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Figure 4. 1. The Percentage of 3 Main Categories of Errors
1. Syntax Errors
In this part, there are four main categories of syntax errors. They are noun phrase, verb phrase, word order, and another finding of syntax errors. Each
category has its own subcategories and sub-subcategories. The purpose of the categorization is to ease the researcher in assessing students‟ errors. Therefore, the
researcher could analyze the students‟ errors more specifically. Syntax errors are the highest percentage of four main categories of errors. Syntax errors hold 59.8
of overall found errors.
a. Noun Phrase
In noun phrase, there are 4 categories. They are the use of determiners, the use of prepositions, the use of pronouns, and the use of modifiers. In this part, the
researcher explains the specific parts of those four categories. Therefore, the syntaxerrors could be appropriately explained. The explanations of four categories
are presented below.
1 Use of Determiners
The students‟ worksheets contain many errors of use of determiners.In this category, there were found 155 errors and this category is also divided into 6
63.19 19.81
17 20
40 60
80
Syntax Errors Morphological
Errors Other Findings
The Percentage
49 subcategories. The error distribution for this category is presented below.The
explanation about the numbers of this error is presented as follows.
Table 4.4.Number of Errors in Use of Determiners
No. Types of Error
Numbers of Errors
a
Omission of Articles
118 b
Addition of Articles 16
c Substitution of Possessive
Determiners
11 d
Misuse of Articles 6
e
Misuse of Determiners
3
a Omission of Articles
This error is the major error in syntax error. It is because this error is counted 118 items from total 485 items of syntax errors. In this case, the students
tended to omit or even ignore the article a, an andthe in their sentences. The researcher found this error almost in every sample that the researcher assessed.
The students had tendencies to ignore or omit articles because article is considered as an unimportant part in sentences. On the contrary, articles are important in
sentences because it can define whether the subject or the object is definite or indefinite and it is also used to show singularity of a noun. The examples of
omission of articles are presented as follows. He has
ø
pointed nose. R2 Intended: He has a pointed nose.
He is
ø
player in Real Madrid. R7 Intended: He is a player in Real Madrid.
50
She is
ø
pretty girl. R19 Intended: She is apretty girl.
From the examples above, it can be inferred that omission of articles is an important problem that needs to solve. It is because the use of articles is important
for students especially when they are required to write an English composition in the next level of their education.
b Addition of Articles
This error happened when the students added an article to a plural form of a noun. This error seldom happened in the students‟ worksheets but it is
considered as an error and the researcher perceived that this error needed to investigate. Although omission of articles covers almost all of the studen
ts‟ worksheets, addition of articles is also considered as the important problem in
students‟ writing skill that needs to be solved. This error is counted 16 items out of 155 total items of errors in use of determiners. The examples of this error are
presented below.
He has a strong legs. R18
Intended: He has strong legs.
He havea white skin. R21
Intended: He has white skin. From two examples above, the researcher concluded that this error is also
important to be solved, because the students‟ misunderstanding of using articles could be disastrous for the students‟ in their upcoming years.
51
c Substitution of Possessive Determiners
Substitution of possessive determiners is the error of distributing the possessive determiners her, his, their, etc with another form of word. This error
happened because the students could not find the difference between the sound and the writing. In order to have a clear explanation about this error, the
researcher presents the examples. The examples are presented as follows.
He‟s age is 28 year. R6 Intended: His age is 28 years.
He‟s name is cristiano Ronaldo. R6 Intended:His name is Cristiano Ronaldo.
She’s beloved pet is dog. R25 Intended: Her beloved pet is a dog.
From the first two examples, the students were trying to explain the subject‟s possession, yet, they perceived that „his‟ is the same with „he‟s‟ because
they are identically pronounced. The last example shows that the student could not find the possessive determiner of „she‟. Therefore, the student directly used the
pronoun form she a s the possessive determiner in the student‟s sentence. This
error is counted 11 items out of 155 items of total errors in use of determiners. This error presently happened in a very few of the students. However, if the
teacher does not take any precaution toward this error, this error may spread in other students‟ writing. This error is essential to be solved.
52
d Misuse of Articles
The students often misused the articles, because few of them still could not differentiate which article is appropriate for a particular noun. They also could not
differentiate between the definite article and indefinite article. Therefore, few of them were confused by the use of articles. The example of this error is presented
below.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the famous soccer player. R46 Intended: Cristiano Ronaldo is a famous soccer player.
From the example above, the researcher inferred that the appropriate article that should be used in that sentence is anindefinite article, because the
context of that sentence is common. Therefore, an indefinite article is appropriate for that sentence.
e Misuse of Determiners
This error is counted only 3 items from total 155 items in use of determiners. Although there are only 3 items of this error, yet, this error still needs
to be investigated and also solved. To have a clear explanation, the researcher presented the examples as follows.
He contributed this golden shoes for support sacrifice Israel. R24 Intended: He contributed these golden shoes
to support Israelis‟ sacrifice.
He has many money and
ø
ladies. R12 Intended: He has much money and many ladies.
From the explanation above, it is clear that the students could not apply appropriate determiners for the nouns. In the first example, the student could not
53 differentiate between singular and plural form of the determiner. The student
might over generalize singular and plural form as the same determiner with similar function. While in the second example, the student could not apply the
right determiner for an uncountable noun and he also omitted a determiner before the second object. Problems like those needs to solve, because it is important for
students‟ correctness in writing in their upcoming levels.
2 Use of Prepositions
Prepositions are also the main problem in students‟ writing, in this case, descriptive texts.
The students‟ descriptive texts also contain some errors related to the use of prepositions. The errors in use of prepositions are counted 41
items.The explanation about the numbers of this error is presented as follows.
Table 4.5. Number of Errors in Use of Prepositions
No. Types of Errors
Numbers
a Misuse of Prepositions
19 b
Omission of Prepositions
12 c
Addition of Prepositions 10
a Misuse of Prepositions
In this error, the students did not use prepositions properly in their descriptive texts. Prepositions are important in sentences because their functions
are various. The students still did not apply the correct preposition for a particular word. This error is counted 19 items out of 41 items of total errors in use of
prepositions. This error is the most found error in the use of prepositions. Therefore, the students have tendencies to misuse prepositions. The example of
this error is presented below.
54
He is very good on free kicks and penalty kicks. R6 Intended: He is very good atfree kicks and penalty kicks.
From the explanation above, it can be inferred that the student made an error in choosing the appropriate prepositions for the words. Use of prepositions is
obviously not taught in schools. Use of prepositions is presented in texts and writing. Therefore, the students do not know the proper use of prepositions in
their writing.
b Omission of Prepositions
This error happened when the students did not notice or omit prepositions that should be used. Prepositions are small parts in sentences, yet, it is important.
The example of this error is presented below. Then Ronaldo played for MU for couple
ø
season. R9 Intended: Then, Ronaldo played for MU for coupleof seasons.
Omissions of prepositions were often found in the students‟ descriptive
texts. The students had tendencies to omit the prepositions because most of them literally translated their descriptive texts from Bahasa Indonesia to English and the
prepositions were also omitted.
c Addition of Prepositions
Besides omission and misuse, prepositions were also added to some parts of the sentence. The students often added prepositions to their sentences although
it could be added with prepositions. The example is presented below.
This famous lady love to traveling. R5
Intended: This famous lady loves
ø
traveling. R5
55 The example above tells that the student added a preposition to after the
verb. It is not necessary because some verbs are not followed by prepositions.
3 Use of Pronouns
Use of pronouns is considered by the researcher as an important part to explain. There were found some errors in use of pronouns in the students‟
descriptive texts. The numbers of each type of error is presented in a table below.
Table 4.6. Number of Errors in Use of Pronouns
No. Types of Errors
Numbers
a Omission of Subject Pronouns
9 b
Omission of Relative Pronoun That
3
a Omission of Subject Pronoun
This error often happened in the students‟ descriptive texts. It happened
when the students forgot or omitted the subject pronoun such as he, she, and etc. The sentence which has omission of subject pronoun turned to be confusing
because there was no specific subject pronoun in the sentence. The examples of this error are presented as follows.
Emotional when he played. R34 Intended: He was emotional when he played. R34
Now approximately 26 years old. R48 Intended: He is now approximately 26 years old. R48
From the explanation above, it can be inferred that the students made errors because they did not write the subject pronoun of their sentences. This
situation could happen when the students made English sentences with Bahasa Indonesia‟s point of view.
56
b Omission of Relative Pronoun ‘That’
This error happened when the students omitted the relative pronoun „that‟ i
n their sentences. Relative pronoun „that‟ is important because it can relate one sentence to another. The examples of this error are presented below.
Selly has blue eyes
ø
look like Anne. R32 Intended: Selly has blue eyes thatlook like Anne
‟s.
Robert has brown eyes
ø
look like my uncle. R32 Intended: Robert has brown eyes thatlook like my uncle
‟s.
From the examples above, it is clear that the student omitted the relative pronoun „that‟. This error could happen because of the influence of the mother
tongue.
4 Use of Modifiers
In this part, the researcher only used one type of error to describe the error found in the students‟ descriptive texts. There were only 4 items in which this
error was found.
a Missing Adjectives
This error happens when the student forgot or omittedthe adjectives to the nouns in their sentences. This error was found only in four items and the
researcher intends to explain one of them. The example is presented below.
He is around 30 years. R21 Intended: He is around 30 yearsold.
57 The example above tells that the student did not write the adjective after
the noun. For telling age, the adjective „old‟ is necessary to describe someone‟s age.
b. Verb Phrases
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