AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF INFINITIVE OF THE THIRD YEAR STUDENT OF MTs ASSALAFI, RENTENG, SUSUKAN 2001/2002 - Test Repository
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF INFINITIVE OF THE THIRD YEAR STUDENT OF MTs ASSALAFI, RENTENG, SUSUKAN 2 0 0 1 /2 0 0 2
THESIS
Submitted to The Board of Examiners in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement for The Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan Islam (S. Pd. I) in The English and Education Department of STAIN Salatiga
By
ABDUL LATIF 113.97.012
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FACULTY
STATE OF ISLAMIC INSTITUTE (STAIN) SALATIGA
2001/2002 Dra. Woro Retnaningsih, M. Pd. The lecture of English Department Educational Faculty
State Islamic Studies Institute (STAIN) Salatiga
ATTENTIVE COUNSELOR’S NOTES
Case : Abdul Latif s Salatiga, 30 Agustus 2002
Dear The Head of State Islamic
Studies Institute Salatiga Having reading accurately and correctly Abdul L atif s Thesis entitled: “AN
ERROR ANALYSIS OF INFINITIVE OF THE THIRD YEAR STUDENTF MTs ASSALAFI, KENTENG, SUSUKAN 2001 / 2002.”, I have decided and would like to purpose that if could be accepted by the educational faculty, I hope it would be examined as soon as possible.
C ’ ' (Dra. W oro Retnaningsih M.P<1.) N IP.150 262 646 DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS STATE ISLAMIC STUDIES INSTITUTE (STAIN) SALATIGA
J l. S tad io n 0 3 P h o n e . 0 2 9 8 3 2 3 7 0 6 S a la tig a 5 0 7 2 1
STATEM ENT OF CERTIFICA TIO N
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF INFINITIVE OF THE THIRD YEAR STUDENT OF MTs. ASS ALA FI, KENTENG, SUSUKAN
2001/2002 ABDUL L ATIF NIM 113 97 012
Has been brought to the board of examiners in September, 16th 2002/Rajab, 9th 1423 H, and hereby considered to completely fulllTIl the requirement of Sarjana degree in the English Department of Education Faculty.
Rajab, 9th 1423 H, Salatiga, ------------------ ---------- September, 16tfl2002M.
Dra. Woro Ratnaninusih. M. Pd.
NIP. 150 262 646
MOTTO
“The Real Champion is not just winning thecompetition, but everyone who can stand up for every
failure. “DEDICATION
1. My dearest Mother and Father ( Mahfi Abidin, Siti Cholisoh ) who always guide and understand me. You sacrifice anything for my education. Thank you so much, I don’t know the reward that 1 must give you to replay your services.
2. My Brothers ( Siti Rahmah, Chusnul Khotimah, Aris As’ari, Istie).
3. All of my friends in TB1 97’s student, especially Joe, Farid, Munir, Felik, Makmun, Seno, Bobi, Alifah, Lia.
4. Special friend Mr. Wajiyanto (in late)! hope you peace in paradise.
5 My best friend and my beloved Susilo Widyaningsih, thank for your attention and support to me. You give something that I never feel before. v
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
viii
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIC
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background O f The Problem People need to communicate with others by a language, which is
understood by them. All normal people in community understand and speak their language well to carry out an every activity. However, some people in that community cannot read and write, and by using the language they are still able to co-operate with others. Wardhaugh points out:
...Language allows people to say things to each other and express their communicative needs. Language is the cement of society, allowing people to live, work and play together, to tell the truth but also to tell a lie or lies (1977:7).*
Indonesian as an independent country needs a language which can be understood by its citizen that is Indonesian. In order to communicate with people from other countries we need an international language that is English. In Indonesia, English has been chosen as the first foreign language to be taught in our school, rather than French, German, or Chinese. It is reasonable since English plays important roles in international communication and our country must keep abreast with the scientific and technological advancement.
Because of that reasons we have to learn English.
Eventhough English has been taught as one of the compulsory sub jects and taught since the tirst year of Junior High School, it is a fact that many
1 Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1977 Introduction to Linguistics. N e w York: M e d raw Hill,Inc.Page.7
students face problem in comprehending their textbooks, in using good grammar in carrying out communication. The reason is that the students’ mastery in English is low. The student thinks that learning English is difficult.
1/
It is not surprising because every language has its own system of rules. The system of rules in English is different from the system of rules in Indonesian language. The differences between them usually induce problem in the learning of English. ^
Dealing with English teaching in Indonesia today, the government provides the new Junior High School curriculum of 1994. It becomes a guidance for English teachers in teaching the target language to Junior High
School students. In the new Junior High School curriculum of 1994, the learning activities involve listening, speaking, reading, writing and the goal of learning the foreign language is to use it in spoken and written communication. The four skills (reading, listening, reading, and writing) are taught cohesively as stated in English Basic Course Outline (GBPP) that the
English lesson in Junior High School covers reading, speaking, listening, and writing in English. The fours skills are tough cohesively if they are possible;
,
^ however, the emphasis is primarily on reading skid (1995; 1) . Since it on the four skills, the grammar or structure question is “How are the students able to do with the four skills well if their knowledge about grammar is poor?” Cook and Suter state:
Grammar is a set of rules by which people speak and write. These rules are not always understood consciously because the rules we
2 Depdikbud. 1995. GBPP Kurikulum Sekolah Menengah Pertama. Jakarta.Page 1
refer to are those hardly anyone ever thinks about but which allow people to use their language easily and naturally most o f the time (1980:1)/
It is clear that the use of grammar is still important, but the students are not supposed to know only the grammar. They must be able to use good grammar either in spoken or written communication. Sometimes we find some students are good at vocabulary but they are not able to communicate, that situation arises because they do not know the grammar to construct a good sentence. In expressing something or in conveying message we need vocabulary, but without grammar it will be hard to understand what other people say or write.
In junior high school, generally, the students learn infinitives. But infinitive are not separately taught from the four skills. They are taught through passages indirectly. When the teaeher finds that the students have problems in understanding infinitive, the teacher can explain them. An infinitive is a unit of word consisting to and a simple form of a verb (e g., to run, to talk, to understand). Although it derives from a verb form, an infinitive cannot be the main verb of a sentence. Infinitive is used in many different ways: An infinitive can function as the subject of a sentence, e.g. To
cooperate is the least you can do. Verb, e.g. She agreed to meet me. Noun,
e.g. I need a book
to read now. “Too” with an adjective or an adverb, e.g He
was too tired
to walk any further. To infinitives include the word to but after certain verb and in certain expression we use infinitive.
1 Cook. Stanley and Suter, Richard W. 1980. The Scope o f Grammar: A Study erf Modern
English. N ew York.M c Graw Hill, Inc. Page 1
from the environment and successively mare closely approximately desired goals (1980:164)'*.
In learning English some students still get confused in using to
infinitive or bare infinitive. They use bare infinitive instead of to infinitive or
vice versa. It can be shown in the following sentence: The writer would like go to school earlier. The correct one is I would like to go to school earlier, she ordered a taxi-driver drive carefully Or She ordered a taxi-driver drove carefully. The correct one is She ordered a taxi-driver to drive carefully.
In teaching English, teacher should predict the problems that may be faced by students. With reference to the explanation above, the reasons for choosing the thesis dealing with an analysis of error of infinitive made by the second year students of MTs. Assalafi are as follows:
1. In the new Junior High School curriculum of 1994, the English grammar is not taught separately from the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Because of that reason, students only have little time to do with grammar learning. The writer wants to know whether or not students can use grammar correctly.
2. The writer wants to know how far students have mastered the language, particularly the grammar dealing with infinitive problems as the topic of the research because one of the language functions for the Junior High School students focuses on using infinitives.
4 Brown, H.Douglas. 1980. Principle o f language I.earning and Teaching .Englewood Cliffs, N ew Jersey. Prentice, Hall, Inc. Page. 164.
k.
B. Statement O f The Problem
In order to make a systematic approach in solving the problems; the statement of the problem can be formulated in the following sentence:
1. Why does the use of infinitives become troubleshot in learning English?
2. What are the main errors in asing infinitives most often made by the students of MTs Assalafi, Kenteng, Susukan in the academic year of
2001 / 2002 .
3. Does intralingual influence the forming of errors in using infinitives?
4. What are the significant causes of errors? Based on the questions above, the writer is eager to investigate the problems and analyze the thesis with the main discussion of error analysis on infinitives, so that he is able to present the main or dominant errors in using the infinitives.
C. Reason for Choosing the Topic
It is inevitable that in learning English as foreign language students usually get problems due to the differences between Indonesian and the target language. Because of this, students will probably make mistakes during the process of learning, as Brown states-
Human learning is fundamentally a process that involves the making of mistakes...learning to swim, to play tennis, to type, or to read ail involve a process in which success comes by profiting from mistakes, by using mistakes to obtain feedback
5
3. Since there are many exceptions in the grammatical point in infinitives, the writer assumes that many errors may be made by students.
D. Limitation O f The Problem
There are many kinds of infinitive forms such as present infinitive, present continuous infinitive, perfect infinitive, and passive and past
»
infinitives. Related to the statements of the problem, the writer limits the infinitive problems on the use of present infinitive only for in the structure tests for the students. And also he selects the function of the present infinitives which are taught in Junior High School.
E. The Objective O f The Study
The objectives of the study are to find out:
1. Why do the uses of infinitives become troubles in learning English?
2. What are the main errors in using infinitives most often made by the students of MTs Assalafi, Kenteng, Susukan.
3. The possible intralingual errors of the learner’s attempt to create language based on his hypothesis about the language system.
4. The significant causes of errors in the interference of the mother tongue.
6 F. Significance O f The Study
1. Theoretically The writer can giving some more explanations is required especially the different uses between flare infinitive and To infinitive logically and systematically in order that they will be helpful and simple to by the students. It is, therefore; very essential for teachers to have a better treatment to anticipate the errors.
2. Practically The writer can provide a lot of drills of written exercises relating with infinitive, for the errors in any language teaching and learning situations particularly English as a foreign language are sometimes predictable, and sometimes are unpredictable.
G. Research Methodology
1. Population The chosen population in the research is the third year students of MTs
Assalafi Kenteng Susukan in 200/2002
a. Object : The student of Junior High School
b. Grade : Third Years
c. Location : MTs Assalafi Kenteng Susukan : 2001 /2002
d. Time
H :
7
2. Sample In this research, the writer takes one class as the sample of the students of the third year MTs Assalali, Kenteng, Susukan, those are three classes. As the way of getting the sample of the research, the writer uses random sampling, because random sampling technique is the most ideal way to take sample of the student’s.
3. Technique of Sampling It has been said above that the population had a high homogeneity, so the writer used a random sampling technique to facilitate research operation. He took some of the population used as samples for his research. A selecting process is random if it favour no member of population over any other members, every member of the population has the same chance of being selected5). The writer in this case, took the procedure called the lottery method; each group of the population was presented by a small piece of paper. The small piece of paper was placed in a box and well - mixed, and a sample of the required size was selected. The use of this lottery method of random sampling was easier because of the fact that it did not need difficult procedures lo follow. In this case, each of the classes’ names was written on a piece of paper. The paper was then rolled and put into a slot of a box. After being well - mixed, a paper wa s dropped out of the slot. They became the sample of the research.
5) Weiss, Robert S. 1966.
Statistics in Social Research.
N ew Jersey: John Willy arvi
Son, Inc Page222.
4. Method of Investigation a. Tryout Test.
The writer gives of a test to the students and to know about knowing and understanding students about infinitive b. Test items
In collecting the required data, the writer used only one type of test that was multiple - choice tests. He conducted this kind of test because multiple - choice test type is easier to be scored and also it does not take much time to score because it just has one correct answer. Harris in his book says that because of the highly structured nature of this multiple - choice test, the writer can get directly many of the specific skills and learning the writer wishes to measure.6) In collecting data, research students needed. In other words, the research students plays an importance role in a research project
5. Data Analysis.
To get empirical data, the writer administered a structure test on infinitives. Based on the student, result, he then analyzed and determined
6) Harris, David i \ 1969. Testing English as A Second language. N ew York' M cG raw - Hill. Inc Page. 7
9
the errors. The result of the data analysis ts listed in the tables. The formula for computing the discriminating power of each item as follows:
- - U L D =
n
In the data analysis, he used a percentage descriptive analysis’ and a reselected category approach’ the first of which was used to compute the percentage of error made by the students, the second to find out the dominant error, namely the types of errors which often occur.
The formula of the percentage descriptive analysis goes like this
T E jc X = 4 * -------- 1 0 0 %
L 'i'
The formula of the reselected category approach, on the othei hand, goes as follows:
pi = -J'- X 100 % n
H. The Outline of the thesis
In order to have clear and distinct arrangements, this thesis is organized in the following: Chapter one gives covering the general background of the study, statement of the problem, Reason for choosing the topic, limitation of the problem, objectives of the study, Significance of the Study, method of investigation, and the outline of the thesis.
10 Chapter two, the writer gives same review of the related literature as a
theoretical supporting the study Chapter three, the writer talked about research methods, which used.
They were the population, generalization area, sample and sampling.
Chapter four, the writer gives a presented the result and analysis of the study.
Chapter five, which concludes all of the data analysis and gives same suggestion of the problems and recommendation.
w
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. The Important of Learning Grammar The goal of teaching English in junioT high school has been mentioned
in the first chapter, as in 1994’s curriculum, the students are expected to master the language skills. They are supposed to be able to communicate in English without ignoring grammar since it is better for them if they can use speak English fluently and correctly grammar.
The word grammar is very ambiguous since it has several meanings. There is no fixed definition of grammar, because many experts often deline the term of grammar differently. Grammar may mean an analytical and terminological study of sentences. Thus when we learn grammar we will learn the parts of speech, their names of phrase, clause, interrogative sentence, retained object, etc.7 8 ' Grammar may also be defined as the basic signals by which a language transmits meanings. It means that grammar is what we learn in our native language; thus., any language speaker of certain language knows the grammar of this language.X) Therefore, if he knows his language grammar, he also knows how to construct sentences in order to express his idea. According to Cook’s and Sutter’s statements in the book
The Scope O f Grammar:
7) Paul Robert, 1995, Understanding English , N ew York, Harper and Raw Publisher, page. 132. 8)
Ibid, page 132
11
12 Grammar as we mean it is simply your language knowledge whatever brain knows that allows you to use language we will call it your grammar. Your grammar is what enables you to understand the very words you are now reading as well as to speak * (ji and write words and sentences o f your own.
Beside providing pattern, which enables speakers to speak and understand the language, grammar also constitutes a very essential vehicle that makes someone to be able to produce and understand sentences or utterances he has never said or heard before.
Every language has its own grammar and English does, too What someone wants to understand the English grammar? When someone wants to express something or produce utterance, he has to undergo some more process. If someone wants to say “gadis manis iln senang menyanyi “in English; he, first, has to find the English term of each word (gadis, mams, iiu,
senang, menyanyi). Then he should arrange the words in such a wav that the
construction become “that sweet girl likes singing “or” that sweet girl likes to sing”. If they does not know English grammar, he will probably say “girl sweet that likes singing”. The adjective is put after the noun being modified. Or he probably say “girl sweet that like sing”. He does not add - s to the verb like for he does not know that the subject of a sentence is a singular third person, he must add - s or - es to ihe verb, which has function as the predicate of the sentence. He does not know that certain verb such as like must be followed by gerund or to infinitive beside pronoun or nouns. It is reasonable
9) Stanley J Cook and Sutter, 1980, The Scope o f Grammar; A Study o f modern English, N e w York, M e Graw Hill, Inc, page. 1
12
13
that someone knows form of a verb preceded by the word to. Infinitive may be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.101 Then Wishon and Burks in their book
Let’s Write English say that the infinitive is made up of to + the simple form
of the verb, though to may be dropped when the infinitive is followed by certain verbs. Like gerunds, infinitives resemble the vert in many ways, but also function as other parts of speech.0 11- Based on some definitions about
» ,
infinitive, it can be concluded that the infinitive as a verbal is made up of the word to plus the base form of the verb. It has several functions of word classes. Moreover, the infinitive phrase is a phrase containing an infinitive. The infinitive phrase may be used in the same way as infinitives.
B. Infinitive
There are two kinds of infinitive, the first is called
Bare Infinitive and
the second is called
To Infinitive. Bare infinitive without to and it is
considered the simplest form the verb e.g., see, try, run, while
to infinitive is infinitive which is frequently preceded by to e.g., to see, to try, to run.
1. Bare Infinitives
The to infinitives include the particle to, some examples are shown above; but after certain verbs we use the infinitive without to.
We call this bare infinitive is used after modal verb such as can, may, must, will, should, might, etc.; after verbs of causing such as let, help,
l0) E. John Brewton, 1962, Using Good English, lllionis; Laidlaw Brothers, page 211 n) Op. Lit, page. 275
14
make and have; and then after verbs of sense such as see, watch, hear, feel.
a. After modal verbs e.g. He may go soon.
She can dance.
b. After the causing verbs make and have About the causative verbs “make” and “have”, Azar states that they can be used to express the idea that “X” causes
“Y” to do something. When they are used as causative verbs, their meanings are similar but not identical . For the example “The mother made the children clean up their own room” the children had no choice because their mother insisted that they clean up their own room. In another example “Ani had the maid clean all the rooms” the maid cleaned the rooms simply because Ani asked her to.
c. Let e. g. She lets me rest.
d. Help (the omission of to is optional) e. g. He helped the old man (to) cross the street.
e. Verbs of physical perception - feel, hear, listen to, look at, notice, observe, see, and watch. Infinitive with to alternates with the participial form in this construction after a verb of perception.
15 e. g. I saw the old ladies cross the road.
It has meaning that the speaker saw the old ladies cross the road from one side to the other side
2. To Infinitive
The one very important thing to remembei about infinitives is that it never fill the verb position is a sentence pattern nor become the predicate of a sentence. It is sometimes difficult to remember because infinitives have many qualities of verbs.
Infinitive can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in many instances in the sentences.
To infinitive that is used as nouns have
several functions. It can function as a subject, a direct object, and an objective complement. To infinitive is used as an adjective, modifies a noun and to infinitive used as adverb, modifies verb, adjective, and adverb. The more explanation about to infinitive - usage and functions- can be read in this chapter,
a. Infinitive is Used as a Noun
Infinitives that are used as nouns can function as subject, direct objects, or complements. Cook and Sutter state in their book
The Scope O f Grammar that as a noun, an infinitive can function as
the subject of sentences, an object, or complement. An infinitive retains the naming of a verb, just as a gerund does, describing actions and states than naming persons, places, things, and ideas.121
page. 191 Ibid,
1. Infinitive Functioning as sub ject Infinitive functions as subject without anticipatory “it”.
For example: To cooperate is the least you can do.
(to cooperate is an infinitive and it is used as a noun) To climb a mountain requires courage
(The sentence contains an infinitive phrase to climb a mountain) The
to infinitive can also stand as grammatical subject at
the beginning of a clause or sentence, as it does in the well-known quotation “To error is human”, but in modem English the infinitive as subject as nearly always introduced by it, so that instead of “To force them is impossible” we have the constructions, people tend to use the infinitive as subject that is introduced by “it”.
2, Infinitive Function as Direct Object
The infinitives and the infinitives phrase are used as nouns is another way too? They can be used after certain verbs, but not after others. It means they can serve as direct object. They can be seen in the following sentences: For example: Trevor forgot to call 1 hope
to see him soon
Would you care to join our organization?
17 After graduating from Junior High School he decides to continue his study.
The following is a list of verbs frequently followed by infinitives as object that are taken from AzarU); Thomson111; and Wishon and Burks1' ’.
Agree decide plan Appear demand prepare
Afford expect fail Arrange deserve prove Attempt forget pretend Care hesitate refuse Claim hope seem Consent mean struggle Intend manage swear Learn threaten tend
Undertake try volunteer
3. Infinitive Functioning as Objective Complement
The third function of infinitive as a noun is as objective complement. As Frank writes;
,3) Azar, Betty Schramofer, 1989, Understanding and Using English Grammar. Englewood Cliffs, N ew Jersey, Prentice - Hall, Inc, page 168-169.
H) Thomson, A.J and Martinet. A V, 1990, Oxford Pocket English Grammar. Oxford Oxford University Press. Page. 1 9 1 -193 15) Wishon, George and Burks, Julia, 1980, Let 's Write English. N ew Y ork. Me. Graw-Hill, Inc. page. 276.
Since infinitives can be used as nouns, it should not surprise us that they can serve as objective complement as well. Some infinitives are the second element of a two-part object after a verb; first part being a noun and the infinitive-stand in the relationship of the subject- predicate to each other. The infinitives in such two- part objects are sometimes classified as objective complement.161
In short, the statement above refers to the verbs followed by object and infinitives. These verbs are transitive, so they must have objects. The following list shows the verbs that are taken from Wishon andBurks.'7) Azar.
Advice force permit Allow get persuade Cause help remind Command instruct teach Compel invite tell tempt Challenge order Hire forbid require
Urge A few examples are given as follows: e.g. During examinations, the professor didn’t allow us to
smoke
The flowers from your garden will cause her to sneeze the class told her
6
to make, the arrangements. 1
16) Frank, Marcella, 1972, Modern English, E nglewood Cliffs, N e w Jersey. Prentice- Hall, Inc, Page. 335. ,7) Wishon and Burks, Op, f it, page. 277-278
Her mother won’t mind inviting us to come to her daughter’s paity.
Besides certain verbs with their functions in the sentence, there are also verbs, which can serve either the infinitives as direct object or as objective complement. Some of the verbs are as follow:
Ask intend expect Like prefer want Wish
A few examples are given below: Beg they begged to play
They begged her to play Ask the professor us to attend the meeting The professor asked us to attend the meeting.
Expect Jessica expected to go away for the weekend Jessica expected her mother to go away for the weekend.
Wish I wished to meet the new teacher I wish Andy to meet the new teacher,
b. Infinitive Used As An Ad jective
Besides functioning as subjects, direct objects, and object complements, infinitives frequently perform other jobs as well As Cook and Sutter say that infinitives can be used in adjectival sense to modify a noun. True nouns can function adjectivally, also, as in ‘ the
20
lire department”, where the noun “fire” modifies department by ruling out reference to the police, sanitation, or other kinds of department.'*’ Infinitives, on the other hand, are able to modify nouns directly. Observe in the following sentences how the infinitives function to limit the meaning of a noun:
» Our intention to visit Mexico was complicating our plans.
(“To visit Mexico” modifies the noun intention).1 I9)
8 Mrs. Martin sky has time to visit the zoo.
(“To visit the zoo” modifies the noun time).20) * “Honesty is the best policy” is a good rule to follow.
(“To follow” modifies the noun rule).20
c. Infinitives Used As An Adverb
Infinitives are also used in an adverbial sense: that they modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Infinitives perform this modification directly. A few examples are given as follows: We are ready to leave.
(“To leave” modifies the adjective ready - it tells what the people are ready to do).22) She is too intelligent to do such thing.
(“To do such thing” modifies the adjective intelligent)
18) Frank, Marcella, Op, Cit, page 341 19) Cook and Sutter, page. 195 Op, Cit,
20) Frank, Marcella, Op, Cit, page. 346 2,) Ibid 22 ) George E. Wishon, Op, Cit, page 91
It’s raining too hard for me to go out. (“To go out” modifies the adverb hard)231 We came to discuss business.
(“To discuss business” modifies the verb came). The men went to the bank to deposit the money. (“To deposit they money” modifies the verb went).211
C.Comparison Between Gerund And Infinitive
When this happens, the form is called a gerund. A Cook and Sutter write that gerunds are “used” as nouns because they are made to perform some of the same functions that nouns perform -they act as subjects, and as complements. The meanings they communicate, however, are always those of verb, since gerunds describe actions and states rather than name persons, places, things, or ideas, as nouns.251 Several gerunds are shown in the following sentences : Her job is modeling.
( “modeling” is gerund, which acts the subject complement).
Reading is a pleasure we all enjoy. ( “Reading” is gerund and acts as subject).
Pamela practices singing. ( “singing “ is gerund that has function as direct object ). *
2
4
2,) Cook and Sutter, Op, Cit, page. 193 24'
Ibid , page. 193 2r>> G eorge E. Wishon, Op, Cit, page. 191
Both infinitive and gerund do not carry tense or the third person singular-s, nor do not serve as the predicate of a sentence. But unlike gerunds, however, infinitives cannot be preceded by possessive pronouns. In a sentence such as :
“His to snore disturbed everyone “ is unacceptable. Those who understand English well, the sentence above sounds strange. The unacceptable sentence can be acceptable if the infinitive “ to snore is changed into gerund. And the sentence becomes :
“ His snoring disturbed everyone “. When there is a sentence containing a transitive verb, it is often necessary to decide which form - the gerund or the infinitive - is used as the direct object. In many verbs, the two cannot be interchanged. Some verbs can be followed by gerunds but not infinitives and some can be followed by infinitives, but not gerunds. Here is the list of the common verbs followed by gerund. delay mind
Admit deny miss Appreciate enjoy dislike Avoid Consider finish can’t help Continue keep
Those verbs above take the gerunds only but not the infinitives. A few examples taken from the scope of grammar are given as follows : Acceptable : Tony denied stealing the money. Unacceptable : Tony denied stealing the money *. Acceptable : I enjoy playing badminton. Unacceptable : I enjoy playing badminton *. Acceptable : She will finish painting soon.
Unacceptable : She will finish to paint soon * 26> In those examples, gerunds are suitable to the transitive verbs. On the other hand, the infinitives will more suitable to the intransitive verbs.
Some verbs like wanting, promising, agreeing, accepting only the infinitives - they cannot take the gerunds.
Acceptable : I cannot agree to do that. Unacceptable : I cannot agree doing that * Acceptable : She has promised to repeat the course.
Unacceptable : She has promised repeating the course * Acceptable : 1 want to sleep.
Unacceptable : I want sleeping *.* 27) After comparing between gerunds and infinitives, we should be caieful in choosing the direct object form for the sentence with transitive verbs, since not every transitive verbs can be followed by gerunds or infinitive interchangeably.
2(,) Cook and Sutter, Op, Cit. page 193.
27 ) ibid, page. 193
24 There are other verbs that can be followed by either gerunds or
infinitives. Sometimes they have no different’meaning, as in group A and sometimes with a different meaning as in group B.
Group A : common verbs followed by infinitives or gerunds with no different meaning.
Begin like start hate Continue love mean
Intend prefer Permit
(a) . It began to rain / It began raining (b) . 1 started to work / 1 started working.
In (a) and (b) there is no difference between ' began to rain “and” began raining “ If the main verb is progressive, an infinitive (not a gerund) is usually used, such as in the following sentence “ It was beginning to rain” not “It was beginning raining”. Group B : common verbs followed by infinitive or gerunds with a different meaning.
Remember regret Forget try
Stop
25 c. Any always remembers to lock the door.
Remember + infinitive = remember to perform responsibility or duty. It refers to future action c. Bob often forgets to lock the door.
Forget + infinitive = forget to perform a responsibility or duty.
I remember locking the door, ( I remember doing something after I do it. I remember doing something = I did something and now I realized ).
It refers to past action. For example, “l clearly remember locking the door before 1 le ff ( - I locked it and now 1 clearly remember this ).
I’ll never forget seeing the Alps for the firs time. ( forget + gerund = forget something that happened in the past).
Some students of Junior High School still produce sentences such as, I avoided to meet him at the party *, 1 pretended listening to her *, or Her mother made me to come*. So. The writer concluded that gerund and infinitives could cause problems in learning English. It happens because the students of Junior High School don’t know the rule how to use between infinitive and gerunds. Errors such as the ones just mentioned are caused by an inadequate working knowledge of which verbs take the gerunds, which the infinitives, and so on. It is possible , of course, for non native speakers or the learners of English to memorize list explaining
26
which verbs take which forms, and many textbooks dealing with English as a foreign language contain such lists. The confusion of which form is used is like what Cook and Sutter state :
Being forced to refer to memorize lists while engaging in spontaneous conversation, however, is like trying to eat an apple while playing flute, and most non-native speakers simply develop a sense of what sounds right and allow their “ear” to be their guide. The more exposure to English the non-native speaker experiences, the faster this sense of how to use gerunds and infinitives develops.2*’
From the explanation above, the writer can say the use of infinitives becomes trouble spot in learning English because there <m< many rules and exception in using infinitive. And it will be worse if the students tend to think that infinitive and gerund can be used interchangeably.
D.Error on Infinitive
1. Error Analysis
some problems will encounter L ivv
learning any language, win
1 Learners, m ? if the learners in this nouace rules. This can be worse ; are afraid of making language are language
27 Since errors in any language teaching - learning situation
especially in teaching and learning English as a foreign language are inevitable present, they should be observed, analyzed and classified to find or to reveal the solution to the problems. The study of the errors is commonly called
“Error Analysis”.
Related to errors analysis, Brown’s
Principle o f learning and teaching which notes that error analysis is the study of students’ errors
which can be observed, analyzed and classified to reveal something of the system operating within the learners. Error analysis will show the teachers some problems confronting the students. Additionally, it may present further information to the teachers about the process of acquiring a foieign language made by the students. The advantage of having error analysis may be traced back to the importance of students’ errors, as Corder quoted by Brown says “ A learner’s errors provide to the researchers evidence of how language is learned and acquired, what strategies or procedures the learners is employing in his discovery of the language 29)
Since the 1960s 1970, an error study or an error analysis has been chosen to be one of the methods to find the answer to the problems owing to the fact that error themselves, as stated by Corder edited by Richards are significant in three ways :
A learner’s errors ... are significant in three different ways. First to the teachers, in that they tell him if he undertakes systematic analysis, how far towards the goal the learner has 29) H. D ougles Brown, 1980, Principle o f Language Learning and Teaching, Englewood Cliffs, N e w Jersey, Prentice - Hall, Inc, page. 25
28 progressed.... Second, they provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned, acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is employing in his discovery of the language. T hirdly,... they are indispensable to the learner himself because we regard to the making of errors as a device the learner uses in order to learn.'1^
2. Error and Mistake
In everyday life, the term error and mistake sometimes can be confusing. In order to clarify the distinction between them, the writer cited the definition of error and mistake.
According to Brown’s statement “Error is defined as a systematic and noticeable deviation from the grammar of a native speaker reflecting the interlanguage competence of a learner, and consistently made by a leamer”.'U) It is common for the learners to make same errors consistency in acquiring the target language. Indonesian students for example, often make errors in studying English. One of the common errors made by the Indonesian students is about infinitive. For example, some of them tend to make a sentence like “His boss always makes the workers to obey the rule” instead of “His boss always makes the workers obey the rule”. Here, the students tend to use to infinitive after the word ‘ make”.
On the other hand, Brown the states that mistake refers to
- inconsistent or a mistake refers to a performance error that is either a *
W) Jack C Richard, 1985, N ew York, Cambridge The Concept o f language Teaching, University Press, page. 12.
' 0 Brown, page. 165.