A study on the mastery of preposition of place at, in and on among the first semester students of English Language Education Study Program Of Sanata Dharma University - USD Repository

  

A STUDY ON THE MASTERY OF PREPOSITION OF PLACE AT, IN

AND ON AMONG THE FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA

UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

  

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  By Puguh Alfath Tegar

  Student Number: 011214147

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2009

  

A STUDY ON THE MASTERY OF PREPOSITION OF PLACE AT, IN

AND ON AMONG THE FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA

UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

  

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  By Puguh Alfath Tegar

  Student Number: 011214147

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2009

  i ii

iii

iv

v

  

ABSTRACT

Tegar, Puguh Alfath. 2009. A Study on the Mastery of Preposition of Place at,

in, and on Among the First Semester Students of English Language Education

Study Program of Sanata Dharma University . Yogyakarta: English Language

Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  It is impossible for the learner to avoid errors due to their attempt to learn English. One of difficulties may be faced by the learner in studying English is its grammar. And one of the grammar elements which are considered complicated is prepositions of place at, in and on. They are complicated because each of them has its own rules underlying it forms.

  This study was aimed to find out: (1) the learners’ achievement in using prepositions of place at, in and on, (2) the learners’ difficulties in mastering the prepositions of place at, in and on and (3) the possible causes of their difficulties in their attempt to master the prepositions of place at, in and on.

  As the instrument of the study, a test was administered to collect the needed data. This was a survey study of which the subject was the first semester students of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Random sampling technique was used as the representative sample.

  According to the academic Regulation of Sanata Dharma University, the writer discovered that the first semester students’ mastery on the prepositions of place at, in and on was sufficient. Their average achievement score was 28.68, which fell slightly above the minimum passing score for the category of sufficient (28-35). He found out that the students’ difficulty in mastering the prepositions of place at, in and on was on the application of preposition of place at. The students only achieved 46.83 % of correct answers in the test.

  The writer also found out the possible sources of error during their attempt to master prepositions of place at, in and on. Those factors were interference from the first language (Bahasa Indonesia), overgeneralization, false concept hypothesis and context of learning.

  Based on the conclusions and implications above three recommendations were proposed. The first was to the lecturer of the English Language Education Study programme. They were recommended to add the meeting hour of the lecture so that the lecturer can give more explanation and exercises on the subject. They were also recommended to add the textbook to broaden the knowledge over the prepositions of place at, in and on. The second was to the students. They were recommended to be more active in using their time to study in order to improve their mastery. The last was concerned with the need for other and further research on the tenses and construction with future meaning. vi

  

ABSTRAK

Tegar, Puguh Alfath. 2009. A Study on the Mastery of Preposition of Place at,

in, and on Among the First Semester Students of English Language Education

Study Program of Sanata Dharma University . Yogyakarta: Program Studi

Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Membuat kesalahan adalah hal yang tiydak bias dihindari oleh para mahasiswa dalam usahanya untuk belajar Bahasa Inggris. Salah satu hal yang menimbulkan kesulitan adalah tata bahasanya. Salah satu elemen tata bahasa yang dianggap sulit adalah kata ganti tempat di, di dalam dan pada. Mereka di anggap sulit karena masing-masing mempunyai pola (aturan) sendiri dalam bentuk dan pemakaiannya.

  Studi ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui (1) punguasaan kata ganti tempat di,

  

di dalam dan pada pada mahasiswa semester satu Program Studi Bahasa Inggris,

  Universitas Sanata Dharma, (2) mengetahui kesulitan yang mereka hadapi dalam penguasaan kata ganti tempat di, di dalam dan pada dan (3) mengetahui kemungkinan penyebab kesulitan yang mereka hadapi.

  Test diadakan untuk mengumpulkan data dan sekaligus menjadi instrument dalam studi ini. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian survey dimana populasinya adalah mahasiswa semester satu Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Metode random sampling digunakan untuk memilih sample.

  Berdasarkan Peraturan Akademik Universitas Sanata Dharma, penulis menemukan bahwa subyek dari studi ini dianggap telah cukup menguasai kata ganti tempat di, di dalam dan pada. Skor rata-rata yang mereka capai adalah 28.68 yang berada sedikit di atas batas bawah untuk kategori cukup (26-33). Penulis juga menemukan bahwa subyek dalam studi ini menemui kesulitan dalam menguasai kata ganti tempat di (at). Mereka hanya mencapai 46.83% pada keseluruhan test.

  Penulis juga menemukan kemungkinan-kemungkinan yang menyebabkan mereka mengalami kesulitan dalam menguasai kata ganti tempat di, di dalam dan

  

pada . Kemungkinan-kemungkinan tersebut adalah: interference from the first

language (Bahasa Indonesia), overgeneralization, false concept hypothesis dan

context of learning .

  Berdasarkan kesimpulan dan implikasi tersebut di atas, maka penulis memberikan beberapa rekomendasi. Untuk dosen Program Studi Bahasa Inggris disarankan untuk mengalokasikan lebih banyak waktu untuk mengajar dan memberikan latihan-latihan tentang kata ganti tempat di, di dalam dan pada. Mereka juga direkomendasikan untuk menambah buku panduan untuk menambah wawasan mahasiswa. Kepada para mahasiswa direkomendasikan untuk bisa memanfaatkan waktu belajar mereka dengan aktif dan kreatif. Dan rekomendasi juga diberikan kepada peneliti yang berminat untuk mengadakan penelitian lebih lanjut mengenai topik ini. vii

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to God Almighty for Thy love and guidance during my life especially the hard times in doing this thesis. He makes my life so beautiful and meaningful. He always gives me the wonderful surprises and blessings.

  I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Ag.

  

Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., for his guidance, encouragement, understanding,

  and advice from the beginning until the end of this thesis writing. I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd., M.Pd., who gave the permission to make her students in structure I class to be the participant of the study. I would also like to dedicate my gratitude to the students of Structure I Class B who willingly help me to be the participant of this study.

  My appreciation also goes to Caecillia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd., for her guidance and advice on my thesis. I also express my gratitude to all lecturers at Sanata Dharma University who have taught and given me valuable and great knowledge. I also would like to thank to the secretary staffs for helping me in the administration and the librarian for helping me in searching the references.

  I am sincerely grateful to my beloved parents Bapak Triyono Freda

  

Tama and Ibu E.M Sri Suhartini, for their endless love and for their prayer for

  my success. I also thank my lovely sisters, Riesta Tyan Maretha, Eldiaz Tyan

  

Febila, Alzena Anabila Suhada, Bintang Suhada and Kusuma Putra for their

support and attention.

  viii I also dedicated deepest gratitude to Henry Permana, Farah Fahrudin,

  

Bonny Muntahari Permana, and Solichin who willingly accept me as the part of

the family.

  My best gratitude goes to my partner in “crime”: Bhonz, Nyotz, Texex, Bobby,Coli, Andre, Rara, Dhee, Ratri, Lintang, Novi, Widi, Marina, Della, Lia, Peye, Julie, Nusi, Maya, Ari Oneng, DogDick, Tomy, Ukhe, Lunatic Maya, Cece, Pietz, Kopet, Pleky, and Lambz for sharing the joy and sorrow. I am honored to have such great friends as them. My life will not be the same without knowing them all in my life. My gratitude goes to all of my friends at Sanata Dharma University, especially 2001 students of PBI, with whom I have got through the good and bad times during my study.

  I address my acknowledgement to all my friends in Brojowikalpo 1A: Ghowez, Bebe, Ikke, Martha, Vita, Yusta, Dicta, Patrice, Hana, Neti,Thomas Djorji. I would also thank to the Gondolayu Community members: Katrow Kats_Onde, ekhi, Anton, Reza, Yoga, Dicky, and Dj Rey_no Karno. I thank them for encouraging me to keep trying and never give up. It is great to spend time with them.

  Last but not least, I would like to thank those whose names are not mentioned here for their support and prayer so that I could finish this thesis. May God bless them all.

  Puguh Alfath Tegar ix

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................... i

PAGES OF APPROVAL ................................................................................. ii

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

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

  

ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS .......................................... v

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... vi

ABSTRAK........................................................................................................... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................. viii

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

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

  

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 B. Problem Identification ............................................................................ 3 C. Problem Limitation ................................................................................ 4 D. Problem Formulation ............................................................................ 4 E. Objectives of the Research ..................................................................... 4 F. Benefits of the Research ........................................................................ 5 G. Definition of Terms ................................................................................ 5

CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................... 8

A. Some Existing Theories About Preposition of Place at, in and on ....... 8

  1. Preposition of Place at ....................................................................... 10

  2. Preposition of Place in........................................................................ 14

  3. Preposition of Place on....................................................................... 15

  4. Comparison of the Uses of Preposition of place at, in and on ........... 17 x

  5. Indonesian Preposition of Place di, di atas, di dalam and pada ........ 20

  a. Preposition of Place di..................................................................... 21

  b. Preposition of Place di atas............................................................. 21

  c. Preposition of Place di dalam.......................................................... 21

  d. Preposition of Place pada ............................................................... 22

  6. Possible Factors Causing Difficulty in Learning Preposition of Place at, in and on ........................................................................... 23

  a. Inter-lingual transfer........................................................................ 23

  b. Intra-lingual transfer........................................................................ 26

  c. Context of learning.......................................................................... 27

  B. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 28

  

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 31

A. Research Method ................................................................................... 31 B. Participants.............................................................................................. 31 C. Research Instrument ............................................................................... 32 D. Validity.................................................................................................... 34

  1. The Content-Related Evidence of Validity ........................................ 35

  2. The Criterion-Related Evidence of Validity ...................................... 35

  3. The Construct-Related Evidence of Validity ..................................... 35

  a. The variable Being Measured is Clearly Defined .......................... 36

  b. Formulate the Hypothesis............................................................... 36

  c. Test the Hypothesis ........................................................................ 37

  4. Face Validity ....................................................................................... 37

  5. Reliability............................................................................................ 37

  F. Data Gathering Procedure ....................................................................... 39

  G. Data Analysis Procedure ......................................................................... 39

  

CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION ...................... 41

A. Data Presentation ................................................................................... 41

  1. Students’ Achievement ...................................................................... 42

  2. Class’ Achievement............................................................................ 44

  3. Error Classification ............................................................................ 45 xi

  B. Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 46

  1. The Reliability of The test .................................................................. 46

  2. Presentation of Descriptive Statistic ................................................... 47

  3. The Analysis on the Students Achievements in Each Preposition of Place at, in and on ................................................................................... 50

  C. Discussion ............................................................................................... 52

  1. The Students’ Mastery on the Preposition of place at, in and on ....... 52

  2. The Students’ Difficulties in Mastering Preposition of Place at, in and

  on ............................................................................................................. 52

  a. The Students’ Difficulty in Mastering Preposition of place at ....... 53

  b. The Students’ Difficulty in Mastering Preposition of place in ....... 55

  c. The Students’ Difficulties in mastering Preposition of place on..... 57

  D. The Possible Causes of the Students’ Difficulties in Mastering Preposition of Place at, in and on............................................................................... 59

  1. Inter-lingual Transfer ......................................................................... 59

  2. Intra-lingual Transfer .......................................................................... 60

  3. Context of Learning ............................................................................ 60

  CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................... 62 A. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 62 B. Implication ............................................................................................. 63 C. Recommendation .................................................................................... 64

  1. Recommendation to the Lecturer ...................................................... 64 2. recommendation to the learner .......................................................... 64

  3. Recommendation to the Other and Further Researcher ..................... 65 xii

  

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 66

APPENDICES .................................................................................................. 69

  APPENDIX 1. The Test and the Answer of the Test ................................. 70 APPENDIX 2. Reliability of the Half Test ................................................ 72 APPENDIX 3. Reliability of the Full Test ................................................. 73 APPENDIX 4. The Students Score ............................................................ 74 APPENDIX 5 Descriptive Analysis .......................................................... 75 xiii

  

LIST OF TABLES

  Table 3.1: The Distribution of the Test Items .................................................... 33 Table 4.1: The Students’ Achievements in the Test .......................................... 42 Table 4.2: The Students’ Achievements in the First Part of the Test ................. 43 Table 4.3: The Students’ Achievements in the Second Part of the Test ............. 43 Table 4.4: The Class’ Achievements in the First Part of the Test....................... 44 Table 4.5: The Class’ Achievements in the Second Part of the Test ................. 45 Table 4.6: The Errors Classification ................................................................... 46 Table 4.7: The Descriptive Analysis .................................................................. 47 Table 4.8: Students’ Score Related to the Category ........................................... 49 Table 4.9: The Students’ Achievement on the Prepositions of at ...................... 50 Table 4.10: The Students’ Achievement on the Prepositions of in .................... 50 Table 4.11: The Students’ Achievement on the Prepositions of on ................... 50

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Dealing with learning English, learners cannot avoid learning four basic

  skills and three components. The four basic skills are speaking, reading, listening and writing, while the three components are pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. There are close relationships among them; they function together to build a complete mastery of English.

  Among the three components, grammar is one which is essential to enable students to produce correct sentences because it provides rules applied in every English sentence from the simple sentences until the most complicated ones. English sentences are composed of many kinds of constructions. Those constructions are usually formed by many classes of words or parts of speech.

  One word class that can be considered the most frequently used is the preposition. Prepositions are simple words. Although they are so, they are usually difficult to learn. Pittman (1966) comments on the prepositions: “Among those who teach or learn the English language, prepositions have earned a reputation for difficulty if not a downright unpredictability”.

  Reading some English grammar books on the prepositions, the writer found that there are not many definite rules about the English prepositions. Some prepositions have similar functions, e.g. preposition at, in and on all can indicate

  2 time (in the morning, on Monday, at night). On the other hand, preposition at, in and on all can indicate place too (at the gate, in the door, on the door).

  It is also important to consider that language transfer might happen while learning the second or foreign language. Learners usually translate their first language into the target language. Prepositions of place at, in and on in Indonesian are respectively translated as di/pada, di dalam and di/di atas/pada. For Indonesian learners learning those prepositions of place is difficult since they have almost the same meanings and their counterparts in the first language and target language do not always use them differently. The learners possibly find difficulty when they try to translate or apply di, di atas, di dalam or pada into English. They might be confused in choosing the correct preposition to form a good and correct sentence since in Indonesian their meanings are almost the same.

  In English, preposition of place at, in and on cannot be used randomly. There are definite rules for the preposition to use in phrases or in sentences. The function of each preposition in a phrase or in a sentence would not be the same.

  Based on the writer’s experience, a lot of students (in this case, the first year student of the English Language Education Study Program) still have difficulties to apply the preposition (especially preposition of place at, in and on) in their utterances. Their knowledge of preposition might be poor since they did not get enough explanation when they were studying in Senior High School. For example, when the students are asked to make a sentence, they might say: I saw a

  

lizard walking in the wall instead of I saw a lizard walking on the wall. Another

  example of the false concept of using preposition of place in their utterances is

  3 caused by the transfer from their first language. Students may think that the rules of using Indonesian preposition of place is more less the same as the English preposition of place since their meaning are almost the same. Thus, they just transfer and bring the rule and meaning from Indonesian into English. For example, when a learner translates an Indonesian language sentence “Doni tinggal

  

di Yogyakarta ” into English, he may translate “Doni lives at Yogyakarta”. He may

  think that at also means di instead of pada. In fact, his translation is incorrect; it should be “Doni lives in Yogyakarta”.

  Based on the difficulties faced by the students of English Language Education Study Program, this study is focused on measuring their proficiency of preposition of place at, in and on.

B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

  Preposition is the most frequently-used word in English. It plays important roles in order to produce correct sentences. The Indonesian learner as L2 students faced difficulties in learning the English (L2) since the rules in the L2 are interfered by their mother language (L1). Overlapping between rules of both languages often occurred in their utterances.

  It is likely happens when they tried to learn the prepositions of place at, in and on. The L1 rules to apply those preposition in their utterances has been set on their mind. When they are producing the L2, the L1 rules sometimes interfering and causing difficulties to produce L2 in the correct manner.

  4

  C. PROBLEM LIMITATION

  To ease this study, the writer needs to limit the area of the research to avoid the overlapping of the study. Based on Close (1963), there are two kinds of prepositions; preposition of place and preposition of time. In this study, the writer focused on the preposition of place at, in and on.

  D. PROBLEM FORMULATION

  Prepositions of place at, in and on are considered essential for every English learner to master in order to be able to produce correct and understandable sentences. The problems are formulated as follows:

  1. Have the students mastered the preposition of place at, in and on?

  2. What are the difficulties faced by the students in their attempt to master the preposition of place at, in and on?

  3. What are the factors which may cause difficulties to the students to master preposition of place at, in and on?

  E. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

  The objectives of the research are decided as follows:

  1. To find out the learners’ achievement in using preposition of place at, in and on .

  2. To find out the learners’ difficulties in mastering the preposition of place at, in and on.

  5

  3. To identify the possible causes of their difficulties in their attempt to master the preposition of place at, in and on.

  F. BENEFITS OF THE RESEARCH

  Hopefully, from this study, the readers, the English learners or those who are interested in learning English will be able to know more the nature of English prepositions of place. Since there are not many English grammars textbooks that provide enough space for the discussion of prepositions of place at, in and on.

  As for the teacher, this study can help them to improve their teaching ability. From this study, the teacher might find out difficulties that are faced by their students in learning the preposition of place at, in and on. The teachers then will be able to help the students to improve their learning.

  G. DEFINITION OF TERMS

  It is important to give the sufficient information about some terms used in this study in order to avoid misunderstanding. These words below are some terms used in this paper:

  1. Mastery In this study, the term mastery is understood as proposed by Charles Fries.

  Fries (1948:3) says that a person has learned a foreign language when he has thus, within limited vocabulary, mastered the sound system (that is when he can understand the stream of speech and achieve an understandable production of it) and has, secondly, made the structural devices (that is the basic arrangement of

  6 utterances) matters of automatic habit. The term mastery in this study is match to the second requirement mastery (mastery of ‘structural devices’) as it listed above. It might to be said since the prepositions of place are part of structural devices and it has its own form, meaning and uses. In other words, those who are considered to have mastered the structural devices should meet these requirements: a. knows the forms and the rules underlying them

  b. knows the meaning of those forms c. knows how to use those constructions correctly and appropriately.

  2. Preposition of place at, in and on In this study a preposition of place means a word or a group of words often placed before a noun or pronoun to indicate place (Curme, 1966). A preposition of place at is used to show the exact points. Preposition at and in is used within a larger area and is consequently used with bigger towns’ valley and countries (Corder, 1979:107), and on is used to indicate position on a surface partially or entirely (Close, 1962: 150).

  3. Error In this study, error, as it is stated by Norrish (1993; 7), “is a systematic deviation, when a learner has not learned something and consistently gets it wrong“. Corder (1997) who is cited in Dulay (1982: 139) states that “Error is reversed for the systematic deviations due to the learner are still developing knowledge of the L (2) rule system”.

  4. Inter-lingual Transfer

  7 In this study, inter-lingual transfer as it is stated by Dulay et al., in the book Language Two, states the theories of interference and transfer. The first one is essentially psychological and the other is essentially sociolinguistic. Interference has been used to refer to two very different linguistic phenomena. Interference refers to language interaction, such as linguistic borrowing and language switching.

  5. Intra-lingual transfer In this study Intra-lingual errors are those which reflect the general characteristic of rule learning, and developmental errors illustrate the learner attempting to build op hypothesis about the English language from his limited experience of it in the classroom textbook (Richards, 1977: p.174).

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter contains two main topics of discussion on which this study is

  based. The first section discusses on the theories related to the study which later on help to answer the questions of the study as it was wrote in the problem formulation. The second is the theoretical framework of mastering the preposition of place at, in and on.

A. Some Existing Theories about Preposition of Place at, in and on

  The function of language is usually defined as by which man communicates or to convey information; a system of communication; for the purposes of communication (Corder 1979, p.32). The primary use of preposition in English according to Dixon (1991, p.270) is to introduce a peripheral noun phrase, providing location or temporal specification (e.g. in the house, at three o’clock) or making an instrument (with a stone), a beneficiary (for Mary), a recipient (to John). Close (1962, p.141) states that prepositions express a relationship in space between one thing and another, and relationships in time between events. There are many kinds of prepositions in English related to place and time. Preposition of place as a part of language system has a certain function.

  Its function is to indicate direction or location of the following noun. Thus, prepositions of place indicate (Close, 1962, p.141):

• something with no dimension or unspecified dimension: A POINT
• something with one dimension: A LINE

  9

• something with two dimensions: A SURFACE (having an area) and, • something with three dimensions: A SPACE (having volume).

  “In using prepositions we are concerned not so much with objective measurement, i.e. with the actual dimension of the thing to which we are referring to, as with how we imagine them to be at the time of speaking. Thus, we can imagine a town as a point in the map, a surface to go across, or a space we live in or walk through. Moreover, a point itself, as seen through microscope, may appear to have an area which can be covered or space which can be penetrated” (Close, 1962, p.143).

  However, this study was only concentrated on prepositions of place at, in, and on. Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1978, p.807) discuss the prepositions of place at, in and on, which is described as follows: Picture 1.

  X at , as dimension-type 0 preposition (point)

  on, as dimension-type 1 or 2 preposition (line or surface)

   in , as dimension-type 2 or 3 preposition (area or volume)

  The preposition of place at, in and on can signify simple position and destination. The notion of simple position (or static location) and destination (movement with respect to an intended location) obtains cause and effect relationship (Quirk et al, 1980: 107):

  Destination Position Tom went to Cambridge As a result: Tom was at Cambridge.

  Tom fell on (to) the floor. As a result: Tom was on the floor.

  10 Tom dived in (to) the water. As a result: Tom was in the water. Further discussion below will explain existing theories about prepositions of place at, in and on and their uses. However, complex prepositions like in spite of and in view of will not be disscussed.

1. Preposition of place ‘at’

  The function of preposition of place at, according to Spit Corder (1979, p.107) is to show an exact point. R. A. Close states that the other functions of at are to show the same position without specifying dimension. In other words, He says that the preposition of place at has the idea of stationary relationship with an unspecified dimension (1962, p.142).

  There are many uses of the preposition of place according to its functions. Raymond Murphy (1990, p.328) gives some examples of the uses of the preposition of place at, which is used to show the exact points, as follows:

  The preposition of place at is used

  a. when someone is at an event or exact time, e.g.:

• at a conference
• at a football match
• at a party The uses in sentences are • She met the headmaster at a conference.
• I saw jack at the football match on Sunday.
• There were many people at the party.

  b. to show an exact place or location, for example;

  11

• at the royal festival hall
• at the cinema/ at the theatre
• at the company’s headquarter
• at the national museum Picture 2.

  _________ at the top (of the page) _______________ _______________ _______________ at the bottom (of the page) Picture 3.

  X at the end of the street

  The uses in the sentences are: • We went to a concert at the royal festival Hall.

• They were at the national Museum last Sunday.
• Write your name at the top of the page.
• Write the mark at the bottom of the page.
• Jack’s house is the white one at the end of the street.

  c. when a town or village is a point on a journey, for example:

• Do you know if this train stops at Nottingham?

  12

• We stop at a pretty village on the way to London.

  The use of the preposition of place at that has an idea of stationery relationship with unspecified dimension is shown in the following examples:

• at the bus stop
• at the door
• at the window The uses in the sentences are - The man is at the bus stop.
• He is standing at the door.
• She is sitting at the window.

  These sentences suggest that the subjects occupy more or less the same position as the indicated places without specifying dimensions.

  Beside the two functions above there are some expressions requiring preposition of place at such as:

• at home
• at university
• at work
• at school
• at the seaside
• at someone’s house
• at a station
• at an airport
• at the north pole

  13 The uses in the sentences are - I’ll be back at work until 5.30 but I’ll be at home all evening.

• Julia is studying medicine at university.
• We’ll be arriving at 9.30. Can you meet us at the station? - I was at Tom’s house last night.

  Corder ( 1979, p.108 ) says that the prepositions of place at is also used with certain verbs, such as aim at, laugh at, throw at, look at, arrive at. For example: - Throw a stone at the fierce dog.

• He looked at me.

  The verb point can be followed by either preposition at or to. The contrast between a point at and point to is shown in the example below (Close, 1977).

• He pointed at the brown house (the same as aim at).

  “Point at suggest an exact place and can be followed by human subject or object and inanimate subject or object.

• He pointed to the trees.

  “Point to” suggest in the direction of the trees.

  Corder also introduces principal collocation with the preposition of place

  

at . A collocation means a group of words frequently found together. It often has a

  meaning that cannot be easily understood even if the meaning of each word in the group is known (Corder, 1979: 112). Here are the lists of principle of collocation with at:

  At work means at one’s place of employment

  14

  At home means stay in the house At church means inside the church At sea means on a ship At school means stay in the building (school) to learn At hand means near by 2.

   Preposition of place ‘in’

  The preposition of place in is to indicate that X occupies some or all the space Y (Close, 1962: 141). The preposition of place in has an idea of within a geographical location such as towns, valleys and countries (Corder, 1979: 107). The uses of preposition of place in observed by some expert are presented in the following pictures.

  Picture 4.

  In (inside) In a room/ in a building

  In a garden/ in a park In a town/ in a country

  In the water In the sea In the river

  In a row/ in a line In a queue

  The uses in sentences are: - There is no one in the shop.

• The children are playing in the garden.

  15

• When we are in Italy, we spent a few days in Venice.
• Robert lives in a small village in the mountains.
• Look at the girl swimming in the river.
• I prefer to sit in the front row.
• Have you read the article in the newspaper?

  (Murphy, 1990: 224) Some prepositions which requires preposition of place in are:

• ( sit ) in armchair
• In a photograph
• In the sky
• In hospital
• In prison For example:
• Who is the woman in the photograph? - It was a lovely day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
• Don’t sit in that armchair. It’s broken.
• Tom’s father is in hospital.

  There are also principles collocations with the preposition of place in (Corder, 1979: 115-6), such as: In place means in a certain place.

  In bed means lay on a bed.

3. Preposition of place ‘on’

  The preposition of place on according to Close (1962, p.142) is used:

  16 a. in relation with a line ( one dimension ) e.g. I am on my way home.

  We are on the motorway.

  b. to indicate location on a surface ( two dimension ) Picture 5.

  On the ceiling On the wall On the floor

  For example: - Don’t sit on the floor.

• There is a dirty mark on the wall/ on the ceiling.
• Have you seen the notice on the notice-board? - There is a report of the football on page 7 of the newspaper.
• The book you are looking for is on the top shelf/ on the table.
• Don’t sit on the chair. It’s broken.
• Our flat is on the second floor of the building.

  Murphy (1990, p.235) gives the uses of preposition of place on as follows: 1) Idiomatic expression with prepositions of place on.

  on the left/ on the right (or on the left/ right-hand side)

  e.g. In Britain we drove on the left. (or…on the left hand side)

  17 2) To indicate location on a small area, such as a small island.

  e. g. Tom spent his holiday on a small island of the coast of Scotland. 3) To indicate enclosure in a geographical map, such as on the coast/ on a river/ on a road.

  e, g. London is on the river Thames.

   Portsmouth is on the south coast of England.

4. Comparison of the uses of preposition of place at, in and on

  Comparison of the uses of preposition of place at, in and on has been introduced (Quirk et al., 1980: 310). Observe the following.

• at the door e.g. The manager stood at the door . The door is seen as a dimensionless location, and no details concerning its shape or size into focus. Thus, at is a dimension-type 0 preposition.
• on the door e.g. There was a new coat of paint on the door. It makes us see the door as two dimensional things, i.e. a surface. On can indicate location of either one or two dimension (line or surface). Thus, on is a dimension-type one or two preposition.
• in the door e.g. There was a wood worm in the door. There door is seen as three dimensional object, an object having volume. Thus, in is a dimension-type two or three preposition.

  18 The contrast between on (=surface) and in (=area) has various implications according to context, as the three examples below. Observe the following part (Quirk et al., 1980: 310).

  a. on the window : The frost made pattern on the window. (window= a glass surface)

  in the window : A face appeared in the window/ mirror. (window, mirror=

  framed area)

  on the field : The players were practising on the field. (field=surface for

  sport)

   in the field : Cows were grazing in the field. (field= enclosed area of

  land)