A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  

IMPROVING SMA SANTO MIKAEL SLEMAN STUDENTS’

ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT SIMPLE SENTENCES BY USING

JUMBLED WORDS

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

  

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  

By

Tia Xenia

Student Number: 081214031

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS AND TRAINING EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2012

  

IMPROVING SMA SANTO MIKAEL SLEMAN STUDENTS’

ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT SIMPLE SENTENCES BY USING

JUMBLED WORDS

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

  

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  

By

Tia Xenia

Student Number: 081214031

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS AND TRAINING EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2012

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ABSTRACT

Xenia, Tia. 2012. Improving SMA Santo Mikael Sleman Students’ Ability to

Construct Simple Sentences by Using Jumbled Words. Yogyakarta: English

Language Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  Writing cannot be separated from sentences. Constructing sentences is a

start to write a composition since it has levels of difficulties starting from words to

sentences, sentences to paragraphs, and paragraphs to longer composition. The

quality in constructing sentences is needed to convey information clearly.

Therefore, it is important for students to be able to compose sentences correctly.

However, most of the students had problem in constructing simple sentences.

They had lack of ability to construct simple sentences correctly. The error

commonly occurred in the students’ writing was the sentence fragment. For that

reason, the researcher used jumbled words as the solution to this problem.

  The primary aim of this research was to improve the students’ ability to

construct simple sentences by using jumbled words. There were two research

problems in this research, namely, how jumbled words were applied in SMA

Santo Mikael Sleman and whether jumbled words could improve the students’

ability to construct simple sentences.

  The researcher conducted Classroom Action Research (CAR) to solve the

research problem. There were two cycles conducted in the research. The number

of the participants was 13 XB students in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman. The

researcher used some instruments to obtain the data as well, such as observation

sheet, field notes, questionnaires, interviews and the students’ writing.

  Jumbled words, as one of the grammar games, helped the students to

write simple sentences correctly since those motivated the students’ to learn and

increased the students’ interest. As a result, they were willing to think and learn

the language in enjoyable learning. Moreover, the use of jumbled words could

improve the students’ ability since there was repetition in the learning process. It

provided drill exercises. In addition, the use of jumbled words was easy to

understand. As a result, more than half of students improved their ability to

construct simple sentences. It was shown from the error percentage of the

students’ writing. Moreover, the average of error percentage of the students’

writing in simple sentences decreased significantly. It was concluded that the use

of jumbled words could help the students to improve their ability to construct

simple sentences.

  The researcher suggested English teachers apply jumbled words in the

class to improve the quality of sentences which the students wrote. The researcher

also suggested students practice their ability by using jumbled words. Keyword: jumbled words, simple sentences, composition, paragraph

  

ABSTRAK

  Xenia, Tia. 2012. Improving SMA Santo Mikael Sleman Students’ Ability to

  

Construct Simple Sentences by Using Jumbled Words. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan

Bahasa Inggris, Sanata Dharma University.

  Menulis tidak dapat dilepaskan dari kalimat. Menyusun kalimat adalah tahap awal untuk menyusun sebuah karangan karena dalam menyusun karangan terdapat tingkat kesulitan yang berawal dari penyusunan kata menjadi kalimat, kalimat menjadi paragraf dan paragraf menjadi karangan yang lebih panjang. Kualitas dari menyusun kalimat sangat dibutuhkan untuk menyampaikan informasi dengan jelas. Oleh karena itu, kemampuan siswa dalam menyusun kalimat dengan benar sangatlah penting. Namun, sebagian besar siswa memiliki masalah dalam menyusun kalimat sederhana. Mereka kurang mampu dalam menyusun kalimat tunggal dengan benar. Kesalahan yang sering terjadi dalam tulisan siswa adalah sentence fragment atau lebih dikenal kalimat tidak lengkap. Oleh karena itu, peneliti menggunakan jumbled words (kata acak) sebagai solusi untuk menyelesaikan masalah.

  Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan siswa untuk menyusun kalimat sederhana dengan menggunakan jumbled words. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua rumusan masalah. Yang pertama adalah bagaimana jumbled words diapplikasikan di SMA Santo Mikael Sleman dan apakah jumbled words dapat meningkatkan kemampuan siswa untuk menyusun kalimat sederhana.

  Peneliti menggunakan Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) untuk menyelesaikan rumusan masalah. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua siklus. Jumlah responden dalam penelitian ini adalah 13 responden dari siswa XB di SMA Santo Mikael Sleman. Peneliti menggunakan alat penelitian untuk mendapatkan data seperti lembar tulisan siswa, lembar observasi, catatan lapangan, kuesioner, dan wawancara.

   Jumbled words sebagai salah satu dari permainan tata bahasa dapat

  membantu siswa untuk menulis kalimat tunggal dengan benar karena permainan tersebut memotivasi siswa untuk belajar dan meningkatkan minat siswa. Oleh karena itu, mereka bersedia untuk berpikir dan belajar bahasa dalam pembelajaran yang menyenangkan. Selain itu, penggunaan jumbled words dapat meningkatkan kemampuan siswa karena terdapat pengulangan dalam proses pembelajaran. Permainan tersebut memberikan latihan secara terus menerus. Selain itu, penggunaan jumbled words mudah untuk dimengerti. Oleh karena itu, lebih dari setengah siswa telah meningkatkan kemampuan mereka untuk menyusun kalimat tunggal. Hal tersebut dapat dilihat dari persentase kesalahan dari tulisan siswa. Selain itu, rata-rata dari persentase kesalahan pada tulisan siswa berkurang secara signifikan. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa penggunaan jumbled words dapat membantu siswa untuk meningkatkan kemampuan mereka untuk menyusun kalimat tunggal.

  Peneliti menyarankan kepada guru Bahasa Inggris untuk mengapplikasikan jumbled words di kelas untuk meningkatkan kualitas dari kalimat tulisan siswa. Peneliti juga menyarankan siswa untuk melatih kemampuan mereka dengan menggunakan jumbled words.

  Kata kunci : kata acak, kalimat tunggal, komposisi, paragraf

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I would like to express gratitude to Jesus Christ as all of His blessing, helping hands, love, encouragement, and believing in doing this research, so that I could pass all of the obstacles both when I conducted the research and when I reported all in thesis. I thank God for all of His strength given to me when I went through the difficulties.

  I would also thank my best supervisor, C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. for her time, guidance, suggestions, patience, encouragement, support and motivation when I was doing the research and reported into thesis. My supervisor always opened my mind when I got stuck in doing my thesis.

  I also thank Sri Purwantoro, S.Pd., the principal of SMA Santo Mikael Sleman who gave permission to conduct research in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman. I would address my gratitude to Drs. A. Agus Wijayanto who had permitted me to

  Veronica Widi H, S.Pd.,

  conduct the research in his classroom. I truly thanked to

  

M.Hum. for her help, support, and suggestion from the very beginning of the

  research until the end of the thesis process. Moreover, I thank XB students in

  

SMA Santo Mikael Sleman for their help and cooperation in conducting research

in their class.

  I would like to thank Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, M.A. for his time, and suggestions when I wrote the thesis. He gave me a way out when I got lost in doing my thesis. I would like to thank Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. for his time, suggestions, and kindness, so I could motivate myself to face the final defend.

  This is my biggest gratitude for my beloved family. I thank my wonderful parents, Bapak Rudiyatno and Ibu Sih Widayati for their understanding, patience, love, pray and support. They let their children live their own life. I love them very much. I also thank my beautiful sister, Stephanie Otie Anggarani for accompanying me and caring me in doing this thesis. She always supports me when I am down. I also thank my beloved aunt, Mbak Ndari for supporting me to go on, and for praying for my success.

  I am grateful to Stefanus Eko Ardiyanto and Yohannes Jatmiko

  

Yuwono, S.Pd. for all of their kindness, time, suggestion and willingness to be

  my proofreader for this thesis. I also thank my beloved partners, Bernadeta Diah

  

R.A. and Agnes Siwi P. for working together, sharing ideas, and supporting each

other from the very start of conducting research until finishing this thesis.

  I would like to address gratitude to my beloved, FX. Adityo Nugroho,

  

S.T. for his support, motivation, love, encouragement, jokes and happiness, so I

  could smile and forgot all of the burdens for a while. I also thank my besties, Sely

  

(Silly), Diah (Didi), Sepsi, Niken (Nican) for sharing happiness, support, jokes,

  motivation, and strength. I express my gratitude to Mas Sedik and Mas Marshel for being my wonderful seniors in PBI. I also thank to all of my friends whose names I cannot mention one by one.

  I also thank Mbak Dhanniek, Mbak Tari and the librarians in Sanata Dharma University for all of their help during the process of research.

  Tia Xenia

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Page TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGES ............................................................................................. ii DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................... iv STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ........................................................ v

  LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH

UNTUK KEPERLUAN AKADEMIS ..................................................................... vi

  ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... vii

  

ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................ viii

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... x TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... xii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ xv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ xvi LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................... xvii

  CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ................................................................. 1 B. Research Problem ....................................................................... 5 C. Problem Limitation ..................................................................... 5 D. Research Objective ..................................................................... 6 E. Research Benefits ....................................................................... 6 F. Definition of Terms .................................................................... 7 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description .............................................................. 9

  1. The Meaning of Composition ................................................... 9

  2. Sentences .................................................................................. 9

  a. The Definition of Sentence ............................................. 10

  b. Four Sentence Structure Classifications .......................... 10

  d. Improving Sentence Structure ......................................... 16

  3. Teaching Grammar ................................................................. 16 ...................................................

  a. The Meaning of Grammar

  16 ...................................

  b. The Method of Teaching Grammar

  17 ...................................

  c. Teaching Grammar through Games

  18

  4. Classroom Action Research ................................................... 22

  a. The Definition of Classroom Action Research ............... 22

  b. The Advantages of Classroom Action Research ............. 23

  c. The Model of Classroom Action Research ..................... 23

  B. Theoretical Framework ............................................................. 24

  CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ...................................................................... 27 B. Research Setting ....................................................................... 30 C. Research Participants ................................................................ 30 D. Research Instruments ................................................................ 31 E. Data Gathering Technique ........................................................ 33 F. Data Analysis Technique .......................................................... 35 G. Research Procedure .................................................................. 37 CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. The Implementation of Jumbled Words in SMA Santo Mikael ............................................................................................. Sleman

  39

  1. Preliminary Study ..................................................................... 39

  2. First Cycle .............................................................................. 43

  3. Second Cycle .......................................................................... 55

  B. The Improvement of the Students’ Ability to Construct Simple .........................................................................................

  Sentences

  68

  1. The Main Result of the Students’ Improvement .................... 68

  2. The Supporting Result of the Students’ Improvement ........... 71

  CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions ............................................................................... 79 B. Recommendations ..................................................................... 81 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 82 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 84

  

LIST OF TABLES

  Table Page

Table 4.1. The Error Percentage in the Students’ Writing of Simple Sentences in Preliminary Study ............................................................................. 42Table 4.2. The Error Percentage in the Students’ Writing of Simple Sentences in Cycle 1 .............................................................................................. 54Table 4.3. The Error Percentage in the Students’ Writing of Simple Sentences in Cycle 2 .............................................................................................. 67Table 4.4. Improvement of the Students’ Ability to Construct Simple

  Sentences ............................................................................................... 69

Table 4.5. The Students’ Opinions toward Jumbled Words ................................. 72Table 4.6. Whether Jumbled Words Helped the Students to Construct

  Sentences .............................................................................................. 72

Table 4.7. How Jumbled Words Helped the Students .......................................... 73Table 4.8. Whether Jumbled Words Increased the Students’ Motivation ............. 77

  

LIST OF FIGURES

  Figures Page

Figure 2.1. Model of Action Research .................................................................. 24Figure 4.1. The Average of Error Percentage in the Students’ Writing ................ 70

  

LIST OF APPENDICES

  Appendix Page

  Appendix 1. Covering Letter for the Head of SMA Santo Mikael Sleman .......... 85 Appendix 2. Research Official Statement from SMA Santo Mikael Sleman ....... 87 Appendix 3. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Preliminary Study ............. 89 Appendix 4. Field Notes of Preliminary Study ..................................................... 95 Appendix 5. Observation Sheets of Preliminary Study ...................................... 100 Appendix 6. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle 1 ............................ 105 Appendix 7. Field Notes of Cycle 1 .................................................................... 110 Appendix 8. Observation Sheet of Cycle 1 ......................................................... 117 Appendix 9. Lesson Plan and Teaching Materials of Cycle 2 ............................ 122 Appendix 10. Field Notes of Cycle 2 .................................................................. 127 Appendix 11. Observation Sheet of Cycle 2 ....................................................... 134 Appendix 12. Questionnaire ............................................................................... 137 Appendix 13. The Raw Data of Questionnaire ................................................... 140 Appendix 14. Interview Guide ............................................................................ 143 Appendix 15. Interview Transcripts .................................................................... 145 Appendix 16. Sample of the Students’ Writing in Preliminary Study ................ 150 Appendix 17. Sample of the Students’ Writing in Cycle 1 ................................. 153 Appendix 18. Sample of the Students’ Writing in Cycle 2 ................................. 156 Appendix 19. The Pictures of the Research Process ........................................... 159

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the researcher shows the research background, the research

  problem, the problem limitation, the research objectives, the research benefits, and the definition of terms.

A. Research Background

  English becomes a universal language in which it is used around the world. It follows that learning the language is important in order to have the capability to communicate with other people throughout the world. Since mastering English is important, the Government of Indonesia includes English as school subject.

  In learning English, there are four skills to be mastered. One of them is writing. Writing cannot be separated from sentences. Brewton et al. (1962) add that writing cannot be separated from sentences since they are a habitual part of writing (p.189). For that reason, the quality in constructing sentences is needed to convey information clearly. Therefore, it is important for students to be able to compose sentences correctly.

  Composing sentences has levels of difficulties starting from words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into longer composition. If students lacked composing words into sentences, it will be the hindrance for students to move forward in composing complex composition.

  Based on the researcher’s observation when she was doing Program

  

Pelaksanaan Lapangan (PPL) held in July to October 2011/2012, many English

  teachers do not take much time for the students to improve their writing skill. The majority of the learning process in the school is focused on reading. The students read a lot of passages and answer the questions given by the English teachers. The students do not have many writing practices.

  Since they do not have much time to practice in writing skill, they have difficulties in composing simple sentences and make many grammatical mistakes.

  Besides, many English teachers still apply the traditional methods. In the process of teaching grammar, the teachers speak, explain, and write the materials in the front of the class while the students copy the materials given by the teachers from the whiteboard to their notebooks. They follow the teachers’ instruction to do the exercises given.

  Tenth graders of the XB class in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman had lower ability in writing skill. They had not achieved the writing objectives of senior high school in which the students are expected to write a text. The problem was because they had difficulties to construct simple sentences. They did not put a subject or a verb in each sentence and did not convey one complete idea. It could be seen that the students had not understand yet what a sentence is.

  The students’ ability can be seen from the result of their mid-test held on September 12, 2011. The result was not satisfying. Nobody reached 70, even some of them reached below 50 in English mid-test.

  These are the students’ results on the mid-test in essay section which the students were asked to change the affirmative sentences to negative and interrogative sentences.

  Student 1: (+) They travelled in a comfortable coach with a toilet, music, and video. (-) Did not travelled in a comfortable coach with a toilet, music, and video. (It is missing a subject) (?) (This student did not answer this part) Student 2: (+) They travelled in a comfortable coach with a toilet, music, and video. (-) The travelled in a comfortable coach not with a toilet, music & video.

  (It is missing a subject) (?) In a comfortable coach with a toilet, music & video, they travelled?

  (It is missing a verb) Student 3: (+) They travelled in a comfortable coach with a toilet, music, and video. (-) The toilet, music, and video they travelled in a comfortable with coach. (It is missing a verb) (?) Where a toilet, music, and video? (It is missing a predicate verb) Student 4: (+) The body of an octopus looks like a big balloon. (-) Did not looks like big balloon. (It is missing a subject) (?) What did the body of an octopus looks like Most students tend to make the errors in constructing simple sentences.

  Mostly, the error that the students wrote in their writing was sentence fragment. More than 10 students did not put a subject and a verb in each sentence. It cannot be called a simple sentence if it does not only have a subject and a verb but also convey a complete thought.

  Since the researcher had found the problem faced by the students which was in constructing simple sentences, the researcher conducted Classroom Action Research (CAR) in the class. CAR is an action research conducted in the classroom to solve a problem (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2008, p. 589). For this reason, the researcher conducted CAR to help the students of SMA Santo Mikael Sleman to improve their ability to construct simple sentences which means they are able to write sentences correctly, so they do not find any difficulties in constructing simple sentences anymore.

  When the researcher was doing her PPL, she implemented jumbled paragraphs in the class. It turned out that the students were so happy, active, and enthusiastic in arranging jumbled paragraphs. All of them took part in arranging jumbled paragraphs. Having known the students’ reaction when the jumbled paragraphs were implemented, the researcher conceived that using jumbled words as grammar games could be implemented in the class as the solution to the problem.

  The use of jumbled words is aimed to improve the students’ ability to construct simple sentences. Since jumbled words are included in grammar games, jumbled-words game motivates the students to learn the language since they will learn the language in enjoyable way. The students will be more active and take part in the learning activities. Subconsciously, they learn how to construct simple sentences correctly. Moreover, their mind will be guided in arranging a sentence since there is repetition in the learning process. Therefore, by this step, they will be able to understand how to construct simple sentences correctly.

  The researcher expected that jumbled words could help the students to organize their mind to construct sentences. The use of jumbled words makes the teaching and learning activities become enjoyable in learning grammar. Playing and learning English can be integrated, so learning English will not be boring for the students when they deal with grammar. It means that the students can take part in the learning activities and can be motivated in learning. Hence, they can really understand the process of constructing simple sentences.

  This research is worth studying because it can improve the quality of the students’ writings. It will avoid the sentence fragment occurred in the students’ writing. The current study explores the use of jumbled words as grammar game in order to improve the students’ ability to construct simple sentences which express one idea in a sentence.

  B. Research Problems The research questions formulated would be as follows.

  1. How are jumbled words applied in SMA Santo Mikael?

  2. Do jumbled words improve the students’ ability to construct simple sentences?

  C. Problem Limitation

  The limitation of this current research is improving the students’ ability to construct simple sentences by using jumbled words. The participants were 13 students of XB in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman, academic year 2011/2012. The researcher limits the analysis on simple sentences. Normally, a simple sentence contains one independent clause which has a subject and a verb. It must convey one complete idea as well. The researcher also concerns with simple sentences using past tense in the learning activities since the topics were in news item and recount text. Therefore, the students are also expected to be able to understand the tenses used in the topic. In the teaching and learning process, the students learn the sentence patterns inductively.

  D. Research Objectives

  The objectives of this study are to overcome the problem faced by the students of XB of SMA Santo Mikael Sleman in constructing simple sentences.

  This research will find out how jumbled words are applied in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman and whether jumbled words improve the students’ ability to construct simple sentences or not.

  E. Research Benefits This research will give contribution for the people as follows.

1. The Students of SMA Santo Mikael Sleman

  This current research will help and improve their ability to construct simple sentences. If they master in constructing words into sentences, they will not find difficulties to move forward to the next level which is sentences into paragraphs. By using jumbled words, they will not feel monotonous in learning.

  They will be more active, enthusiastic, and motivated in teaching learning activities. They learn in the simple and enjoyable way. Therefore, they can feel the ease to memorize and understand the material well.

  2. The English Teacher of SMA Mikael Sleman

  The benefit of this research is that it will be helpful for the English teacher to use jumbled words in teaching and learning process, especially when the students deal with grammar.

  3. The Researcher

  By conducting this research, the researcher can answer the problem which occurs in the classroom. Besides, this will be useful for the researcher to find out the new strategies in learning English. For further researcher, they are able to develop more activities and improve the students’ ability.

F. Definition of Terms

  There are some terms used in this study. They are:

  1. Jumbled Words

  Jumbled words are sentences in which the words are in the wrong order and will be arranged into a good sentence. In Oxford Advanced Learner’s

  

Dictionary (2000: 732), it is defined that the word “jumble” itself is “untidy or

  confused mixture of things.”

  2. Simple Sentence

  Simple sentence contains an independent clause which consists of a subject and a verb. Mallery (1957) explains that “the simple sentence consists of a single independent clause. Any sentence, however short or long, that contains one subject and one predicate” (p. 71). Therefore, a subject and a verb take an important role in each simple sentence.

3. XB Students in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman

  SMA Santo Mikael is one of the senior high schools which are located in the remote area in Sleman. Mostly, the students are from outside Jogjakarta. Most of them moved from other schools. They brought their own problems in the school.

  Ten B (XB) is one of the classes in SMA Santo Mikael Sleman, which consists of 13 students. There are seven boys and six girls. The ages of the students are between 15-17 years old. The number of the students in the class XB was reduced from 22 students in the first semester into 13 students in the second semester since there was school’s policy which required some students to move to other schools.

  Most of the ten B students had not achieved the writing objectives of senior high school in the English subject in which the students are expected to write texts. It was because they had not understood what a sentence means. The students wrote incomplete sentences and ungrammatical sentences. As a result, their writing products were difficult to understand. From the description, it could be concluded that the writing ability of ten B students was in the beginning level.

  They needed to learn and understand what a complete sentence meant.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In this chapter, the researcher would like to put some theories which are

  relevant to the problem of the research. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical description and the other is theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

  In this theoretical description, the theories which are relevant to the research are discussed. They are the meaning of composition, sentences, teaching grammar, and Classroom Action Research (CAR).

  1. The Meaning of Composition

  Mallery (1957) explains that “Composition is concerned with “putting together” of parts to form a whole: words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into longer units such as essays and narratives” (p. 2). Writing has levels of difficulties from constructing words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into longer composition.

  2. Sentences

  In this part, the researcher is going to present the definition of sentence, four sentence structure classifications, four sentence errors, and improving sentence structure.

  10

  a. The Definition of Sentence

  Brewton et al. (1962) define a sentence as a word or a group of words containing a subject and a verb and delivering one idea (p. 191). Mallery (1957) states that subject is “the word or words naming the person or thing about which something is asserted” while predicate is “the word or words which assert something about the subject” (p. 3). The subject and the predicate take important role in every sentence which is built.

  b. Four Sentence Structure Classifications Mallery (1957: 71) classifies a sentence according to its structure into four.

  They are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.

1) The Simple Sentence

  Simple sentence is a writing composition which conveys one complete thought and basically contains one clause which has one subject and one predicate. Mallery (1957) explains, “The simple sentence consists of a single independent clause. Any sentence, however short or long, that contains one subject and one predicate” (p. 71). Murcia and Freeman (1999) add a simple sentence as an independence clause containing at least one subject and one verb (p.20). Independent clause is a sentence that can stand alone and expresses a complete thought. Moreover, Brewton et al. (1962) add that “there are at least two parts which are simple subject and predicate verb to every complete sentence” (p. 192). It is not about the number of words but the main contents are a subject and a verb. However, a simple sentence may contain compound subjects or compound verbs in a sentence.

  11 Therefore, students are expected to be able to construct simple sentences since it is the simplest sentence structure classification. This is the example of a simple sentence taken from Mallery’s book (1957) entitled “Grammar, Rhetroric and Composition”.

  The tired, dirty, and footsore hikers struggled wearily across the old bridge, up the hill, and finally, into the camp in the pine forest.

  The example provided by Mallery is considered as a simple sentence because there are only one subject and one finite verb even though it contains many words.

  An imperative can also be called simple sentence even though there is not a subject in that sentence. The subject in imperative sentence is implicit. As a deduction, the meaning of the sentence is implied. It can be shown from the following examples.

  Sit! Open the door! Close the window!

2) The Compound Sentence

  The compound sentence is a kind of sentence that consists of two or more simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions can be and, but, or nor. The important thing is there must be the subject in each clause (Mallery, 1957, p. 72). Hence, the subject must be clear in each clause. Mallery (1957) writes in his book that “the compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

  Each clause must be itself a simple sentence.” (p. 72). Murcia and Freeman (1999) add that a compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (p.20).

  12 The example of the compound sentence is provided below.

  Daniel Defoe was one of the earliest journalists, and his newspaper was extremely influential. (Mallery, 1957)

  3) The Complex Sentence

  Mallery (1957) states that “a complex sentence consists of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses” (p. 73). Murcia and Freeman (1999) define a complex sentence as a sentence containing a main clause and one or more subordinate clause (p.20). Independent clause expresses the complete thought. However, dependent clause cannot stand by itself. It depends on the independent clause.

  The examples of the complex sentences taken from Mallery’s book (1957) entitled “Grammar, Rhetoric and Composition” are provided below.

  When the century began, there were many coffee-houses in London. We know that these gathering led eventually to the formation of a great insurance firm

  4) The Compound-Complex Sentence

  The compound-complex contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause (Mallery, 1957, p. 73). This kind of sentence is more complex than the other types of sentence since it has two or more independent clauses and one dependent clause. Henceforth, it is called compound-complex sentence.

  This is the example of compound-complex sentence taken from Mallery’s book (1957) entitled “Grammar, Rhetoric and Composition”.

  13 Although their influence was, for the most part, a good one, the coffee Dependent clause houses sometimes fell into disrepute, and the authorities more than once Ind. clause complained that they were being used for seditious gatherings.

   Ind. clause

c. Four Sentence Errors

  There are four sentence errors which commonly occur in students writing (Mallery, 1957, p. 112). They are the sentence fragment, the comma splice, the fused sentence, and the dangling modifier.

1) The Sentence Fragment

  The error which commonly occurs in students’ writing is sentence fragment. A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Some fragments are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or both (“The Writing,” 2012). Moreover, a fragment is a phrase or a dependent clause as it is thought as a complete sentence (“Sentence,” n.d.). Complete sentence is a sentence which has a subject and a verb in a sentence and conveys one idea. A sentence is considered as a sentence fragment when it lacks a subject, a verb, or both.

  Mallery (1957) clarifies a sentence as “a group of words expressing one complete thought” (p. 112). Therefore, a sentence which expresses a complete thought is a complete sentence which has a subject and a verb in a sentence. Hence, a writer has to keep in mind that a sentence expresses a complete thought and have a subject and a verb in it.

  Mallery suggests some ways to avoid sentence errors occur in the writing composition. It is provided in the following suggestions:

  14 1. Do not write a dependent clause as though it were a complete sentence.

  2. Do not write an appositive (introduced by such expression as that is, for example, or namely) as though it were a complete sentence.

  3. Do not write a participial phrase as though it were a complete sentence.

  (Mallery, 1957, pp. 113-114) It is clear that a sentence must express a complete thought. If the sentence is incomplete, it is considered as a sentence fragment. Besides, a dependent clause is not considered as a complete sentence as well as it does not represent a complete thought. They are provided in the following examples:

  Accompanied by some nurses in the hospital. (It is missing a subject) Information from television. (It is missing a verb) Because the weather is not good. (It is an incomplete thought)

  These examples are considered as sentence fragment because it does not have a subject and a verb in the sentence and do not express a complete thought either.

2) The Comma Splice

  The sentence error comes from the use of comma to join two clauses or complete sentences, whereas comma is a separating mark (“Sentence,” n.d.). The example is provided below.

  Two children cook turkey behind their house, the turkey is well-cooked in the pan.

  In the compound sentence, there are two independent clauses. To avoid error of comma splice, the writer uses coordinating conjunctions, such as and, but,

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nor or semicolon while to avoid error of comma splices in complex sentences, the

  writer is able to put subordinating conjunctions, such as because, since, when, while, etc if the dependent clause is in the first part.

  3) The Fused Sentence

  Mallery (1957) notes “two or more sentences run together with no mark of punctuation between them are said to be fused” (p. 115). Therefore the way to avoid it is by separating them and punctuating them appropriately. The example is in the following.

  I work in the office every day I drive my own car after I have breakfast.

  4) The Dangling Modifier

  Dangle can be explained like “if a participle, for example, cannot be thus connected with its antecedent in the sentence, it is called dangle” (Mallery, 1957, p. 116). It means dangling modifier is not really clear seen what it modifies. Dangling modifiers describe nothing and dangle in the sentences (“Sentence,” n.d.). It occurs when the modifier is put in the wrong place. The example is provided below.

  Hanging from the ledge high over a mountain, Danielle saw the tree with their brightly colored fall leaves (“Sentence,” n.d.).

  “Hanging from the ledge high over a mountain” is dangling modifier since it does not modify the right object it modifies. The modifier must be close to the object it modifies.

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