AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING THE WO^D “IT” (A case of the first year students of MAN I Salatiga in the Academic Year of 2001/2002) - Test Repository
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING THE WO^D “IT”
(A case of the first year students of MAN I Salatiga in the
Academic Year of 2001/2002)
THESIS
Submitted to the Board o f Examiner in Partial Fulfillment o f The Requirements for the Degree o f Educational Islamic Studies (S.Pd.I)
In the English and Educational Department
B y :
Nurul Jazimah
NIM 113 97 004
E N G L I S H D E P A R T M E N T O F E D U C A T I O N A L F A C U L T Y S T A T E I S L A M I C S T U D I E S I N S T I T U T E ( S T A I N )
S A L A T I G A 2 0 0 2 M / 1 4 2 3 H Drs. Sa’adi, M.Ag
The lecture of English Department Educational Faculty State Islamic Studies Institute Salatiga ATTENTIVE COUNSELOR NOTES
Salatiga, 15 o f January 2002 Case : N urul Jazim ah ’s Thesis
Dear, The Head o f State Islamic Studies Institute Salatiga Assalama ’alaikum \vr. wb.
Having read accurately and corrected Nurul Jazimah’s thesis entlited “AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING THE WORD “IT” (A Case o f the First
Students o f MAN I Salatiga in the Academic Year o f 2001/2002)”. I have decided and would like to propose that if could be accepted by the educational faculty, . I hope it would be examined as soon as possible.
Wassalamu ’alaikum wr. wb
Consultant, Drs. S a ’adi. M.Ag
NIP. 150 526 821
D E P A R T E M E N T O F R E L I G O U S A F F A I R S STATE ISLAMIC STUDIES INSTITUTE SALATIGA
STATEMENT OF CERTIFICATION
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING THE WORLD ”IT” (A Case of The First
Year Students o f MAN I Salatiga in The Academic o f Year 2001/2002)
N U R U L J A Z I M A H
113 97.004
.Has been brought to the board o f examiners at 12 o f Dzulqo’idah 1422 H / 26 o f Januari 2002, and hereby considered to fulfill the requirement o f the Degree o f Sarjana Pendidikan Islam (S.Pd.I) in the English and Education Department,
12 Dzulqo’idah 1422 H Salatiga, — — ---------- ----------------------
26 Januari 2002 M Board Examiners
Drs. Sa’adi. M. Ae.
MOTTO
Fighting is p rescrib ed for y o u , a n d you dislike it. But it is possible
th a t you dislike a thing, which is go o d for y ou, a n d you love a
thing, which is b a d for you. But God know a n d you know n o t (Q.S.
Cow: 216)
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T
Praise belongs to Allah SWT, who created, who writes all the beautiful symphony in Universe and always gives everything to us. Ain this chance, I would like to thank greatly to :
1. P ro f Dr. M. Zuhri, as the chairman o f State Islamic Studies Institute (STAIN) Salatiga 2. Drs. Imam Sutomo, M.Ag, as the head o f Educational Faculty.
3. Drs. sa ’adi M.Ag, as the head o f the English Department and as my consultant, who gives me great attention, knowledge, and guidance.
4. All lecturers and staffs in STAIN Salatiga, thank you for your favour, relationship, and kindness.
5. All my friends who have helped me in making this material, suggestion, and guidance.
6. All K.tLChoirul D jihad’s and Al Qodri’s big family.
Finally, I confess that this material is very simple, and it is still far from perfection. Iwould like to ask readers for criticizing, suggestions to me in order to this material becomes correct. May Allah SWT bless us even' time.
Salatiga, 31th Desember 2001 The writer
Nurul Jazimah
DEDICATION
I would like dedicate it for them who have always been in my heart,
they are :- Allah SWT, for my talents and many perfect things blessed.
- My mother Mrs Siti Nur Rohmah and K.H. Drs Choirul Djihad • My beloved husban Hadizumroni, for love, caring and support.
- My sw eet little daughter Sarah Alfi Maiza • My brother Miftahuddin • My sister Umi Fatkhiah
• My parents in law Mrs. Sukirah Al Zarkasi (in memoriam), and My
father Al Qodri• My beloved Thoyib Ahmadi's big family, K.H Nasafi, and K.H Machfudz
Ridwan, Lc. • My friends who I could not mention one by one here, because there is
not enough room to thank everyone, but there is always enough room
in my heart.
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
page
CHAPTER L INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER n. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of The Problem Human being always needs company in his life since he has to live in a
community. As the member o f a community, he also needs means o f communication, which is called language. With the language, he can express his ideas and wishes to other people. Although human beings process and speak language, unfortunately, it has not been particularly easy for them to say what it is. There are many definitions o f language given by some linguists. John B. Carrol, as quoted by Ramelan defined language a s ....
An arbitrary system of speech sounds sequences of speech sounds which is used or can be used interpersonal communication by an aggregation o f human beings, and which rather exhaustively catalogs things, processes, events in human environment.'
Other linguist, Wardhough, defined language as a system o f arbitrary, vocal symbols used for human communication.*
2 From the definitions above, the writer can make conclusion that language is a system o f arbitrary, vocal symbols by which human beings communicate or interact with one another in a certain community.
'RamelanIntroduction to Linguistic Analysis. Semarang, IKIP Semarang Press, 1992, page 10.
2Wardhough, Ronald.Introduction to iingusitc. University o f Toronto: Mc.Graw Hill, Inc. 1977. page 3,
Moulton quoted by Ramelan says that the ability to speak language in human being is not genetically transmitted but it is culturally learned from their elders.3 A child w ill not automatically speak language just because he is human being, but because he learns it from his parents or people around him. This is why there is no universal language spoken by all human beings in the world, since it is culturally determined that it depends on die community in which the child brought up.
Frank classifies that English words in two big groups from classes and structural groups. Form classes, it consists o f nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In this paper the w riter intends to discuss die pronouns. Frank says that the traditional definitions o f a pronoun as a w ord that take the place o f noun.4
It is applicable to the same type o f noun not the others. Later she says that modern grammarians who regards position and function as the decisive factors and classifying parts o f speech often consider pronoun as subclass noun.
One o f the types o f pronoun is personal pronouns which refers to: 1. The Speaker, called the first person.
2. The person spoken to, called the second person (you).
Ramelan, op.ctf,. page 15.
- Frank, Marcella, M odern English : A Practical Reference Guide, New Jersey, Prentice hall, Inc, 1974, page 20.
3. The person o f thing being spoken o f called the third person (He, She, It, They).5
When it refers to the part o f personal pronoun, this w ord applies to the subject or object position. For example: it is a cat. It is a pencil. In the examples above, it fills the Subject position and refers to an animal (a cat), and a thing (a pencil). It can be used in the object position, for examples she bought a book. Her brother didn’t like it. In this example, it fills the object position, and refers to book.
Sometimes, it is a kind o f expletive. In this case, this w ord does not really refer to anything at all. It just fills a position in the sentence pattern.6 7 As an expletive, it is usually accompanied by a singular form o f a linking verb, be. It has special meaning o f identification, weather, time, and distance/ For examples:
1. Identification Who is it? - It is Mary.
What is this? - It is a lawn mower.
2. Weather.
It is cold outside.
With verbs signifying weather. It was raining (or snowing, hailing, storming) yesterday.
5 bid, page 21
6 Frarminskas, Jean, Rapid Review o f English Grammar, Prentice hall, Inc 1961 page 134
7 Frank Marcella,op.cit page 36
3. Time It is Wednesday.
It is January 25. It is ten o'clock.
4. Distance It is five miles from the library to my house (In terms o f space).
It is five minutes to w alk to my house.
B. Reason For Choosing The Topic
Indonesian students often make errors in using the w ord it When they use it in sentences, Barry Taylor, as cited by Little wood, says that the beginner has less previous second language knowledge to draw on in making hypothesis about rules and there for might be expected to make correspondingly more use o f his first language knowledge.3
According to this statement, the w riter assumes that error made by
it it
learners in using the word are caused by there less knowledge about and they have never formed Indonesian sentences using this pattern. The expression like what time is it? It is six o'clock, w ill be translated in Indonesia as an utterance,
“Jam berapa sekarang?” Jam enam”. 8
8 Littlewood, William T, Foreign and Second Language Learning, New York :University of Cambridge
In English sentences, it has never been translated into Indonesian as a certain word, which has special meaning.
The topic o f this paper primarily deals with an error analysis in using the word it, made by the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga in the Academic year o f 2001/2002. The reasons for choosing this topic are as follows:
1. An analysis o f the learners’ errors gives teachers evidence o f his competence in the foreign language. We also gain valuable information important for planning courses and constructing teaching materials.
2. The w ord it does not occur in Indonesian language and it is never translated in certain word, which has special meaning. Though it is considered simple and easy, many students still cannot use it correctly.
3. The choosing o f the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga in the Academic year o f 2001/2002 as the subject o f this research is based on the consideration that the students had got sufficient basic knowledge about it, since they were at Junior High School.
Because o f these considerations above, the w riter is interested in research about: AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING THE WORD “I T ’ (A case o f the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga in the Academic Y ear o f 2001 / 2002 ).
C. The Identification of The Problems
To make easy and understanding the topic, this w ill be better, if the w riter gives identification about the problems as follows: v
1. There are many errors in using the w ord “ if ’ made by the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga in the Academic Year 2001/2002.
2. There are many possible causes o f the enrdrs.
3. There are many possible ways out o f preventing those errors.
D. The Limitation of The Problems
This thesis deals with analyzing errors in using the w ord “ i f ’, made by the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga, so the w riter wants to know about:
1. The main errors in using the w ord “ i f ’, especially errors caused by Interlingual and intralingual errors.
2. The possible causes those errors.
3. The possible ways out o f preventing o f those errors.
t
E, The Statement of The Problems
The problems posed in this thesis are as follows:
1. What are the main errors in using the w ord “ i f ’ made by the first year students o f MAN 1 Salatiga in the academic year 2001/2002?
2. What are the possible causes o f the errors?
3. What are the possible ways out o f preventing those errors?
F. The Objectives of The Problem
The w riter conducts this study to find out:
1. The main errors in using the word “ it” made by the first year students o f MAN I Salatiga the Academic year o f 2001 / 2002.
2. The possible causes o f those errors.
3. The ways out o f preventing those errors.
G. The Benefits of The Problems 1. This research can be used to change the errors o f using the word “ if ’.
2. This research can develop and enrich the knowledge o f using the w ord “ it”.
3. This research can be guidance for teachers and students, a For English teachers are as follows:
1. To improve the teaching method for the English teaching and learning process.
2. To help the teachers to minimize errors in using the word “ if ’,
b. For students:
1. To know how far the goal has been achieved and consequently what remains for them to learn and what remedial teaching for them to cany' out
2. To anticipate the error the students make when they are in the first year, so that the same error can be avoided in the second and also in the third year classes.
H. The literature Review.
Brown noted that a mistake refers to a failure in linguistic performance to utilize a known system correctly. He further says that such lapses or mistakes are pnot the result o f some sort o f breakdown or imperfection in the process o f producing speech. When committing mistakes the speaker normally capable o f recognizing and correcting them.9
In Browns’ opinions, however the term ‘error’ refers to noticeable deviation, from the adult grammar o f a native speaker, which reflects the Interlanguage competence o f the learner.10 Errors are caused by lack o f knowledge about the target language or by incorrect hypothesis about it. The making o f error is a sign that the students have not yet mastered the rules o f the language being learned. To cope with this problem, one o f the strategies widely used by linguists error analysis. Brown stated that error analysis is the study o f student’s error, which can be observed, analysis and classified to reveal something of the system operating within the learners. Brown point a view
9 Brown, H.Douglass. Principle o f Language Learning and teaching. New Jersey: Prenctice hall, Inc, 17&Q, page 165.
10 Ibid, page 165. informs that error analysis is useful for the teachers. Error analysis w ill show teachers some problems confronting the students.11 Frank says that traditional definitions o f a pronoun as a w ord that takes the place o f noua It is applicable to the same type o f noun not the others. Later, she said that modern Grammarians regard position and function as the decisive factor in classifying parts o f speech often consider pronoun as a sub class o f noun.*
12 To limit this discussion, the w riter intend to explain the use o f it as personal pronoun, identification to state weather, time, distance as anticipatory, that does not mean anything with linking verbs except be.
I. Methodology of Research
To write this paper, the writer w ill do two activities namely library activity, and field one. The w riter uses the research procedures to obtain empirical data required to profit materials for analysis as follows:
1. Subject of The Research
a. Population
Population is the whole o f research subject.13 The population o f this research are all o f the first students o f MAN I Salatiga in the academic year o f 2001 / 2002.
n Ibid, page 166.
12 Frank, Marcella. op.cit.r page 20.
13 Arikunto, Suharsini. Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta: PT. Milton Putral 992, page 102.
b. Statistical analysis
This is the calculation o f the data collected. The data are calculated to find out the proportion o f error made by each subject, and to find out the proportion o f frequency error in each type as w ell as the dominant errors occurred. The percentage o f errors is found by taking the percentage descriptive analysis as follows:
EE X = ---------- x 100%
ET Where X = the percentage o f errors
E = various kind o f errors T = Test items
£ = The sum o f The proportion o f frequency o f errors is calculated by using the pre selected category approach formula as follow:
Formula 1
f i
x 100% Pi = ---------
N Where Pi = the proportion o f frequency o f occurrence
Fi = Absolute frequency o f a partial type o f error N = the total number o f possible errors observe Formula 2 FI
P I= _ xl00% N
Where PI = the proportion o f frequency o f occurrence o f errors FI = Absolute frequency o f all types o f errors
N = the total number o f possible errors observed The last is to find out the dominant errors occurred. Any error whose (pi -
PI) is plus (+) is considered dominant In the other hand, i f the (pi - PI) is zero or minus (-), it is said to be less dominant With these formula, the percentage o f errors as w ell as the dominant errors namely the types o f errors which most / frequency occur, can be found out
J. The Organization of the Problem
The organization o f the problem is as follows:
Chapter I presents the introduction which contains the background o f the
% problems, reasons for choosing the topic, identification o f the problem, the limitation o f die problem, the statement o f the problem, the objectives o f the problem, the benefits o f the problem, literature review, the methodology o f research, the organization o f the problem. Chapter
II deals with the review o f related literature, which presents the
difference between errors and mistakes, errors analysis, the sources o f errors, and the use o f “ i f ’ in English sentence.
Chapter
I II
presents research report and data presentation, which deals the history o f MAN I Salatiga, the general o f MAN I Salatiga in the academic year o f 2001 / 2002, the situation o f teachers and staffs, data presentation.
Chapter
I V presents data analysis, which discusses the first analysis about the main errors in using the word ”i f , the second analysis about the possible causes o f the errors, the third analysis about the possible ways out o f preventing those errors. Chapter
V is the last chapter. It presents closure, which deals conclusions and suggestions for teachers and learners deal with using die w ord “ it ” .
CHAPTER H
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Mistakes and Errors
We are accustomed to defining errors and mistakes are either synonymous or identical words. But they are actually different in learning and teaching process. It would be, therefore, useful for the w riter to distinguish them.
Brown notes that a mistake refers to a failure in linguistic performance to utilize a known system correctly. He further says that such lapses or mistakes are not result o f a deficiency in competence, but the result o f some sort o f breakdown or imperfection in the process o f producing speech. When committing mistakes, the speaker is normally capable o f recognizing and correcting them.1
In Brown’s opinion, however, the term “ error” refers to a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar o f the native speaker which reflect the inter language competence o f the learner.1
2 Errors caused by lack o f knowledge about the target language or by incorrect hypothesis about it.
1 Brown, H. Douglass. Principle o f la-'.gunge learning and teaching. New J e rs e y : Prentice Hall, Inc, 1980, page 165.
2 Ibid, page 165.
B. Errors Analysis
In learning and using a foreign language, one o f the most inhibiting factors is the fear o f making mistakes or errors.
The making o f enrors is a sign that students have not yet mastered the rule o f language being learned. To cope with this problem, one o f the strategies widely used by linguists are Error Analysis. Brown states that error analysis is the study o f the student’s error, which can be observed, analyzed and classified to reveal something o f the system oper ating within the learners. B row n’s point o f view informs that error analysis is useful for the teacher. Error analysis w ill show teachers some problems confronting the students/’
Johansson stated that an analysis o f the learner’s errors gives the teacher evidence o f the learner’s competence in the foreign language. The teacher will also gain information concerning learner’s difficulties at different levels. Such information is important for the planning o f courses and constructions o f the teaching materials.3
4 By conducting error analysis, the teacher w ill be able to investigate the communicative strategies. It means that he w ill be able to examine the language the learner uses. This can take the forms o f avoiding certain structure or vocabulary items, generally those which learners feel uncertain about.
3 Brown, H Douglas Op.ci.t, page 166.
4 Johansson, Stig. The Uses o f Error Analysis a nd Contrastive Analysis. ELT Journal XXIX 1975, page 248.
In addition, die errors occurring within he process o f learning may show teacher areas where his teaching has not been affective yet. By conducting a systematic study o f error, he may improve his teaching methods. He may attempt to find some answers or solutions to solve some problems faced by his students.
Corder, as Richards quoted, stated the significance o f learner’s errors: A learner’s erro rs... are significant in three different ways. First to the teacher, in that they tell him if he undertakes a systematic analysis, how far towards the goal the learner has progressed...second, they provide to file researcher evidence o f how language is learned an acquired, what strategies or procedures the learners are employing in his discovery o f the language, thirdly, they are indispensable to the learner him self because we regard the making o f errors as a device the learner uses in order to learn.5
By using the result o f the errors analysis findings, the teacher w ill be able to know how far the goal has been achieved and consequently, what remains for them to learn and what remedial teaching for them to carry out. In line with Corder’s opinion, Etherton states that error analysis is based on adequate data as shown below:
1. Common weakness with which sentences needs helps: either through teaching or by introducing o f new material.
2. Words, structures or verbs inform which prove to be too difficult, as a particular stage and which should be differed.
3. Inadequacies in an official syllabus stipulated by the government: too much material, a faulty sequence o f units, or the omission o f the essential material.
Error ^Analysis, London : Longman Group, Ltd page 25.
5 Richard, Jack C.
4. Weakness or errors, which may be entirely new to the teacher. In this area the task o f making an error analysis can be the most rewarding seeing that the analysis may reveal problems which are unknown to some textbook writers but which ought to be dealt with in class. They consequently do not provide any suitable solutions for such problems.0
It is obvious that an error analysis can provide valuable data for the preparation o f the teaching materials, textbooks, and test or examinations.
C. The Causes or Sources of Errors
Errors as stated by Brown arise from several possible general causes or sources: interlingual errors o f the interference from the native language, the socio linguistic context o f communication, psycho linguistic or cognitive strategies, and no doubt countless affective variables. To limit the discussion, the w riter would only like discussing errors caused by interlingual and intralingual errors.
1. Interlingual errors It is understood that interlingual errors are those, which are caused by the interference o f the native language.5 They have something to do with
Constructive Analysis hypothesis as pointed out by Brown: This hypothesis claimed that principal barrier to second language acquisition is the interference o f the first language system with the second language system, and that scientific, structural analysis o f the two languages.. .yield a taxonomy o f linguistic contrast between them *
7 ° Ethertcn, A R. B, Error Analysis : Problems and Procedure. ELT Journal Vol. XXXI.
8
page 67-63.
7 Brown, H.Douglass, op.city age 166.
8 Chastain, Kenneth. Developing Second Language Skills. Boston: Houston Mi ffin Company, 1976, page 61. which in turn would enable the linguist to predict the difficulties a learner would encounter.9 It is clear that constructive Analysis aims at describing the differences and similarities o f languages with a view o f predicting the possible learning problems. Elements o f target language that are similar to the native language may be simple for the learner and those fiat are different may be difficult.
Predicting errors using constructive Analysis can be carried out in term o f hierarchy o f difficulty. Therefore, a teacher or linguist can make a prediction o f the relative difficulty o f a given aspect o f the second language.
Clifford, as edited by Brown categorizes the essence o f the grammatical hierarchy in six categories.10 The categories, in ascending order o f difficulty, are as follows:
a. Level 0— transfer There is no difference or contrast between two languages. Here, students can easily transfer (positively) linguistic items from the native language to the target language. Such transfer is posited to be o f difficulty. Hence the cable is level zero.
Examples: A lot o f w ater {banyak air).
Much money {banyak uang).
9 Brown, H. Douglass, op.csi.page 148.
10 b id . p.p 152-154. b. Level 1— Coalescence Two or more items in the native language become coalesced into essentially on item in the target language.
The first person singular 7 ’has some counter parts in Bahasa Indonesia such as says, beta, aku dan hamba. However, those differences hardly cause any problems for Indonesian learning English as a foreign language, nor do they facilitate learning process, c. Level 2— Under Differentiation
Two different items in the target language may sometimes be considered the same, due to such lack o f differentiation in the native language. The differentiation has grammatical consequences; and therefore, students often fail to use or supply the required structural items ’many’ and ‘much’ are considered the same, due to such lack o f differentiation in Bahasa
Indonesia, which is 'banyak' for either forms. For example, the sentence there is many water there is much water. instead o f
Brown pointed out that under differentiation might also refer to items in the native language which were absent in the target language. Therefore, then items should be avoided. Examples: The boy entered into the room.
Students discussed about their holidays.” In this case, students often supply the unnecessary' structural items due to the influence o f their mother tongue.
d. Level 3— Reinterpretation An item existing in the native language is given a n e w shape distribution in the target language. English active, construction, such as It happens may be interpreted as passive construction, resulting the fact that those verbs are semantically passive in Bahasa Indonesia e. Level 4 - Over divergence
An entirely new item bearing a little, if any, similarity to the native language must be learned.1' It may have something to do with forms and meanings. For example, students often use ‘bidder’ in replacing ‘w orse’ which means ‘lebih buruk’ in Bahasa Indonesia
£ Level 5-Split On item in the native language become two or more items in the target language, requiring students to a new distinction. Verb inflections in
English may cause some problems. An Indonesian verb ‘belajar’ has no inflections namely ’studies’, studied’ and ‘studying’. It may result in errors such as ‘He study’. 1
1
1
2 11 Brown,H. Douglass, op.cit., page 153.
12 Ibid., page 153.
2. Intralingual errors Intraiingual errors are also called developmental errors. Richards writes that an intralingual interference refers to items produced by learners, which reflect Not the structure o f the mother tongue, but generalization based on partial exposure o f the target language. Thus, intralingual errors are the direct result o f the learner’s attempt to create language system he is learning.
Richards classifies the intra lingual errors into four categories, namely (1) over generalization, (2) Ignorance o f rule restrictions, (3) incomplete application o f the rules, and (4) false concept hypothesized or semantic errors.13 N ow we take a closer look to the four categories,
a. Over generalization Richard says that this group o f errors is the result o f the use o f previously available strategies in new situations. In other words, it occurs when a learner creates a deviant structure on the basis o f his experience o f other structure in the target language. Furthermore, Richard points out that over generalization is associated with redundancy reduction. It may occur, for instance, with items which are contrasted in the grammar o f the language but do not carry significant and obvious contrast for the learner.
Q. Error Analysis.
13 Richards, Jack London: Longman Group Ltd, 1974, page 6.
The - ed marker, in narrative or in other past contexts, often appears to carry no meaning since past ness is usually indicated lexically in stories, and the essential notion o f sequence in narrative can be expressed equally w ell in the present—yesterday, I go to the University and I meet my new
professor.14
b. Ignorance o f the Rule Restriction In this type of error, the learner fails to observe the restriction o f existing structure. Some rule restriction errors may be accounted for in terms o f
may
analogy and result from the rote learning rules. A learner, for example, may use ‘to infinitive’ after verb like ‘tell’ in ‘Tell him to return
the book ' or ‘ask’ in ‘1 ask you to go there’. He, then, produces an
utterance '1 make him to do it '. In this sentence, the learner ignores the rule restrictions of the verb ‘make’.ei the verb ‘make’ is always follow ed by infinitive without to ’. The learner mostly tends to generalize syntactic rules he has previously learned, ignoring the new rule.
c. Incomplete Application o f the Rules Intralingual error o f this type may occur when the learner fails to apply the rules completely due to the stimulus sentences.
14 Pichards, Jack C.op^if.p.p.47-48.
It shows an utterance o f structures whose deviancy represents the degree o f development o f the rules required to produce acceptable utterances, d. False Concept Hypotized
This -- sometimes called semantic error -- may be derived from the faulty comprehension o f distinctions in the target langage. The learner fails to use the correct concepts. These errors are sometimes due to the poor gradation o f teaching items. The form *itV may be interpreted as ‘its’ such as ‘in Its
pleasant in the garden ' instead o f It ’s pleasant in the garden
C*
D. The Use of ”it” in English Sentence
1. The Use o f It as personal Pronoun English words can be classified as nouns pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The w riter intends to discuss the pronoun. Frank says that the traditional definition o f a pronoun is w ord that takes place o f noun. It is applicable to the same type o f noun not tire others. Later, she says that modern grammarians who regard position and function as the decisive factors in classifying parts o f speech often consider pronoun as a subclass o f noun.lj 1
5
15 Frank, M arcel\z.M odem English: Apractical Reference Guide. New Jersey: Prentice hall, Inc, page20.
Frank divided pronouns into several parts. Those are:
1. Personal Pronouns
4. Reflective Pronouns
2. Relative Pronouns
5. Reciprocal Pronouns
3. Demonstrative Pronouns
6. Indefinite Pronouns.16 He explains to pronouns only. Personal pronouns consist o f certain parts, which can be seen below: a Subjective or Normative case
It refers to pronouns that function as subjective case in a sentence. The subjective cases o f the pronouns are: 1) . I as first person I wish to go abroad next month.
2) . We as first person plural (the speaker).
We find much trouble in studying English. 3) . You as second person singular and plural (the person spoken to) You show them the way to the station.
4 ) . He, she, and it as the third person singular (the person or thing being spoken).
He goes to school on foot.
16 Frank, Marcella.op.cif.p.p 21-23.
She drinks milk every morning It takes a long time to study English.
5). They as the third person plural (The person or thing being spoken of). They play tennis very well.
b. Objective or Accusative Case It refers to a pronoun that function as an objective case in a sentence.
The objective cases o f the pronouns are: me, us, you, him, her, it, and them.
Examples: 1) . My father gives me money every month.
2) . Those books belong to us. 3) . I can visit you next month. 4 ) . I w ill ask him to study English
5) . D iah’s aunt often invites her to go to market 6) . He wants to take it to cut with.
7) . We w ill call them after playing.
c. Possessive or genitive Case
my / mine our/ours,
In a sentence, it shows the possession. Those are ,
17 your/your, his/his, her/hers, their/theirs.
17 Cook, Stanley J. and Richard w. Sutter. The Scope o f grammar: A study o f modern English.. McGrawHill, Inc, 1980, page 138.
Examples: 1) . D on’t use mine.
2) . Do you know
our
? 3) . Please take yours, and then show it to me 4) . The red car look like his.
5) . I want to borrow hers to study. 6) . Our culture is different from theirs. From the explanation above, we know that the word it belongs o the part o f personal pronoun, either the subjective or objective case.
Examples: I have a new pen. It is red.
It is a door. It is a dog. In the examples above, it fills the subject position or subjective case and refers to the thing '
a pen ’
and
'a door,
and the animal
‘a dog ’. It
can also fill the objective position in a sentence.
Examples: Diah bought a n ew novel. Her sister didn’t like it.
I got an ew bicycle. My father gave it last week
it it
In both sentences, refers to a thing. In the first sentence refers to ‘novel’, while in the second sentence, it refers to bycicle.
2. The Use o f It As An Expletive Although expletives are classified as pronouns, in most dictionaries and conservative grammar books, they actually differ somewhat from other pronouns. Expletives have less semantic content than other pronouns. Frank says that their chief function is either to provide a sentence with a formal subject or to anticipate a subject that appears in the predicate. She, further, explained that because expletives are used merely for a grammatical purpose, modem, grammarians often classify them into the structure words that do not belong to any part o f speech.
There are two kinds o f expletive in English. They are expletive it and expletive there. In this part, the w riter discuses the expletive it. A singular form
it.
o f a linking verb, usually be, is used with the expletive a. Impersonal It.
Based on function as expletives, it often stands with a predicate noun plus an adverbial. It can be called a predicative adjective o f a sentence when the predicate is followed by an adjective. The predicative noun means that after a predicate, a noun follows it. It is called impersonal it.
Examples: 1). It is gloomy here.
2) . It is pleasant in the garden. 3) . It would be wide if you went there now. 4) . It is more fim when we all go together. In English sentences, it mostly functions as impersonal it, which reveals different meanings, such as: a) . Identification It can be used in a sentence to give identification.
Examples: Who is it? It is a new student.
What is it? It is a pen.
b) . Weather
It can be used to express weather. When there is a question, such as, w hat is the weather like? the answer is not only ‘raining’ or ‘nothing’ at all.
Therefore, the right answer o f a question about weather can be as follows: It is cold outside.
It is raining (or snowing, hailing).
c) . Time It can be used in a sentence to state time.
Examples: What time is it? It is five o ’clock.
What time was it? It was ten o ’clock.
It is Friday. It was November 3,1973.
d). Distance There are two kinds o f distance. The first one is a distance, which is connected with time and second one refers to space.
Examples: 1) . It is 110 km from Pekalongan to Semarang.
It is about five miles to library 2) . In term o f time It is ten minute walking to the theatre.
It is an hour going to Simpang Lima. In a special kind o f construction, impersonal it co-occurs with a clause that modifies a subjective complement. This construction permits greater emphasis on the complement than does the alternate construction without it.
1) . Noun or pronoun complement It is not I who I am to blame (or I am not to blame).
It was some poet who said we live in an age anxiety (or some poet said....).
2) . Adverb complement It was four years ago that he died
(Or he died four years ago). It was there that I met him. (Or I met him there).18
Apart from linking verb be, it is also often followed by other linking verbs, such as:
- Appear: Can you tell me who is out? It appears to be small girl.
- Seem: It seems to be hot here.
- Get: It gets very cold here in the winter
- Become: It becomes very cold here in the winter.19 - Sound: It sounds easy to do.
- Look: It looks terrible.20
b. Anticipatory it The other function o f it is as an anticipatoiy. In this case, it merely fills the subject position o f a sentence. Frank and Walker said that the actual subject is a noun structure in the predicate, an infinitive or that clause. Examples:
1). It is difficult to understand the announcement 18 Frank, Marcella.op.crf.page 36.
19 ibid, page 37.
20 Walker, Michael. A Closer Look: An ESOL Grammar work-Text. Massachusetts: Addison- W esley Publishing Company, 1984 . page 45.
2) . It is true that the plane is late. 3) . It is important (or you) to be there on time. 4) . It is unbelievable what doctors can do these days. 5) . It astonishes the amount o f work he can do in one day. The noun structures, infinitive or those clauses in the predicate after anticipatory it may also appear in their regular subject position.
Examples: 1) . (For you) to be there on time is important.
2) . What doctors can do these days is unbelievable. 3) . The amount o f work he can do in one day is astonishing. 4 ) . That plane is late is true. Anticipatory it also occurs with passive verbs o f believing or communicating, such verbs are followed by the clauses, which are the actual subjects.
Examples: 1) . It is suggested that you be there on time.