,Teaching Language as Communication,(New York: Oxfor University Press, 19778) p, 57.

6

Geoffrey Broughton et al., Teaching English as a Foreign Language, (New York: Routledge, 1978 and 1980) p, 90.

7

Robert M. Gorrell and Charlton Laird, Modern English Handbook, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1964), p. 1.

our ideas in writing form. In writing, there are so many components that should be mastered by students in order they are able to write well. The difficulty in writing starts when the students have to establish the subject, verb (either transitive or intransitive), object, tense, active and passive voice, also logical thinking. This statement is supported by James C. Raymond in his book, “Writing is more than a

medium of communication. It is a way of remembering and a way of thinking as

well.”8

Writing in their first language can be something difficult for them, whereas they often write in their first language in schools. Moreover if they are asked to write in their target language, it can be something more difficult. Writing English for a foreign learner is difficult because English is different from Indonesian language in its structure, spelling and lexical meaning. Although students have been studying English from elementary school until senior high school, even university, they cannot write easily as we thought before.

Narrative writing is a kind of writings which becomes one of the lesson which is taught in Senior High School. According to syllabus Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan(KTSP) 2006, in Indonesia, Senior High School students have to master some types of paragraphs. The first grade students have to master recount, narrative, procedure, descriptive and news item text. The second grade students need to master narrative, report, and analytical exposition text. Meanwhile, the third grade students have to master narrative, spoof, and hortatory exposition text.9 In writing narration, the students have to pay attention about simple past tense because it is commonly used in writing narrative. Hence, narrative writing is also the reason why writing becomes difficult for students.

In this case, students who are learning to write narration may produce many errors. Such as in structure, they often make errors in forming simple past tense. Based on writer’s experience when teaching English at SMA Islam Harapan Ibu Jakarta for four months; most of them also get difficult when they have to

8

James C. Raymond, Writing is an Unnatural Act, (New York: Harper & Row Publisher, 1980), p. 2.

9

Anonymous, Silabus KTSP(Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) 2006, (Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2006), p. 33-44.

make the correct form of simple past tense in writing narrative. They make errors because they do not master the grammar well, especially in simple past tense. They also make errors because their way of thinking is still affected by their first language. For example:

- Tono goes to Bandung yesterday, it should be Tono went to Bandung yesterday.

- The gardener cutted the grass yesterday, it should be the gardener cut the grass yesterday.

Most students commonly make error in their learning, but it is logically acceptable. The teacher should be aware of this problem and prevent students

from making some errors by analyzing the learners’ error itself. According to

Corder in his book, “The major contribution of the error analysis to language teaching was seen as an inventory of the areas of difficulty* which the learner would encounter and the value of this inventory would be to direct the teacher's attention to these areas so that he might devote special care and emphasis in his teaching to the overcoming, or even avoiding, of these predicted difficulties.”10

Therefore, an error analysis has an important role to solve the students’

problems in writing narrative, to know the causes of the errors and to know how the students can learn from their mistakes in writing narrative. Thus, the students will not do the same error or make some errors repeatedly. Those are the reason

why the writer is interested in analyzing students’ narrative writing. In this case, the writer wants to find out the grammatical errors that were made by the first grade of senior high school in their narrative writing. By knowing the students’

errors which are obtained from the test of their narrative writing focused on simple past tense, the writer will know what kind of errors and its causes commonly made by the students.

Based on the reasons above, the writer is interested in analyzing the error in writing focused on simple past tense, under the title: _“An Error Analysis on

10

S. P. Corder, Error Analysis and Interlangauge, (London: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 5.

the Use of Simple Past Tense in Students’ Narrative Writing (A Case Study at First Grade Students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat)”.

B. Research Focus and Research Formulation

To clarify this study, the writer has formulated the problems. This research is intended to answer these following question, namely:

1. What types of errors are made by the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat in using Simple Past Tense in writing narrative?

C. Objectives of the Study

The objective of the study is to analyze type of errors made by the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat in using Simple Past Tense in writing narrative.

D. Theoretical Significances Practical

The objective of the study is to find the students’ error in usingsimple past tense applied in narrative writing and to highly encourage the students to commit less error in it.

Hopefully, this research can give both students and teachers an improvement in teaching and learning narrative writing and its components.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Error Analysis

Learning a target language is a process which involves errors. Errors for the learner are something common in learning, but for the teacher errors are something that should be corrected. Learning a target language and making errors are inseparable. In the process of learning a target language, errors are inevitable. However, it is not something horrible for committing error in learning a language, any language, is something normal. Even, the errors can be important to both students and teachers.

Errors cannot always be easily identified and analyzed; it is important to know more about error analysis, and the explanation will be discussed in the following area:

1. Definition of Error Analysis

The definition of Error Analysis came from Carl James in his book, “Error

analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes, and

consequences of unsuccessful language.”1 Another opinion comes from Susan M.

Gas and Larry Selinker, “error analysis is a type of linguistic that focuses on the errors learners make in producing the target language and the target language

form itself”.2Meanwhile, Douglas Brown defines error analysis as a study of

learners’ error which is based on the fact that learners do make errors, and that these errors can be observed, analyzed, and classified to reveal the system operating within the learners.3

When the students write in English, most of them are potential in making errors. It is something unavoidable since it is a natural process of language

learning. Error is related to the students’ knowledge about the target language. 1

Carl James,Error in Language Learning and Use, (New York: Longman, 1998), p. 1. 2

Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker,Second Language aqusition,(Ney York: Routledge, 2008), p. 102.

3

H. Douglas Brown,Principles of Language Learning and Teaching,4thEd., (New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents, 1994), p. 218.

Douglas Brown said, “…an error is noticeable deviation from adult grammar of a

native speaker reflecting the interlanguage competence of the learner”.4 Someone who is learning a foreign language can indicate his or her level of proficiency in learning foreign language by knowing his or her own errors.

It means that Error Analysis was born because there were problems in learning a new language. The researchers will find errors because the learners have learned unsuccessful language. It shows that error analysis is a study dealing with language learners’ errorsthrough the process of determining, analyzing and classifying the errors as the devices to know the system operating within the learners.

2. Distinction between Error and Mistake

Error and mistake are two different things. Carl James mentioned that intention played a decisive role in the error and mistake definition. According to him, error is unintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by its author. A mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviant and it is self-corrigible by its author.5 He adds that error cannot be self corrected by the learner until further relevant input that has been provided and converted into intake by the learners. In other words, the learner needs to be provided the further relevant learning before they can correct themselves. Meanwhile, mistakes can be corrected by the learners by simply pointing out to them.6

On the other hand, Pit Corder has another definition of error and mistake

as stated in Carl James’ book. He upholds the competence versus performance

distinction. According to him, mistakes are of no significance to the process of

language learning since they ‘do not reflect a defect in our knowledge’ but are

traceable to performance failure, such as memory lapses, spelling pronunciations, tiredness, strong emotion, etc. The learner is normally aware of them immediately and can correct them with more or less complete assurance. On the contrary,

4

Ibid.,p. 217.

5

James,op. cit., p. 78.

6

errors are everything that mistakes are not: they are significance; they do reflect knowledge; they are not self-correctable; and only learners of an L2 make them.7

Based on the definition above, it can be said that error is systematic deviance which is made by the learner intentionally; it reflect his knowledge since it is not caused by performance failure, and it cannot be self-corrected by the learner. Meanwhile, mistake is not systematic deviance which is made by the learner either intentionally or unintentionally; it is caused by performance failure, such as fatigue, memory lapses, etc., and it can be self-corrected by the learner.

3. Procedures in Error Analysis

There are many kinds of procedures in error analysis. One of them was

proposed by Gass and Selinker in their book “Second Language Acquisition” that

consists of six steps:

a. Collect data. Although this is 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? Is it an error of irregular verbs?

d. Quantify errors. How many errors of agreement occur? How many irregular verb form errors occur?

e. Analyze source. The researcher analyzes the source of errors based on the findings. Why the students made errors?

f. Remediate. Based on the kind and frequency of an error type, pedagogical intervention is carried out.8

Another concept given by Carl James, there are five steps in analyzing

learners’ error; they are: a. Error Detection.

Detecting errors means that we are aware of their presence. We can spot them.

7

Ibid., pp. 78—79.

8

b. Error Location.

To locate an error is to identify it in some other way, such as by saying that it is in the middle part of a sentence or simply by pointing it out. However, error location is not always straightforward. Not all errors are easily localizable in this way: some errors are diffused throughout the sentence that contains them. These are what we are known as global errors. The sentence does not simply contain an error, but it is erroneous or flawed as a sentence.

c. Error Description.

In describing learners’ errors, the system used must have two essential

characteristics. First, the system must be well-developed and highly elaborated, since many complex errors made not only by advance learners but also the beginner ones. The second characteristic is that the description must be as simple and comprehensive as possible.

There are three main purposes of describing learners’ errors. The first is to make learners’ errors explicit. The next is that error description is the prerequisite for counting errors. And the last purpose is to createcategories.

d. Error Classification.

Classifying errors means that we put the errors into categories. e. Error Count.

Counting errors is the last step to do in error analysis procedure. The analyst count the errors made by the students.9

4. Types of Error

The classification is given by Corder. He classifies the errors into four main categories; they are:10

a. Omission

Error of omission is where some element is omitted which should be present. In other word, omission errors occur when learners omit necessary items from an utterance.

9

James,op. cit.,pp. 91—114.

10

S.P. Corder, Error Analysis and Interlanguage, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 36.

b. Addition

Error of addition is where some element is present which should not be there. It is the opposite of omission error. Learners do not only omit element which they regard as redundant but they also add redundant element.

c. Selection

Error of selection is where the wrong item has been chosen in place of the right one.

d. Misordering

Error of ordering is where the elements presented are correct but wrongly sequenced.

Meanwhile, HeidyDulay gave his point of view about the types of error. He said that there are three types of error.11

a.

Error Based on Linguistic Category Taxonomy

Many error taxonomies have been based on the linguistic item, while is effected by an error, these linguistics category taxonomies classify errors according to either or both the language component and the particular linguistic constituent the error effects.

Language components include phonology (pronunciation), syntax and morphology (grammar), semantic and lexicon (meaning and vocabulary), and discourse (style). Constituents include the element that comprises each language components. For example, within syntax one may ask whether the error is in the main or subordinate clause; within a clause, which constituent is affected, e. g. the noun phrase, the auxiliary, the verb phrase, the preposition, the adverbs, the adjective and so forth.

b. Error Based on Surface Strategy Taxonomy

Surface strategy taxonomy highlight the ways surface a structure is altered: students may omit necessary items (omission) or add unnecessary ones

11

HeidyDullay, Language Two (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1981), pp. 146—192.

(addition) they may misinformation items (selection) or miss order them (misordering).

1. Omission

Omission errors are characteristic by absence of an item that must appear in a well-formed utterance, although any morpheme or word in a sentence is a potential candidate for omission, some types or morphemes are omitted more than others.

For example: Tony know about Indonesia. It should be Tony knows about Indonesia.

2. Addition

Addition errors are the opposite of omissions. They are characterized by the presence of an item, which must not appear in a well-formed utterance.

For example: he doesn’t knows my name. It should be he doesn’t know my name.

3. Misformation

Misformation errors are characterized by the use of the wrong form of the morphemes or structure. While in omission errors happen unconsciously. On the other hand, misformation errors happen consciously. The students supply something, although it is incorrect.

There are three types of misformation namely a. Regularization errors

It is that all under the misformation category are those in which a regular marker is used in a place of an irregular one. For example: ruined for run or goose for geese.

b. Arch forms

The selection of one number of a class of forms to represents others in the class is a common characteristic of all stages of second language acquisition. We have called the form selected by the students an arch-form. For example: a learner may select one member of the class of personal pronoun to function for several others in the class, me hungry, give me that!

c. Alternating forms

As the student’s vocabulary and grammar grow, the use of arch forms

often gives way to the apparently fairly free alternation of various members of a class with each other. For example: this cats.

4. Misordering

Misordering is a wrong placement of morpheme or a group of morphemes

in an utterance. For example: I don’t know what that is?

There are three types of misordering:

a. Error based on comparative taxonomy

The classification of error in a comparative taxonomy is based on comparison between the structure of second language errors and certain others types of constructions.

b. Development error

These errors are similar to errors made by the students learning the target languages as their first language. For example: Santi go to school.

c. Interlingua errors

Interlingua errors are similar in structure to a semantically equivalent

phrase or sentence in students’ native. For example: he has a book green.

Interlingua errors are divided in two types: 1. Ambiguous errors

These errors reflect the students’ native language is called ambiguous error. For example: Santi no go to school.

2. Other errors

Other errors are the errors made by the students native using their native

language structure on their second language developmental form, such as “she do her homework”, where “do” as verb for presents tense must add “s/es” for subject “she”.

The writer used these categories of error to classify the error constructions which were made by the students.

c.

Error Based on Communicative Effect Taxonomy

a. Global error

Global error hides communication; it prevents the learners for comprehending some aspects of message. For example: they amused that film very much.

b. Local error

Local error itself doesn’t interfere with understanding at an utterance,

usually because there is only a minor violation of one segment of a sentence. “I hungry” will be local error since the meaning of apparent.

The writer uses the classification of errors given by HeidyDulay. In error based on surface taxonomy, he describes that there are four types of error: omission, addition, misformation and misordering. These types of error are used in this research.

5. Sources of Errors

In errors analysis, the important part is to know the source of errors which are made by students. According to Ratnah on her journal “Error Analysis on

Tenses Usage Made by Indonesian Students”there are two sources of error:12 a. Interlingual Transfer

Interlingual transfer is a significant source for language learners. It is the

error which is caused by the learner’s first language. However, this should not be confused with behaviouristic approach of language transfer. Error analysis does not regard them as the persistence of old habits, but rather as signs that the learner is internalizing and investigating the system of the new language. Interlingual errors may occur at different levels such as transfer of phonological, morphological, grammatical and lexica-semantic elements of the native language into the target language.

b. Intralingual Transfer

Intralingual errors result from faulty or partial learning of the target language rather than language transfer. They may be caused by the influence of one target language item upon another. For example, learners attempt to use two tense markers at the same time in one sentence since 12

Ratnah, Error Analysis on Tenses Usage Made by Indonesian Students, Journal of Education andPractice ISSN, 2013, p. 161.

they have not mastered the language yet. When they say: * “He is comes here”, it is because the singularity of the third person requires “is” in present continuous, and “-s” at the end of a verb in simple present tense. In

short, intralingual errors occur as a result oflearners’ attempt to build up

concepts and hypotheses about the target language from their limited experiencewith it. Learners may commit errors due to this reason in many ways as in the following examples:

* He made metosmile. * I wantlearningEnglish.

* The meat smells freshly.* Doctors always give us good advices.

* I don’t know whydidhe go.

According to Rod Ellis, the sources of error are:13

a. Omission

For example, they leave out the article aandthe and leave the-soff plural nouns.

b. Overgeneralization

The example, the use ofeatedin place ofate.

c. Transfer

Transfer is reflecting learners’ attempts to make use of knowledge. For

example, the no what-what refers to it’s ok.

The writer

In addition, Rod Ellis and Gary Barkhuizen classify the source of errors into two: interlingual and intralingual transfer.14These are the classifications: a. Interlingual transfer

Interlingual transfer means interference from learners’ mother tongue. The

clearest proof of mother tongue interference is when L1 nonstandard features get transferred to L2. For example, an Indonesian learner says *I have a book blue. This error is caused by interlingual transfer. The student is interferred by his native language, that is Indonesian language, in which an adjective comes after the noun it modifies. Hence, he produces such error.

13

Rod Ellis, Second Language Acquisition, (New York, Oxford University Press, Inc, 1997), p. 19

14

Rod Ellis and Gary Barkhuizen, Analysing Learner Language, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 65.

b. Intralingual transfer

Intralingual transfer means the transfer which occurs within the target language itself.For example, an English language learner produces an utterance like the following:*He goed to the market two days ago. In this case, the learner has known that in English, an action done in the past should be written in the past form which is usually characterized by the suffix–ed. He has not known thatgois an irregular verb. Therefore, he simply put–ed after the verbgo.

In this research, the writer uses the sources of error defined by Rod Ellis and Gary Barkhuizen. The writer thinks that those sources of error are generally affecting the students committing the errors.

6. The Goal of Error Analysis

According to Selinker and Gass “the goal of error analysis is clearly one of pedagogical remediation”.15 It implies that the aim of error analysis is evidently education remediation.

John Norris states that “error analysis can give a picture of 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”.16 It means that error analysis can give

benefit information to fix students’ problems in learning English. It can indicate problems to a big group or a particular group.

Moreover, Dulay, Burt, and Krashen make a clear purpose of error analysis. According to them, there are two major purposes of error analysis: 1. It provides data from which inferences about the nature of the language learning process can be made.

15

Gass and Selinker,op. cit., p. 103.

16

John Norrish,Language Learners and their Errors,(London: Macmillan Press, 1983), p. 7.

2. It indicates to teachers and curriculum developers which part of the target language students have most difficulty producing correctly and which error types

detract most from a learner’s ability to communicate effectively.17

Error analysis is very useful for students and teachers in learning a target language. The teachers can make a prevention in the same error in order the students do not repeat it.

B. Simple Past Tense

Simple past tense is a tense that often used in writing narrative texts. The students need to understand the structure and how to use it correctly in writing a narrative text.

1. Definition of simple past tense

Some grammarians define the simple past tense with many ways. Betty SchramferAzar said “simple past tense indicates that an activity or situation began and ended at particular time in the past”.18Douglas Bieber and friends inGrammar of Spoken and Written English stated that, “ Past tense most commonly refers to

past time via some past point of reference, especially in fictionally narrative and description, where the use of the past to describe imaginary past happening is a well- established convention”.19This opinion is supported by the statement of

Betty SchramferAzar in her book, Fundamental English Grammar that “the simple

past is used to talk about activities or situations that began and ended in the past

(e.g yesterday, last night, two days ago, in 1990)”.20

Example:

a. John Played football yesterday. b. I studied English last night. c. She visited me two days ago.

17

Dullay,op. cit., p. 138.

18

Azar,op. cit., p. 24. 19

Douglas Biberet al.,Grammar of Spoken and Written English, (Edinburg: Longman, 1999), p, 456.

20

Betty SchramferAzar, Fundamentals English Grammar, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, inc, 1992), 2nded. p. 42.

d. My sister was born in 1990.

Based on the definition above, it shows that the simple past tense is used to express a definite event in the past. And also the simple past is used to define the situation in the specific time. The simple past shows the situations or activities that began and ended in the past.

2. The Form of Simple Past Tense

English verbs are divided into two classes; they are regular form and irregular form. These classifications come from the way the verb forms, its simple past and past participle. Regular verbs have predictable past tense form, ie-d or –

ed is added to the end of the base form.21 • Yesterday I worked in Jakarta. • He agreed about the price.

• He applied a job in a Malaysian company.

Irregular verbs do not have past tense forms that can be predicted by rules: Table 2.1

Examples of Irregular Verbs

Base form Past form

Catch Caught

Read Read

Cut Cut

Drink Drank

Furthermore, Nasrun Mahmud in English for Muslim University Students

argued that “Simple past tense is formed with past form of the verbs which may

21

KamChuan and Kam Kai Hui, Longman Dictionary of Grammar and Usage, (Singapore: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc, 1999), p. 297.

be either regular, e.g. by adding –edto the infinitive (incidentally, most verbs are regular) or irregular must be learned in each case.22

A.J. Thompson and A.V. Martinet said, “The simple past tense in regular verbs is formed by addingedto the infinitive…., verbs ending ineonly added by

d, the negative of regular verbs is formed with…, the did not(didn’t) and the

infinitive…, the interrogative of regular verbs is formed by did + subject infinitive.”23

3. Some Difficulties in Simple Past Tense

Many students usually have some difficulties in forming simple past, they are confused about regular and irregular form because they do not memorize all of

the verbs changing. That’s why, the writer divides the difficulties of simple past

tense into two parts. There are difficulties in the forms and in the usages.

a.

Difficulties in the form

According to Scott Thornbury, “typically, learners go through four,

possibly five, stages in their acquisition of these forms:”24

1. They use the one form for both present and past eat (eating) 2. They start to produce correct past forms of are

3. They attach the regular past ending to the verb eated

4. They may even produce a mixture of regular and irregular ated 5. They consistently produce the correct form ate

In other words, many students have some difficulties in forming simple past tense especially in forming irregular verb. To produce the correct form, they need to analyze the changing of the verb. Sometimes they over generalized the rule by adding –edat the end of the verb which can cause an error. This theory is

similar with Rod Ellis’s theory about sources of error; she said that in the second

22

Nasrun Mahmud, English for Muslim University Students, (Jakarta: PT. SiwinaktiDarma, 2003), p. 88.

23

Thompson and Martinet,op. cit., p. 161. 24

Scoot Thornbury, Uncovering Grammar, (New York: Macmillan Publishers Limited, Inc, 2001), p. 46.

point in her theory that generalization is one of error sources in explanation before.

John East Wood stated, “We do not use a past form such as stopped or rang in negatives and questions. Not (the car didn’t stopped) and not (did you rang?)”.25

Mark S. Le Tourneau said about suffix – (e) d. A word that can be in fleeted for past tense with- (e) d is a main verb: for example, appear-edis a verb, butappearance–d is not inflected for past tense by suffixations is calledirregular verbs.26

Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum have opinion that:

• Irregular verbs typically, but not necessary, have variation in their base vowel:

Find-found-found Write-wrote-written

• Irregular verbs have a varying number of distinct forms. Since the–s and–

ing forms are predictable for regular and irregular verbs alike, the only forms that need to be listed for irregular verbs are the base (v), the past (V-ed1), and the past participle (v-ed2). Most irregular verbs have, like regular verbs only one common form for the past and the-ed participle, but there is considerable variation in this respect, as the table shows:27

Table 2.2

The Variations of Irregular Verbs

Base V-ed 1 V-ed 2

All alike

V-ed 1 = V–ed 2 V = V–ed 2

Cut Meet Come

Cut Met Came

Cut Met Come 25

John Eastwood,Oxford Practice Grammar,(New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1999), p.18.

26

Mark S. Le Tourneau,English Grammar, (Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2002), p.36.

27

All different Speak Spoke Spoken

From several opinions above, it seems that most of students, they get confused about simple past tense, especially in the form of irregular verbs because they are different from regular verbs in forms. The students have to know the form of simple past tense, and they have to memorize the irregular forms because there are many changes in forms cannot be predicted.

b. Difficulties in The Usage

When the students learn Indonesian Language, they did not find the tenses, but when they study English, they will find the tenses. This will be a big problem for them. Therefore, they have to be able to distinguish every tense in English, especially simple past tense. Based on the writer’s experience in teaching,

sometimes it will be difficult to differ between simple past tense and present perfect tense in usages.

In addition, Thomson and Martinet stated that the simple past tense is used for express:

1). Completed action in the past at a definite time

It is used for actions completed in the past at a definite time, it is therefore used for a pat action when the time is give, for example: I met him yesterday, or when the time is asked about, for example: when did you meet him?, or when the action clearly took place at the definite time even though this time is not mentioned, for example: I bought this car in Jakarta.

2). Action that occupied or occurred at a moment period of past time now terminated. It is used for an action whose time is not given but which occupied a period of time now terminated, for example: She lived in Roma for a long time, or occurred at a moment period of past time now terminated, for example:My grandmother once saw Queen Victoria. 3).Past habit action

The simple past tense is also used for a past habit, for example: he always drank wine.

The use of simple past tense is used in conditional tense that is used unreal past after if and tough so forth.28

Meanwhile, Marcela Frank also gives the similar statements about the use of the past tense. The past tense may refer to:29

1. One event completed in the past: Isawhim last night.

They left two hours ago.

The word ago requires the use of the past tense, even if the time indicated comes almost up to the present.

2. Repeated events completed in the past and no longer happening: When I was young, Iwentswimming every day.

3. Duration of an event completed in the past:

Helived in New York for thirty years and then he decided to return to France.

In addition, Nasrun Mahmud said that “the simple past tense refers to a

complete action, activity or state that happened or that was true at certain point or

at a certain period of time in the past.”30

Based on the above discussions, the writer concludes that the usages of simple past tense are for stating the activities or events that have started and finished in the past. So, there is a particular time when someone or people doing the activities. Usually, there is the specific time signals such as, last, …ago,

yesterday, and so on. Sometimes, the students get confused when the time they have to use the simple past tense.

28

Thomson and Martinet,loc. Cit. 29

Marcela Frank, Modern English/A Practical Reference Guide, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1972), p. 73.

30

Nasrun Mahmud, English for Muslim University Students, (Jakarta: SiwibaktiDarma, 2005), p.69

C. Writing

1. Definition of Writing

According to Barnet and Stubbs “Writing as a physical act, it requires

material and energy. And like most physical act, to be performed fully, to bring pleasure, to both performer and audience, it requires practice”.31 In writing, writers are asked to present their works powerfully; they have to make the readers satisfy with their writing. It is important for writers doing practice to improve their writing skill, not only that they also have to expand their knowledge to develop their skill in writing because more knowledge is for better writing.

Based on Rise B. Axelrodand Charles R. Chooper, "Writing makes a special contribution to the way people think. When we write, we compose meanings, we put together facts and ideas and make something new...".32It means that writing can make people reconstruct their thought, and then they will make new thoughts through facts and ideas that have occurred; they try to combine and compare both of them until they are getting new conclusion as a new thought.

In addition, James C. Raymond said that “Writing is more than a medium of communication. It is a way of remembering and a way of thinking as well. Writing is a way of finding out what we know and what we need to learn. Spoken words disappear as soon as they are spoken; but writing freezes our thought, makes them visible and permanent so we can examine and test their quality. Writing is also a way of learning. None of us can write much of interest without thinking, probing, observing, asking questions, experimenting, and reading.33

To sum up, writing can be said as a media for students to develop their language skill because from writing they can use their knowledge of the target language that they have been learnt. Writing is the most difficult skill because it

31

Barnet and Stubbs’s,Practical Guide to Writing, (Canada: Brown company, 4thedition 1983), p. 3.

32

Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Chooper,The ST. Marline's Guide to Writing,(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986), p. 1.

33

James C. Raymond,Writing is an Unnatural Act, Harper & Row Publisher, New York, 1980, p. 2.

combines receptive skills and productive skills. Writing is also the way to make spoken language permanently.

2. Kinds of writing

Generally, there are three kinds of writing; those are Free Writing, Controlled Writing, and Guided Writing as explained by experts below:

a. Free Writing

According to John Lagan, “Free Writing is just sitting down and writing

whatever comes to your mind about a topic”.34 This opinion also almost the same as Peter and Pat said “Free Writing means writing privately and writing without

stopping. Just write whatever words come to your mind or whatever you want to

explore at this moment”.35

It means that in free writing, the students just write anything what they want to write, without worrying about spelling or grammar, and do not stop until they run out of something to say in their writing.

b. Controlled Writing

Based on Ann Raimeswho stated that “Controlled writing is all the writing

your students do for which a great deal of the content and/ or form supplied”.36She also explained that in controlled writing, the students are focused on getting words down on paper and in concentrating on one or two problems at a time; and the technique which is considered by her is the students are given a task to work such as an outline to complete, a paragraph to manipulate, a model to follow, or a passage to continue.

34

John Lagan, Sentence Skills: work Book for Writers, (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003), p. 17.

35

Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff, A Community of Writers; A Workshop Course in Writing, 3rdEd,(Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2000), p. 6.

36

Ann Raimes, Technique in Teaching Writing, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 95.

c. Guided Writing

Ann Raimes stated also that “Guided writing is an extension of controlled writing.”37 She explained that guided writing is less control than controlled writing. In this kind of writing the students are given a first sentence, a last sentence, an outline to fill out, a series of question to respond to, or information to include in their writing.

3. Types of Writing

According to James A. W. Heffernan and John E. Lincoln in their book

“Writing A College Handbook”, there are three types in writing development: a. Description

Description is writing about the way persons, animals, or things appear. It normally takes one of three forms. Description is divided into three parts:

1) Informative description

An informative description simply enables the readers to identify an object.

2) Analytical or Technical Description

An analytical or technical description enables the reader to understand the structure of an object.

3) Evocative Description

Evocative description re-creates the impression made by an object. It can appeal not just to the eye but to all the other senses.

37

b. Narration

Narration or story telling is writing about a succession of events. The simplest kind of narration follows chronological order: the order in which the narrated events actually occurred or could have occurred. The writer can use events out of the chronological. It means that the writer uses the flash back story.

c. Exposition

Exposition is writing with a referential aim. It seeks to explain someone or something in the world outside the writer. The exposition gives the reader information or explains something.38

D. Narrative Writing

1. Definition of Narrative Writing

Betty MattixDietsch says “narration is used not only in fiction writing but

also to relay news of a neighborhood or news of a nation, to share research data, to write reports and other documents. Histories, biographies, journals, college papers, magazines, and even advertisements include narrative. Narration is a powerful tool that can captivate an audience – stirring the imagination, eliciting

empathy, and lending weight to opinion”.39

James A. W. Heffernan wrote in his book Writing A College Handbook,

“narration or storytelling is writing about a succession of events. The simplest

kind of narration follows chronological order: the order in which the narrated

events actually occurred or could have occurred”.40

In addition, James Burl Hogins stated “narration tells story, the story of a sequence of events. Something happens over period of time”.41 Meanwhile,

38

James A. W. Heffernan & John E. Lincoln, Writing a College Handbook, (W. W. Norton & Company, 1982), pp. 422—424.

39

Betty MattixDietsch, Reasoning & Writing English Well, (New York: Mc Graw-Hill,2003), p. 123.

40

James A. W. Heffernan ,op. cit.,p. 86. 41

Axelrod and Cooper gave their opinion about narration, “narration is a basic

writing strategy for presenting action. Writers use narration for a variety of purposes: they illustrate and support their ideas with anecdotes, entertain readers with suspenseful stories, predict what will happen with scenarios, and explain how

something should happen with process narrative”.42

Based on discussions above, the writer concludes that narrative writing is a writing which tells about the story of events in a period of time. Narrative writing is not only about fiction writings, but also about scientific writing can be written in a narration. It presents action with variety of purposes.

2. The Purpose of Narration

Every kind of writing has a purpose, narration also has a purpose.

According to Barbara Fine Clouse, “obviously, a narration can entertain because a

good story can amuse readers and help them forget about themselves for a time.”43

This statement is supported by Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, they said

that “the purpose of narrative that is to present a view of the world that entertains or informs the reader or listener”.44 In addition, Barbara gave three purposes of narration:

a) To express your feeling, you could narrate an account of your final visit with your grandfather for example.

b) To inform your readers, you could narrate an account of a typical day for your grandfather, pointing out the advantages he enjoyed because he lived at the retirement home for example.

42

Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, Guide to Writing, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1985), p. 386.

43

Barbara Fine Clouse, Patterns for a Purpose: A Rhetorical Reader,(New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), p. 160.

44

Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English 3, (South Yarra; Macmillan, 1977), p. 3.

c) To persuade your readers,you could narrate an account of one or more of your own experiences, tell the benefits you and the residents enjoyed as a result.45

To sum up, actually the purpose of narration is to amuse and entertain the readers. Make them feel including in the story while they are reading and also to inform and persuade the readers about the story.

3. Elements of Narration

Betty said that “every narrative has six elements – the who, where, when, what, why, and how of the event. The point of view from which the story is told also influences its effect on the audience. Who was involved? Where did the action take place? When? What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? Who is the narrator?”46 It means that in writing narration, we have to consider those things. It will make us easier in writing narration. And also it makes us easier in analyzing the narrative writing.

4. Narrative Time Signals

The writers use three methods to signal shifts in narrative time: clock time, temporal transitions, and verb tense. Those things are important to make narrative writings are easy to understand and read.47

a. Clock time

Many writers use clock time to orient readers and to give a sense of duration. The clock time serves the writer’s purpose by making readers aware of

the speed with which actions were taken. Ex: 9: 10 P. M. John came to my house, a split second later, within seconds, etc.

45

Barbara ,loc. Cit. 46

MattixDietsch,op. cit., p. 124.

47

b. Temporal transitions

Temporal transitions mean the words and phrases that locate a point in time or relate one point to another. Some familiar ones include then, when, at that time, before, after, while, next, later, first, and second.

c. Verb tense

Verb tense also plays an important role in presenting time in narrative. It indicates when the actions occur and whether they are complete or in a progress.

For example, “when my son and I arrived at the pig yard, … the pig had emergedfrom his house and was standing in the middle of his yard ..”. it shows

that there are three past tenses in one sentence, simple past, past perfect, and past progressive.

5. Taking a point of view

In narrative writing, a point of view is an important part in narrative writing. It refers to the narrator’s relation to the action at hand. Basically, writers

use two points of view: a. First person

First person is used to narrate action in which the writer participated. For instance, Tommy came atmeandwetalked each other. Typically, the writers use the first-person pronounIin first person point of view.

b. Third person

On the other hand, third person is used to narrate action in which people other than the narrator were involved. The writers use the third-person pronouns he, she,andtheyinstead of the first personIorwe.48

48

2

The place of this research is SMA Dua Mei Ciputat, Jl. H. Abdul Ghani No. 135 Ciputat Timur, Tangerang Selatan. The writer chooses the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat to obtain the data which is used as object of this study. The research was started from 19thof March 2013 to the 20thof March 2013.

B. The Population and Sample Taking

The population of this research is the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat, Tangsel that consists of 60 students who are distributed into two classes, X-1 and X-2. In this research, the writer took the purposive clustering sample technique. The sample of this research is class X.2 which consists of 30 students. The writer takes 20 students who have written texts more than 100 words because the writer gave the limitation of writing. The writer creates the writing so that the students produce similar writing.

C. Method of the Research

In this study, the writer used the descriptive qualitative method. The writer did some procedures to have the result of the research. First, the writer gave the written test to the students of X-2 of SMA Dua Mei; then he collected the paper test from the students as the data. Second, he identified the errors of the tenses which are made by the students. Third, he described and classified the errors of the tenses based on types of errors from Heidi Dulay, those are Addition, Omission, Misformation, and Misordering. The next, he counted those errors to find out which types of error which the students make the most. Last, he interpreted the data and concluded the result of the research.

D. The Instrument of Research

To collect the data of this research, the writer gave a test to the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat. The writer used a guided writing for the test in

order the students know what should be written. Then the students’ assignments

are collected by the writer. From this, the writer will know the common errors and the sources of error made by students in narrative writing focused on simple past tense.

E. Procedures of the Research

The first, the writer prepared the instrument of the test. Second, the writer asked permission to the principal of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat to do the research. Next, he made a schedule with the English teacher of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat to conduct the test. After collecting the data, the writer analyzed it based on Carl James’ procedures of error analysis; they are error detection, error location, error description, error classification, and error count.

F. Data Analysis Technique

The technique of data analysis which is used by the writer in this research is qualitative analysis technique which function is to describe and interpret the result of quantitative data. For getting the quantitative data, it will describe in the table of percentage and formula as follows:

P = F X 100% N

Notes: P: Percentage F: Frequency

N: Number of cases (total of frequency)1

1

AnasSudjiono, PengantarStatistikPendidikan, (Jakarta: PT. Raja GrafindoPersada, 2005), p.43.

31

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION

A. Findings

1. Error Identification

In this section, the writer identified the errors found in the use of Simple Past Tense in narrative text written by the students. The writer presented the identification of errors in the form of table below:

Table 4.1

Recapitulation of Types of Errors in Narrative Writing Focused on Simple Past Tense

Students Addition Omission Misformation Misordering

Student 1 - 2 4 2

Student 2 - 1 4 1

Student 3 - 2 5

-Student 4 1 2 3

-Student 5 - 2 4 1

Student 6 - - 5 3

Student 7 1 4 5

-Student 8 - 1 4

-Student 9 - - 4 1

Student 10 - 4 4

-Student 11 - 2 5 2

Student 12 - 3 5

Students Addition Omission Misformation Misordering

Student 14 - 2 4 3

Student 15 - 3 4 1

Student 16 3 2 2 3

Student 17 2 3 4

-Student 18 1 - 3

-Student 19 - 3 4 1

Student 20 1 3 4 1

Total 9 40 82 21

Total (N) 152

The chart below presents the highest level to the lowest of errors mostly made by the students:

6%

26%

54% 14%

Percentage of Students' Errors

Addition

Omission

Misformation

Misordering

Chart 4.1: The Recapitulation of Students’ Error Based on Dulay

The table shows percentage of each error based on classification of Heidy Dulay, and the writer found that error of Misformation is the most frequent error made by the first grade students of SMA Dua Mei Ciputat, Tangsel with 82 of total errors or 54%. The second is Omission with 40 of total errors or 26%. The

next is Misorderingwith 21 of total errors or 14%. The last is Additionwith 9 of total errors or 6%.

2.

Error Description and Explanation

After presenting the error into types of errors which are written by Heidi Dulay, the writer would like to talk more about the errors of the use of Simple Past Tense in the students’ narrative text. Thestudents’ errors are classified into four: omission, addition, misformation, and misordering.

Lastly, regarding the writing format, the writer explained the table of each

student’s error constructions consisting types of errors (see appendix 2) in the following paragraph. Here is the complete description of the students’errors: 1.) Student 1

There are threetypes of error found in the student’s writing.The name teenistono and tiniandTinicomesfrom a very rich familyare classified as misformation error since the student used incorrect verb forms in those constructions. They are supposed to beThe name of teenswereTono and TiniandTinicamefrom a very rich family.

Meanwhile, another error construction made by the student considered as omission error. The student omitted a word or a morpheme. In construction Tini very sad, I lovehim dad.The student missed to put a verbwas in the construction and omitted a verb inflection. They are supposed to be Tini was very sad, I loved him dad. The last, the student committed misordering error such as my father agreed relationship tini and tono.It should beher father agreed their relation.

2) Student 2

There are three error constructions made by the student which are considered as omission error, such as they live in small village, it is supposed to betheylivedin a small village.The student omitted the verb inflection–ed.

Another error type found in the student’s writing is misformation error. They arethey have a relationshipandtini’s parents are very upset.The student is supposed to usehad as past verb rather thanhave. Also in tini’s parents are very

upset,the student should have usedwere not are.The last, the students committed a misordering error too. It isthe mother’s tini,it supposed to beTini’s mother.

3) Student 3

The error constructions which were made by the student are classified as omission error due to the lack of an auxiliary verbwasas inbecause he rich and a suffix –ed as in tini’s parents agree with their relation. It is should be Tini’s

parents agreed with their relation.

Meanwhile, the other three constructions used incorrect auxiliary or verb form. Hence, these error constructions are classified as misformation error, they areshe have a good heart, tini’s parents doesn’t like tono,andthey both have two childwhich used incorrect past verb have instead of had whereas the sentence is in simple past tense, andnegative form of doesn’trather thandidn’t. The sentence are supposed to beshe had a good heart and Tini’s Parents didn’t like Tono.

4) Student 4

The student made three types of errors. They live in different states and any problems that plague them contain omission errors since the student did not put the suffix -ed. While the sentence they realized ifthey were life degree is very differentis classified as addition and misformation error.

The student put unnecessary auxiliary were in the sentence and put incorrect verb of simple past. The student usedisrather thanwas.It is supposed to bethey realized if their life degree was very different.

5) Student 5

Error constructions found in the student’s writing are considered as omission, misformation, and misordering errors. The student omitted the the verb inflection–ed such inTini want to go leaving the parents,it should beTini wanted to go leaving her parents. Another error which is found is misformation error. The student wrongly chose the verbs for past tense. Instead of is, has, and are, it

should be was, had and were. Beside that, the student wrote misordering error such asfamily that is very-very simplerefers topoor family.

6) Student 6

In the student’s writing, there are two types of error which is made by the student. Most of errors belong to misformation error, the student commited five times. For instance, the student wrote they are a loving person, it is not as beautiful as they are, someone who comes from a wealthy family, their relation is not approved,andTono is not rich.She didn’t change the past forms of the verbs.

They are supposed to bewere, was, came, wasandwas.

Another error found in student’s writing is the order of the words that are

suitable with the sentences. Hence, it is misordering error. The student wrotemore likeinstead ofprefferedandparents TiniforTini’s parents.

7) Student 7

Thestudent’s writing shows error constructions that classified as omission, misformation, and addition errors. She born from rich family, they care and love

each other, tini’s parents also still disagree with their relation, and finally them agree for Tini and Tono relation contain omission error since the lack of suffix –

edand the writer omitted past auxiliary of was. The word needs to be added with suffix–edbecause those sentences are in past tense. They should beshe was born from a rich family, they cared and loved each other, Tini’s parents also still

disagreed with their relation,andfinally, they agreed for Tini and Tono relation. Beside omission, the student made some misformation errors as well. The misformation errors happen in Tono have special relationship, Tini try to defend her love to Tono, he causes Tini went from home and they have two childs. The sentences are supposed to use had, tried, caused and had since it is past tense form. The student missed to write a well form of past simple.

The sentenceher parents can received Tono wellbelongs to addition error. It is recognized by the addition of suffix-ed after modal auxiliary. It is supposed to beher parents could receive Tono well.

8) Student 8

Almost all of error constructions in the student’s writing are classified as misformation errors. The student committed four misformation errors and one omission error. Tono and tini is very romantic couple, Tono is a man, Tini is a women, and Tini’s parents really do not approve used incorrect verbs since the constructions are not in past form. The student is supposed to use were, was,

didn’t. They should be Tono and Tini were a very romantic couple, Tono was a man, Tini was a woman,andTini’s parents really didn’t approve.

The student also commited a omission error such in Tono and tini who really love each other. The student didn’t put the verb inflection –ed. Hence, the error belongs to omission error.

9) Student 9

The student made two types of error. The first error is classified as misformation error due to the student used incorrect verbs in those constructions since the constructions are supposed to be in past tense.For instance, the student wrote Tono is a man of the family is quite simple, Tini is a women from a posh family. They are supposed to beTono was a man from the family which was quite simple, and Tini was a woman from a posh family.

Meanwhile, another error is misordering error. The student used improper verb in the sentencethey are married.It is supposed to bethey got married.

10) Student 10

The first type of error foundin the student’s writing is omission error. It is classified as omission due to the lack of an auxiliarywas and the suffix-ed or din sentenceshe rich, kinds and handsome, Tono too much rich, Tini’s parents agree

with their relation. they are supposed to be he was rich, kinds and handsome,

Tono was too much rich, Tini’s parents agreed with their relation

The next type of error is misformation error. The student put incorrect verb for simple past tense. Instead ofhave,doesn’t, andmakesthe student should have

used had as the past form of have, the student is supposed to use didn’t than

doesn’t,andmadeformakes.

11) Student 11

Most error committed by the student is misformation. Such as inthey have good relation, Tini parents do not approve, Tono is young man, they are not allowed,andwealth does not guarantee happiness. Those sentences are supposed to be in past tense; so the student needs to change the verb forms. Hence, these constructions contain misformation error. Then, the second errors are classified as omission error. Man who poor and Tono prove that wealth missed the past auxiliarywasand suffix–edor-d.

Meanwhile the last error shows error constructions containing misordering error. The student put wrong arrangements of possessive nouns. Instead of couple Tini and parents Tini’s, the student should have used Tini’s couple and Tini’s

parents .

12) Student 12

The error constructions the student made are classified as omission error and misformation error. The sentences such they live in a small village, their parents worry about them, their parents agree the marriage. Three constructions lack of suffix–ed. Hence, they are omission error. They should bethey lived in a small village, their parents worried about them, and their parents agreed the marriage.

Another error type found in the student’s writing is misformation errors. They are inthey meet a witch, the witch says, Tono and Tini get old, they go to the forest, and they come back to the village. The student is supposed to write they met a witch, Tono and Tini got old, they went to the forest,andthey came back to the village. They are classified as misformation error because the student missed to write the correct past forms.

13) Student 13

The error constructions the student made are classified as misformation error, misordering, and omission error. The sentences such inTini is a rich, Tini’s

parents do not approve, Tono is the young, they are not allowed,andwealth does not guarantee happiness. The constructions are classified as misformation error because the student used incorrect auxiliary verbs in those constructions and negative forms since the constructions are supposed to be in past tense.

The second errors belong to misordering error. For example, couple Tini and parents tini’s.They are supposed to be Tini’s coupleand Tini’s parents. The student missed to arrange the correct order. The last, the student committed omission error. It is classified as omission due to the lack of suffix –ed. The student need to write proved than prove because the student need to write in the past tense.

14) Student 14

There are three types of error found in the student’s writing. They are misformation, misordering, and omission errors. The student committed misformation error since the student put incorrect verb and auxiliary verb for past tense. Instead of is, do not, separates and does not, the student should have put was, did not, separatedanddid not.

The next error constructions are classified as misordring error. The student committed misordering error two times. For instance,Tini is a rich, beautiful girl, kind and gentle. It is supposed to be Tini was a rich, beautiful, kind and gentle girl.The student just missed the correct order ofgirl.

Another error committed by the student is omission error. The student committed omission error since the sentences miss an auxiliary was as in Tini beautiful and richand a suffix–edas inTono prove.

15) Student 15

Three constructions of the student’s miss suffix-ed. As in they love each other, Tono and Tini play to the park, and they have children. Hence, these

constructions contain omission error. Then, the sentences such Tini is the richest, they do it in secret, Tini come with the boy, and they have children are classified as misformation error. The student failed to write the correct past simple verbs and auxiliary.They are should be Tini was the richest, they did it in secret, Tini came with the boy,andthey had children.

Meanwhile, the last error construction is containing misordering error. The student put incorrect arrangement. Instead of her friend Tini, the student should have writeTini’s friend.

16) Student 16

There are four error types found in the student’s writing. They are misformation, addition, misordering and omission errors. The first, the error constructions are classified as omission since the sentences miss a verb do as in Tini,what did you in park?,it is supposed to bewhat did you do in the park?and miss a verblivedas inthey happily. It is supposed to bethey lived happily.

Another error that the student committed is misformation error. The student put incorrect verbs for past tense. The sentences such they have good relation, Tini goes to bridge, and Tono and Tini haved baby. Instead of putting verbshave, goes,andhaved,the student should have puthad, went, andhad.

The third error is misordering error. The student failed to put the suitable verbs such in after Tini backed to her house and sorry me.They are supposed to be after Tini came back to her house and forgave me. The last, the student committed addition error. The student add unnecessary suffix –ed such in Tini went jumped from bridge and Tini didn’t jumped. They are supposed to be Tini jumped from the bridgeandTini didn’t jump.

17) Student 17

The error constructions the student made are classified as omission, misformation, and addition error. It is classified as omission due to the lack of an auxiliary suffix –ed as after worddance, want and missed an auxiliary verbwere

in Tini’s parents very angry.They are supposed to be danced, wanted, andTini’s

parents were very angry.

Another error is misformation error. The student put incorrect verbs for simple past tense. Instead of using come, see, is, goes, and thinks, the student should have usedcameas the past form ofcome;and rather thansee, is, goes,and thinksthe student is supposed to usesaw, was, wentandthought.

The last error type is addition error. The student added unnecessary (‘s)in the sentence Tini’s talked to her parents. It is supposed to be Tini talked to her parents.

18) Student 18

The most error that the student committed is misformation error. The sentences they are matching pair, Tono is responsible, and they lived and have children show that the student put incorrect verb forms. Due to it is supposed to be in simple past tense, so they should be they were a matching pair, Tono was responsible,andthey lived and had children.

The next error made by the student is addition error. The student added an unnecessary verb keep. Such in Tini’s parents keep didn’t agree about their

relation. The student supposed to omit keep. It is supposed to be like this Tini’s parents didn’t agree about their relation.

19) Student 19

The student made error constructions which are classified as omission, misformation, and misordering errors. Two error constructions contain omission error since they lack of suffix–edor -das inTini at the same time hear a scream andthey all live very happy.They should be Tini at the same time heard a scream andthey all lived very happy.

Beside omission, the student committed some misformation errors as well. The student made errors in using verbs in past form. Instead of using is, see, deserves, and have, it is supposed to use was, saw, deserved, and had.As in the

sentences he is handsome, they always see the garden, Tini is not a woman, and they have three children.

The last error is misordering error. The student failed to put the suitable order of verb there. As in Tini women not stupid or ugly,it is supposed to beTini was not stupid or ugly.

20) Student 20

The student made error constructions which are classified as omission errors, they arethey want Tono, their children very cute, andTini’s parents happy

miss a suffix –ed in wanted while their children very cute and Tini’s parents

happymiss auxiliarywere.

Another error type found in the student’s writing is misformation error. The student used incorrect verbs, negative form, and modal auxiliary in past tense. Rather than usingcan buys,does not,can, andhave, the student should have used could buy, did not, could and had.Such in Tini can buys anything, this old man does not approve it, Tono can be people, and they have two children. They are supposed to be Tini could buy anything, this old man did not approve it, Tono could be a person,andthey had two children.

The last is misordering error. The student committed misordering error such in the sentence Tono should hard work to fulfil their life. The student is supposed to write the correct order of the verb place. It is supposed to be Tono should work hard to fulfil their life.

B. Data Interpretation

Based on the data analysis of the research findings, it can be seen that the most common error is misformation error with 82 errors or 54%. The writer concludes that the use of past forms is main aspect that causes this type of error. The students did not pay attention of these aspects when they made the writings. Especially in irregular verbs, they did not know how to change it in the past forms. It happens because in irregular verb so many rules that they have not known. In addition, when they produced a sentence in simple past, they often generalize the