An analysis on subject-verb agreement and tenses errors in utterances made by fourth semester students of English Language Education Study Program.

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AN ANALYSIS ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT AND
TENSES ERRORS IN UTTERANCES MADE BY FOURTH
SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo
Student Number: 091214098

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

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AN ANALYSIS ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT AND
TENSES ERRORS IN UTTERANCES MADE BY FOURTH
SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo
Student Number: 091214098

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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“Peace I live with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I
give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful”. (John
14:27)

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your
goal”. (Henry Ford)

“No bird soars too high if it soars with its own wings”. (William Blake)

(This Thesis is Dedicated to
My Parents and My Brother)

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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work
or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the
references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, July 17, 2013
The Writer

Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo
091214098

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama

: Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo

Nomor Mahasiswa

: 091214098

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
AN ANALYSIS ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT AND TENSES
ERRORS IN UTTERANCES MADE BY FOURTH SEMESTER
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY
PROGRAM
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan

kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 17 Juli 2013
Yang menyatakan

(Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo)

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ABSTRACT
Pedo, Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani. (2013). An Analysis on Subject-Verb
Agreement and Tenses Errors in Utterances Made by Fourth Semester Students of
English Language Education Study Program. Yogyakarta: English Language
Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
As teacher canditates, English Language Education Study Program
(ELESP) students should fulfil many requirements such as speaking correctly in
front of the class. However, based on the researcher’s observation, the ELESP
students in Sanata Dharma University still violated the correct pattern of
utterances when they spoke in the aspects of grammar such as subject-verb
agreement and tenses, especially simple past tense. In fact, as the teacher
candidates, they should produce the grammatically correct utterances in their
speaking. Condisering the fact, four formulated problems were drawn in this
research: (1) What kinds of subject-verb agreement errors are found in English
Language Education Study Program students’ utterances? (2) What are possible
factors influencing the students to produce subject-verb agreement errors in their
utterances? (3) What kinds of tenses errors are found in English Language
Education Study Program students’ utterances? (4) What are possible factors

influencing the students to produce tenses errors in their utterances?
Supporting the researcher in finding the answers to formulated problems,
this study used the theories of some grammarians and linguists. Meanwhile,
concerning the objectives, this study applied survey research. The focus of the
research was on the errors. The participants of this study were 20 fourth semester
students of ELESP, Sanata Dharma University. They were the students who
attended Critical Listening and Speaking (CLS) 2 classes. The instruments used in
this study were test and questionnaire.
The findings showed that all participants produced subject-verb agreement
errors. Misformation errors were the most frequent errors produced by the
participants, followed by omission errors and simple addition errors. The
participants were mostly influenced by over-generalization factors. On the other
hand, there were only 11 out of 20 participants who produced tenses errors. Most
of them produced misformation errors, followed by omission errors. The most
influencing factor causing the participants to produce tenses errors was overgeneralization. Moreover, analysing more on the deviation forms made by the
participants, the analysis found that the participants made mistakes and errors on
singular and plural noun and also on paired conjunction.
Keywords: errors, subject-verb agreement, tenses, utterances

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ABSTRAK
Pedo, Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani. (2013). An Analysis on Subject-Verb
Agreement and Tenses Errors in Utterances Made by Fourth Semester Students of
English Language Education Study Program. Yogyakarta: Program Studi
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Sebagai calon guru, mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris (PBI)
diwajibkan memenuhi banyak persyaratan seperti berbicara dengan tepat di depan
kelas. Meskipun demikian, berdasarkan hasil pengamatan, peneliti menemukan
bahwa mahasiswa PBI, Universitas Sanata Dharma, masih belum menguasai
aturan tata bahasa ketika mereka memproduksi kalimat pada subject-verb
agreement dan tenses, terutama simple past tense. Padahal, pada kenyataannya,
mereka seharusnya menyusun kalimat dengan tata bahasa yang baku dalam

presentasi mereka. Setelah mengetahui fakta yang terjadi, peneliti memutuskan
untuk memfokuskan penelitian pada kesalahan dalam subject-verb agreement dan
tenses yang terjadi di presentasi mereka. Adapun 4 rumusan masalah dalam
penelitian ini adalah (1) Apakah jenis kesalahan pada subject-verb agreement
yang ditemukan di presentasi mahasiswa PBI? (2) Faktor apa saja yang
mempengaruhi mahasiswa untuk membuat kesalahan pada subject-verb
agreement di presentasi mereka? (3) Apakah jenis kesalahan pada tenses yang
ditemukan di presentasi mahasiswa PBI? (4) Faktor apa saja yang mempengaruhi
mahasiswa untuk membuat kesalahan pada tenses di presentasi mereka?
Guna mendukung pemecahan rumusan masalah, peneliti mengaplikasikan
beberapa teori dari para ahli tata bahasa dan para ahli bahasa. Untuk mendukung
pencapaian tujuan, penelitian dengan metode survey diaplikasikan. Fokus dari
penelitian ini adalah pada errors. Subjek penelitian adalah 20 mahasiswa semester
empat dari PBI, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Mereka adalah mahasiwa yang
mengikuti kelas Critical Listening and Speaking (CLS) 2. Instrumen yang
digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah tes dan kuisioner.
Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa semua subjek penelitian melakukan
kesalahan tata bahasa pada subject-verb agreement. Pada kesalahan tata bahasa
yang terjadi pada subject-verb agreement, misformation errors merupakan jenis
kesalahan tata bahasa yang paling sering dibuat oleh mahasiwa. Kesalahan yang
menempati urutan kedua dan ketiga adalah omission errors dan simple addition
errors. Selain itu, kesalahan-kesalahan yang dibuat mahasiswa paling sering
dipengaruhi oleh faktor over-generalization. Sementara itu, hanya terdapat 11 dari
20 mahasiswa yang membuat kesalahan tata bahasa pada tenses. Para mahasiwa
itu kebanyakan membuat kesalahan tata bahasa yang berjenis misformation errors
dan omission errors. Faktor yang paling banyak mempengaruhi adalah overgeneralization. Selain itu, setelah menganalisis lebih jauh pada kalimat-kalimat
yang menyimpang dari tata bahasa yang berlaku, peneliti menemukan bahwa para
mahasiswa juga melakukan errors dan mistakes pada singular and plural noun
serta pada paired conjunction.
Kata Kunci: kesalahan, subject-verb agreement, tenses, presentasi
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My endless gratitude is dedicated to Lord Jesus Christ and Mother
Mary for accompanying me in every single thing I have encountered. Although
life is not easy, They always encourage me to see this life in a positive point of
view.
My deepest gratitude is addressed to my sponsor, Carla Sih Prabandari,
S.Pd., M.Hum. I thank her for guiding, assisting and supporting me in
accomplishing this thesis. Her patience and dedication have led me to always be
strong and enthusiastic during the process of creating this thesis.
Lots of thanks are addressed to Yuseva Ariyani Iswandari, S.Pd., M.Ed.
and Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. for proofreading my thesis in their busy
time. Their criticisms and suggestions definitely have motivated me to improve
my thesis more. I would like to thank Yuseva Ariyani Iswandari, S.Pd., M.Ed.,
Christina

Lhaksmita

Anandari,

S.Pd.,

Ed.M.

and

Fidelis

Chosa

Kastuhandani, M.Hum. for allowing me to take the data from their Critical
Listening and Speaking (CLS) 2 classes. I would also like to thank the fourth
semester students in CLS 2 classes of the 2012/2013 academic year for giving me
permission to record their performances and use them as the data for my thesis.
Besides, my sincere thanks are addressed to all ELESP lecturers who have
taught many things to me academically and non-academically, which will be very
useful for my future. I would also like to express my gratitude to the ELESP

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secretariat staff for helping me in the process I have passed in my study
program.
My special thanks are dedicated to my parents, Bapak Yustinus Pedo and
Ibu Yustina Suryatmi and also my brother, Krisantus Satrio Wibowo Pedo,
who always support me during the process, especially when I faced some
desperated moments. I have been inspired and motivated by their affection and
hard work. I also specially would like to express my gratitude to Jeff
Dharmaputra, who always gives me love, support and advice during the process
of my study.
My sincere gratitude is also addressed to all my friends in campus, in
PPL, in KKN, in Play Performance project (Elegy’s team) and in my boarding
house. They, in their own ways, give me support, laughter and wonderful stories
in my life.
At last, I would like to thank everybody who has directly or indirectly
helped me to accomplish my thesis.

Venansia Ajeng Surya Ariyani Pedo

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ..........................................................................................

i

APPROVAL PAGES ...............................................................................

ii

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY .........................................

v

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ..........................................

vi

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................

vii

ABSTRAK ................................................................................................

viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................

xi

LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES ..........................................................................

xvi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................

1

A. Research Background ............................................................

1

B. Research Problem ..................................................................

4

C. Problem Limitation ................................................................

4

D. Research Objectives...............................................................

5

E. Research Benefits ..................................................................

5

F. Definition of Terms ...............................................................

6

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .........................

10

A. Theoretical Description..........................................................

10

1. Grammar..........................................................................

10

2. Simple Past Tense ............................................................

11

3. Subject-Verb Agreement ..................................................

12

4. Speaking ..........................................................................

16

5. Errors ...............................................................................

18

a. Definition of Errors ....................................................

18

b. Types of Errors ..........................................................

18

1) The Error ..............................................................

18

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2) The Mistake .........................................................

19

3) The Lapse.............................................................

19

c. Types of Grammatical Errors .....................................

19

1) Simple Addition ...................................................

20

2) Omission ..............................................................

20

3) Misformation........................................................

20

4) Misordering ..........................................................

21

d. Causes of Errors .........................................................

21

1) Interlanguage Interference ....................................

22

a) Translation .....................................................

22

b) Sociolinguistics Situation................................

23

2) Intralingual Interference .......................................

23

a) Over-generalization ........................................

23

b) Ignorance of Rule Restrictions ........................

24

c) Incomplete Application of Rules.....................

25

d) False Concepts Hypothesized .........................

25

e. How to Differentiate between Errors and Mistakes .....

26

B. Theoretical Framework ..........................................................

27

CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .....................................

30

A. Research Method ...................................................................

30

B. Research Participants .............................................................

31

C. Research Setting ....................................................................

32

D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique............................

32

E. Data Analysis Technique .......................................................

34

F. Research Procedure ...............................................................

35

CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................

37

A. Types of Subject-Verb Agreement Errors ..............................

37

1. Data Presentation on the Types of Subject-Verb Agreement
Errors ...............................................................................
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2. Analysis on the Types of Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

40

B. Possible Factors Influencing Students to Produce Subject-Verb
Agreement Errors ..................................................................

47

1. Data Presentation on the Possible Factors Influencing Students to
Produce Subject-Verb Agreement Errors..........................

48

2. Analysis on the Possible Factors Influencing Students to
Produce Subject-Verb Agreement Errors..........................

49

C. Types of Tenses Errors ..........................................................

53

1. Data Presentation on the Types of Tenses Errors ..............

53

2. Analysis on the Types of Tenses Errors............................

56

D. Possible Factors Influencing Students to Produce Tenses
Errors ....................................................................................

59

1. Data Presentation on the Possible Factors Influencing Students to
Produce Tenses Errors .....................................................

59

2. Analysis on the Possible Factors Influencing Students to
Produce Tenses Errors .....................................................

60

E. Other Findings .......................................................................

62

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............

65

A. Conclusions ...........................................................................

65

B. Recommendations .................................................................

67

REFERENCES ........................................................................................

70

APPENDICES .........................................................................................

72

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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 3 Classification on Types and Causes of Errors ..............................

34

Table 4.1 Types of Subject-Verb Agreement Errors .................................

39

Table 4.2 The Utterances Containing Misformation of Plural and Singular
Form ........................................................................................................

41

Table 4.3 The Utterances Containing Misformation Dealing with Special
Cases in Simple Present Tense .................................................................

42

Table 4.4 The Utterances Containing Misformation in Adjective Clause ..

43

Table 4.5 The Utterance Containing Misformation in Passive Voice ........

44

Table 4.6 The Utterances Containing Omission of Auxiliary Verb ...........

45

Table 4.7 The Utterances Containing Omission of Inflectional Morpheme

46

Table 4.8 The Utterances Containing Simple Addition Errors ..................

47

Table 4.9 Frequency on Causes of Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement
cases ........................................................................................................

48

Table 4.10 The Utterances Influenced by Over-Generalization in
Subject-Verb Agreement Cases ................................................................

50

Table 4.11 The Utterances Influenced by False Concepts Hypothesized in
Subject-Verb Agreement Cases ................................................................

51

Table 4.12 The Utterance Influenced by Ignorance of Rule Restrictions in
Subject-Verb Agreement Cases ................................................................

52

Table 4.13 Types of Tenses Errors ...........................................................

55

Table 4.14 The Utterances Containing Misformation on the Present Pattern
Use in Past Context ..................................................................................

57

Table 4.15 The Utterance Containing Misformation on the Past Pattern Use
in Present Context ...................................................................................

57

Table 4.16 The Utterance Containing Misformation on the Use of Auxiliary
Verb in Active Voice ...............................................................................

58

Table 4.17 The Utterances Containing Omission......................................

59

Table 4.18 Frequency on Causes of Errors in Tenses Cases......................

60

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Table 4.19 The Utterance Influenced by Over-Generalization in Tenses
Cases .......................................................................................................

61

Table 4.20 The Utterance Influenced by False Concepts Hypothesized in
Tenses Cases............................................................................................

62

Table 4.21 The Utterances Containing Mistake and Errors in Plural and
Singular Noun..........................................................................................

63

Table 4.22 The Utterances Containing Mistakes in Paired Conjunction ....

63

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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A:
Letter of Permission .................................................................................

73

Appendix B:
Samples of Letter of Consent ...................................................................

80

Appendix C:
Transcriptions of Participants’ Utterances ................................................

83

Appendix D:
A Summary and Some Samples of Questionnaire Result ..........................

113

Appendix E:
Classification on Types and Causes of Errors in Subject-Verb
Agreement Cases .....................................................................................

130

Appendix F:
Classification on Types and Causes of Errors in Tenses Cases .................

144

Appendix G:
Minimum Requirements ..........................................................................

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the researcher provides the information about the research
background, research problem, problem limitation, research objectives, research
benefits and definition of terms. In the research background, the researcher
explains the background information on the issues. Meanwhile, in the research
problem, the researcher provides the questions to be answered in this research.
The limitation of the scope and the focus of the research are explained in the
problem limitation. The researcher also presents the outcomes of the research in
the research objectives. Besides, in the research benefits, the researcher defines
the benefits of the research and who will obtain the benefits of the study. At last,
the researcher elucidates the key words or phrases used in the study in the
definition of terms.
A. Research Background
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) say that English is one of the
important languages many people desire to acquire. Many people make an effort
to learn English because English is important for communication occurred among
people around the world. In communication, people need both written and spoken
English because people not only can communicate through written text but also
can communicate through conversation. The need of producing written and
spoken English in a good way is also a concern to English Language Education
Study Program (ELESP) students. As teacher candidates, there are many
requisitions they need to execute in order to be good teachers. They have to speak
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in front of the class because they need to give instructions to the students and
explain the materials to them. Besides, as the teachers, they are expected to be the
role models for the students. Being a role model, a teacher has to deliver the
correct utterances in front of the class.
According to Tanveer (2007), in producing utterances correctly, a speaker
has to look for suitable lexis, has to construct an appropriate syntactic structure
and needs to use a comprehensible accent. Besides, a speaker should think,
organize and express ideas at the same time. Therefore, to produce utterances in a
good way, the ELESP students, as the teacher candidates, need to put grammar as
their concern. In other words, they are expected to compose grammatically correct
utterances in their speaking. However, based on the researcher’s observation,
there were many students failing to produce grammatically correct utterances
when they spoke. The utterances they delivered in their speaking violated the
rules stated in the grammar.
Based on the findings in small research conducted by the researcher, the
problems in grammar were encountered by the fourth semester students of ELESP
in their speaking. They faced difficulties in two aspects of grammar, namely
subject-verb agreement and tenses especially simple past tense. They did not
master the correct rules in subject-verb agreement and tenses. Consequently, they
produced subject-verb agreement errors and tenses errors when they spoke.
The inability of ELESP students in grammar can lead to some problems
for their future. In fact, ELESP students are going to be teachers. Hence, their
incompetence in grammar will influence them to produce many errors when they

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teach in front of the class. Consequently, their future students will follow the form
of utterances they deliver. In other words, the future students will produce exactly
the same errors or even more errors in English. It means that in the future, ELESP
students fail to be the good role models for their future students.
Concerning the problems in grammar confronted by ELESP students, the
researcher considered the importance to investigate subject-verb agreement and
tenses errors in utterances produced by the fourth semester students of ELESP.
The errors should be investigated more on the type of errors and the causes of
errors in the students’ utterances. It is necessary because the lecturers have to
know the difficulties faced by ELESP students. Therefore, they can have more
concern on the problems and create any strategies to prevent the errors produced
by the students in speaking. According to Luoma (2004), the assessment designers
of speaking should help the students to overcome the possible tendency of errors
they produce in speaking.
Since the focus of this study is on the grammar in the students’ utterances,
the researcher determines to define the differences between grammar in spoken
and written English. According to Luoma (2004), grammar in speech can be
considered to consist of idea units, namely short phrases and clauses connected
with and, or, but or that, or not joined by conjunctions, with possibly a short
pause between them. Luoma (2004) also states that the grammar of the spoken
language is simpler than written language. In written language, the sentence is
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In this study, the aspect of speaking that is observed is only planned
speech. Based on Luoma (2004), spoken language especially planned speech is
still influenced by grammar in written language but it is only shorter in sentence
than written language. Besides, the possible factors are only studied on
intralingual factors.
B. Research Problem
The researcher conducted the study based on four main problems. They
are as follows.
1. What kinds of subject-verb agreement errors are found in English Language
Education Study Program students’ utterances?
2. What are possible factors influencing the students to produce subject-verb
agreement errors in their utterances?
3. What kinds of tenses errors are found in English Language Education Study
Program students’ utterances?
4. What are possible factors influencing the students to produce tenses errors in
their utterances?
C. Problem Limitation
Conducting this research, there are some limitations drawn by the
researcher. First, this study is a survey on some small groups in six Critical
Listening and Speaking (CLS) 2 classes of ELESP. The researcher randomly
chose the students’ presentations to be recorded. Then, 20 recordings containing
many errors were chosen to be the samples of this study. Therefore, the result of

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this study cannot be generalized. Second, this study only focuses on grammatical
errors so that the researcher does not concern any other errors except grammatical
errors. Moreover, the aspects of grammatical errors that become the focus in this
study are only subject-verb agreement errors and tenses errors.
D. Research Objectives
The researcher has formulated four objectives based on the problems
mentioned in this study. The objectives of this research are:
1. to find out the kinds of subject-verb agreement errors found in English
Language Education Study Program students’ utterances.
2. to find out the possible factors that influence the students to produce subjectverb agreement errors in their utterances.
3. to find out the kinds of tenses errors found in English Language Education
Study Program students’ utterances.
4. to find out the possible factors that influence the students to produce tenses
errors in their utterances.
E. Research Benefits
By doing this study, the researcher expects the results will contribute some
benefits to:
1. English Language Education Study Program Lecturers
By having the result of this study, the ELESP lecturers can improve the
materials they are going to deliver to the students, especially the materials
discussing grammar. Although this study only focuses on subject-verb agreement

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and tenses errors in students’ utterances, the result can show the mastery of the
students in subject-verb agreement and tenses. Therefore, by studying the result of
this study, the lecturers will know the weaknesses of the students so that they can
improve the materials for teaching grammar, especially when concerning the
speaking skills.
2. Students of English Language and Education Study Program
By studying the result of this study, the students can be more aware of
grammar when they speak. Besides, they can focus their study on grammar based
on the subject-verb agreement and tenses errors found in this study. By having
correction on their own errors in speaking, they can improve their grammar in
their utterances.
F. Definition of Terms
To make a clear understanding of this study, the researcher includes some
definitions of important terms:
1. Error Analysis
According to Norrish (1983), errors are any deviant structures, which are
created by a learner. Meanwhile, in this study, the researcher focuses only on
errors. Hence, it does not deal with mistakes or lapses. Therefore, errors in this
study refer to the systematically deviant structures created by the learners.
However, the researcher does not analyse all systematically deviant structures but
the researcher only focuses on the systematically deviant structures of subjectverb agreement and tenses.

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According to Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005), “error analysis consists of a set
of procedures for identifying, describing and explaining learner errors” (p. 51).
The researcher uses this definition to define error analysis in this study. In this
study, error analysis refers to an attempt to provide data about the types and the
causes of subject-verb agreement and tenses errors occurring in the learners’
utterances.
2. Subject-verb Agreement Errors
Based on Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985) “concord (also
termed 'agreement') can be defined as the relationship between two grammatical
units such that one of them displays a particular feature (eg plurality) that accords
with a displayed (or semantically implicit) feature in the other.” (p.755). From the
definition, the researcher deduces that subject-verb agreement means the accord
between the subject and the verb. Meanwhile, according to Norrish (1983), the
error is the systematic deviation. Therefore, in this study, subject-verb agreement
errors refer to the systematic violations of the rules in subject-verb agreement.
3. Tenses Errors
Grammar contains many aspects including tenses. However, in this study,
tenses refer to simple past tense. Simple past tense consists of rules to apply in
forming a good sentence containing simple past context. Meanwhile, based on
Norrish (1983), the errors are systematically deviant structures, which are created
by a learner. Because of that, tenses errors in this study refer to the systematically
deviant errors violating the pattern required to create a correct simple past
sentence.

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4. Utterances
Based on Lyons (1995), “in everyday English, the word utterance is
generally used to refer to spoken language” (p. 34). Meanwhile, according to
Carter and Maccharty (2006), utterance refers to the complete communicative
units such as single words, phrases, clauses and clauses combinations spoken in a
context. However, utterances in this study refer only to sentences produced in
speaking. According to Luoma (2004), speaking consists of planned and
unplanned speech. In this study, speaking focuses on planned speech which the
speakers have prepared and possibly rehearsed their presentation in advance or the
speakers have mastered the topics they deliver. It is mostly found in speeches,
lectures, conference presentations and expert discussions. However, in this study
the researcher only focuses on the individual and group presentations. Therefore,
the utterances analysed in this study are the utterances produced in the students’
planned speeches especially in the individual and group presentations.
5. Fourth Semester Students of English Language Education Study
Program
In this study, the fourth semester students of the English Language
Education Study Program refer to the students who have studied English for about
two years. However, the researcher only focuses on the speaking aspect.
Therefore, the students mentioned in this study are the students who must have
taken speaking 1, speaking 2 and Critical Listening and Speaking (CLS) 1 classes.
The students are those who deliver individual or group presentations in Critical
Listening and Speaking (CLS) 2 class. Based on Panduan Akademik Pendidikan
Bahasa Inggris (2011), in CLS 2 class especially in the class of speaking, the

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students are expected to be able to give oral critical response and reflection based
on the given topics individually and/or in group.

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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of two main parts, namely the theoretical description
and theoretical framework. The first part, the theoretical description, discusses
some theories related to this study. Meanwhile, all major relevant theories are
summarized and synthesized in the second part called the theoretical framework.
Those are the theories that support the researcher to conduct the study in order to
solve the research problems. In this part, the researcher relates the theories to the
research problems.
A. Theoretical Description
In the first part of this section, the researcher discusses grammar. The
second part presents the rules in simple past tense. Meanwhile, the rules of
subject-verb agreement are described in the third part. In the fourth part, the
researcher discusses the theories in speaking. Meanwhile, the theories about errors
are elucidated in the fifth part.
1. Grammar
Based on Swan (1996) “grammar is the rules that say how words are
combined, arranged and changed to show different meanings” (p. xxiii).
According to Lock (1996), grammar includes two aspects, namely the
arrangement of words and the internal structure of words. Reviewing those
theories, the researcher considers that the definition proposed by Lock is better
than the definition suggested by Swan because Swan’s definition only focuses on
10

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the arrangement of words without concerning the internal structure of words. On
the contrary, Lock discusses both things, namely the arrangement of words and
the internal structure of words. Therefore, the researcher prefers to use Lock’s
theory for the definition of grammar.
Based on Lock (1996), we may be interested in how the words are
combined to form a meaningful sentence. This aspect of grammar is usually called
syntax. Besides, we also may focus on the internal structure of the words. For
example, in a sentence such as
[1] She washed the dishes after having a meal
Analysing sentence [1], we may be interested in the internal structure of
the word washed. In fact, the word washed can be divided into two parts – wash +
ed. Besides, sentence [1] can be analysed by looking at the syntax which usually
concerns the sentence structure. Dealing with the sentence structure, minimum
requirements are the important aspects to consider in composing a grammatically
correct sentence. Hence, in analysing the sentence structure, we may concern the
minimum requirements consisting of concord, finite verbs, tenses, verb groups,
articles, punctuation and spelling. Meanwhile, in this study, the focus of the
analysis is on two aspects of minimum requirements, namely tenses and subjectverb agreement. Furthermore, the aspect of tenses discussed is only on simple past
tense. For further information on the minimum requirements, see appendix g.
2. Simple Past Tense
Based on Lock (1996), “past is a time before the moment of speaking or
writing” (p. 161). It is usually indicated by some words such as just, the day

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before, recently, and previously. According to Swan (1996), there are some
functions of simple past tense. They are as follows.
a.

We use the simple past tense to talk about many kinds of past events: short,
quickly finished actions and happenings, longer situations, and repeated
events.
[2] Peter broke a window last night.
[3] I spent all my childhood in Scotland.

b. The simple past is common in story-telling and when we are telling people
about past events.
[4] One day the Princess decided that she did not like staying at home all
day, so she told her father that she wanted to get a job...
c. The simple past is often used with references to finished periods and
moments of time.
[5] I saw John yesterday morning. He told me…
3. Subject-verb Agreement
Based on Quirk et al. (1997), “Concord (also termed 'agreement') can be
defined as the relationship between two grammatical units such that one of them
displays a particular feature (eg plurality) that accords with a displayed (or
semantically implicit) feature in the other.” (p. 755). The rules are as follows.
a. A singular subject requires a singular verb.
[6] My daughter watches television after supper. (singular subject +
singular verb)

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b. A plural subject requires a plural verb.
[7] My daughters watch television after supper. (plural subject + plural
verb)
c. When the subject is realized by a noun phrase, the phrase counts as singular if
its head is singular.
[8] The change in male attitudes is most obvious in industry.
[9] The changes in male attitudes are most obvious in industry.
d. Finite and nonfinite clauses generally count as singular.
[10] How you got there does not concern me.
[11] To treat them as hostages is criminal.
[12] Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your health.
e. Prepositional phrases and adverbs functioning as subject also count as singular
[13] In the evenings is best for me.
[14] Slowly does it!
f.

An apparent exception for clauses is the nominal relative clause.
Nominal relative clauses are on the continuum from clause to noun phrase.

For the purpose of concord, their number depends on the interpretation of the
number of the wh-element. With the determiners what and whatever, the concord
depends on the number of the determined noun. Contrast [17] and [18] below:
[15] What were supposed to be new proposals were in fact modifications
of earlier ones
[16] What was once a palace is now a pile of rubble.
[17] Whatever book a Times reviewer praises sells well.

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[18] What ideas he has are his wife's.
g.

A verb counts as singular if the first verb in a finite verb phrase has a singular
form.
[19] My son has no intention of spending a vacation with me.
[20] My sons have no intention of spending a vacation with me.

h. The application of the general rule is restricted in several general respects.
(1) Except for the verb be, the verb shows a distinction of number only in the 3rd
person present. Hence, the verb generally does not show concord in the past:
[21] My daughter watched television after supper.
[22] My daughters watched television after supper.
The verb be displays concord also in the 3rd person past:
[23] My daughter was watching television in my bedroom.
[24] My daughters were watching television in my bedroom.
(2) Number concord is displayed only in the indicative. Nonfinite verbs,
imperatives, and subjunctives make no number distinctions.
(3) Modal auxiliaries make no number distinctions:
[25] My daughter may watch television after supper.
[26] My daughters may watch television after supper.
Besides, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) also propose rules for
persistently troublesome cases in subject-verb agreement. They are as follows.
a.

Collective nouns may take either a singular or plural verb inflection
depending on the meaning.
[27] Our school team has won all its games. (The team as a whole)

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[28] Our school team have won all its games. (Individual team members)
b. Some common and proper nouns ending in –s, including –ics nouns and
certain diseases, are always conceived of a single entity and take a singular
verb inflection.
[29] Physics is a difficult object.
c. Titles of books, plays, operas, films, and such works take the singular verb
inflection even when they are plural in form.
[30] The Pirates of Carribean is my favourite film.
d. Nouns occurring in sets of two take the singular when the noun pair is present
but take the plural when pair is absent.
[31] A pair of trousers is on the sofa.
[32] These shoes need new heels.
e. A number of normally takes the plural, while the number takes the singular.
[33] A number of students have dropped that course.
[34] The number of students in this school is 2,000.
f. Fractions and percentages take a singular verb inflection when modifying a
noncount noun and the plural verb inflection when they modify a plural noun.
[35] One half of the toxic waste has escaped.
[36] Two thirds of the students are satisfied with the class.
g. The nouns majority and minority are variously described as singular, plural or
collective, depending on which reference grammar one consults.
1) An abstract or generic meaning that refers to superiority of numbers; the
reference can be human or nonhuman, but the number is always singular.

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[37] The great majority is helpless.
2) A specific meaning where one of two or more sets has a numerical plurality or
numerical inferiority can either singular or plural.
[38] The majority was/were determined to press its/their victory.
3) A specific meaning where most (majority) or less than half (minority) of an
explicit set of persons is being referred to. They should be plural.
[39] A majority of my friends advise it.
h. Plural unit words of distance, money and time take singular verb inflection
when one entity is implied but a plural verb inflection when more than one
entity is encoded in the subject.
[40] 1,000 miles is a long distance.
[41] 2 dollars are on the table.
i. Arithmetical operations (add, subtract, mutiply and divide) take the singular.
[42] One plus one equals two.
j. The quantifiers all (of), a lot of, lots of, and plenty of take the singular verb
agreement if the subject head noun is noncount but plural verb agreement if
the subject head noun is plural.
[43] A lot of nonsense was published about the incident.
[44] A lot of people were present when it happened.
4. Speaking
According to Luoma (2004), in general, “learners are seen to proceed from
knowing more and more, from using simple structure to using more complex
ones, and from making many errors to making few if any at all” (p. 12).

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Considering the theory, it can be inferred that many learners make errors in
speaking. Errors are often found in speaking, although the grammar in spoken
language is simpler than the grammar in written language. It is stated in Luoma’s
theory. According to Luoma (2004), “the grammar of these strings of idea units is
simpler than that of the written language with its long sentences and dependent
and subordinate clauses” (sic) (p. 12).
Although the grammar of spoken English is simpler than the written one
but mastering grammar in communication is considered as an important aspect. It
is stated by Nunan (1999), “one needs to know how to articulate sounds in a
comprehensible manner, one needs an adequate vocabulary, and one needs to have
mastery of syntax” (p. 226). It means that an aspect a learner should master in
communicative competence including producing utterances is syntax containing
the structure of a sentence stated in grammar. This statement is also stated by
Luoma (2004), “both first and second language learners’ progress is often tracked
according to the grammatical forms they can produce accurately” (p. 11).
Therefore, grammar is considered important in delivering utterances although it
will deliver in a simple way.
According to Nunan (1999), an aspect considered in speaking for second
language learners is whether their utterances are planned or spontaneous. Luoma
(2004) also proposes the same opinion. Based on Luoma (2004), speaking
consists of planned and unplanned speech. Planned speech consists of speech,
presentation, lecture, conference presentation and expert discussion. According to
Ochs (1979) as cited in Luoma (2004), the speakers who produce planned speech

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may have prepared their presentations or they deliver points and opinions they
have really mastered. In planned speech, the grammar used is simpler than the one
in writing because the speakers have to make the listeners understand what they
talk in real time. Meanwhile, unplanned speech is a kind of speaking activity in
which the person speaks on the spur of the moment and mostly occurs in reaction
to other speakers. Unplanned speech consists of conversations between speakers
that may happen in formal or informal situation.
5. Errors
In this part, the researcher clarifies the definition of errors, types of errors,
types of grammatical errors, causes of errors and how to differentiate between
errors and mistakes.
a. Definition of Errors
According to Norrish (1983), errors are any deviant forms made by the
learners. Besides, based on Corder (1971) as cited in Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005),
“an error can be defined as a breach of the rule of the code” (p. 56). Hence,
grammatical errors are any deviant structures in grammatical form which are
created by a learner.
b. Types of Errors
According to Norrish (1983), errors consist of three different types. They
are as follows.
1) The Error
According to Ellis (1997), “the error reflects gaps in a learner’s
knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct” (p. 17).

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Norrish (1983) has the same opinion in which he says that error is a systematic
deviation.
2) The Mistake
Based on Norrish (1983), the mistake happens when a learner has got the
knowledge on that particular pattern but he inconsistently uses that pattern in
which sometimes he uses that pattern and sometimes for the same context he uses
the other pattern.
3) The Lapse
According to Norrish (1983), this type of errors can happen any time and
to anyone. The lapse can occur because of many factors such as lack of
concentration, shortness of memory or fatigue. There is no clear indication on the