A study on the textual features of the narrative texts written by the students of SMU N 2 Klaten.

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ABSTRACT

Yuanita Dwi Indriawati. 2008. A Study on the Textual Features of the Narrative Texts Written by the Students of SMU N 2 KLATEN. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

The latest curriculum named KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level) shows that senior high school students should be able to write many genres in English. A genre is the type of a text. There are many genres, each of which has its own characteristic.

A narrative genre is important for high school students to master. To be able to write a narrative text, students should understand the narrative text’s characteristics shown in its textual features. Textual features include generic structure and linguistic features. The generic structure of a narrative text comprises orientation, complication and resolution. The linguistic features of a narrative text comprise relevant vocabulary, past tense, adjective, and time transition.

This study investigated 1) what textual features the tenth grade students’ narrative texts have and 2) the possible causes of the most frequent errors in applying the textual features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts. This study was a descriptive research. The writer used document analysis to reveal the narrative texts’ textual features and a survey using questionnaires and interview to reveal the possible causes of the most frequent errors in applying the textual features.

The results of this study showed that almost all of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts had generic structure of a narrative text but did not have all linguistic features of a narrative text. Almost all (96%) of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts had orientation. There were 96% of the narrative texts that had complications and 92% of the narrative texts that had resolutions. The results of the research also showed that 36% of the narrative texts had vocabulary that was relevant to the subject matter. Almost all of the narrative texts (84%) had time transitions. There were 92% of the narrative texts that had adjectives to describe setting, characteristic and appearances. In the meantime, there were only 8% of the narrative texts without erroneous past tense sentences. Thus, the most frequent errors in applying textual features were errors in applying past tense.

The results of this study also revealed the possible causes of the erroneous past tense sentences in the tenth grade students’ narrative texts. The tenth grade students made the errors because 1) there was interlingual transfer; 2) there was intralingual transfer; 3) the students did not know that they have to apply past tense; 4) the students did not do enough writing practice; 5) there was the students’ negative approach toward English; 6) there was the students’ negative approach toward writing; and 7) there was the students’ carelessness during developing narrative texts.

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ABSTRAK

Yuanita Dwi Indriawati. 2008. A Study on the Textual Features of the Narrative Texts Written by the Students ofSMU N 2 KLATEN. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Kurikulum terbaru yang dinamakan KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level), menunjukkan bahwa siswa SMU harus bisa menulis banyak genre dalam Bahasa Inggris. Genre adalah jenis karangan.Genreada banyak jenis, tiap jenisnya mempunyai ciri masing-masing.

Genre narratif penting untuk dikuasai siswa SMU. Agar dapat menulis teks naratif, siswa harus mengerti ciri dari karangan naratif yang terlihat pada ciri-ciri tektualnya. Ciri-ciri-ciri tekstual tersebut berupa struktur karangan dan ciri-ciri-ciri-ciri bahasa. Struktur karangan dari teks naratif teks teridiri atas pembukaan, konflik dan penyelesaian. Ciri-ciri bahasa karangan naratif terdiri atas penerapan kosakata yang relevan,past tense, kata sifat dantime transition.

Studi ini meneliti 1) ciri-ciri tekstual yang ada dalam karangan naratif siswa kelas sepuluh dan 2) penyebab yang mungkin menyebabkan kesalahan terbanyak yang muncul dalam menerapkan ciri-ciri tekstual karangan naratif siswa kelas sepuluh tersebut. Studi ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif. Penulis menggunakan analisa dokumen untuk mengungkapkan ciri-ciri tekstual yang ada dan menggunakan survey dengan kuesioner dan wawancara untuk mengungkap kemungkinan penyebab kesalahan yang paling banyak muncul dalam menerapkan ciri-ciri tekstual.

Hasil studi ini menunjukkan bahwa hampir seluruh karangan siswa kelas sepuluh mempunyai struktur karangan naratif tetapi tidak mempunyai semua ciri-ciri bahasa karangan naratif. Hampir seluruh (96%) karangan naratif siswa kelas sepuluh mempunyai pembukaan. Ada 96% karangan naratif mempunyai konflik dan 92% karangan naratif mempunyai penyelesaian. Hasil penelitian juga menunjukkan bahwa 36% karangan naratif menerapkan kosakata yang relevan dengan pokok persoalan. Dapat juga dilihat bahwa hampir seluruh karangan naratif (84%) yang mempunyai time transition. Dan juga, ada 92% karangan naratif yang mempunyai kata sifat untuk menggambarkan setting, karakter dan penampilan. Sementara itu, hanya ada 8% karangan naratif tanpa kalimat past tense yang salah. Sehingga, kesalahan yang paling banyak muncul dalam menerapkan ciri-ciri tekstual dalah kesalahan dalam menerapkanpast tense.

Hasil studi ini juga menunjukkan kemungkinan penyebab kesalahan dalam kalimatpast tenseyang ada dalam karangan naratif para siswa kelas sepuluh. Para siswa kelas sepuluh membuat kesalahan karena 1) adanyainterlingual transfer;2) adanya intralingual transfer; 3) para siswa tidak mengetahui jika mereka harus menerapkan past tense; 4) para siswa kurang latihan menulis; 5) pendekatan negatif para siswa terhadap Bahasa Inggris; 6) pendekatan negatif para siswa terhadap pelajaran menulis; dan 7) Kekurangtelitian para siswa dalam membuat karangan naratif.

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A STUDY ON THE TEXTUAL FEATURES OF THE NARRATIVE TEXTS

WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS OFSMU N_{2 KLATEN}

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree

in English Language Education

Yuanita Dwi Indriawati Student Number: 031214019

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

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A STUDY ON THE TEXTUAL FEATURES OF THE NARRATIVE TEXTS

WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS OFSMU N_{2 KLATEN}

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain theSarjana PendidikanDegree

in English Language Education

Yuanita Dwi Indriawati Student Number: 031214019

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

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ASarjana PendidikanThesis on

A STUDY ON THE TEXTUAL FEATURES OF THE NARRATIVE TEXTS

WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS OFSMU N_{2 KLATEN}

Prepared by Yuanita Dwi Indriawati Student Number: 031214019

Approved by

Date Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. 12 September 2008 Sponsor

Ch. Lhaksmita Anandari, S. Pd., M. Ed. 12 September 2008 Co-sponsor

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A STUDY ON THE TEXTUAL FEATURES OF THE NARRATIVE TEXTS

WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS OFSMU N 2_KLATEN

YUANITA DWI INDRIAWATI Student Number: 031214019

Defended before the Board of Examiners on 24 September 2008

and Declared Acceptable

Board of Examiners

Chairperson : A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. __________________ Secretary : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. __________________ Member : Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. __________________ Member : A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. __________________ Member : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. __________________

Yogyakarta, 24 September 2008 Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University Dean

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to address my gratitude to Jesus Christ for His grace, love, and guidance. I would accomplish nothing without His blessing. I would also like to thank my former major sponsor, Drs. P. G. Purba, M.Pd. for his time, suggestions, and jokes. I am also greatly indebted to my major sponsor, Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. for his time, suggestions, evaluation and assistance. I would also like to thank my co-sponsor, Ch. Lhaksmita Anandari, S.Pd., M.Ed. for her time, suggestions and corrections. I would also like to thank Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. for her suggestions, comments and corrections.

My appreciation also goes to all the lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program, to the secretariat staff,MbakTari and MbakDani, and to the entire librarian staff who assisted and helped my study in English Language Education Study Program.

I thank SMU N 2 Klaten for giving me an opportunity to conduct this study. I would also like to thank the tenth grade English teachers of SMU N 2 Klaten, Ibu Tri Asrini W., Bapak Sudirman, and Ibu Arief for their help and cooperation. I also thank the students of X B of the 2007/2008 academic year of SMU N2 Klaten.

My thankfulness also goes to my family. I thank my father, whose financial support helped me through these years studying at Sanata Dharma University. I thank my mother, whose support helped me financially and encouraged me to finish this thesis. I also thank my elder sister, Yuyun, for the

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inspiration to graduate this year and for the grammar corrections. I also thank my younger sister, Yenni, for the love and jokes.

I thank my great friends, Mathilda, Dewi and Emma, who are always there, and also Arum and Nila for their friendship. I am so lucky to get to know them. I also thank all my friends, whose name I could not mention one by one, in English Language Education Study Program for letting me have such a great and fun time in English Language Education Study Program.

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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declared that the thesis, which I wrote, does not contain the works or part of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 24 September 2008 The Writer

Yuanita Dwi Indriawati 031214019

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ABSTRACT

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ABSTRAK

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

TITLE PAGE ... i

APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... vi

ABSTRACT ... vii

ABSTRAK ... viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix

LIST OF TABLES ... xi

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 3

C. Problem Limitation ... 3

D. Objectives of the Study ... 4

E. Benefits of the Study ... 4

F. Definition of Terms ... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ... 7

1. Developing a Text ... 7

2. Applying Textual Features of a Narrative Text ... 13

3. A Brief Review of Errors ... 18

4. Sources of Errors ... 20

B. Theoretical Framework ... 23

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ... 25

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D. Data Gathering Technique ... 29

E. Data Analysis Technique ... 29

F. Research Procedure ... 31

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. The Textual Features of the Students’ Narrative Texts ... 34

1. Generic Structure ... 35

2. Linguistic Features ... 40

B. The Possible Causes of the Errors in Applying Past Tense in Developing a Narrative Text ... 47

C. Other Findings ... 60

1. The Students’ and the Teachers’ Different Perception of the Possible Causes of the Most Frequent Errors in the Students’ Narrative Texts ... 60

2. Incomprehensible Sentences in the Students’ Narrative Texts ... 63

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 66

B. Suggestions ... 67

1. For Further Researchers ... 68

2. For the Students ... 68

3. For the Teachers ... 69

REFERENCES ... 70

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Generic Structure Checklist ... 30

Table 3.2 Linguistic Features Checklist ... 31

Table 4.1 The Students’ Generic Structure of Narrative Texts... 35

Table 4.2 The Students’ Linguistic Features of Narrative Texts ... 40

Table 4.3 The Results of the Questionnaire for Students and the Questionnaire for Teachers ... 48

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Narrative Text “Snow White” ... 73

Appendix 2. Recapitulation of the Results of the Questionnaire for Students ... 74

Appendix 3. The Answers to the Essay Part of the Questionnaire for Students ... 77

Appendix 4. Recapitulation of the Results of the Questionnaire for Teachers... 78

Appendix 5. The Answers to the Essay Part of the Questionnaire for Teachers ... 80

Appendix 6. The Result of the Interview ... 81

Appendix 7. Student’s Text 1 “Golden Snail” ... 82

Appendix 8. Student’s Text 5 “The Golden Snail” ... 83

Appendix 9. Student’s Text 6 “Sumber Tetek Temple” ... 85

Appendix 10. Student’s Text 11 “Cinderella” ... 88

Appendix 11. Student’s Text 12 “Lake Rawa Pening” ... 91

Appendix 12. Student’s Text 13 “Ande-Ande Lumut” ... 92

Appendix 13. Student’s Text 15 “Malin Kundang” ... 94

Appendix 14. Student’s Text 16 “Cinderella” ... 95

Appendix 15. Student’s Text 19 “Lara Jongrang” ... 97

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study and definition of terms.

A. Background of the Study

Writing is important to master. Writing can be a means of improving students’ English, especially their reading skill, vocabulary, and grammar. Hughey, Worthmuth, Hartfiel and Jacobs (1983: 6) state that

Writing is also a means of reinforcing other language skills. … For ESL students particularly, whose individual needs and goals are highly variable, writing is an efficient tool to facilitate and reinforce other language skills. Reading, vocabulary, and grammar skills are employed in the act of writing.

It is clear that writing is an important skill for students to master as through writing the students will improve their reading skill, vocabulary, and grammar.

There are many types of texts to write, one of which is narrative text. Vital concludes “that the genre of narrative should be an important stage in the process of teaching second languages” (http://www.tau.ac.il/2007). Furthermore, Barthes’ famous assertion in 1966, as cited by Mcquillan (2000: 2), states:

The narratives of the world are numberless. Narrative is first and foremost a prodigious variety of genre. … Moreover, under this almost infinite diversity of forms, narrative is present in every age, in every place, in every society; … and there nowhere is nor has been a group of people without narrative. … it (narrative) simply there, like life itself.

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Barthes’ assertion makes it clear that a narrative genre is everywhere and important and that everybody tells narration, reads narration, listens to narration and writes narration. Thus, writing a narrative genre is important.

Furthermore, there is an interesting fact that, according to the latest curriculum named KTSP (Curriculum at the School Level), the narrative genre is taught in class X, XI, and XII of senior high school (SMU) in every semester. It is clear that narrative genre is important for high school students. It will be also good for the students to know their difficulties in their beginning semester to improve their narrative texts in the next semesters. This leads to the importance of the tenth grade students’ mastering a narrative genre.

To master a narrative genre, the tenth grade students should be able to apply the textual features of a narrative genre. The Curriculum at the School Level states that the writing teaching material gradation appears in using vocabulary, grammar, and rhetorical steps (generic structure) to produce certain form of text. It means that to develop a good narrative text, the students should apply the right rhetorical steps or generic structure and linguistic features that comprise vocabulary and grammar. In this study, these generic structure and linguistic features are termed as textual features. Thus, the tenth grade student’s textual features of the narrative text became the focus of this study.

While doing her teaching practice in SMA GAMA Yogyakarta, the writer found that developing a narrative text was a difficult activity for the tenth grade students. The writer was interested whether the other tenth grade students in other school had difficulties in developing a narrative text. Talking to some of the tenth

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grade English teachers ofSMU N2 Klaten, the writer found that the students often had difficulties in writing, including writing a narrative text. Moreover,SMU N 2 Klaten was accessible to the writer. Therefore, the writer conducted a study on the tenth grade students’ textual features of narrative texts inSMU N2 Klaten.

B. Problem Formulation

In this study, the writer intended to answer these questions:

1. What textual features do the tenth grade students’ narrative texts have?

2. What are the possible causes of the most frequent errors in the textual features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts?

C. Problem Limitation

The participants of this study are the tenth grade students of the 2007/2008 academic year of SMU N 2 Klaten. Therefore, the results of this study do not represent the textual features written by other students of any grade in the school. SMU N 2 Klaten is chosen because it is accessible for the writer. Meanwhile, the tenth grade students are chosen because it would be good for the students to know their difficulties in their beginning semester to improve their narrative texts in the next semesters.

This study only focuses on the students’ textual features. The textual features that are described in this study do not take punctuation, spelling, handwriting, and paralinguistic features of the students’ text into account. This study only describes the textual features of a narrative text that characterize a

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narrative genre. The textual features that characterize a narrative genre comprise generic structure and linguistic features.

D. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are:

1. investigating the tenth grade students’ textual features of a narrative text. 2. investigating the possible causes of the most frequent errors in the textual

features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts.

E. Benefits of the Study

Teachers are expected to gain the benefit of this study as they will know the difficulties that occur in developing a narrative text among their students, so that they might adjust their teaching-learning activities to benefit more. Students are also expected to gain the benefit of this study as they will be aware of their mastery of textual features of a narrative text. This study presented the students’ textual features of narrative texts so that students might know their textual features errors and have the chance to correct them.

F. Definition of Terms

For the purpose of this study, it is necessary to define the terms that are used to avoid misinterpretation.

1. A narrative text

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(1983: 256) mentions that “a narrative paragraph or work tells a story, either factual or fictional, and comes in a variety of forms, including the essay, the short story, the diary and journalistic and historical writing”. Narrative also deals with problematic events leading to a crisis which then find a resolution (Pusat Kurikulum, 2003: 80). In this study, a narrative text is a written short story that deals with problematic events leading to a crisis which then finds a resolution. 2. Textual features

The term “textual” means connected with or contained in a text (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000: 1397). It is clear that textual features are the important parts that are connected with or contained in a text. Textual features are related to generic structure, vocabulary, and grammar, likely functions and associated grammar and vocabulary and other significant features (Hardy and Klarwein, 1990: 14). In this study, textual features refer to the generic structure and the linguistic features that are contained in a narrative text.

3. Error

Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2001: 520) defines error as “something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong, or which should not been done.” Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982: 138) suggest that errors are those parts of composition that deviate from some selected norm of mature language performance. In this study, an error refers to the incompleteness in applying textual features (generic structure and linguistic features) and/or incorrectness in applying textual features (generic structure and linguistic features) of a narrative text.

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4. Tenth grade students ofSMU N2 Klaten

Tenth grade students ofSMU N 2 Klaten refer to the tenth grade students of the 2007/2008 academic year of SMU N 2 Klaten. Those students have been taught how to write a narrative text. The tenth grade students are chosen as the participant of this study because it would be good for the students to know their difficulties in their beginning semester to improve their narrative texts in the next semesters.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter discusses theories upon which this study is laid down. There are two major areas to be discussed here. They are theoretical description and theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

There are four major issues underlying this study. They include theories on developing a text, applying textual features of a narrative text, a brief review of errors and sources of errors.

1. Developing a Text

According to the latest curriculum, KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level), senior high school students should be able to produce texts (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006: 135). Students should be able to produce any short functional texts, monologs, and essays in the form of many genres. In this section, the importance of a genre is described. A genre has textual features and contextual factors (Hardy and Klarwein, 1990: 14). This study is limited to textual features as it is too wide for the writer to discuss both textual features and contextual factors. However, there are theories on contextual factors in addition to theories on textual features.

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a. Developing a Text inKTSP

Referring to the latest curriculum, KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level), students should be able to communicate in English (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006: 134). What is meant by to communicate here is to communicate in verbal and in written form, to understand and convey information, thoughts, and feelings and to develop science, technology, and culture. The communication is realized through four language skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

This study focuses on the students’ writing skill. The second of the three high school curriculum scopes states:

kemampuan memahami dan menciptakan berbagai teks fungsional pendek dan monolog serta esei berbentuk procedure, descriptive, recount, narrative, report, news item, analytical exposition, spoof, explanation, discussion, review, public speaking. Gradasi bahan ajar tampak dalam penggunaan kosakata, tata bahasa, dan langkah-langkah retorika (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006: 135).

It is clear that high school students should be able to write many genres in English. The students are expected to produce short texts, monologs, and essays in the form of a procedure, descriptive, recount, narrative, report, news item, analytical exposition, spoof, explanation, discussion, review, and public speaking. The curriculum also states that the teaching material gradation appears in using vocabulary, grammar, and rhetorical structure to produce certain form of text. Rhetorical structure refers to ‘the underlying structure which accounts for the organization of a TEXT or a DISCOURSE’ (Richards, Platt, and Weber, 1985:251). Thus, this study investigates the students’ vocabulary, grammar and

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b. The Importance of a Genre in Developing a Text

The latest curriculum, KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level) implies that senior high school students should be able to write many genres in English (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006: 135). It means that to develop a text, students should know the genre of the text. Thus, a genre is important for students to understand. Similar to KTSP, Department of Education Training and the Arts of Queensland (http:// education.qld.gov.au/2007) states that a genre is important in developing a text as the department states that students “need lots of exposure to, and experience with, a wide range of written genres to be able to master them with relative ease”. To conclude, genres need to be taught to students to develop texts.

Before going further, it would be better to know what a genre is. Mcquillan (2000: 319) mentions that a genre is “a literary type or style.” Furthermore, a genre is also “the name given to the type of the text” (Hardy and Klarwein, 1990: 14). Thus, a genre is a text type. Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 2) also state that every genre “has a number of obligatory parts – those parts have a characteristic order” and “has identifiable grammatical features.” It is clear that a genre has a number of obligatory patterns concerning the characteristic order and the grammatical features. In brief, a genre is a text type that has obligatory patterns concerning the characteristic order (generic structure) and the grammatical features (linguistic features).

It is also important to know that one genre is different from another. The Certificate in Spoken and Written English (CSWE), the most widely used TESOL

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(Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) curriculum in Australia has features of text types that highlight how one text-type is different from another (Feez, 2002: 84). For example, recounts tend to use the past tense and make more use of action verbs while descriptions tend to use the present tense and make more use of the verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ (Feez, 2002: 84). It is clear that genre of recount is different from descriptive genre. The differences are comprised of each genre’s characteristic patterns. These characteristic patterns are actually the generic structure and linguistic elements, as Nunan (1999: 280) mentions “linguists are studying different text and discourse types in an effort to identify their underlying generic structure, and the linguistic elements that characterize them.” In brief, every genre has its features or characteristic patterns, which are the genre’s generic structure and linguistic elements, which make one genre differ from another.

c. Contextual Factors of a Text

According to Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 7), contextual factors include: What is being spoken or

written about?

Who is involved in the interaction?

By what means is the message conveyed?

The objects, people, events, ideas and feelings being referred to (subject matter);

The social roles and relationships of the people involved (roles and relationship);

The choice of spoken or written channel and of print, sound, stage or screen media (mode)

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It is clear that contextual factors of a genre are 1) what is written or subject matter concerning the objects, people, events, ideas and feelings, 2) who are involved in the interaction or roles and relationship and 3) mode or by what means the message is conveyed.

Department of Education, Training and the Arts of Queensland (http:// education.qld.gov.au/2007) also describes contextual factors, which are usually similar to Hardy and Klarwein’s theory, and some plain examples:

The Context Contrasting Examples

What is the purpose? to inform/to persuade Who or what is being

written about?

people and their feelings/objectives facts Who is being written to? a letter to the editor/a letter to your friend What medium is the

writing for?

a speech in a play/pamphlet

According to the Department of Education, Training and the Arts of Queensland, contextual factors include: 1) the purpose of the text, 2) what is written in the text, 3) to whom is the text is written and 4) the medium of the text.

To conclude, referring to Hardy and Klarwein and the Department of Education, Training and Arts of Queensland, contextual factors include: 1) the purpose of the text, 2) what and/or who is written in the text (subject matter), 3) to whom the text is written and 4) by what means the message is conveyed.

d. Textual Features of a Text

The term “textual” means connected with or contained in the text (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2000: 1397). Therefore, textual features refer to

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important parts that are connected with or contained in a text. According to Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 7), those important parts include:

 the selection and sequencing of subject matter (generic structure);  the linking words and phrases within and across sentences which

make clear or imply the logical relationships amongst items of subject matter (cohesive ties);

 the words appropriate to the contextual factors and sentences, including forms of questions, command and statements, and placement of auxiliary verbs (grammar);

 … the paragraph markers and punctuation;  … the spelling and handwriting;

 … the illustrations, tables and photographs, screen images, print size and texture of paper (paralinguistic features).

In brief, textual features are interrelated to a text’s generic structure, linking words and phrases that make the text cohesive, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, spelling, handwriting and paralinguistic features.

In this study, the writer would describe the textual features that characterize a genre. It is stated before under The Importance of a Genre in Developing a Text section that what characterized a genre are generic structure and linguistic features. Therefore, punctuation, spelling, handwriting and paralinguistic features of a text are not taken into account in this study. Thus, the textual features that are taken into account are generic structure, linking words and phrases that make the text cohesive, vocabulary and grammar. The linking words and phrases that make the text cohesive are included in the scope of grammar. Hence, the textual features that are taken into account are generic structure, vocabulary and grammar.

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2. Applying Textual Features of a Narrative Text

In this study, textual features are classified into two parts: generic structure and linguistic features (vocabulary and grammar). Thus, there is a discussion about applying generic structure and applying linguistic features in this section. In the discussion, the writer refers to three theories presented by Hardy and Klarwein, by the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand and by Certificates in Written and Spoken English (CSWE), which is the national ESL framework in Australia.

a. Applying Generic Structure of a Narrative Text

Generic structure is the organization of a text or the obligatory elements of a genre (Hardy and Klarwein, 1990: 14). It is a must for a text to a have generic structure. According to Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 20), the generic structure of a narrative text comprises orientation, complication, and resolution.

1) Orientation: Orientation is the setting in time and place and the characters of the story.

2) Complication: Complication is the problem to be solved by the character of a story.

3) Resolution: Resolution is the solution to the complication.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (http:// english.unitecnology.ac.nz/2007) mentions that the following parts comprise the generic structure of a narrative text:

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1) Orientation (Introduction)

In this part, the characters, setting, and the time of the story are established. This part usually answers the questions who, when, and where, e.g. Mr. Wolf went out hunting in the forest one dark gloomy night.

2) Complication or Problem

The complication or problem involves characters. This complication part often mirrors the complication in real life.

3) Resolution

There must be resolution(s) of the complication(s). Complication should be resolved for better or worse or happily or unhappily. This resolution part adds and sustains interest and suspense for the reader.

Basically, the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand and Hardy and Klarwein have the similar idea of the generic structure of a narrative text. They suggest the same generic structure that includes orientation, complication and resolution. In conclusion, the generic structure that must present in students’ textual features of a narrative text comprises orientation, complication and resolution.

b. Applying Linguistic Features of a Narrative Text

The linguistic features of a genre involve vocabulary and grammar of a genre. According to Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 14), beside vocabulary and grammar, there are two more important parts of linguistic features of a text. They are likely functions and associated grammar and vocabulary and other significant

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features. Thus, according to Hardy and Klarwein (1990: 20), the linguistic features of a narrative text are vocabulary, grammar, likely functions and associated grammar and vocabulary and other significant features.

1) Vocabulary

In a narrative text, the vocabulary should be relevant to the subject matter. The subject matter refers to the events, setting and characters and/or issues and themes, e.g. Snow White, Doc, America, dwarves, castle, ran away, little cottage (this vocabulary are taken from a narrative text titled “Snow White” (see Appendix 1) telling the story of Snow White who ran away from home and met the 7 dwarves).

2) Grammar

The grammar is related to the verb type and the verb form (tense). The verb type might be action, relational or mental. The tense of the verb should be appropriate to the meaning behind expressed, which it might be present, past, and active or passive form. In a narrative text, the relational verb (to beandhave) and action verbs are usually used. Past tense is usually applied in a narrative text. 3) Likely functions and associated grammar and vocabulary

In a narrative text, the language functions are to describe characteristics and appearance. In describing characteristics and appearances, adjectives are used in a narrative text.

4) Other significant features

Using direct speech in a narrative text is common. Direct speeches or dialogs among characters are common in a narrative text. It means that it is not a

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must for a narrative text to have. Thus, direct speech is not taken into account in this study.

Another theory on linguistic features of a narrative text is suggested in Certificates in Written and Spoken English (CSWE) in Feez’sText-based Syllabus Design. In the CSWE, there are three learning focus area in learning ESL (Feez, 2002: 108). They are learning for community access, for further study, and for vocational English. High school students learn ESL for their further study. Thus, the CSWE framework for further study is used. In the framework, the significant linguistic features of a narrative text comprise (Feez, 2002: 99): series of clauses in past tense linked with conjunctions, main ideas across the text, specific information in clauses, clauses with range of past tenses, direct/indirect speech, etc., and vocabulary for characters, contexts and events.

Hardy and Klarwein and CSWE actually have the similar idea of linguistic features of a narrative text. Both theories presented by Hardy and Klarwein and CSWE agree that the linguistic features include a) vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter, b) past tense, c) adjectives to give specific information on characteristic and appearance of the characters in the story.

Besides the vocabulary, past tense, and adjectives, the CSWE also mentions “series of clauses in past tense linked with conjunctions” and “main ideas across the text”. The “ideas across the text” are not taken into account in this study as they are included in the scope of contextual factors of a narrative text. Meanwhile, the conjunctions or transitions are taken into account in this study. Transitions are important in a narrative text as Mcmurrey and Campman (1983:

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259) state that without transition, readers often get lost in a story. Mcmurrey and Campman (1983: 259) also mention that transitions that are used in a narrative text indicate the passage of time, e.g. ‘then’, ‘next’, ‘a week later’, ‘years later’, ‘soon’, ‘when’, ‘meanwhile’. In brief, time transition is included in the linguistic features of a narrative text.

To conclude, a student should carefully apply: a) vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter, b) past tense, c) adjectives to give specific information on characteristic and appearance of the characters in the story, and d) time transitions in developing a narrative text.

The following is an example of a narrative text taken from Panduan Materi Ujian Sekolah Tahun Pelajaran 2004/2005 SMA/MAand the explanation of the textual features of the narrative text.

The Man and the Bees

Orientation The man felt very weak. He hadn’t got spirit to work the day before. His wife felt weak too and so told him to go and look for honey to drink for making anergy.

The man searched for honey in the forest.

Complication After many hours he still hadn’t found any sign of hive. Resolution He looked up and saw a bee hive dripping with honey. Complication He tried to climb the tree but he was too heavy so he

decided to cut the tree over.

Resolution He cut and cut then the tree came down. He saw the hive tangled in the branches. He searched into it for the honey.

Complication Suddenly the bees began to attack him. The man started to run. But the bees buzzed after him. They were stinging him as he ran.

Resolution At last he saw a river. He ran and dived into the water. At last he had escaped the bees. He stayed in the water of the river for hours and went home to his wife.

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The narrative text titled “The Man and the Bees” applies the generic structure, which comprises orientation, complications and resolutions. “The Man and the Bees” also has the vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter (i.e. the man, the wife, weak, work, honey, bees, run, buzzed after, stinging, dived, river, etc.). The past tense sentences are also used in the story. “The Man and the Bees” also uses time transitions like ‘after many hours’, ‘then’, and ‘at last’. Adjectives are also applied, for example ‘heavy’ and ‘weak’ to describe the character of the man in the story.

3. A Brief Review of Errors

A distinction is sometimes made between an error, which results from incomplete knowledge, and a mistake made by learner when writing (Richards, et al, 1985: 95). Gass and Selinker (1994: 67) tell that an error is, as they cited from Corder (1967), “likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an error.” Gass and Selinker also mention that an error is different from a mistake. A mistake is a kind of slip of the tongue which is recognizable. The learner doing a mistake can correct his mistake if necessary, but when he does an error, he will not even realize that he does an error. Only teachers and researchers realize the errors. Mistakes are only one-time-only events while errors are systematic. In this study, the writer does not distinct error and mistake. She uses the term “error” to refer to both mistake and error.

Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2001: 520) defines an error as “something you have done which is considered to be incorrect

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or wrong, or which should not have been done.” It is clear that errors are something incorrect. As this study focuses on textual features of a narrative text, what are meant by errors are incorrect textual features. These errors could be errors in applying generic structure (orientation, complication, resolution) and linguistic features (vocabulary, past tense, adjectives, time transition).

Furthermore, Dulay et al. (1982: 138) suggest that errors “are the flawed side of learner speech or writing. They are those parts of a conversation or a composition that deviate from selected norm of mature language performance.” It means that a student’s text that deviates from the correct norm is considered erroneous. As this study focuses on textual features, the correct norm is the presence of all correct textual features. It means that the correct norm is the presence of all correct generic structure (orientation, complication, resolution) and linguistic features (vocabulary, past tense, adjectives, transition) of a narrative text. To sum up, in this study, errors refer to the student’s incomplete generic structure and linguistic features and/or to the student’s incorrect generic structure and linguistic features in developing a narrative text.

Teachers and researchers have studied learners’ errors for a long time. Studying learners’ errors actually has two major purposes which are:

(1) it provides data from which interferences about the nature of the language learning process can be made; and (2) it indicates to teachers and curriculum developers which part of the target language students have most difficulty producing correctly and which errors types detract most from learner’s ability to communicate effectively (Dulay et al, 1982: 138)

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Errors also can be the basis of constructing theory and planning classroom practice (Dulay et al., 1982: 140). Thus, a teacher can do something useful with errors to keep the students’ texts to the correct norm of the text.

4. Sources of Errors

Brown (2000: 224 – 227) mentions that there are four possible sources of errors: interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning and communication strategies.

1) Interlingual Transfer

Interlingual transfer is resulted from the native language and it is a significant source of errors for all language learners (Brown, 2000: 224). Gass and Selinker (1994: 55) mention the interlingual transfer as negative transfer or interference. Negative transfer or interference refers to the transfer that produces something incorrect (Gass and Selinker, 1994: 55). As an example, a German says *’I go not’ because the equivalent sentence in German is ‘Ich gehe nicht’. In addition, Brown (1994: 224) mentions that familiarity with the learners’ native language will help teachers to detect and analyze errors that are caused by interlingual transfer. In brief, interlingual transfer can be the source of an error in target language.

2) Intralingual Transfer

According to Brown (2000: 224), “intralingual transfer (within the target language itself) is a major factor in second language learning”. In intralingual transfer, target language itself can be the source of learners’ errors. Brown also

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mentions that overgeneralization is the negative intralingual transfer (2000: 224). Overgeneralization takes place when learners misuse words or grammatical rules (Sattayatham and Honsa, Jr., 2004). For example, regular past tense ending (opened, walked) is applicable to all past tense forms (*goed, *flied). Another example is ‘Bill, *that had a great sense of unconventional morality…’ The learner usesthatto instead ofwho.

3) Context of Learning

‘”Context” refers, for example, to the classroom with its teacher and its materials… In a classroom context the teacher or the textbook can lead the learner to make faulty…” (Brown, 2000: 226). It is clear that students’ errors might be caused by a misleading teacher and/or textbook so that students get the wrong concepts. This is what Richards (1971) called “false concepts” and what Stenson (1974) termed “induced errors” (Brown, 2000: 226). The false concepts arise when learners fail to comprehend fully what they learn. The induced errors are

“the result of being misled by the way in which the teachers give definitions, examples, explanations and arrange practice opportunities. In other words, the errors are caused mostly by the teaching and learning process” (Sattayatham and Honsa, Jr, 2004).

In brief, context of learning can be the source of errors when the students obtain the false concepts because of the teaching learning process, particularly because of misleading teacher and textbook.

4) Communication Strategies.

Communication strategy is employed when learners have problems in saying what they want to say in the target language (for example, when they have

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who have little knowledge on the target language use communication strategies to enhance transferring their message accross, but these strategies can themselves become a source of errors (Brown, 2000: 227). According to Brown (2000: 227), the strategies that can be the sources of errors are a) approximation, b) word coinage, c) circumlocution, d) false cognates, and e) prefabricated patterns.

a) Approximation

In approximation, learners use an alternative term which expresses the meaning of the target lexical item as closely as possible (e.g. ship for boat) (Brown, 2000: 128).

b) Word Coinage

In word coinage, learners create nonexisting L2 word based on supposed rule (e.g.vegetarianistforvegetarian) (Brown, 2000: 128).

c) Circumlocution

Learners describe or exemplify the target object’s action in circumlocution (e.g. the thing you open bottles withto refer tocorkscrew) (Brown, 2000: 128). d) False Cognates

In false cognates, incorrect use of the word in the target language occurs because of similarity with a mother tongue (Suslu, http://www.mu.edu.tr/2008). The similarity is in the form and not in meaning. For example: ‘She is so cute, sympathetic and beautiful that he wants to marry her.’ The word ‘sympathetic’ in the sentence is used because of the influence of its cognate ‘likeable’ in Turkish.

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e) Prefabricated Patterns

In prefabricated patterns, learners use memorized stock phrases. These phrases can be found in pocket bilingual phrase books.

B. Theoretical Framework

Senior high school students should be able to produce texts. The latest curriculum named KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/ Curriculum at the School Level), shows that senior high school students should be able to write many genres in English. A genre is the type of a text. There are many genres, each of which has its own characteristic. A genre is characterized by its textual features including generic structure and linguistic features.

A narrative genre is important for senior high school students to master. Meanwhile, the tenth grade students ofSMU N2 Klaten actually have difficulty in developing a narrative text. Thus, the narrative texts written by the tenth grade students ofSMU N2 Klaten become the focus of this study.

To be able to write a narrative text, students should understand the narrative text’s characteristics shown in its textual features. This study wants to describe the student’s textual features of a narrative text. To describe it, the writer needs to construct checklists to check the students’ textual features. The theories on textual features that are described by, as presented in Theoretical Description section, Hardy and Klarwein, the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand and CSWE are used as references to construct the checklists of the students’ textual features.

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The theories presented by Hardy and Klarwein, the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand and CSWE state that the textual features of a narrative text are the generic structure and linguistic features. The theories state that generic structure of a narrative text includes orientation, complication, and resolution. While the linguistic features of a narrative text comprise vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter, past tense, adjectives to describe characteristic and/or appearances of the characters in the text and time transitions.

This study also investigates the possible causes of the most frequent error in applying textual features of a narrative text. Questionnaires would be constructed based on the analysis of the students’ texts. Knowing the most frequent errors occur in the students’ narrative texts, the writer constructs and distributes questionnaires to the tenth grade teachers and the students. After gathering the data from the questionnaires, the writer also conducts interview with some students to reveal the possible causes of the most frequent errors occurred in the narrative texts.

Referring to Brown (2000: 224 – 227), here are the possible sources of errors: interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning and communication strategies. Interlingual transfer is resulted from the native language while the intralingual transfer is resulted from the target language. Context of learning can be the cause of the students’ errors when the students are mislead by the teacher and/or the book. Communication strategies can also be the possible causes of a student’s errors in his narrative text.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology used in the study. The discussion includes those related to research method, research participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedure.

A. Research Method

This study was a descriptive research in which the primary purpose of the research is description (Sprinthall, Schmute and Sirois, 1991: 98). The writer attempted to describe the students’ textual features of their narrative texts. Meanwhile, Ary et al. (1990: 381) state that the aim of a descriptive research is to describe “what exists”, which is the students’ textual features of their narrative texts. Document analysis and survey, which are approaches under descriptive research, were used to gather the data of this study.

This study was also an explanatory research. The writers assumed that there were errors in the students’ narrative texts. The writer wondered why those errors existed even though the students had been taught how to write a narrative text. Neuman (1997: 20) mentions that when “you encounter an issue that is already known and have a description of it, you may begin to wonder why things are the way they are. The desire to know “why” to explain is the purpose of explanatory research.” Thus, this study was also an explanatory research as the

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writer intended to identify the reason of the most frequent errors occurring in applying textual features of a narrative text among the tenth grade students.

B. Research Participants

The tenth grade students of SMU N 2 Klaten were the participants or the population of this study. Sampling was used to enable the writer to study a portion of population rather than entire population (Ary et al., 1990: 170).

The writer used typical case sampling technique, which is under purposive sampling, and judgmental sampling. Typical case sampling “selects units that are considered typical of the phenomenon to be studied” (Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh, 2002: 429). The writer needed to select, after consulting with the English teachers of the tenth grade students, one typical class rather than very high-achieving or low-achieving classes. Actually, according to the English teachers, all classes had similar achievement in English. They were new tenth grade classes in SMU N 2 Klaten and their achievement in English were about in the same level.

For the reason that, according to the tenth grade teachers, the students’ achievement was about in the same level, the writer used judgmental sampling. In judgmental sampling, “the researcher selects individuals presumed to be typical of segments of the population who as a group will provide representative panorama of the population” (Krathwohl, 1998: 172). In this study, the teachers selected a class to be the sample of the population because, according to Krathwohl (1998: 172), judgmental sampling uses the experience and wisdom to select representative of the population. It was the teacher instead of the writer who

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selected the sample. As this study investigated the students’ narrative texts, the English teachers said that class X B was the most appropriate class to be the sample of this study as 1) the class had average-achievement in English, 2) the class was just learning how to write a narrative text and 3) the class was accessible. It was the perfect timing for the students in class X B to produce narrative texts. Thus, class X B was selected as the sample of this study.

There were 40 students in class X B. There were 26 female students and 14 male students. The students of class B had been taught about narrative text for about 4 times in 4 meetings. In teaching the students, the teacher used a handbook and student work book. The teacher also had explicitly taught narrative text’s textual features.

C. Research Instruments

The research instruments were the students’ narrative texts, questionnaires, and interview. The first instrument was the student’s narrative text. The students’ narrative texts were collected from the English teacher after the students of class B were given homework to write a 150-word length narrative text by the teacher. The students had their freedom to choose the topic of their text and to use the dictionary. The students’ narrative texts were the documents of this research as this research uses document analysis. Referring to Ary et al. (2002: 442), document analysis was applied to analyze types of errors, which was, in this research, related to the students’ errors in applying textual features, which were the generic structure and linguistic features of a narrative text.

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The second instrument was the questionnaire. There were two kinds of questionnaires, one of which was for the students and the other was for the teachers. The writer distributed the questionnaires to the teachers and the students to investigate the possible causes of the most frequent errors occurred in the students’ textual features of narrative texts. The writer considered these several important things suggested by Wiersma (1995: 180 – 181) in constructing questionnaire:

 Having the items directly relate to the research problem  The items are to be clear and unambiguous

 Including only one concept in a single item  Avoiding the use of leading questions

 Not asking questions so that certain responses make respondents disapprove of themselves

 Avoiding questions demanding personal information including specific income information and age of the respondents

 Requesting only information that the respondent is able to provide  Making the reading level of the items appropriate for the respondents  Shorter items are preferred to longer items, and simpler items are

preferred to complex items

 When requesting quantitative information, ask for specific number rather than average

 For some items, it is necessary to provide a neutral response to avoid forcing the respondent to make an undesirable response

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 Avoiding negative items and not using double negatives.

The questionnaire was in the form of a checklist and an essay. There were 25 closed questions and an open question in the questionnaire for teachers. Meanwhile, there were 26 closed questions and an open question in the questionnaire for students.

The third instrument was interview. The writer interviewed 10 students having erroneous textual features of narrative texts. Those students having the most errors were interviewed to verify and substantiate the result of the questionnaire. Thus, the possible causes of making errors in the textual features were revealed.

D. Data Gathering Technique

The data were gathered from the students’ narrative texts, the result of the questionnaires and the result of the interview. The students’ narrative texts were collected from the teacher after the students submitted their texts to the teacher. The questionnaires were distributed to and collected from the students and the tenth grade English teachers by the writer. The last data were the result of the interview to 10 students.

E. Data Analysis Technique

This study used document analysis to describe the students’ textual features and a survey using questionnaire and interview to reveal the possible causes of the students’ most frequent errors in applying textual features of a

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narrative text. The writer gained the data in the form of documents, which were the students’ narrative texts. To gain information using documents, checklist was used (Brinkerhoff, Brethower, Hluchyj and Nowakowski, 1986: 79).

There were two checklists to analyze the student’s textual features. The checklist items were derived from the theories, which are presented in the previous chapter, by Hardy and Klarwein, by the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand and by the Certificates in Written and Spoken English (CSWE) on textual features of a narrative text. The first checklist consisted of the generic structure items to analyze whether the student’s narrative text had orientation, complication, and resolution. Table 3.1 is the generic structure checklist:

Table 3.1 Generic Structure Checklist

Orientation

Orientation Complication Resolution 1

2 3 4 5

tude

’s

ext

… Total Percentage

The second checklist consisted of linguistic features items to analyze whether the students carefully applied the vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter, and whether the students carefully used the past tense, time transitions, and adjectives in their narrative texts. Table 3.2 is the linguistic features checklist:

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Table 3.2 Linguistic Features Checklist

Linguistic Features Vocabulary that is

relevant to the subject matter (events, context, setting and characters) Use past tense Use time transitions Use adjectives to describe setting, characteristic and appearances 1 2 3 4 5 S tude nt ’s T ext N um be r … Total Percentage

The writer analyzed the students’ textual features and put the data in the two checklists. The result of each table was also counted and presented in a percentage data as supplementary information using the following formula:

Percentage = X 100 %

After the writer analyzed the texts, the writer constructed questionnaires. The results of the questionnaires were also analyzed and described. Having the results of the questionnaires, the writer conducted interviews with some students. The results of the interviews were then analyzed and described to verify the result of the questionnaires.

F. Research Procedure

The procedure of this study contained 8 steps. They were preparing the The sum of the present and correct features

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constructing questionnaires and distributing them, analyzing the questionnaires, conducting interview, analyzing the interview and writing down the report.

1) Preparing the research

The writer asked permission to SMU N 2 Klaten and to the Head of English Language Education Study Program to conduct the research. The writer also observed the students’ ability in developing a text by asking the teacher about the students’ text.

2) Gathering the students’ narrative texts

The writer gathered the students’ narrative texts as the data of this study. The data were in the form of documents.

3) Analyzing the textual features of the texts

There were two checklists used to analyze the students’ textual features. They were the generic structure checklist, which consisted of the generic structure items, and the linguistic features checklist, which consisted of linguistic feature items. The writer described the presence or absence and the correctness or incorrectness of the generic structure and linguistic features of the students’ narrative texts. The result of each checklist was then also counted and presented in a percentage data. The description of the students’ generic structure and linguistic features of their narrative texts answered the first question formulated in the problem formulation of this study.

4) Constructing questionnaires and distributing them

Finding the frequency of the errors in applying textual features of a narrative text, the writer constructed questionnaire whose items reveal the

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possible causes of the most frequent errors. The questionnaires were then distributed to the students and the teachers.

5) Analyzing the questionnaires

The response of the questionnaire were then analyzed and described. 6) Conducting interview

Describing the result of the questionnaire, the writer conducted interview. The writer interviewed ten students to substantiate the result of the questionnaire. 7) Analyzing the interview

The result of the interview was then analyzed and described. The result of the questionnaire and interview answered the second question formulated in the problem formulation of this study.

8) Writing down the report

After making preparation, gathering the students’ narrative texts, analyzing the textual features, constructing questionnaires and distributing them, analyzing the questionnaires, conducting interview and analyzing the interview, the writer wrote down the report.

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CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the result of this study which answers the questions in the problem formulation in chapter 1. The questions in the problem formulation are 1) what textual features do the tenth grade students’ narrative texts have? and 2) what are the possible causes of the most frequent errors in the textual features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts? The first instrument, the tenth grade students’ texts, was analyzed to answer the first question. The second and the third instrument, which are the questionnaire and interview, were used to answer the second question. The writer, firstly, presents the result of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts analysis to answer the first question. Secondly, the writer presents the result of the questionnaire and the interview analysis to answer the second question. Thirdly, the writer also presents other findings that are worth to be discussed.

A. The Textual Features of the Students’ Narrative Texts

Twenty six students’ narrative texts were gathered on December 13th, 2007. The writer found that 25 of which were narrative texts and 1 of which was a spoof text. In addition, a spoof text is a text that has orientation, events, and twist as the generic structure. Thus, the writer took the 25 narrative texts and did not take the spoof text (text 22) into account.

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Textual features of a narrative text comprise generic structure and linguistic features. The generic structure comprises orientation, complication and resolution. The linguistic features comprise the vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter, the use of past tense, the use of time transitions and the use of adjectives.

1. Generic Structure

After analyzing the 25 students’ narrative texts, the writer found that most of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts had the generic structure, including orientation, complication and resolution. The tenth grade students’ generic structure of narrative texts is presented in Table 4.1:

Table 4.1 The Students’ Generic Structure of Narrative Texts

Generic Structure

Orientation Complication Resolution

1 √ √ √

2 √ √ √

3 √ _ _

4 √ √ √

5 √ √ √

6 √ √ √

7 *_ √ √

8 √ √ √

9 √ √ √

10 √ √ √

11 √ √ √

12 √ √ √

13 √ √ √

14 √ √ √

15 √ √ √

16 √ √ √

17 √ √ _

18 √ √ √

S tu d en t’ s T ex t N u m b er

19 √ √ √

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Generic Structure

Orientation Complication Resolution

23 √ √ √

24 √ √ √

25 √ √ √

26 √ √ √

Total 24 24 23

Percentage 96 % 96 % 92 %

Note:

*There are two stories in the text, one of which had orientation but the second story didn’t have orientation. Thus, the writer considered the text didn’t have orientation as the orientation wasn’t complete.

It is clear that almost all (96%) of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts had orientation. Almost all (96%) of the narrative texts had complications. There were 92% of the narrative texts that had resolutions. There were not any frequent errors made by the students in applying generic structure. Thus, applying generic structure in narrative texts is not a problem for the students.

In order to give specific information concerning the students’ generic structure, each generic structure item is discussed in the following section. It discusses the orientation, complication, and resolution in developing a narrative text.

a. Orientation

Orientation is the setting in time and place and the characters of the story. In this part, the characters, setting, and the time of the story are established. This part usually answers the questions who, when, and where. Consider the following examples, which are grammatically revised:

Example 1:

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl called Cinderella and she had two ugly stepsisters who were very unkind [and] who made her do all the hard work.

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was going to have a grand ball. [The] Three girls were invited to come. (Student’s Text 11— see Appendix 10)

In example 1, it is also known that the characters are Cinderella, her stepsisters, and there is also a king and a prince. The story happens in a kingdom as there is a palace mentioned. The story takes place once upon a time.

Example 2:

Long [long] time ago there lived a priest, Ki Ajar, who had a little baby. Amazingly, his baby was a snake. He ordered the snake to meditate in Mount Sileker. Ki Ajar named his child Baruklinting. (Student’s Text 12—see Appendix 11)

From example 2, we can also find who the characters are, when the story takes place, and where the story happens. The characters are Ki Ajar, Baruklinting a.k.a. the snake. The story takes place a long time ago and it happens in Mount Sileker area.

Example 3:

Once upon a time [there] was a girl named Cinderella. She lived with bad step mother and two [stepsisters]. She had to do all household chores. One day, the king invited all the ladies in the kingdom to go to a ball in the palace. He wanted to [get] the Prince a wife. (Student’s Text 26—see Appendix 16)

From the text above, we know who the characters are, when and where the story happens. The characters are Cinderella, her mother, her stepsisters, a king and a prince. The story takes place once upon a time in a kingdom.

Almost all of the tenth grade students’ texts have orientations. Even though some of the orientations had some grammatical errors, they were considered correct for grammar was not comprised in generic structure. Thus, 96% of the students’ texts had orientations.

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b. Complication and Resolution

Complication is the problem to be solved by the character of a story. And also, there must be resolution(s) of the complication(s). Complication should be resolved for better or worst or happily or unhappily in a story. Consider the following examples, which are grammatically revised:

Example 1:

When [his] mother came, Malin Kundang, in front of his well dressed wife, his crews and his own [glories] denied [to] [meeting] that old, poor and dirty woman. For three times she begged Malin Kundang and for three times she yelled at him. At last Malin Kundang said to her “Enough, old woman! I have never had a mother like you, a dirty and ugly peasant!” Then he ordered his crews to set sail.

Enraged, she cursed Malin Kundang that he would turn into a stone if he didn’t apologize. Malin Kundang just laughed and set sail.

In the quite sea, suddenly a thunderstorm came. His huge ship was wrecked and it was too late for Malin Kundang to apologize[d]. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship, fell on a small island, and suddenly turned into [a] stone. (Student’s Text 15—see Appendix 13)

In example 1 above, the sentences underlined are the complication and the rest statements are the resolution. There was a complication between Malin Kundang and his mother in example 1. Malin Kundang denied that he had an old, poor, dirty, and ugly peasant mother. His mother had begged Malin Kundang to acknowledge her as his mother. But Malin Kundang was too arrogant to acknowledge her as his mother in front of his wife and crews. His mother, then, cursed Malin Kundang into a stone. Meanwhile, Malin Kundang just laughed and then sailed away. Then, there was a resolution where Malin Kundang was thrown out of his ship. He fell on an island and then he turned into stone.

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Example 2:

Bandung Bandawasa called [together] thousands of genies. They worked so hard that just before [then] sun rose, they had built nine hundred and ninety temples.

Lara Jonggrang [became] frightened. She went quickly to the nearest village and asked for help. “Wake up all the cocks,“ she said, “and make them crow [so that] when the giant hears them, he will believe that it is already morning.” When the giant heard the crow, he thought he had been beaten. Then, the genies [stopped] building temples and they [were] going to a mountain[s].

Later, he found out that Lara Jonggrang had tricked him. He, then, turned her into the thousandth temple. (Student’s Text 19—see Appendix 15) In example 2, the sentences underlined are the complication and the rest statements are the resolution. Lara Jonggrang was in trouble when the giant were going to be able to build a thousand temple she had asked as a condition to marry her. Then, there was a resolution when Lara Jonggrang tried to wake all the cocks up so that the cocks crow and scare the genies away.

Example 3:

The [stepsisters] went to the ball that night with their mother. Cinderella was left alone. She cried because she actually wanted to go to the ball too. Just then a fairy godmother came. With her magic wand, she gave Cinderella a coach, two horses, and footmen. She also gave Cinderella [a] lovely dress to wear to the ball and a pair of glass slippers. She told Cinderella to come home before midnight.

At the ball, Cinderella danced all night with the prince. The prince [fell] in love with her. At midnight, Cinderella ran home. (Student’s Text 26—see Appendix 16)

In example 3, the sentences underlined are the complication and the rest statements are the resolution. Cinderella had a problem where she was left alone by her stepsisters and stepmother. She cried and really wanted to go to the ball. Then, there was a resolution where a fairy godmother came to her and helped her with all Cinderella’s needs to go to the ball.

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Almost all of the tenth grade students’ texts have complication and resolution. Even though some of the complication and resolution had some grammatical errors, they are considered correct for grammar is not comprised in generic structure.

2. Linguistic Features

The writer found that the tenth grade students’ narrative texts almost had all of the linguistic features of narrative texts. The students actually understood and mastered some linguistic features of a narrative text. They were able to apply the vocabulary, time transitions, and adjectives in developing a narrative text but they have problem in applying past tense. The linguistic features of the tenth grade students’ narrative texts are presented in Table 4.2:

Table 4.2 The Students’ Linguistic Features of Narrative Texts

Linguistic Features Vocabulary that

is relevant to the subject matter (events, context, setting and characters)

Use the Past Tense Use Time Transitions Use adjectives to describe setting, characteristic and appearances

1 √ √ √ √

2 _ _ √ √

3 √ _ _ √

4 √ _ √ √

5 √ _ √ √

6 _ _ √ _

7 _ _ _ √

8 _ _ √ √

9 _ _ √ √

10 √ _ √ √

11 _ _ √ √

S tude nt ’s T ext N um be r

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Linguistic Features Vocabulary that

is relevant to the subject matter (events, context, setting and characters)

Use the Past Tense Use Time Transitions Use adjectives to describe setting, characteristic and appearances

13 _ _ √ √

14 √ _ √ √

15 √ _ √ √

16 _ _ √ √

17 _ _ _ √

18 _ _ √ √

19 √ _ √ √

20 _ _ √ √

21 _ _ √ √

22 SPOOF

23 _ _ _ √

24 _ _ √ √

25 _ _ √ √

S tude nt ’s T ext N um be r

26 _ √ √ _

Total 9 2 21 23

Percentage 36% 8% 84% 92%

It can be seen that almost all of the narrative texts (84%) had time transitions. There were 92% of the narrative texts that had adjectives to describe setting, characteristic and appearances. And also, 36% of the narrative texts had vocabulary that is relevant to subject matter. Meanwhile, there were only 8% of the narrative texts had past tense application. Thus, the most frequent errors in applying textual features are errors in past tense.

In order to give specific information concerning the students’ linguistic features, each linguistic feature is discussed in the following section. It discusses the vocabulary, past tense, time transitions, and adjectives in developing a narrative text.

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a. Vocabulary

In a narrative text, the vocabulary should be relevant to the subject matter. The subject matter refers to the events, context, setting and characters. There were 36% of the students’ narrative texts had vocabulary that is relevant to subject matter. For example, Student’s Text 12 (see Appendix 11) titled “Lake Rawa Pening” telling about the formation of a lake. The vocabulary used in text 12 is also related to the events, setting and characters and/or issues in the story. There are vocabularies such as: ‘long time ago’, ‘priest’, ‘snake’, ‘Mount Sileker’, ‘Ki Ajar’—the name of the character in the story, ‘Baruklinting’—the name of the character in the story, ‘Benarawa’—the setting of the story, ‘meditate’, ‘hunting’, ‘spirit’, ‘stick’, ‘flood’, and ‘old widow’.

Another example is from Student’s Text 15 titled “Malin Kundang” (see Appendix 13), there are also relevant vocabulary such as: “Malin Kundang”—the name of the character in the story, ‘long time ago’, ‘beach’, ‘West Sumatera’— where the story took place, ‘sea’, ‘fish’, ‘sailing’, ‘wealthy merchant’, ‘pirates’, ‘huge ship’, ‘loads of trading goods’, ‘ship crews’, ‘cursed’, ‘wave’, etc.

There were 64% of the students’ texts that did not have relevant vocabulary. For example, Student’s Text titled “Sumber Tetek Temple” (see Appendix 9) had these vocabularies that were not relevant to the context and events of the story:

*examination (in paragraph 3)trial *public (in paragraph 4)people

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*sined [sinned] (in paragraph 4)guilty *except (in paragraph 5)besides

*pit (in paragraph 5)unindentified word *finished (in paragraph 6)solve

*grandfather (in paragraph 8)old man

Another text that did not have relevant vocabulary was Student’s Text 16 (see Appendix 14). There were these irrelevant vocabularies in the text:

*duty (in paragraph 2)a chore *reply (in paragraph 3)answer back

*peri (an Indonesian word, in paragraph 6)fairy *down (in paragraph 7)get off

*start (in paragraph 7)unnecessary word that should be omitted *reach (in paragraph 8)look for

*final (in paragraph 8)last *invite (in paragraph 8)ask b. Past Tense

Past tense is usually applied in a narrative text. There were only 8% of the students’ narrative texts that applied past tense. They are Student’s Text 1 (see Appendix 7) and Student’s Text 26 (see Appendix 16).

Meanwhile, most of the students did not apply past tense on their narrative texts. There were 23 out of 25 narrative texts that apply past tense incorrectly. For example, in Student’s Text 5 titled “The Golden Snail” (see Appendix 8), there

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were erroneous past sentences. The following are some of the erroneous sentences with their corrections:

*Hehavetwo princess Hehadtwo princess[es] *Their nameis…

Their name[s]were…

*Dewi Candra Kiranawill marriedwith …

Dewi Candra Kranawould get marriedwith …

* But Dewi Ajengdisagreebecauseherself jealousandwant marridwith Panji Asmoro Bangun

But Dewi Ajengdisagreedbecauseshe was jealousandwanted to get marriedwith Panji Asmoro Bangun.

*… when shewalkingin the beach. … when shewas walkingin the beach. *And all house work alreadydid.

And all house workhadalreadybeen done.

*Meanwhile, Panji Asmoro BangunsearchingDewi Candra Kirana… Meanwhile, Panji Asmoro Bangunwas searchingDewi Candra Kirana…

Another text that had erroneous past sentences was Student’s Text 6 titled “Sumber Tetek Temple” (see Appendix 9). The following are some of the erroneous past sentences with their corrections in the text:

*This placewas leadered by… This place was led by…

*…a kingthat wised, honested and etc. …a kingthat was wise and honest. *thereareexamination…

therewereexaminations… *Airlangga kingsadagain. King Airlanggawas sadagain.

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*…queenvery sad… …queenwas very sad...

*…tofinished… (and so many moreto+ past formin the text) …tofinish…

*…all his problemscansoon finished. …all his problemscouldsoonbesolved. *…to commandedto Airlanggato stoped… …to commandAirlanggato stop… *The fieldgrownvertile.

The fieldgrewfertile.

Another text that had erroneous past sentences was Student’s Text 16 titled “Cinderella” (see Appendix 14). Some of the errors with their corrections are:

*The girlisCinderella. The girlwasCinderella.

*Shecleanthem… (and many moresubject + present formin the text) Shecleanedthem…

*…there are … (and many moreis/arewere used in the text) …there were…

*Cinderellaseeher sisterwear gown that very beautiful.

Cinderellasawher sisterwho was wearing a gown that was very beautiful.

*A perireadyhelp her.

A fairywas readyto help her A fairyreadiedfor helping her. c. Time Transition

Transitions are important in a narrative text. Narrative texts that do not have any transitions often make the readers lost. Transitions that are used in a narrative text indicate the passage of time, e.g. ‘then’ and ‘next’. Most of the

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students’ narrative texts had time transitions. There were 84% of the narrative texts that had time transitions.

There were time transitions applied in Student’s Text 1 (see Appendix 7). The time transitions are: ‘one day’ (in paragraph 2), ‘the next day’ (in paragraph 2) and ‘then’ (in paragraph 2). Meanwhile, text 26 also applied time transitions. Here are the time transitions in text 26 (see Appendix 16): ‘one day’ (in paragraph 2), ‘then’ (in paragraph 4), ‘the next day’ (in paragraph 6) and ‘after’ (in paragraph 7). Furthermore, time transitions were also applied in Student’s Text 15 (see Appendix 13). Here are the time transitions used in Student’s Text 15: ‘one day’ (in paragraph 3), ‘many years later’ (in paragraph 4), ‘when the mother came’ (in paragraph 5) and ‘at last’ (in paragraph 5).

d. Adjective

In a narrative text, adjectives are used to describe characteristics and appearance. Specific information in a narrative text is important, so that, adjectives are used to give specific information about the characteristics and appearance of the characters in the text. Almost all of the texts had adjectives. For example, Student’s Text 12 (see Appendix 11) had adjectives to give specific information, such as: ‘little’ in ‘a little baby’ (in paragraph 1) and ‘big’ in ‘a big snake’ (in paragraph 2), ‘small’ in ‘a small boy’ (in paragraph 2), ‘old’ in ‘old widow’ (in paragraph 2).

Student’s Text 15 (see Appendix 13) also used adjectives, such as: ‘healthy’ (in paragraph 2), ‘diligent’ (in paragraph 2), ‘strong’ (in paragraph 2), ‘wealthy’ (in paragraph 4), and ‘rich’ (in paragraph 4) that described the

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