Grammatical Errors found In Student Of English department’s Essay

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OFLITERATURE

2.1. Definitionof Linguistics

Creativityof manisreflectedthroughlanguage. Itisman’snatureto

create,innovateinordertosimplifyhislifeandshowhisexistence.Now,itis moreobviousthateveryequipment,probleminhumanlifewouldneverbesolved

orinventediflanguagewereneverexistedinthiscycleoflife.Realizing how

importantthefunctionoflanguageforsociallife,many expertshavedone

experimentstoknowwhatelementsare involvedintheprocessofmaking a

languagewheretwoormorepeople can understandeachother.Asithasbeen

knownthatlinguisticsisastudyaboutlanguage.Tohaveagoodunderstanding

aboutinguistics,therearesomedefinitionsofitandthewriter wouldliketoquote

it.deSaussure(1986:9)defines that:“Linguistics is thescientificstudyof

language.”Meanwhile,theotherstatesthat: “Linguisticsisthestudyofthese knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system structured, how it isacquired, how it isused in theproduction and comprehension ofmessages,how itchanges over time.”(http://linguistics.ucsc.edu). These definitionsshedlighton

thisanalysiswherelinguisticsgivesinformation indetail all things

aboutlanguage.Linguisticsis about aspectswhichsupport language formation and

what mechanism they use to bear meaningfulutteranceor

expressionsothattheycanfulfilltheirwillsincethisisthebasicreasonthey sharewhat

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Thereisprocessthatmustbeundergonesothatitcanbecatogorizedas language. All thosephasesare summarized in linguisticsand the writer will explainitbyinsertingthe main stepsof languageformation.

2.2. Subfieldsof Linguistics

Languageisacombinationofsmallestelementfoundinitandeachof

themhasasignificantrole todeterminea meaning thatuser wantsstating.Every

elementorlexicaliteminlanguageisexplicatedparticularinlinguistics.The writer

would like to put iton thispoint inorder to guide thisanalysisinto theright destination.BasedonKreidler(1998:18)therearesix phasestaken tocategorizeit as alanguage. Thesearesixsubfields of linguistics thathaveessentialprocess of languageformation:

-Phonetics:Thestudyandclassificationofthenatureofspeechsounds,

primarilyits structure, articulation andperception. Phoneticshasthree

mainsubfields: articulatory phonetics(correlationbetweenspeechorgans

andtheproductionof speech),acousticphonetics(propertiesof human speech sound waves), and auditoryphonetics(speech perception).

Voicing:[s]versus[z]

•sue([su:w])versuszoo ([zu:w])

-Phonology:Theanalysis anddescriptionofhow meaningfulsounds

combineinto functionalpatternsin speechproduction of alanguage. • house(sing. noun) ([haws])

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• house(verb) ([hawz])

• houses(plur. noun) ([hawz@z])

-Morphology:Thestudyofthestructureofindividualwordsandofthe smallest

meaningfulunitsalong withtheirpossiblecombinationstoform lexicalitems. • missile:‘ICBM’

• anti-tank-missile:‘missile targettingtanks’ • anti-aircraft-missle:‘missile targettingaircraft’ • anti-missile-missile:‘missile targettingICBMs’

-Syntax:Thestudy ofthegrammaticalrelationsbetweenwords,howthey

combineintolargerunitsandtherules thatmustbeobeyedtoform sentences.

Tobedistinguishedfrom morphology,whichappliestounits smallerthan

theword.

• Isawthewoman with the telescope. • Iforgothowgood beer tastes.

-Semantics:Thestudy ofthemeaningof(partsof)words,phrases, sentences

and textswiththeaimto explainhowsequencesof language coincidewith their meanings when articulated in particular environments.

• Wescreened the candidates. • Isawher duck.

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• [huwzan f@rst]

Who’son first?/Hu’son first.

-Pragmatics:Thestudyofthewaysinwhichasituationinfluencesthe meaning

andunderstanding ofspokenlanguageornon-verbal communication. Q:IsRobertsaRepublican?

A:IsthePopeCatholic?

Whatcanbelearnedfromthis quotationis this is phaseorstepsomeoneis going toundergowhenheorshewantstostarttocommunicatewithotherpeople

orontheotherword, itcanbesaidthat learner willneverbeable toperceivea

sentenceorutteranceifheskipsoneofthephases.Thisisthereasonthewriter

putsthequotations.Fromtheelaboration above,it can bedrawna conclusion that syntaxisclosely relatedtothisanalysisbecausethissubfieldconcentrateson combination of wordsto produceameaningfulsentence and structure.

2.3. Syntax

Ingeneral,therearetwokindsoflanguage,namely:spokenandwritten

language.Spokenlanguagehappenswhentwoormorepeoplewould like toshare

anythingtheywanttoshareinwhichtheydoitfacetofacemeanwhilewritten languageis

amethodused to communicateorgivean information toothers where

mediumisneeded,whichistext.Themostimportantthing incommunicating is

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careofwording andstructure.Fieldstudiesaboutitis syntax.“Syntaxisthesetof rules,

principles, and processes that govern the structure ofsentencesin a given language”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax

). In delivering a sentence andutterance,therearerulesorregulationseveryonemustbeconductedsothat

theaimofcommunicationwillbe acquired.Speaking ofregulationinlanguage,

especiallyEnglishlanguage,ithasbeenformulatedandusedasaguidanceto makesentence. Regulationin language isgrammar.

2.4. Grammar

Grammarispartofsyntaxfieldthatelucidateseverythingabout

requiredcomponents to build appropriate sentences. These definitionswill give more

clarficationsof it. Janet (2001:2)“Grammaris the set ofstructuralrules

governing the composition ofclauses, phrases, and wordsin any given natural language”.Toaffirmthedefinition,thewriteralsohasquotedfromtheother

source:“Grammaristhesetoflanguagerulesthatyouuse,mostofthetime unconsciously,

to create phrases and sentences that convey meaning”

samedefinition aboutgrammar,so itcanbesaid thatgrammar is likearoute

indicatortoguidesomeonesothathisideaandfeelinghetries tospeak,canbe

manifested.Grammarorlanguageregulationconsistsofmany formations.Toget

theanswersofresearch,thewriterhas decided toanalyzesomeofthem,they

are:SubjectVerb Agreement,Singular Plural,ToInfinitive, PassiveVoice, Forms of

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2.4.1. Subject Verb Agreement

Azar(1999:10),Subject-verbagreementmeans thatthesubjectandverb

endingsagreeinnumber.Determining singularorpluralendingscanbeconfusing

becausean-sendingonanounindicatesplural,whereasan-sendingonaverb indicates

singular form.For examples:

-Thedog barkseverynight. (Onedog=singular verb)

-Thedogsbark everynight. (More than onedog=pluralverb)

Thesubjectofevery sentenceiseithersingularorplural,andthat

determinestheendingof theverb. -SINGULAR:

-I chew.You laugh.Waterdrips. Timeflies. Hesings. -Themansittingon thesteps worksin thelibrary. -PLURAL:

-Weknow. Theystretch. Thestampsstick. -Themen sittingon thesteps work in thelibrary.

-COMPOUNDSUBJECTS

Subjectsjoined byand takeapluralverb.For example: -Myaunt and mysistervisit me every year.

Whenthesubjectwordsarejoinedby either... or,neither...nor,ornot only. . .

but,theverbagrees with thesubjectclosest to it.For examples:

-Either her brothersor herfather hasthemoney. -Neither her mother nor her sistershave the money.

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-BURIEDSUBJECTS

Whenwordgroupsseparatethesubjectandtheverb,locatethesubject word to determinewhether to useasingular or pluralverb.For examples:

-The tulipsin thepoton thebalconyneed watering.

-High levelsof air pollutioncausedamageto therespiratorytract. -Everyonein our family, includingmysister, hastaken pianolessons. Phrasesstartingwith thefollowingwordsare normallynot part of the subject:including,alongwith,togetherwith,accompaniedby,inadditionto,as wellas,

except, with, no lessthan.

-CLAUSES ANDPHRASESASSUBJECTS

Whenawholeclauseorphraseisthesubject,useasingularverb.For examples: -WhatI want to know is whyIcan't trythetest again.

-To livehappilyseemslikeaworthwhilegoal.

Whenwho,which,andthatareusedasasubject,theverbagreeswiththe word thatwho, which,orthatrefersto.Forexamples:

-Theyare thestudentswho studyhard. -He isthestudentwho studiesthehardest.

-Thepeople in my classwho arestudyinghard do a lotof extrareading. -Thestudent in my classwho is sitting inthe corner doesa lotof reading.

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-SUBJECTSAFTERVERBS

Whenasentencebegins with thereplus aformofbe(thereis, thereare,

therewas,ortherewere),thesubjectalwaysfollowstheverb.Theverbagrees with this subject.For examples:

-There isagood movieon TVtonight. -Therearetoo manyold movieson TV.

Ifthenormalorderofverbfollowingsubjectis reversed,theverbagrees with

thesubjectitfollows.For example:

-At theback of theroom arethreewindowsand a doorto theoffice.

-SUBJECTSWITHSINGULARVERBS

Somewords thatseemtohavepluralmeanings takeasingular

verb:anybody,anyone,each,either, every,everybody,everyone,everything,

neither,none, no one, nobody, somebody, someone, something.In additition, the

following wordsareconsideredassingular:-ing forms;somenounsending in-s,

(suchas news,physics,measles,politics,series);andsubjectclauses beginning with

what.

Collectivenouns suchas jury,committee,club,audience,crowd,class,

team,troop,family,andcoupleareusually treatedassingular.Whenthesubjectis an

amount, theverb is singular.

-Twenty-five centsisone-fourth of adollar.

When oneofisfollowed byapluralnoun,theverb is singular. -Oneof her sonshelpsin thestore.

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Titles, companynames, and wordsused asterms, usesingularverbs.

2.4.2. SingularPlural

A singular noun refersto1(one)only;apluralnoun refersto2(two)or

more.There are two thingsto note aboutsingular and pluralnouns. Thefirst isthat

theychangetheirformdependingonwhethertheyaresingularorplural.Every change

isnot alwaysthesamebecauseEnglish hasitsformulated rules:

-REGULAR NOUNS

Mostsingular nounsform thepluralbyadding-s.For examples:

Singular Plural

boat boats

house houses

cat cats

river rivers

Asingularnounendingin s,x,z,ch,sh makesthepluralbyadding-es. For examples:

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Singular Plural

bus buses

wish wishes

pitch pitches

box boxes

Asingularnounendinginaconsonantandthenymakesthepluralby droppingtheyand adding-ies.For examples:

Singular Plural

penny pennies

spy spies

baby babies

city cities

daisy daisies

-IRREGULAR NOUNS

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Singular Plural

woman women

man men

child children

tooth teeth

foot feet

Somenounshavethesameforminthesingularandtheplural.Theseare someof thewords:

Singular Plural

sheep sheep

fish fish

deer deer

species species

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-IRREGULAR VERB/NOUNAGREEMENT

Somenounshaveapluralformbuttakeasingular verb.Look at thebelow someof thewords:

PluralNounsUsed witha Singular

Verb

Sentence

News Thenewsisat6.30 p.m.

athletics Athleticsisgood foryoungpeople.

linguistics Linguisticsisthestudyof language.

Darts Dartsisapopular gamein England.

billiards Billiardsisplayed allover theworld.

Somenounshaveafixedpluralformandtakeapluralverb.They arenot

usedinthesingular,orthey haveadifferentmeaninginthesingular.Nounslike this

include:trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs,

congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits.

PluralNounwithPlural Verb

Sentence

trousers Mytrousersare too tight.

Jeans Her jeansareblack.

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2.4.3. ToInfinitive

Theinfinitiveisagrammar termthatreferstoabasicverbformthatoften

actsasanounandisoftenprecededby theword"t

sentence.

-Verbfollowedwith‘ToInfinitive’

There aresomeverbs that mustbefollowedwith‘toinfinitive’.For examples: -Theyintended to renovate their house.

-Shepretendsto besick.

Theresomeverbsmustbefollowedwithobjectandthen‘toinfinitive’. For

examples:

-Hewantsme to leavehimalone. -Heforced usto do hishomework.

-‘ToInfinitive’ UsedafterNounandAdjective

Whensentenceismade,notewhetheritisnounoradjective,‘toinfinitive’ verbmustbe applied. For examples:

-The tree istoo highto climb. -Heneedsaknifeto cutthecake.

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-‘ToInfinitive’ Usedafter QuestionWordsin NounClause

NounClauseisasubordinateclauseinordertomakethesentenceoften usequestion words.For examples:

-Idon’tknowwhereto go.

-He learned how to fixcarsfromhisfather.

2.4.4. PassiveVoice

Typically, therearetwokinds ofsentence,activeandpassivesentence.

Activesentenceis usedwhen thefocus is onsubjectbutpassivesentenceis used whenthefocusison theaction. Itisnotimportantornotknown,however,whoor what

isperformingtheaction.In English,each timesomeonewantsto usepassive sentence,

pastparticipleverband‘to be’mustbeapplied.Theuseof‘tobe’ depends onused tense. This thepattern must be followed to make passive sentence:“Subject+finite

formofto be+Past Participle”. For examples:

-Active: We clean thehouseeveryday.

Passive:Thehouse iscleaned byusevery day.

-Active:Theywillfinish thereportsoon. Passive:Thereportwillbefinished bythem.

2.4.5. Formsof Adjective

AdjectiveisThepartofspeech (or wordclass)thatmodifiesanoun or a pronoun. In English, there are three forms of adjective, namely: Positive/Negative

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Degree.Positive/NegativeDegreeisused toindicate likeor unlike.Thisisthe pattern: “SubjectPronoun+tobe+ as(adjective)as+ObjectPronoun”.For examples:

-Mybrother isas strongasmyfather. -Iamnot asbeautiful asmymother.

ComparativeDegreeisaformused tocompareanatureof twothingswhere one ismore than theother one.For examples:

-Myfather is smarter than mybrother. -Sisca ismorediligent than Rebecca.

ForComparativeDegree,onething mustbenoticed,if theadjectiveisone- syllable, at the end of its word mustbe added ‘er’.For examples:

-My shoesischeaper than his shoes. -Andiworksharder than Clark.

Andifanadjectiveconsistsoftwo-syllablesanditisendedwith‘le’,‘ow’, ‘er’,‘some’,and‘y’,addedwith‘er’.For‘y’,itmustbedroppedandaddedwith ‘ier’.For examples:

-Mycoffee isbitterer than hiscoffee -Ryan isnaughtier than Bobby.

Thesametreatmentwillbeapplied to SuperlativeDegreebut thedifferent is one-syllabeaddedwith‘est’andifitswordisendedwith: ‘le’,‘ow’,‘er’,‘some’, and‘y’,addedwith‘est’butnotfor‘y’,itmustbedropped and addedwith ‘iest’. For examples:

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-Jane isthe mostbeautifulgirl in ourclass. -Andre isthehappiestperson intheworld.

2.4.6. Redundancy

Johnson(2001:56)saysthat:“Redundancy(ortautology)istheaddingof

wordsorphrasesthataddnothingtotheoverallmeaningbecausetheirsenses

havealreadybeen expressed”.From thestatement, it can besaid thatredundancy

incorrect.For examples:

-Incorrect :Thenew innovationsattheWorld’sFair werefascinating.

-Correct :The innovationsat theWorld’sFair werefascinating.

-Incorrect :The moneyIhave issufficient enough formyneeds.

-Correct :The moneyIhave issufficientfor myneeds.

2.4.7. Preposition

Prepositionisapartofspeechgoverning,andusually precedinganounor

pronounandexpressing arelation toanotherwordor element inthe clause.

Prepositionhasmany functionsandtypesinsentences,sointhisthesis,thewriter isgoingtoanalyzeprepositionoftimeandplace.Inindicatingtimeandplace,

therearefiveprepositionsused,they are:at,in,on,for,andsince.Tablebelow will

explain usageof thoseprepositions:

Preposition Time

At 1.Timeof Clock.

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2.Short and PreciseTime. -atnoon, atsunset.

1.Month or Year. -in January, in 1945.

2.Particulartime of day, month,or

In year.

-in morning, in summer.

3.Specifictime in past,century, or etc. -in 21st century, in past.

1.Day. -on Monday.

On 2.Date.

-on 5th of March, on March 5. 3.ParticularDay.

-onIndependenceDay.

For 1.Duration of Time.

-for two hours.

Since

1.Fromacertainpointoftime(past- now).

-sinceyesterday.

Preposition

Place

At 1.Used for Confined Place.

-athome, at thiscollege, at theschool

In 1.Place Having some Boundary

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-inAmerica,inabuilding,ingarden, etc.

On .Surfaceof Soething.

-at the entrance,atfrontofchair,etc. (www.englishpractice.com)

2.4.8. ParallelismStructure

Richard(2006:259)Parallelismissimilarity ofstructureinapairorseries ofrelatedwords,phrases,orclauses.Parallelismsentenceorstructureiswords

usedtodescribeorindicatesomething wherepartsofspeechmustbethesame,in

ordertoconnectit,usingconjunctionandtheconjunctionhasbeenformulated. These

aretheformulas:

Parallelism Examples

-Notonly But also

-Both And

- And

-She isnot only beautiful but also

smart.

-He isboth a guitaristand a vocalist.

-My sisterdecides to study and to work

neither nor -Neither mybrother nor my sisters

loveplayingchesslike me. verb/aux

N1 N2 +

either or

-Either theworkers or the system needsto beimproved.

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(www.englishpractice.com)

2.4.9. MissplacedWord

Grammarconductslanguageusertoconstructanappropriatesentenceto

deliverhismeaningtoothers.Themeaningwillneversendcorrectly ifword arrangement

isincorrector calledit missplaced word.Missplacedword isaword,

phrase,orclausethatdoesnotclearlyrelatetowhatitisintendedtomodify. These aresome examplesof missplaced word/s:

-Incorrect :Andrewtoldusaftertheholidaythatheintendstostop drinking.

-Correct :Andrewtoldusthatheintendstostopdrinkingafterthe holiday.

-Incorrect :Jack can hearJillwhen shewhispersclearly.

-Correct :Jack canclearlyhear Jillwhen shewhispers.

2.5. TheImpact ofGrammaticalErrorinEssay

Theexistenceofgrammarincommunicatingactivity,tohelppeopleso

thatthesharingactivity canrunfluently andasaresult,everygoalwouldliketo

achievecanaccomplish.Unfortunately,eventhoughlanguageiscommonthing forpeople,communicationismissedsincetheydonotusetherightstructure. AfterelaboratingfewpartofEnglishgrammar,thewriterwouldliketoexposeif

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grammarisnotappliedtotellordescribesomethinginessay.Thewriterhas collected somedatas which informpeopleif grammaticalerror in writing.

-Grammatical errorcan cause intended meaningdistorted. -Grammatical error will change the meaning.

-Grammaticalerrormakesthemeaningishighlyunlikelyorcompletely ridiculous.

-Grammatical errorcausesreadersdifficult to understand.

-Grammaticalerrorcausesthesentenceseemawkwardanddoesnotmake sense. (www.towson.com)