Discussion on the Errors Made by the Students

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2. Discussion on the Errors Made by the Students

As an attempt to answer the first research question, subject-verb agreement errors made by students in Paragraph Writing Class of ELESP, the researcher described the data presentation. From the data presentation put in Table 4.1., it was obvious that the types of subject-verb agreement errors that the researcher found in the students’ written work were 1 omission, 2 double-marking, which is under addition category 3 simple addition, which is another subcategory of addition category, 4 archi formsalternating forms, which either archi or alternating forms are under the misinformation categories. There were five 5 errors or 17.9 of the total errors that were classified as omission error. According to Dulay et al. 1982, omission errors means the absence of an item that actually must exist in a well formed utterance p. 154. The examples of this type were as follows. [1a] The fragrance of the flower comfort everybody who comes to my house. [2a] The sunshine spread happiness. In sentence [1a], the omission error occured in the verb comfort because the student did not apply the singular marker –s in the verb comfort in order to indicate that the verb has singular meaning. In sentence [1a], the subject, the fragrance of the flower, is considered singular because the head subject, the fragrance, is considered an uncountable noun, which belongs to gases category PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 63 Azar, 1989, p. 206. Langan 1996 mentions that words that come between the subject and the verb in a sentence do not change the subject-verb agreement within the sentence p. 338. Moreover, since the word, the fragrance, belongs to uncountable noun, it has singular meaning. Greenbaum 1989 states that noncount nouns are considered singular p. 108. Thus, in order to form a correct subject-verb agreement in sentence [1a], the student should apply the singular marker –s, for the verb, comfort. It aimed to indicate that the verb has singular meaning, so the subject-verb agreement in number in sentence [1a] could be formed. Therefore, the correction of sentence [1a] is: [1b] The fragrance of the flower comforts everybody who comes to my house. Initially, the researcher would like to inform that in the written work, all students had to write a descriptive text, which requires them to apply Present Tense in writing the sentences. Therefore, the writer considers that all sentences in the written work, including sentence [2a], are written in simple Present Tense. The omission error in sentence [2a] occured in the verb spread because the student did not apply the singular marker –s in the verb spread in order to indicate that the verb has singular meaning. The student should have understood that the subject of sentence [2a], the sunshine, is considered an uncountable noun which belongs to natural phenomena category Azar, 1989, p. 206. Thus, the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 64 subject of sentence [2a], the sunshine, has singular meaning. Greenbaum 1989 states that noncount nouns are considered singular p. 108. It means that the subject in sentence [2a] should be followed by a singular verb, so the subject-verb agreement in number, which states that a singular subject, one person or thing, takes a singular verb, while a plural subject, more than one person or thing, takes a plural verb Langan, 1996, p. 338, could be formed. In order to form a singular verb, the student should apply the singular marker –s in the verb spread. Therefore, the sentence [2a] The sunshine spread happiness, could be replaced by sentence: [2b] The sunshine spreads happiness. After analyzing the students’ written work, the researcher only found one 1 error or 3.6 of the total errors regarded as double-marking error, which is the subcategory of addition error. According to Dulay et al. 1982, an error is classified into double-marking category when a student uses two items rather one, which are marked for the same feature p. 156. The error of this type could be seen in sentence [3a]. [3a] It is located in an area which doesn’t has much pollutant, so the air is still fresh. Sentence [3a] is a deviant form of sentence: PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 65 [3b] It is located in an area which doesn’t have much pollutant, so the air is still fresh. In sentence [3a] the double-marking error occured in the negative form doesn’t has of the subject, an area. In sentence [3a], the student used the same features, which are all singular form, to indicate the negative meaning: doesn’t and has. The student should have used a plural form, have, after the word doesn’t, so the subject-verb agreement in number could be made. Besides, the researcher also found two 2 errors or 7.1 of the total errors on simple addition, which is still another subcategory of addition error category. According to Ellis and Barkhuizen 2005, an error can be classified under simple addition category when the addition error does not involve regularization p. 61, which can happen because a marker is errorneously added to exceptional items of the given class that does not take a marker Dulay et al., 1982, p. 156 and double- marking error, which can happen because there are two items that are marked for the same feature Dulay et al., 1982, p. 156. Thus, the learner might make some simple addition errors because they simply added a feature that actually should not be put in a sentence. These were some examples of simple addition error found in the students’ written work. [4a] The living room has a window, when we open the window in the morning, the ray of the sun will shining brightly through the window and touch our skin. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 66 [5a] There is some sofas and a television in living room that can spoiling me after I tired from doing my daily activities. The simple addition error in sentence [4a] occured in the word shining, whose position after the modal auxiliary, will Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 244. Actually, the researcher found two 2 errors in sentence [5a]. However, the researcher, in this part, only analyzed the error which belongs to the simple addition error. The error of simple addition error in sentence [5a] was caused by the word spoiling, whose position after the modal auxiliary, can Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 244. Besides, Leech and Svartvik 1994 state that modal auxiliaries only have one form p. 264 and the modal auxiliaries do not have such forms as –s forms, –ing forms, or –ed participles Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 243. Besides, Azar and Hagen 2006 state that modal axuiliaries come in front of the simple form of a main verb p. 398 . Thus, sentence [4a] should be: [4b] The living room has a window, when we open the window in the morning, the ray of the sun will shine brightly through the window and touch our skin. Then, sentence [5a] should be: [5b] There are some sofas and a television in living room that can spoil me after I tired from doing my daily activities. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 67 Under misinformation category, which may happen because of the use of an incorrect form of a morpheme or structure Ellis Barkhuizen, 2005, p. 61, the researcher did not find any errors on regularization. Nevertheless, the researcher found a lot of subject-verb agreement errors which belonged to another subcategory of misinformation, namely archialternating forms. There were twenty 20 archialternating forms errors or 71.4 of the total errors. The examples of these archialternating forms were as follows. [6a] In addition to having some rooms, it also having some furniture which is needed. [7a] There is a cozy living room and a warm bedroom. [8a] The bedrooms has a beautiful view from the backyard. [9a] In dining room, it must has a big table and some chairs. As stated in Theoretical Framework, archi-forms and alternating-forms were not differentiated by the researcher since both those forms deal with errors resulting from the alternation in sentence production. Thus, the researcher considered both archi-forms and alternating forms errors deal with alternating a form. It is to alternate a form of certain class in order to represent other classes or to make free alternation of various members of a class with each other. The subject-verb agreement error in sentence [6a] could happen because the student used the continuous form, having, of the verb have to replace the singular verb, that actually should follow the singular subject in sentence [6a], it, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 68 which is the third person singular Lester, 1990, p. 25; Marianne et al., 1999, p. 54. Therefore, in order to meet the agreement between the subject and the verb in sentence [6a], the student should use the singular verb, has, in order to follow the subject. Therefore, sentence [6a] In addition to having some rooms, it also having some furniture which is needed should be replaced by sentence: [6b] In addition to having some rooms, it also has some furniture which is needed. Then, in sentence [7a], the student used the verb is after there, in order to follow the subject of sentence [7a], a cozy living room and a warm bedroom. Azar 1989 states that in the structure: there + be, there is called an expletive. Furthermore, according to Langan 1996, a verb must agree with its subject even when the verb comes before the subject p. 339. Then, Langan 1996 adds that there may precede the subject p. 339. The subject of sentence [7a] is plural because Greenbaum 1989 mentions that if a subject in a sentence consists of two or more phrases that are linked by and, the subject has plural meaning p. 211. In addition, Greenbaum 1989 adds that in speech, learners are allowed to use a singular verb after introductory there even when the subject, which follows the verb, is plural p. 217. It is because it is common to do. However, according to Greenbaum 1989, in formal writing, learners should follow the general rule: there is somebody waiting for you, there are two men waiting for you p. 217. Therefore, it could be said that in sentence [7a], the student was not allowed to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 69 apply the singular verb, is, after there, to follow the plural subject, a cozy living room and a warm bedroom because the general rule asked the learner to use the plural verb, are after there, in order to follow the plural subject Greenbaum, 1989, p. 217. Thus, the correction of sentence [7a] is: [7b] There are a cozy living room and a warm bedroom. Another subject-verb agreement error which was classified into archialternating form error category is sentence [8a] The bedrooms has a beautiful view from the backyard. The error might happen because the student used the singular verb, has, which should not follow the plural subject of sentence [8a], the bedrooms. The subject-verb agreement in number of sentence [8a] could be formed only if the student had applied the plural verb, have, in order to follow the plural subject. Therefore, the correction of sentence [8a] The bedrooms has a beautiful view from the backyard is sentence: [8b] The bedrooms have a beautiful view from the backyard Then, in sentence [9a] In dining room, it must has a big table and some chairs, the student used the singular verb, has. The student should have known that the verb stands after the modal auxiliary, must Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 244. The student should have used the plural verb, have, after the modal auxiliary, must, in sentence [9a] since modal auxiliaries only have one form PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 70 Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 264 and the modal auxiliaries do not have these forms, such as –s forms, –ing forms, or –ed participles Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 243. Besides, Azar and Hagen 2006 state that modal axuiliaries come in front of the simple form of a main verb p. 398. Thus, sentence [9a] should be replaced by sentence: [9b] In dining room, it must have a big table and some chairs.

B. The Factors that Caused the Students to Make the Errors