59 The other interference from the mother tongue is alternating form,
regarding the use of demonstratives. The students also made a few errors in demonstratives. They used them interchangeably, take for instance, that chickens
is have white and black color
which should be written those chickens because chickens is plural. Similarly, Bahasa Indonesia has pronomina penunjuk atributif
which have almost the same function as demonstratives. However, Bahasa Indonesia does not differentiate pronomina penunjuk atributif based on
countability. Indonesian uses itu which means that and those, and ini which means this and these for both singular and plural nouns. Thus, it is possible that the
students made errors forming demonstratives because they were still confused about the two different concepts.
To sum up, the interferences from the mother tongue really become the possible cause of the errors. Thus, it is important to clearly explain the differences
and similarities of noun phrases in Bahasa Indonesia and English before further explaining both basic noun phrases and complex noun phrases.
2. Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization is also one of the possible causes of the errors. In this study, the students generalized plural nouns more widely than they should have.
The students have already learnt some English rules for changing the singular nouns into plural nouns. However, perhaps they had not studied them in depth.
Therefore, they were confused about the nouns which needed the plural marker -s, -es, -ies and the nouns which did not.
60 The more the students knew the rules of English plural nouns, the more
overgeneralization they made. The most common error made by the students was the addition of the plural marker -s to an exceptional item of a class that does not
need a marker, for example The sheeps is eating the grass. This shows that actually the students have learnt the concept of changing singular form into plural
form, but they have not mastered the concept of English plural nouns yet. They had difficulties in distinguishing between the different markers of plurality. In
brief, the students unconsciously over generalized the rules of plural forms by adding the plural marker –s to the exceptional nouns, which actually do not need
plural marker. The students knew that to indicate plurality, they should add plural markers, but they did not realize that not all nouns need them. Therefore, they
added plural marker –s to all nouns to indicate plurality.
3. Context of Learning
A third possible cause of error can be identified from the context of learning. Context of learning refers to the circumstances that form the setting, for
example, the classroom with its teacher and material in the learning process. This subsection will describe two factors which lie at the basis of errors the students
made. The two factors are the students and the teachers. With regard to the students, it could be seen from the interview that the
three students were unmotivated to learn English. This could be seen from the carelessness of their writings and the lack of time they allotted in the assignment.
They were not attentive to their writing and often made small errors like omitting
61 the plural marker –s in plural nouns, adding the plural marker –s to an exceptional
noun like sheep and misforming the alternating form. In addition, they also easily forgot the English grammar rule like article rules. Moreover, they admitted that
they did their writing in a hurry. This was said by the student who did his writing the night before he submitted it. Furthermore, this student did not ask his friends
or the teacher to check his writing. It seems that he really did not care about what he had done. The students’ low awareness about their responsibility for their
writing assignment showed that the students were unmotivated to learn English. The second factor is the teachers. Teachers play a role in the learning
process. They should be able to manage the class, prepare the material before the class, motivate students to learn, give clear explanations and feedback to the
students so that the students can improve their work. From the interview data, it can be concluded that there are several things which the teachers need to pay
attention to. First, the teacher’s explanation is not always easily understood and
remembered by the students. The student admitted that she has not comprehended about articles in depth. This statement showed that the teacher did not explain
clearly about the basic elements of basic noun phrases to the students. There were also errors such as the omission of the plural marker –s, addition of the plural
marker –s to some exceptional nouns and misformation of the alternating form. This also showed that the students really needed clear explanations, which can be
easily grasped and understood so that they can acquire a better understanding of basic noun phrases.
62 Second, teachers’ feedback clarifies students misunderstanding. It seems
that the teachers have not yet paid attention to the benefits of giving feedback and peer correction. It could be seen from the interview results that the teacher did not
give generous feedback on students’ writing before the students submitted their final assignment. As a result, the students’ writings were still like drafts which
really needed editing. Thus, since the teachers’ explanations and teacher’s feedback play a role in the context of learning, they should be taken into account
by the teachers.
C. Suggestions to Improve Students’ Understanding of Basic Noun
