Problem Limitation Problem Formulation

There is no problem whether to use the term ‘indirect speech’ or ‘reported speech’ since they are the same. This study, however, uses the term ‘reported speech’ instead of indirect speech to make it constant. 2. Direct Speech It is necessary to clarify direct speech in this part as reported speech and direct speech are tied together. Direct speech refers to using the original speaker’s exact words more or less to report what he or she has said or to report what he or she thought Swan, 1995. In direct speech, there are no changes of the first speaker’s original sentence. 3. Mastery Fries 1945 states that a person has learned a foreign language when he or she has thus, first, within a limited vocabulary mastered the sound system that is, when he or she can understand the stream of speech and achieve an understandable production of it and has, second, made the structural devices that is, the basic arrangements of utterances matters of automatic habit. This study pays more attention to the mastery of structural devices. Since reported speech is part of structural devices in which it has its own form, rule and meaning, therefore, one is considered to have mastered reported speech if he or she 1 understands the forms and the rules of reported speech, 2 understands how to convert direct speech into reported speech correctly and appropriately, 3 understands the meaning of reported speech, and 4 understands how to use reported speech correctly. 4. Errors Error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the interlanguage competence of the learner Brown, 1967. Errors also 7 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI refer to flawed side of learner’s speech or writing. They are parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected norm of mature language performance Dulay, Burt, Krashen, 1982. To refer to the reported speech errors, this study used students’ incorrect answers in their reported speech test. 5. Interlingual Transfer When a student is in the process of learning English, he or she might make errors due to the interference from his or her native language. This is called interlingual transfer. It is because the beginning stage of learning a second language is characterised by a good deal of interlingual transfer from the native language or interference Brown, 1987. 6. Intralingual Transfer Intralingual transfer happens when an Indonesian student, for example, in the process of learning English, is interfered by the English language itself. Intralingual transfer within the target language itself is a major factor in second language Brown, 1987. 8