e. Evaluation of Errors
In this step, the researcher must decide the criteria of errors which will be corrected because some errors can be considered more serious than
other. The aim of evaluating errors is to distinct which errors will be corrected so the learner, which made an error, will not be stress of getting
correction. 3.
Goal of Error Analysis
According to Norrish, “Error analysis can give a picture of the type of difficulty that learners are experiencing. If carried out on a large scale such as
survey, it can be helpful in drawing up a curriculum.”
17
Based on this opinion, error analysis can be helpful for syllabus designers because errors found in
language learning can be data for them to determine which materials are important to be included and which ones need to be improved.
While Corder makes a distinction between the theoretical and applied goal of error analysis. They are:
18
a. Applied goal aspect is, correcting and eradicating the learners error at the
expense of the more important and logically prior task of evolving an explanatory theory of learners performance. In other word, the applied
goal serves to enable the students to learn more efficiently by exploiting their knowledge.
b. Theoretical goal aspect is as worthy of study in and on itself as is that of
child language acquisition and can, in turn, provide insights into the process of language acquisition in general.
17
John Norrish, Language Learners and their Errors, London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1983, p.80
18
Pit Corder in Jacek Ficiak, Contrastive Linguistics and Language Teacher, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981, p. 225.
C. Writing
Writing is the most difficult skill among other language skills, Richards stated that “Learning to write in either the first or second language is one of
the most difficult tasks, a student encounters and one that few people can be said to fully master.
19
Because of that, to make a good writing, the students need a hard thinking and they must have an extent knowledge to get correct
writing.
1. Definition of Writing
There are several opinions about the definition of writing that have been given by the experts: Ur said that:
“writing is a learned skill”.
20
From this statement the writer tries to identify that writing is a skill which can be learned by anyone by practice intensively because writing is not an
automatic skill. Writing is used as a tool for communication by the people who want to communicate with others. Remembering that writing is more
than the language is used to express and communicate with others. According to Hairstone “writing is a tool for discovery. Writing
generates new ideas by helping us to make a connection and see relationships.
21
This opinion is supported by Raymond on his book; Writing is an unnatural Act, stated:
Writing is more than a medium of communication. It is a way of remembering and a way of thinking as well ..., writing has a private
importance as a tool for clear thinking, for sharpening our awareness of the realities around us, for solving problems and shaping
arguments, for developing that short of knowledge
– clear, specific, detailed
– that makes human consciousness different from every other form of consciousness on earth. Writing also a way of learning. It is a
way of finding out what we know and what we need to learn.
22
19
Jack C Richards,Language Teaching Matrix, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990,p. 101
20
Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1996,p. 161
21
Maxine Hairston, Contemporary Composition, Boston: HoughtonMiffin Company, 1986, p. 2
22
James C. Raymond, Writing Is an Unnatural Act, New York: Harper Row Publisher, Inc., 1980, p.2
From the definition above, it can be concluded that writing is more than a language. Writing is a skill which can be learned by anyone who
want to express their thought, ideas, feeling, etc. In addition, it is a tool of communication, so that writing is a hard skill becauseit is an unnatural
act which is need a hard thinking and it is a way of remembering and a way of thinking as well.
2. Purpose of writing
In general, people write either because they are required to or because they choose to write for their own reasons. If we ask ourselves
why we write at all, the first answer will be to get information to someone we cannot presently talk to. Thus writing allows us to transcend time. The
second answer might be especially when we needs of society as a whole. To solve the problem of volume, of having to store more than the human
brain can remember. A less likely, but nevertheless important, the third reason for writing might be to filter and shape our experience.
23
The purpose of writing is not only to teach someone to convey idea to the
readers but also to reinforce all aspect of languages that have been learned by the students. There is some additional and very important
reason why writing is needed in teaching English. According to Ur in her book, “A Course in Language Teaching, she explained that the purpose of
writing, in principle is the expression of ideas, the conveying of a message to the reader, so the ideas themselves should arguably be seen as
the most aspect of the writing. ”
24
Furthermore, Miller, on his book; Motives for Writing explained the motives of writing. Purpose of writing is essentially the same as motive of
23
Arthur Brookes and Peter Grundy, Beginning to Write; Writing Activities for Elementary and Intermediate Learners, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991, p.3
24
Penny Ur, op. cit., p. 163
writing; both terms are used to describe what a writer hopes to accomplish. There are motives of writing such as:
25
a. Writing to understand experiences.
b. Writing to report information.
c. Writing explain information.
d. Writing to evaluate something.
e. Writing to analyze images.
f. Writing to analyze texts.
g. Writing to persuade others.
h. Writing to inspire others.
i. Writing to amuse others.
j. Writing to experiment with form.
The writer tries to conclude that many reason when people want to write somehing because the purpose of writing is the essentially the same
as the motive of writing. It depends on what the writer‟s need. It can be to
get the information, to explain information or to amuse others or etc like what the writer mentioned above.
3. Kinds of Writing
There are a number of types of writing task that most of us will be familiar with, both as teacher and from our own language learning
experienced simplifying for the moment, they can be listed under three broad headings.
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a. Free writing
Free writing is writing without stopping. It means writing comes to the mind without worry that everything they write is correct
or incorrect. The purpose is to free up the mind so that is can make association and connection.
25
Robert Keith Miller, Motives for Writing, New York: Mc Graw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2006, pp.47-69
26
Jo. McDonough and Christopher Shaw, Materials and Methods in ELT: A Teacher’s
Guide, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993, p. 173
Apparently, at the other end of the spectrum, a „free writing‟task requires learners to „create‟ an essay on a given topic,
often as part of a language examination. Sometimes students are simply invited to write on a personal topic, their hobbies, what they
did on holiday, interesting experiences and the like. Other material provide a readingpassage as stimulus for a piece of writing on a
pararel topic, usually with comprehention questions spread between the two activities.
b. Controlled writing
If the focus of a language programme is on accuracy, then schemes for controlling learners‟ writing output will obviously
predominate. The students will focus to practice on getting words down on they paper and they have to concentrate one one or two
problems all the time. Controlled writing focuses the student‟s attention on specific features of the written language. It is a good
method of reinforcing grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. The range of activity types is considerable, and typical approaches include:
1 providing a model sentence and asking students to construct a
pararel sentence with different lexical items. 2
inserting a missing grammatical form. 3
composing sentenses from tabular information, with a model provided.
4 joining sentences to make a short paragraph, inserting supplied
conjuctions but, and however, because, although. c.
Guided Writing It is an extension of controlled writing; it is less controlled
