Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Language Learning Strategies Used by Learners in SMA N Ungaran

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An Analysis of Grammatical Errors in Essay Writing at Bethany

Elementary School

Riski Veriando Setianda

Abstract

This study investigated errors in English tenses found in the students’ writing

test of 5th grade students at Bethany Elementary School offered in first semester, 2012-2013 academic year. There were 12 students participated in

this study The data were collected from the students’ essay about daily activities and holiday. It was found that the students still had problems in using two basic tenses, i.e Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense. I suggested that the teachers need to focus not only on the organization of writing but also on the grammar especially tenses when they teach writing. Keywords: Error, Simple Past tense, Simple Present Tense

Introduction

Nowadays, English is becoming more important. More than three hundred million people are speaking English as native speakers and more than four hundred million people speak English as second or foreign language (Rad, 2007). In recent years, the teaching of English in Indonesia is expanding into primary or elementary school setting as a local content course. Teaching English for young learners has been officially permitted since 1994 to prepare human resources in the future. It may be considered as a controversial issue in teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesia. Introducing English to young learners is arguable especially from the linguistic point of views.

Learning a foreign language is not easy, in English, because the rules are different from those of our native language. The difficulties are also faced by the students of Bethany Elementary School that they have to master the four basic skills, that is, listening, speaking,

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reading, and writing. “in order to master the English language, learners have to be adequately exposed to all of the four basic skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing” (Brown, 2000). Writing is one of the skills in which learners or students express their ideas, comments, or opinions as a means of communication. Bryne (1979) explained that writing is transforming our thoughts into language. In other words, writing can be defined as a way of communication by transforming observations, information, thought, or ideas into language, so it can be shared with others. Also, Bryne (1979) added that it is neither easy nor spontaneous; it requires conscious mental effort. Writing is not only just transforming our thought or idea in written form but also it relays to the process of monitoring any single words or features that we have written and the process of rereading and revising our writing. Writing gives unique opportunities of explore ideas and enquire information.

Horton (1982) defined writing as away to express people‟s feelings, emotions, and ideas in order to find the most suitable words to convey message and also saying something in different way. Brigdes and Lunsford (1984) emphasized that writing is a process in which learners are encouraged to be more active in expressing the ideas. However, it is not easy to develop a good piece of writing, especially for children. Warren (1985) proposed that writing is no trouble; just jot down ideas as they occur. The jotting is simple. It is the occurring which is difficult.

However, the standard of English among children is on the decline despite learning English for several years. The students are still weak in English and face some problems. This problem especially happen in their writing skills. They still commit errors in all aspects of language. Children often find difficulties in writing, because they are not used to conveying their ideas in a foreign language, particularly when the teacher gives topic that they do not like. The teacher should give interesting topics to the learners. Children are often

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more enthusiastic and lively as learners than adults because a child‟s thinking develops as gradual growth of knowledge and intellectual skill toward a find stage of formal and logical thinking” (Cameron 2001, p.2). I believe that almost all children have imaginations which can help them to express ideas. Expressing idea is the main way to start a good writing.

The difficulties of writing may cause mistakes which children do not realize. That mistake actually happen from the student‟s understanding about the pattern, in this case is grammar. Written language cannot be separated from grammatical rules. Haffernan and Lincoln (1986) proposed that fine writing needs an effective understanding of grammar. In similar vein, Byrne (1979) suggested that good writing is produced by a good writer who produces sentences which are arranged in a good sequence, a particular order, and linked together in certain ways. Sounds, words, sentences are meaningful within this frame of each language structure and system. Similarly, each language uses its own pattern of arrangement and form for its grammatical meanings. Kroll (1990) believed that English language learners who have already learned to write in another language have knowledge and literacy skills that can help them write in English, but they still face many difficulties. Juel (1994) added that writing has been characterized as the most challenging of the literacy domains. Bassically, writing is a complex process requiring visual memory, attention, phonological processing, semantic operations, and motor performance. It is therefore less specific and less automatized in terms of reading and it can easily be disturbed by the interference of concurrent cognitive and motor operations (Moretti et al., 2003).

Stephens (1992) pointed out that writing is one of painful process in learning language. As a result, children are likely to feel awkward and almost certain to make mistakes. He believed that the problem that children face might help them in expressing their ideas and improving their writing skills. It is almost the same when we are talking about the

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purpose of writing. I believe that every writer has a goal, that is, to make the readers understand what she or he really means by reading her or his writing (Flower, 1985). That is why grammatical aspects in a piece of writing need a special attention. When a piece of writing has problems with grammatical errors, the readers will not understand what the writers really mean. The readers might feel confused when they are reading it. The specific problems especialy happen in each sentence of writing. Sentences are made up of patterns of arrangement of words group, words, stress, etc. On the other hand, children appear to have specific problems separating closed words, including prepositions, articles and conjunctions, from the nearest content word (noun, verb, or adjective) (Ferreiro & Pontecorvo, 1996 ; Tolchinsky & Cintas,2001 ). When words are not semantically salient such as auxiliary verbs, clitics and prepositions in English, separating words accurately can remain difficult in some cases until high school (Tolchinsky, 2003). Bassically, sentences occur in sequences, and each language has its own system for the ordering of sentences in sequences.

All the children‟s writing may have errors in their sentences. Error is “an unwanted form”, specifically, a form which a particular course designer or teacher does not want (George, 1972). If the unwanted form appeared as an independent part of the learner‟s experience, e.g., in the English of other teachers or of local speakers, there is no difficulty of explanation of its presence. However, errors are not embarassing. According to Jain (1973), the realization of error in learning a foreign language is important for the understanding of the acquisition process. It means that a teacher should let the children make some errors in writing, since it will enable teachers to pay more attention to part of the lesson which needs to be reviewed. James (1998) defined an error as "unsuccessful bit of language" (p.1). Errors seem to be as succinct and compact a description as I've ever read! However, this very

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readable style of writing, whilst appearing informal, is maintained through technical issues which is easy to obfuscate by a children which has poor writing style.

Mistakes, errors, and problems in children‟s writing are related with grammar. Without knowing the grammar of the language, they may get a lot of difficulties. Wilson in Rean (1971:102) stated that grammar of language is the system of devices which carry the structural meanings of that language in speech and writing. This system specifies the way words in a given language are related to each other. Grammar is the sound, structure, and meaning system of language. All languages have grammar, and each language has its own grammar. People who speak the same language are able to communicate because they intuitively know the grammar system of that language, that is, the rules of making meaning. Students who are native speakers of English already know English grammar. They recognize the sounds of English words, the meanings of those words, and the different ways of putting words together to make meaningful sentences.

Grammar is still regarded as the most difficult part in a language use. Does a training in 'formal grammar' improve a child's ability to write? At one time it was taken for granted that the answer was yes, so children were taught grammatical analysis as part of the effort to improve their writing. However when educational researchers sought evidence for the expected effects, the results were negative; for example, one of the classic experiments concluded: "It seems safe to infer that the study of English grammar had a negligible or even harmful effect upon the correctness of children's writing in the early part of the five secondary schools" (Harris 1962). The earliest research questioning the value of grammar teaching found that it was simply a waste of time in the sense that most children could not apply any of the categories even after many years of teaching (Cawley 1957; Hudson 1987; Macauley 1947). This is clearly a fundamental objection if it is true, but most research has

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found that, when well taught, any kind of grammar (traditional or modern) can be learned by most school children at least at secondary level and in some cases at primary level - for example, fifth-graders (Gale 1967). It is also interesting to remember that grammar was one of the few subjects that teachers taught purely on the basis of what they themselves learned at school, without any kind of 'boost' at university; a subject with such weak intellectual underpinnings is doomed to eventual extinction, so it is imperative to ensure that the same mistake is not repeated.

There are many things that we can learn in grammar, one of them is tenses. Simple present tense and simple past tense are two examples. In the past, they are taught from the first year students of junior high school. Now, they are taught from elementary students. Simple present tense is taught at the first semester of elementary and simple past tense is taught at the second semester. Learning tenses is very important to make a sentence well and clear suitable with the time of the activity. Talking about tenses, most students of Indonesia find it difficult to learn. Based on my observation, when I taught simple present tense and simple past tense to some elementary students, most of the learners had difficulties in using verbs. The learners were confused in using verb –s, verb 1 and verb past, and also in using auxiliary do, does, and did. It is difficult because English has a different system from Indonesia. Their native language influences them in constructing English sentences. In Indonesia, there are no changes of the verb caused by time. There are no concord between subject and the verb either. For example, the sentence „saya makan sekarang and dia makan sekarang‟ in Indonesia the verb is not influenced by the person. In English sentence, „I eat now and he eats now‟, have different verbs, one of the verb has -s. Therefore, there is a great possibility for children to make errors. In this case, the English teachers must realize the problems faced by the students. My observation in Bethany Elementary school also showed

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that tenses are the most problem in student‟s writing. They are still confused about plural and singular, verb agreement, verb be, etc.

This research aimed to analyze the grammatical errors made by the learners in constructing simple present tense and simple past tense in the writing. An Italian proverb says Sbagliando S’impara (we learn through our error) and making mistakes can indeed be regarded as an essential part of learning (Norrish, 1995:1). Students‟ error in learning a foreign language is a part of learning process. It is impossible for students to learn a foreign language without making mistakes or errors. Because in learning foreign language, making errors is common, acceptable, and important part in order for the teacher to improve the teaching method and provide feedback.

Other study about grammatical errors made by the learners in constructing simple present tense and simple past tense in the writing is on Dyah Yeny‟ thesis (2009). The study used different subject in collecting data. She used Integrated Course 2‟ students of Satya Wacana Christian University as her subject. This research here used 5th grade elementary students as the subject.

This research aimed to address the following research question; What are the common grammatical errors that occur in the writing of 5th grade of elementary students? The purpose of this research was to describe the common errors in simple present tense and simple past tense of the students‟ writing.

The result of this research may provide the Elemantary School teachers better understanding of their students and it could be an input for them in teaching writing and focusing on the problematic ones. I hope that this research could provide some guidance or

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assistance for those who would like to study further about grammatical errors in writing by children.

The Study

This study used a descriptive method. I used students‟ writing in Bethany Elementary School Salatiga to identify the kinds of grammatical errors. The focus of this research was the grammatical errors in essay writing of 5th grade students of elementary school.

The participants of this research were the students of 5th grade of elementary school at Bethany Elementary School in the 2012 / 2013 academic year. The total number of the student were 12 students. I adopted purposive sampling that based on specific needs. Purposive sampling signifies to see sampling as a series of strategic choices about with whom, where and how to do the research (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2000).

The research instrument of this study is writing prompt. All subjects were given two series of pictures about holiday (past tense) and daily activities (present tense) and some questions related to the pictures as a guide to write their stories. Then, the students were instructed to write stories. Each student wrote only once (each series of pictures) in a piece of paper and the were given freedom to express their ideas based on the pictures and questions given.

In collecting the data, first I asked permission from the teacher to give the students instruction to write stories (writing). After getting the data, I classified and analyzed the errors. After classifying and analyzing the errors, I tried to find the possible causes of the errors. This study only analyzed the grammatical errors and then grouped the errors based on the tenses; Simple past tense and Simple present tense.

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In analyzing the data, first I read and studied the students‟ writings. Then, I corrected the writings and focused on the tenses errors. After that, I divided the errors based on the two tenses. Next, I arranged the finding of errors in three steps. The first explanation was the intoduction of errors. The second showed the context of errors. The last showed the possible causes of errors and analysis. Finally, I summarized the errors on tenses and presented the result.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the common grammatical errors of past tense and present tense. The analysis found 48 errors, which could be divided into two types of tenses errors. There were 22 errors in the simple present tense, and 26 errors in the simple past tense.

A. Number of Simple Past Tense Errors

Type 1-incorrect use of Simple past tense (1)

84% Type 2-incorrect

use of Simple past tense (2)

4%

Type 3-misuse of Simple past tense

8%

Type 4-incorrect use of Simple past tense (3)

4%

Number of Errors

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It can be seen in Figure 1 that the number of errors was high. It indicated that making mistakes can indeed be regarded as an essential part of learning (Norrish, 1995:1). Figure 1 shows the number of errors in first type of tenses error. It was Simple Past Tense type. In the simple past tense errors, the student made four types of errors. Type 1 was the incorrect use of Simple past tense verb. Type 2 was the incorrect use of Simple past tense form by adding (be) before the transitive verb. Type 3 was the misuse of Simple past tense because the students used present perfect tense in their sentences. Type 4 was the incorrect use of Simple present tense. The study found 22 errors in type 1 (84%), 1 error in type 2 (4%), 2 errors in type 3 (8%), and 1 error in type 4 (4%). It is clear that the students still made many errors in simple past tense. Mostly, they made errors in type 1 (22 errors (84%)). It was the highest ranked of errors in simple past tense and this study. For further analysis, all types of error from simple past tense were selected and interpreted.

Error type 1. The incorrect use of simple past tense

In the analysis, some students made errors in using simple past tense. The following italicized word(s) or phrase(s) were some the examples of the errors in using simple past tense form:

1. My friend who invited me. I bringa lot of things, such as: blanket, sunblock, etc. 2. I went to the beach yesterday. I spend my holiday only for one day. My family

invited me there.

The first and the second examples above were related to the incorrect use of simple past tense verb. The word bring and spend were inappropriate because the sentences indicated the activities that happened in the past time, the students should use the simple past

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tense. So, it should be changed into brought and spent. However, they used the simple present tense.

Error type 2. The incorrect use of simple past tense

In analyzing the data, the writer found another error type in using simple past tense. Here are the examples:

3. I rode a bus to get there. The driver who wasdrove the bus.

The word was (be) in the example above was the incorrect use of the simple past tense form by adding was (be) before the transitive verb. The sentences were inappropriate because was (be) must not preceded by an transitive verb. So, the correct sentence should be,

The driver who drove the bus.

Error type 3. The misuse of simple past tense

In the analysis, the writer also found the misuse of simple past tense. Here are the examples:

4. My brother went to meet my father, and my father has put something in my brother hands. Then we can swim together.

5. I started to go to Jepara. When I havearrived, I saw a beautiful hotel.

The sentences above were the misuse of simple past tense because the students used perfect tense in their sentences. If the sentences indicate the activities that happened in the past time and there was connection with the present time, the students should use the simple past tense. So, the correct sentences should be, My brother went to meet my father, and my father put something in my brother hands. Then we can swim together and I started to go to Jepara. When I have arrived, I saw a beautiful hotel.

12 Error type 4. The incorrect use of simple past tense

From the data that had been collected, the writer found that some students did not use simple past tense form correctly. The following are the examples of the errors:

6. In the second day, I went to the market and bought some food. After that, I‟am swimming and in the night I prepared to go home at 9 p.m.

The sentence above was the example of the incorrect use of simple past tense. If the sentences indicate the activities that happened in the past time, the students should use simple past tense. However, they used present continous tense instead. So, the correct sentennce should be, In the second day, I went to the market and bought some food. After that, I swam and in the night I prepared to go home at 9 p.m.

B. Number of Simple Present Tense Errors

Type 1-absence of-s morpheme

18%

Type 2-misuse of-s morpheme

18% Type 3-misuse of

v-ing morpheme 32% Type 4-incorrect

use of Simple present tense (1)

23%

Type 5-incorrect use of Simple present tense (2)

9%

Number of Errors

Figure 2. Errors in Simple present tense

It could be seen in Figure 2 that the number of errors was also high. It indicated that making mistakes can indeed be regarded as an essential part of learning (Norrish, 1995:1).

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Figure 2 shows the number of errors in Simple Present Tense type. In the simple present tense errors, the student made five types of errors. Type 1 was the absence of –s morpheme in the simple present tense verbs for third person singular subject. Type 2 was the misuse of an –s morpheme by adding it to the verb of the second person singular subject. Type 3 was the misuse of V - ing morpheme by adding it to the verb. Type 4 and type 5 were the incorrect use of simple present tense.. The study found 4 errors in type 1 (18%), 4 errors in type 2 (18%), 7 errors in type 3 (32%), 5 errors in type 4 (23%), and 2 errors in type 5 (9%). It is clear that the students still made many errors in simple present tense. Mostly, they made errors in type 3 (7 errors (32%)). It was the highest number of errors in the simple present tense. For further analysis, all types of errors from simple present tense were selected and interpreted below.

Error type 1. The absence of –s for third person singular subject

In the analysis, the wrong form of simple present tense was found in the students‟ writing. It was the absence of –s morpheme. The following are the examples of the errors:

7. I must find my owm seat. Then the teacher teach us. 8. I go to school use a car. My dad drive it.

The first and the second examples above were inappropriate sentences because there was no –s morpheme in the simple present tense verbs for third person singular subject. The sentences were inappropriate because the students did not add an –s morpheme after the verbs. The words teach and drive should be changed into teaches and drives.

Error Type 3. The misuse of –s for second person singular subject

From the data that have been collected, the writer found several errors in misusing of –s morpheme. Here are the examples:

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9. After that, I take a bath with soap and water. And then I changes my clothes for school.

10. After do the exercise, I brushes my teeth. Then, I take a bath.

The words changes and brushes above were inappropriate. It was the misuse of an –s morpheme by adding it to the verb of the second person singular subject. The sentences were not correct because the verbs should not have an –s morpheme. So, the correct sentences should be, After that, I take a bath with soap and water. And then I change my clothes for school and After do the exercise, I brush my teeth. Then, I take a bath.

Error type 3. The misuse of V-ing present participle

In analyzing the data, the writer found another error type in using simple present tense. Here are the examples:

11.I have dinner at 6 p.m. Then I brushing my teeth.

12.I go to school with my dad. At the school, I studying a lesson. The lesson is English.

The sentences above were the misuse of V - ing morpheme by adding it to the verb. The sentences were not correct because the verbs should not have V - ing morpheme. It should use simple present tense (V1) to tell about routine. The words brushing and studying should be changed into brush and study.

Error type 4. The incorrect use of simple present tense (1)

In the data, the students wrote a daily activities essay, so, they had to use simple present tense. In fact, many students did not use simple present tense. The following are some examples of the errors:

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14.I take a bath at 7 a.m. After that, I was changing clothes for school.

The first and the second examples above were related to the incorrect use of simple present tense. To tell about daily activities, the students should use the simple present tense. However, they used the past continous tense. It made the sentences inappropriate. So, the sentences should be changed into After I have breakfast, I watch TV for a while and I take a bath at 7 a.m. After that, I change clothes for school.

Error type 5. The incorrect use of simple present tense (2)

The last errors were found from the data that had been collected. The writer found that some students did not use simple past tense form correctly. The following are the examples of the errors:

15.I woke up at 7 o‟clock. After that, I have a warm up before I take a bath. 16.I was woke up at 6 a.m. After that, I have breakfast.

The sentence above was the example of the incorrect use of simple present tense. To tell about daily activities, the students should use the simple present tense. However, they used the simple past tense. It made the sentences inappropriate. So, the sentences should be changed into I wake up at 7 o’clock. After that, I have a warm up before I take a bath and I wake up at 6 a.m. After that, I have breakfast.

Conclusion

This study aimed to analyze the grammatical errors made by the learners in constructing simple present tense and simple past tense in the writing. This study has found that the students made 48 errors, which could be divided into Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense errors. There were 4 types of errors in the simple past tense. First, it found

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22 errors (84%) in the incorrect use of Simple past tense. Second, it found 1 error (4%) in the incorrect use of Simple past tense form by adding be before the active verb. Third, it found 2 errors (8%) in the misuse of Simple past tense. The last type was 1 error (4%) in the incorrect use of Simple past tense.

Errors in using the simple present tense were found to be the second highest with 22 errrors (46%). There were 5 types of errors in this tense. First, it found 4 errors (18%) in the absence of -s morpheme. Second, it found 4 errors (18%) in the misuse of an –s morpheme. Third, it found 7 errors (32%) in the misuse of V-ing morpheme. Fourth, it found 5 errors (23%) in the incorrect use of Simple present tense. The last type was 2 errors (9%) in the incorrect use of Simple present tense.

The study shows that the students lacked of grammatical knowledge in Simple past tense and Simple present tense. In this case, the finding shows that the students have not mastered the tenses yet. They still make errors both in Simple past tense and Simple present tense. This result was similar with the conclusion of Yusuf Tiono‟ thesis (2010). He concluded that tenses errors found in students‟ writing were considered as basic error. Those errors occured because the students mistyped the words or they lacked grammatical awareness.

This study was limited only to analyze the grammatical errors made by the students of 5th grade elementary school of Bethany Elementary School in constructing simple present tense and simple past tense in the writing. The similar cases that appeared with different tenses samples and subject were not considered. It was due to the limitation of the subject and time of observation.

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Since the result of the study, I would like to give the following suggestion. When teaching writing, teachers should focus not only on the organization of writing but also on the grammar especially tenses. This can be done when students are doing revision. Hedge (2001) mentioned that before students submit their writing, teacher should encourage them to do revision, of which grammar correction is one of them. Rereading the text and making changes especially in grammar to improve their writing need to do. During the revison, the teacher should direct the students to add, remove, move, or substitute the incorrect tenses.

Teaching English for young learners‟ material was changing over time. The case of grammatical errors made by the learners in constructing simple present tense and simple past tense in the writing is only the one that happened to be investigated at a particular time during the thesis making. The result of the study might have variation if one of the element (the grammatical error sample, the participants (subject), the instruments etc) is substituted. So, I suggested to make another studies about grammatical errors using other elements to get variation in result, i.e Syntatical errors and Morphological errors.

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Acknowledgment

This thesis would not have been done completely without the help and support from many people. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the following people who have assisted me in completing this thesis. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Lord. I would also like to express my huge appreciation to Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A., my supervisor, for his patience and kindness in supervising me for the last three month, Maria. Ch. Eko Setyarini, S.S. M.Hum, the examiner of my thesis, for his/her willingness to examine my thesis and giving suggestions for my improvement.

Next, I would like to acknowledge and deepest sincere to my beloved parents, my father, Budi Sunoko, who has been passed away, I am sorry if I cannot made you proud yet, I wish I could reply all your kindness to me, and my mother, Siti Rondiyah, for every thing that she has done for me and the endless love in giving me her support morally and financially all through this year. I also wish to express my love and gratitude to my beloved families, my brother, Aulfiando Setianda, my sister in law, Maria Fransiska, also my niece and my nephew, Theodora Celina setianda and Theodorus Jovan Cakra Setianda; for their support to my study.

I would also like to thank to my whole big family that each also helps me in their own way. All of my friends that I can not mention one by one. Thank you for everyone who‟s filling the parts of my life in English Department: EDVenturers period 2007-2009, ED Touring-ers, Eleveners period 2007-2010, EDFL. Finally, I am particularly grateful to 2007ers…no other way than fight!!...you are my inspiration.

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References

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Tolchinsky, L., & Cintas, C. (2001). The development of graphic words in written Spanish: What can be learnt from counterexamples? In L. Tolchinsky (Ed.), Developmental aspects in learning to write (pp. 77–95). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

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22 Appendix A

Use this picture below as ilustration to help you in making a good story

Write your daily activities and use the pictures as a guide. Use present tense in your writing. This questions below will help you to arrange your writing, answer it in full sentences!

1. When do you wake up (picture 1)? 2. What do you do next (picture 2)?

3. What do you do before you take a bath (picture 3)? 4. When do you take a bath (picture 4)?

5. What do you do before you go to school (picture 5)? 6. Who drives you to school (picture 6)?

7. What do you do/learn at school (picture 7)? 8. When do you go home (picture 8)?

9. What do you do after you get back home (picture 9)? 10. When do you have dinner (picture 10)?

11. What do you do after you have dinner (picture 11)? 12. What do you do before you go to bed (picture 12)? 13. When do you go to bed (picture 13)?

23 Appendix B

Use this picture below as ilustration to help you in making a good story

Look at the series of picture above. Write your own family holiday and use these pictures as a guide. Use past tense in your writing. This questions below will help you to arrange your writing. Answer it in full sentences!

1. Where did you go for your family holiday (picture 1)? 2. When did you go there (picture 2)?

3. How long did you spend on your holiday (picture 2)? 4. Who invited you there (picture 3)?

5. What did you bring on your holiday (picture 4)? 6. What did you ride to go there (picture 5)? 7. Who drove it (picture 5)?

8. What did you do on your holiday (your activities,explain it) (picture 6)? 9. How did you feel or think about your holiday (picture 7)?

24 Appendix C

List of students’ error in simple present tense Table 1. Type 1

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟ errors The corrections

1 My dad drive a car. My dad drives a car.

2 The teacher come and... The teacher comes and...

3 The driver drive it. The driver drives it.

4 Then the teacher teach us. Then the teacher teaches us.

Table 2. Type 2

Number of students‟errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I wakes up at 6.30 o‟clock. I wake up at 6.30 o‟clock.

2 I brushes my teeth. I brush my teeth.

3 Then I changes my clothes for the school.

Then I change my clothes for the school.

4 My parents drives me to school every Monday to Friday.

My parents drive me to school every Monday to Friday.

25 Table 3. Type 3

Number of students‟errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I studying a lesson. I study a lesson.

2 I eating with my dad. I eat with my dad.

3 After I wake up, I warming up. After I wake up, I warm up.

4 I taking a bath. I take a bath.

5 I learning Math, English, Science, etc.

I learn Math, English, Science, etc.

6 I brushing my teeth. I brush my teeth.

7 I going to take a bath. I go to take a bath.

Table 4. Type 4

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 After breakfast, I was watching

TV for a while.

After breakfast, I watch TV for a while.

26

3 After I finished, I was changing

my clothes.

After I finished, I change my clothes.

4 In the school, I was learning and

eating.

In the school, I learn and eat.

5 I was taking a dinner. I take a dinner.

Table 5. Type 5

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I woke up at 07.00 o‟clock. I wake up at 07.00 o‟clock.

27 Appendix D

List of students’ error in simple past tense Table 1. Type 1

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 I spend my holiday only for one day.

I spent my holiday only for one day.

2 I ride a bus to get there. I rode a bus to get there. 3 ...my family search for shell and

played all day long.

...my family searched for shell and played all day long.

4 I go to the zoo. I went to the zoo. 5 The zoo name is Safari Eco

Green...

The zoo name was Safari Eco Green...

6 I bring two coppers and three bags.

I brought two coppers and three bags.

7 ...when I go to Malang. ...when I went to Malang. 8 I see so many animals. I saw so many animals. 9 Then, I take a picture with... Then, I took a picture with... 10 In the beach, I play with my

family.

In the beach, I played with my family.

11 ...and I write diary. ...and I wrote diary.

12 I decide to go to Semarang. I decided to go to Semarang. 13 I ask one more to my mom... I asked one more to my mom...

28

14 I help my mom and dad to finish...

I helped my mom and dad to finish...

15 Then on 8 o‟clock, we start to go to Jepara.

Then on 8 o‟clock, we started

to go to Jepara. 16 Then we check in. Then we checked in.

17 I went to a restaurant and eat. I went to a restaurant and ate.

18 I buy some food there. I bought some food there.

19 I feel so happy. I felt so happy.

20 I bring my favorite pilow. I brought my favorite pilow. 21 After I stay there I take a photo

and see the beautiful mountain.

After I stayed there I took a photo and saw the beautiful mountain.

22 I try it. I tried it.

Table 2. Type 2

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 The driver who was drove the bus. The driver who drove the bus.

Table 3. Type 3

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

29

my brother hand. brother hand.

2 When I have arrived... When I arrived...

Table 4. Type 4

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 After that Iam swimming and in the night I...

After that I swam and in the night I...

24 Appendix C

List of students’ error in simple present tense Table 1. Type 1

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟ errors The corrections

1 My dad drive a car. My dad drives a car.

2 The teacher come and... The teacher comes and...

3 The driver drive it. The driver drives it.

4 Then the teacher teach us. Then the teacher teaches us.

Table 2. Type 2

Number of students‟errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I wakes up at 6.30 o‟clock. I wake up at 6.30 o‟clock. 2 I brushes my teeth. I brush my teeth.

3 Then I changes my clothes for the school.

Then I change my clothes for the school.

4 My parents drives me to school every Monday to Friday.

My parents drive me to school every Monday to Friday.

25 Table 3. Type 3

Number of students‟errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I studying a lesson. I study a lesson.

2 I eating with my dad. I eat with my dad.

3 After I wake up, I warming up. After I wake up, I warm up.

4 I taking a bath. I take a bath.

5 I learning Math, English, Science, etc.

I learn Math, English, Science, etc.

6 I brushing my teeth. I brush my teeth.

7 I going to take a bath. I go to take a bath.

Table 4. Type 4

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 After breakfast, I was watching TV for a while.

After breakfast, I watch TV for a while.

26

3 After I finished, I was changing my clothes.

After I finished, I change my clothes.

4 In the school, I was learning and eating.

In the school, I learn and eat.

5 I was taking a dinner. I take a dinner.

Table 5. Type 5

Number of student‟s

errors

Students‟errors The correction

1 I woke up at 07.00 o‟clock. I wake up at 07.00 o‟clock. 2 I was woke up at 6. I wake up at 6.

27 Appendix D

List of students’ error in simple past tense Table 1. Type 1

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 I spend my holiday only for one day.

I spent my holiday only for one day.

2 I ride a bus to get there. I rode a bus to get there. 3 ...my family search for shell and

played all day long.

...my family searched for shell and played all day long.

4 I go to the zoo. I went to the zoo. 5 The zoo name is Safari Eco

Green...

The zoo name was Safari Eco Green...

6 I bring two coppers and three bags.

I brought two coppers and three bags.

7 ...when I go to Malang. ...when I went to Malang. 8 I see so many animals. I saw so many animals. 9 Then, I take a picture with... Then, I took a picture with... 10 In the beach, I play with my

family.

In the beach, I played with my family.

11 ...and I write diary. ...and I wrote diary.

12 I decide to go to Semarang. I decided to go to Semarang. 13 I ask one more to my mom... I asked one more to my mom...

28

14 I help my mom and dad to finish...

I helped my mom and dad to finish...

15 Then on 8 o‟clock, we start to go to Jepara.

Then on 8 o‟clock, we started to go to Jepara.

16 Then we check in. Then we checked in.

17 I went to a restaurant and eat. I went to a restaurant and ate. 18 I buy some food there. I bought some food there. 19 I feel so happy. I felt so happy.

20 I bring my favorite pilow. I brought my favorite pilow. 21 After I stay there I take a photo

and see the beautiful mountain.

After I stayed there I took a photo and saw the beautiful mountain.

22 I try it. I tried it.

Table 2. Type 2

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 The driver who was drove the bus. The driver who drove the bus.

Table 3. Type 3

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

29

my brother hand. brother hand. 2 When I have arrived... When I arrived...

Table 4. Type 4

Number of students’errors

Students’errors The correction

1 After that Iam swimming and in the night I...

After that I swam and in the night I...