An Analysis of Grammatical & Mechanical Errors in Writing Narrative Text

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This part discusses some introductory points include background of problem, the

research question, the purpose of research, the significance of research, rationale,

methodology of research, data analysis, and clarification of the terms.

1.1 Background of Problem

Each and every day, in every social interaction, we communicate our

feelings, ideas, and thoughts with others, besides, we keep social relations among

others when we communicate either verbally or nonverbally.

As social being, interaction and communication take an important place

in our life because people are actually dependent. Brown (1994: 159) explains that

interaction is the collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings, or ideas between

two or more people resulting in a reciprocal effect on each other.

From the statement above, it can be inferred that interaction and

communication cannot be separated from language which is a main tools for them

(interaction and communication).

In teaching and learning process, language is important. Through

language, all ideas from teachers can be well communicated. A successful

communication will lead teachers to achieve a successful teaching.

Moreover, at present, there are many languages can be used to make a

communication among human beings. Many people can speak more than one

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language. They can master not only their native language but also their foreign

language—English, Dutch, French, etc.

Brown (1994: 122) says that English increasingly has used as a tool for

interaction among non-native speakers. English has become a tool for

international communication in transportation, commerce, banking, tourism,

technology, diplomacy, and scientific research.

In Indonesia, English takes an important place and has used largely in

many sectors of life, such as education, culture, economic, etc. In the field of

education, English plays as the subject, which is taught and learned by many

people from kindergarten up to the university. In teaching and learning process,

students are expected to practice English fluently, either good at listening,

speaking, reading or writing.

Most Indonesian students regarded writing as a difficult subject to learn

and to practice. Lenneberg (1967) in Brown (1994: 319) notes that human beings

universally learn to walk and to talk but that swimming and writing are culturally

specific learned behaviors. We learn to swim if someone teaches us. We learn to

write if we are members of a literate society and usually only if someone teaches

us. Therefore, many Indonesian English students were frequently criticized from

their lack of writing ability. This caused that students to make errors during their

writing process. They make some sentences ungrammatically, then make some

errors in writing mechanism.

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In written English, the grammatical and mechanical rules cannot be

separated. It would be impossible to learn or to write something effectively

without knowing the grammar and mechanics.

Grammatical rules are the way in which words are organized in a

language in order to make a correct sentence (Hewings and Hewings, 2005: 1). It

helps learners to identify grammatical forms, which serve to enhance and sharpen

the expression of meaning. Then, mechanical rules are conventional rules such as

the one requiring capitalization for the first word of a sentence.1 It helps them to

identify mechanical aspects, which involve spelling, punctuation, capitalization,

and paragraphing. A correct grammatical structure and mechanics will determine

the meaning of the sentence and it can avoid misunderstanding to the readers.

Moreover, the writer’s reason of choosing this case is based on his

teaching experience in Senior High School of Al-Islam, Cilengkrang, Bandung.

From that teaching experience, he found a problem which is related to students’

comprehension in writing text.

The problem involves errors on grammatical and mechanical rules in

English. Based on that problem, the writer is interested to analyze the errors and

to further know about kinds of grammatical and mechanical aspects which are

often met, and to know students reasons or argument for making the errors. Then,

the researcher would like to give an overcoming to the English teachers in that

school to avoid or at least to decrease the errors students make.

1 Taken from: http://teachingenglishonline.net/grammatical-and-mechanical-sentence-problems-

in-writing-1/ [accessed on 11/12/2012].

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To give a little description about what the writer intends to do, he puts

some examples of grammatical and mechanical errors in writing, which are the

result of his pre-observation on his teaching experience at SMA Al-Islam

Cilengkrang, Bandung, as follow:

A. Grammatical Aspect

1. The students wrote the composition using sentence patterns well.

For example, “My mother cooks everyday in my house.”

2. The students used the wrong articles.

For example, “Dina play a games everyweek.”

3. The students could not determine the singular and plural forms.

For example, “He cannot use his both foots to walk.”

4. The students ignored the tenses.

For example, “The teacher teach English yesterday.”

B. Mechanical Aspect

1. The students made some mistakes in spelling.

For example, “I go to shcool at 7 am.”

2. The students made some mistakes in punctuation.

For example, “Are you sick.”

3. The students made some mistakes in capitalization.

For example, “He met mr. andi last year.”

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In the case of grammatical errors, the writer would like to analyze the

errors in tense, pronoun, word order, articles and preposition. While in mechanical

errors, he would like to analyze the spelling-mistakes, errors in capitalization and

punctuation.

Brown (1994:340) suggests that in the case of writing, error correction

must be approached in a different manner. So it is hoped that this research can

overcome and give solution to the errors they make. It is also expected that the

result of writing evaluation can make the students to avoid some errors during the

writing process whether it is grammatically or mechanically.

Regarding those statements above, the writer formulates his research

entitled “AN ANALYSIS OF GRAMMATICAL AND MECHANICAL

ERRORS IN WRITING NARRATIVE TEXT MADE BY GRADE ELEVEN

STUDENTS OF SMA PGRI TANJUNGSIANG SUBANG”.

1.2 The Research Question

Based on the explanation above, what the writer tries to search for in this

research can be interpreted into several questions as follow:

A. What kinds of grammatical and mechanical errors do the students make

in their writing?

B. What are the casual factors of errors they make in their writing?

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1.3 The Purpose of Research

Regarding the problems above, this research intends to find out the

follow purposes:

A. To find out the kinds of grammatical and mechanical errors that the

students make in their writing.

B. To find out the casual factors of errors that the students make in their

writing.

1.4 The Significance of Research

This research has significances in some areas as follows:

1.4.1 To the English Department and Englihs teachers:

a. This research will get them know how to avoid students’ errors on

grammar and mechanics in writing an English composition.

b. The teachers will know what they have to do and they can

stimulate their students to write an English composition

grammaticallay and mechanically correct.

1.4.2 For the students:

a. By this research, students will recognize their grammatical and

mechanical errors and then do the self-correction in writing.

b. They will avoid those grammatical and mechanical errors in their

writing.

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1.4.3 For the other reseacher:

a. This research can be a source of information in order to show the

grammatical and mechanical errors by giving the right forms of

the errors that are found from this research.

b. This research will be a reference for someone who looks for the

material related to errors on grammar and mechanics in writing

composition.

1.4.4 For the writer:

a. He will know more about the errors evident in students’ writing

composition and giving the ways to overcome the errors of

grammar and mechanics in their writing.

b. He will know some factors and students’ reasons of making errors

in their writing then he tries to solve the problems of their

reasons.

1.5 Rationale

Evaluation, according to Gilbert Sax (1980: 18) in Arifin (2010: 5), is a

process through a value judgment or decision is made from a variety of

observations and from the background and training of the elevator.

Evaluation can be used as a tool to measure the ability of students’

acquisition in their study. This way is useful for a teacher to know his/her

students’ achievement in their learning. Because of this evaluation, teacher can

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prepare what they have to do in order to get their students gain the information

and knowledge which are given by him/her during the process of learning.

One of evaluation tools is an analysis. According to (Kamaluddin, 2000:

6), analysis is “a process of using a technique to identify, classify, and interpret

systematically to the given data made by the students in order to determine the

progress or success in learning a foreign language and what problems they

encounter.”

What will be analyzed here is about the errors of grammar and mechanics

in writing narrative text. Error is a flawed side of a learner speech or writing. The

error is explained in Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

(1992), which is quoted by Abushihab in his Journal (2011: 545), as follow:

A student makes mistakes and errors when writing. Mistakes are due to

lack of attention, fatigue or carelessness. They can be self-corrected when

attention is called. Errors are the use of linguistic items in a way that a

learner of the language regards them as showing faulty or incomplete

learning. They occur because the learner does not know what is correct,

and thus errors cannot be self-corrected.

According to Brown (2000: 217), “a mistake refers to a performance

error in that it is a failure to utilize a known system correctly; while an error is a

noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the

inter-language competence of the learner.”

Grammatical errors are the errors which include errors in tense, pronoun,

articles, word-order and preposition. Then mechanical errors are the errors in

spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

The type of text will be used for analysis is narrative text. Narrative text

is a type of texts which tells a series of event from one time to other one, which is

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outlined from first events, then triggers crisis, and then get resolution (Pratyasto,

2011: 39).

Regarding those explanation above, the writer is interested to analyze

students’ errors in their composition of writing narrative text either grammatically

or mechanically. This is done in order to give a contribution by giving the

solutions to overcome the errors.

Therefore, error analysis can give information about students’ difficulties

during their acquisition and the way they learn and develop their language

learning. The writer expects that the results of this analysis of error can help

English teachers to adapt themselves to the learner’s needs rather than impose

their (the teachers’) preconceptions of how the students ought to learn and when

they ought to learn. The chart shown in Figure 1.1 well illustrates this rational.

1.6 Methodology of Research

Kothari (2004: 8) explains that research methodology is a way to

systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of

studying how research is done scientifically.

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This research uses a qualitative methodology because the study is

intended to discover the phenomenon exists in student writing, that is the errors in

grammar and mechanics rules. According to Sugiyono, (2012: 15) a qualitative

methodology is a research methodology that is based on postpositive philosophy

and used to do a research on scientific subject (not experiment) where the writer is

an instrument key. In their Handbook of Qualitative Research, Denzin and

Lincoln (2000: 3) in Ritchie and Lewis (2003: 2) offer the following definition:

Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the

world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that makes

the world visible. These practices turn the world into a series of

representations including field notes, interviews, conversations,

photographs, recordings and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative

research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This

means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings,

attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the

meanings people bring to them.

Research process consists of series actions or steps necessary to

effectively carry out research. The chart shown in Figure 1.2 well illustrates a

research process.

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1.6.1 Method of Research

This research uses a descriptive method. The purpose of this method is

to describe the grammatical and mechanical errors in students’ writing for the

grade eleven students of SMA PGRI Tanjungsiang, Subang.

1.6.2 Source of Data

The writer takes the data from some published-books, e-books,

journals, and websites related to this research. The data gives the writer some

theoretical backgrounds to support writing this paper.

1.6.3 Technique of Collecting Data

The techniques that used by the writer in this research for collecting

the data are through:

1.6.3.1 Test

Test is an instrument that can be used to measure a base

capability and achievement. The important of using the test will

understand the problem of collecting data in the research (Arikunto,

2006: 223).

The test will be obtained from asking the students to write a free

composition on narrative text consisting at least of three paragraphs or

in 90 minutes on free topics. Each student is provided with two pieces

of lined polio paper and a piece of test containing the instruction of

doing test. They are then asked to write a composition. After students

finished their writing, the writer collects their writing and choose 15

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compositions randomly. Then he analyzes them by investigating the

grammatical and mechanical errors in their writing.

1.6.3.2 Interview

In order to gain directly some important information related to

some factors of making errors on grammars and mechanics in writing

a composition, the writer uses interview guidance by interviewing

some of the students.

According to Arifin (2009: 157), interview is a form of non-test

evaluation tools which is done through direct or indirect conversation

with the students. The writer uses a type of mixed interview between

structured and non-structured interview (opened and closed

interview).

In this interview guidance, the writer uses a purposive sampling.

Sugiyono (2012: 124) states that a purposive sampling is a technique

of determining samples by a certain consideration. The writer uses this

purposive sampling because he wants to interview some students

which mostly make errors on grammar and mechanics in their writing

process.

1.7 Data Analysis

The data that are analyzed on the research are qualitative data. The

qualitative data are organized by using descriptive analysis, which is to organize

the data that are gained by describing and clarifying it.

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The chart shown in Figure 1.3 well illustrates a process of data analysis.

Firstly, the researcher asks the students in the class to write a free

composition on narrative text consisting of three paragraphs or about 250 words in

90 minutes on the given topics. Each student is provided with a piece of lined

double polio paper and a piece of test containing the instruction of doing test and

the topics of which they might choose. They are then asked to write a

composition.

Second, after students finished their writing, the researcher collects their

writing and analyzes them by investigating and organizing the data based on

based on two main aspect of English composition.

Third, if the data are fallen into grammatical errors, then the researcher

classify and list them into related aspect of the grammar; tense, pronoun, word

order, article or preposition.

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Fourth, if the data are fallen into mechanical errors, the researcher

classifies and lists them into related aspect of the mechanics; spelling,

capitalization, or punctuation.

Fifth, the researcher chooses some students to be interviewed. Those

chosen students are they who mostly make errors on grammar and mechanics in

their writing process. By doing this interview, the researcher wants to know some

factors of making errors on grammars and mechanics in writing a composition.

Sixth, after analyzing the students’ composition and interviewing them,

the researcher edits and proofreads the student’s composition. Then the researcher

assesses those compositions from the first drafts to the final ones.

Finally, the researcher takes a conclusion from that analysis and

interview by giving feed-back either for the students or for their English teacher.

This conclusion may also be useful for further researcher.

1.8 Clarification of the Terms

To avoid misunderstanding, the writer gives some clarifications as

follow:

1. Grammar, according to Knapp and Watkins (2009: 32), is to describe and

analyse the way that words are put together within sentences. Grammar is

also how a text is structured and organized due to the characteristic of

particular genres in relation to purpose, audience, message and structure.

2. Grammatical error, which the writer means in this this research, is the

errorneous grammatical form. It exists in the students’ English

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composition. It involves the error of English sentence tense, articles,

pronouns, preposition, and word order.

3. Mechanics is conventional rules such as the one requiring capitalization

for the first word of a sentence, from

(http://teachingenglishonline.net/grammatical-and-mechanical-sentence-

problems-in-writing-1/) [accessed 11/12/2012].

4. Mechanical error stated in this research discusses the problems of

writing mechanism, which involved errors in spelling, puntuation,

capitalization and paragraphing.

5. Narrative text is a type of texts which tells a series of event from one

time to other one, which is outlined from first events, then triggers crisis,

and then get resolution (Pratyasto, 2011: 39).

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter discusses some general and explicit theories related to the study. It

covers theories on general concept of writing, narrative text, error analysis,

mistakes and errors, grammatical errors, and mechanical errors.

2.1 Writing

The meaning of writing is about the way we arrange a sentence. If we can

arrange sentences well, we will be able to write down anything easily. Generally,

EFL learners tend to write down a long and complex sentence without keeping a

clear meaning related to the sentence, even the sentence has no meaning at all

(Pratyasto, 2011: 1).

Pratyasto (2011: 1) adds that in writing process there are some rules that

have to be followed in order to make a writing composition easily. He also says

that a sentence is a composite from many kinds of word to be something which

has a meaning. Generally these kinds of words which are applied to make a

sentence are: noun, verb, linking verb, adjective, and adverb. These five elements

are the main section to make a simple sentence.

Memering and O’Hare (1980: 5) state that writing is a craft, and those who

practice it enough can become good at it. While Digest (1975: 3) says that writing

is a skill that can be learned to make a good writing.

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Then, Memering and O’Hare (1980: 6) add that:

Learning to write means becoming fluent in written English. All

native speakers of English are, by definition, fluent in spoken English.

But these same fluent speakers have shown a surprising tendency to

“shutter”, falter, become inarticulate when they write. It is

specifically, and only, in the process of writing English that

inexperienced writers tent to lose their natural fluency with language.

Badger and White (2000: 153) states that in relation to writing, there

are three approaches; (1) product approach, (2) process approach, and (3)

genre approach. Pincas (1982) in Bagder and White (2000: 153) explains that

in product of approach, writing is seen as being primarily about linguistic

knowledge, with attention focused on the appropriate use of vocabulary,

syntax, and cohesive devices.

In process approach, Badger and White (2000: 154:155) adds that

writing is seen as predominantly to do with writing skills, such as planning

and drafting, and there is much less emphasis on linguistics knowledge, such

as knowledge about grammar and text structure. Meanwhile, they also adds

that genre approach regards writing as predominantly linguistic, but unlike

product approach, they emphasize that writing varies with the social context

in which it is produced.

Regarding some theories above, we can conclude that writing is

organizing experience, ideas or information, in the form of arranged

sentences or even paragraphs, by using combination of letters which relate to

the sound we make when we speak. We can also add that in order to make a

good written text we have to pay attention to the rules of writing when we are

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going to write a composition such as grammar, sentence structure,

vocabulary, punctuation, spelling and letter formation.

2.2 Narrative Text

Pratyasto (2011: 39) states that a narrative text is a kind of texts which tells

a series actions from time to time that is outlined through early actions, crisis

actions and then resolution. This text is to entertain the readers and even

sometimes the text makes the readers as they are experiencing themselves the

actions told in the story.

Alwasilah and Alwasilah (2005: 119) state that narrative is to tell a story –

a series of event or moments chronologically in the form of facts or fiction. They

add that narration can include the flashback moments and it can be subjectively

positioned in the first person style or objectively positioned in the third person

style depending on the author.

In other words, Pratyasto (2011: 39) says that narrative text has the basic

purpose namely to entertain and to gain and hold the reader’s interest in a story.

Narrative may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romance, horror

stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legend, historical narrative, ballads,

and personal experience.

Furthermore, Pratyasto (2011: 39) adds that the generic structure of

narrative text include orientation, complication, and resolution. The first stage is

orientation which introduce the major characters, the topic of story, and

established setting – time and place that the story happens. The second stage is

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complication in which the series actions unfold. This stage contains the event falls

on the major characters and explains a conflict among the characters. The conflict

can be shown naturally, socially, or psychologically. He adds that complication is

the main element in the narrative text. Without this conflict, the text can be said to

be a narrative. The third is resolution. In this stage, the conflict or crisis is

resolved, and all things return to normal. The thing is related whether the

characters are success or not, but the main point is that the appeared-conflict has

become extinct.

Pratyasto (2011: 39) also gives explanation about the significant lexico-

grammatical features (language features) of narrative: (1) using opening words

that interesting the readers, (2) focus on specific and usually individual

participant, (3) use storytelling convention especially on myth and fairy story, such

as once upon a time, (4) use of past tense, (5) use of variated-sentences: simple,

compound, or complex sentences, (6) use of time words: after that, then, a few

moment later, etc., to connect an event with others, and (7) a noun group

describes characters and setting.

Thus, narrative text is to tell a story, mysteries, science fiction, romance,

horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legend, historical narrative,

ballads, and personal experience. Then, narrative text has a generic structure,

those are orientation, complication, and resolution.

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2.3 Error Analysis

Brown (2000: 216-217) states that human learning is fundamentally a

process that involves the making of mistakes. Later, the second language learning

is a process that is clearly not unlike first language learning in its trial-and-error

nature. Then, he adds an explanation about the important about analysis as follow:

Researchers and teachers of second language came to realize that the

mistakes a person made in this process of constructing a new system of

language needed to be analysed carefully, for they possibly held in them

some of the keys to the understanding of the process of second language

acquisition.

In fact, many learners do make errors in their writing composition. In order

to avoid these errors, researchers or teachers can observe, analyze and classify

these errors in the composition, then they can give feedback and reveal something

related to the system of writing composition to the learners (Brown, 2000: 218).

Furthermore, Corder (1967: 167) in Brown (2000: 217) explains that “a

learner’s errors are significant in (that) they provide to the researcher evidence of

how language is learned or acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is

employing in the discovery of language.”

Regarding explanation above, the errors that learners make must be

analysed and rectified for that the errors will not habit to continue. Researchers or

teachers must analyze these errors in a careful analysis in order to provide the

learners with feedback for an ideal language proses especially in writing skill.

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2.4 Mistakes and Errors

“In order to analyze learner language in an appropriate perspective, it is

important to make a distinction between mistakes and errors, technically two very

different phenomena” (Brown, 2000: 217).

Brown (2007: 282) adds that learning a language, like any other human

learning, has the same process in terms of appearance of mistakes made by the

learners. Consequently, it is impossible for someone to learn without committing

any errors. Before analysing the learners’ errors, it will be useful for us to

understand the difference between errors and mistakes.

Brown (2000: 217) also says that a mistakes refers to a performance error

that is either a random guess or a slip, in that it is a failure to utilize a known

system correctly. It means that an error is something unconventional that can be

clearly seen when the learners perform it and when they show their inter-language

competence.

It is very likely that a teacher or researcher will be difficult to assess

whether a learner makes a mistake or an error. If on one occasion an EFL learner

says “I am study” and on the other occasion says “I study” or “I am studying”, it

is not always easy to judge whether “I am study” is a mistake or an error. If

further examination of the learner’s speech reveal that the learner consistently

produces such forms, it can be concluded that he or she represent forms of errors.

On the other hand, if the learner correct the wrong-formed utterance immediately

after he or she produced them, we can be sure that they are only mistakes (Brown,

2000: 217-218).

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Furthermore, he adds that if a learner say “I am eat” without correcting

of to be and bare infinitive, it is can be concluded that the utterance is the form of

error. If the learner realizes that the utterance “I am eat” is wrong and then he or

she correct it immediately by expressing “I eat” or “I am eating”, it is

determined that the utterance is only a mistake.

Regarding explanation above, we know that the difference between

errors and mistake is that about the continuity in making the wrong words, either

spoken or especially written text. If a student makes the same type of wrong word

more than twice, so it is an errors. In contrast, if he / she makes a type of wrong

word in a time but does not in times after, so it is only a mistake. Moreover,

mistakes are what the researchers name them as performance mistake (the learners

know the system but they fail in using it), while errors are the result of someone’s

systematic competence (the learner’s system is not appropriate).

2.5 Sources of Error

Brown (2007: 289-293) explains that there are four factors that being

sources of error: a) inter-lingual transfer, b) intra-lingual transfer, c) context of

learning, and d) communication strategies.

2.5.1 Inter-lingual Transfer

Brown (2007: 289) says that one of significant sources of learners’

errors is inter-lingual transfer. Inter-lingual transfer is sensitive to the learning

a second language (foreign language) from interference of the first language

(native language). In this stage, before the learners well know the system of

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the second language (foreign language), they can rely on the first language

(native language) as the only previous linguistic system.

Indonesian students who learn English as a foreign language may get

the trouble with Indonesian grammar. For instance, they may say “different

with” for “different from”, because in Bahasa it is said “berbeda dengan”

not “berbeda dari”. They may also say “book of Jack” instead “Jack’s

book” or “sheep” instead “ship”. These all errors can be related to negative

inter-lingual transfer from the speaker’s native language.

Therefore, we can conclude that the inter-lingual transfer appears

before the system of the foreign language (target language) is familiar with

the learners’ native language. Inter-lingual transfer consists of positive and

negative inter-lingual. This negative inter-lingual transfer which can be a

source of errors.

2.5.2 Intra-lingual Transfer

The second source of error is intra-lingual transfer which is the main

factor in learning a second language. Brown (2007: 290) says that the early

stages of language learning are characterized by a dominant interference

(inter-lingual transfer), but once learners have begun to acquire some new

systems, more and more intra-lingual transfer is manifested.

Negative intra-lingual transfer (over generalization) has already been

illustrated in such utterance as “Does John can sing?” for “Can John sing?”,

“He goed” for “He went”, and “I don’t know what time is it” for “I don’t

know what time it is”.

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According to explanation above, intra-lingual transfer appears when

learners have begun to acquire some new systems from the target language

(foreign language).

2.5.3 Context of Learning

The third major source of error is the context of learning. Brown

(2007: 292) explains that context refers, for example, to the classroom with its

teacher and its material in the case of school learning or refers to the social

situation in the case of untutored second language learning. Students often

make errors because of a misleading explanation from the teacher, the faulty

presentation of a structure or words in the textbook, the pattern which is

memorized in a drill but it is not properly contextualised, or because a teacher

may out some ignorance provide incorrect information by way of a

misleading definition or grammatical generalization. An EFL learner may

produces the utterance “interested to” instead “interested in” and “I was

angry at my brother” instead “I was angry with my brother”.

2.5.4 Communication Strategies

The fourth source is communication strategy. Brown (2007: 292)

defines and relates it to the learning styles. Learners obviously use production

strategies in order to enhance getting their messages across, but at times these

techniques can become a source of error. One ESL learner said “Let us work

for the well done of our country.” While it exhibited a nice little pattern of

humor, the sentence had an incorrect approximation. Likewise, word coinage,

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circumlocution, false cognates, and prefabricated patterns can all be sources

of error. So, communication strategy is relating to the learning style that the

learners use when they are conveying their message to others.

2.6 Grammatical Errors

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 611-612) states that checking over your

sentences to catch careless syntactical and grammatical errors is an important part

of the completing stage.

EFL students often make some grammatical errors in writing. They

produces many erroneous sentences. These errors are the cause of either inter-

lingual or intra-lingual transfers or context of learning in the classroom (Brown,

2000: 223-225).

It is known that the students will not be able to understand a grammatical

explanation of the mistakes they have made if they have not already reached an

academic language teaching. So the teacher should guide the students and give

them a correction. For example, a teacher who finds the sentence “I don’t know

no stories bout eleffants, I know bout rabbit” might correct it and write “I don’t

know any stories about elephants, but I know about rabbit”.

Grammatical is a phrase, clause, or sentence is acceptable because it

follows the rules of grammar, for example: “He studies English every day.”

Ungrammatical is a phrase, clause, or sentence is unacceptable because it doesn’t

follow the rules of grammar, for example: “He study English every day.”

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Based on explanation above, we know that many English learners make

errors in grammatical rules when they write a composition. These errors are

caused by either inter-lingual or intra-lingual transfers or context of learning in the

classroom. Grammatical error is the erroneous grammatical form. It exists in the

students’ English composition. It involves the error of English sentence tense,

pronouns, preposition, and word order, etc.

2.6.1. Errors in Agreement (Subject-Verb Agreement)

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 612) say that rules of agreement affect the

relationship between subject and verb and between pronoun and antecedent.

They add that agreement means that a singular subject must have a singular

verb and that a pronoun must match its antecedent (the word it refers to) in

number (singular or plural), in gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) and in

person (first, second, or third).

Kolby, in his book, says that within a sentence, there are certain

requirements for the relationship between the subject and the verb.1

a. The subject and verb must agree both in number and person.

Example: “We have surpassed our sales goal of one million

dollars.”

Here, the first person plural verb have agrees with its first person

plural subject we.

1 Jeff Kolby, The 4000 Words Essential for an Educated Vocabulary, p. 123, from:

http//shop.bea.vn/ebook/getlink.php [accessed on July 17, 2013].

27

b. Interviewing phrases and clauses have no effect on subject-verb

agreement.

Example: “Only one of the President’s nominees was

confirmed.”

Here, the singular verb was agrees with its singular subject one.

The prepositional phrase word of of the President’s nominees has

no effect on the number or person of the verb.

c. When the subject and verb are reserved, they still must agree in

both number and person.

Example: “Attached are copies of the contract.”

Here, the plural verb are attached agrees with its plural subject

copies. The sentence could be written as: “Copies of the contract

are attached.”

Furthermore, in fact, sometimes the learners tend to simplify and leave

together the third person singular inflection. For example, the learners might

write down such statements “He live in Bandung” and “She say she will come

to Sumedang” instead “He lives in Bandung” and “She says she will come to

Sumedang.”

Occasionally, some learners will over-generalize the inflection and

apply it to uninflected-forms such as modal auxiliaries, for example: “Dandy

cans play a guitar well” instead “Dandy can play a guitar well,” and “Jack

wills go to Australia” instead “Jack will go to Australia.”

28

Yet another reason why learners overuse this form is that interpret the

morpheme –s as a plural marker on the verb to be used in agreement with

plural subject, for example: “They / The boys goes to the movies often.”

In other hand, some learners often make some errors in making

sentences or expressing utterances. When the subject is he, she, it or a noun in

the singular number, they usually leave out the morpheme –s or –es from the

present verb, for instance: “He speak English well.”

Sometimes they do not use don’t (do not) with the subject I, we, you,

they and with the words that are in the plural number, or they don’t use

doesn’t (does not) with words that are in the singular number, for example:

“He don’t care what she says.”

2.6.2. Errors in Tense

Kolby says that a verb has four principal parts: 2

a) Present Tense

According to Team Yayasan Pendidikan Haster Bandung

(2004: 1-2), the used of simple present tense is as follow:

a. Used to express general truths.

b. Used to express something habitually.

c. Used with will or shall to express future time.

2 Ibid, pp. 130-131.

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b) Past Tense

Team Yayasan Pendidikan Haster Bandung (2004: 4-5) state

that the used of simple present tense is as follow:

a. Used to express an event happened in past in certain time.

b. Used to express an event which its time is not known but it

has already finished at this time.

c. Used to express something habitually in past time.

c) Past Participle

Kolby says that past participle is:3

a. Used to form the present perfect tense, which indicated that

an action was started in the past and its effect are continuing

in the present (using have or has and past participle of the

verb).

b. Used to form the past perfect tense, which indicates that an

action was completed before another past action (using had

and past participle of the verb).

c. Used to form the future perfect tense, which indicates that an

action will be completed before another future action (using

will have or shall have and the past participle of the verb).

d) Present Participle

Kolby says that present participle is:4

3 Ibid, p. 130. 4 Ibid, p. 131.

30

a. Used to form the present progressive tense, which indicates

that an action is ongoing.

b. Used to form the past progressive tense, which indicates that

an action was in progress in the past.

c. Used to form the future progressive tense, which indicates

that an action will be in progress in the future.

Furthermore, in fact, some English students sometimes make an error

in determining the present perfect tense and progressive aspect, for example:

* He is here since June. (wrong)

He has been here since June. (right)

* I am seeing a tree behind the house. (wrong)

I see a tree behind the house. (right) / (sensory perception)

* We are desiring an explanation. (wrong)

We desire an explanation. (right) / (emotion)

They may use the past tense after “did” instead of the infinitive without

“to”.

* Did you went to school every day? (wrong)

* Did you go to school every day? (right)

They also use the third person singular verb after “does” instead of the

infinitive without “to”.

* Does the gardener waters the flower? (wrong)

* Does the gardener water the flower? (right)

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They use the third person singular verb after “can, must, etc.” instead of

the infinitive without “to”.

* He can speaks English very well. (wrong)

* He can speak English very well. (right)

2.6.3. Errors in Pronoun

Kolby states that pronoun is a word that stands for a noun, known as

the antecedent of a pronoun. Pronoun must agree with their antecedents in

both number (singular or plural) and person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd).5 A pronoun

usually refers to something earlier in the text and it must agree in number with

the thing to which it refers.

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 594) state that pronouns are usually defined

as noun substitutes because they frequently replace nouns mentioned earlier in

a sentence or in a previous sentence. As noun substitutes, pronouns are

important in reducing redundancy in sentences, for example: “John broke his

leg as he was climbing down the mountain.”

2.6.3.1 Personal pronoun

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 594) say that personal pronoun

occurs in the same positions as nouns, but notice that the form of the

pronoun changes with its function in the sentence. There are two kind

of personal pronoun, subject pronoun and object pronoun.

5 Ibid, p. 118.

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a. Subject pronoun

Subject pronouns occur in the subject position of a

sentence or after the verb be, and sometimes learners make errors

in this case. The subject pronouns are: I, we, you, he, she, it, and

they. For example:

Him and I have seen this movies before. (wrong), and

He and I have seen this movies before. (right).

b. Object pronoun (complement pronoun)

Complement pronouns are: me, us, you, him, her, it, and

them. Complement pronouns occur in complement position,

whether they complement a verb or a preposition, for example,

learners may write down:

“She called he on the telephone” instead

“She called him on the telephone”.

2.6.3.2 Possessive pronoun

Possessive pronoun words are: my, mine, our, ours, your,

yours, his, her, hers, its, their, and theirs. Cowan and Cowan (1980:

595) say that as indicators of ownership or possession, these pronouns

function just as possessive nouns do. Essentially, they modify the

nouns with which they appear, for example:

This is my book. That is yours.

She forgot her homework. I forgot mine.

33

Their story is well written in this book.

2.6.3.3 Reflexive pronoun.

The words of reflexive pronoun are: myself, ourselves,

yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, and themselves.

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 595) say that:

Reflexive pronouns only occur when a noun and pronoun or

two pronouns in the same simple sentence or clause clearly

refer to the same antecedent. This is why the pronoun is

called reflexive: it is grammatically and semantically bound

to the noun or pronoun it refers to.

For instance, some learners sometimes produce the errors

when applying such the word hisself and theirselves, as the following:

- She sent the letter to hisself.

- They were talking among theirselves.

Both statements are wrong. Those should be:

- She sent the letter to himself.

- They were talking among themselves.

2.6.3.4 Relative pronoun.

The words are who, whose, whom, which, that, when, where,

and wherever. Cowan and Cowan (1980: 595) state that this set of

pronouns replaces the noun in a relative clause. They add that like all

other pronouns, relative pronouns are referent; that is, there is always

a noun to which the pronoun refers. For example:

- The dress which I worked on yesterday is still not finished.

34

- The street where Joan lives is hard to find.

In the first sentence, which refers to dress; in the second,

where refers to street.

2.6.3.5 Demonstrative pronoun.

The words are this, that, those, and these. Cowan and Cowan

(1980: 595) say that demonstrative pronouns function as nouns or as

modifier. In the context of longer passage of speech or writing,

demonstrative pronouns always refer to a specific noun. For example:

- Those flowers are the freshet ones on the shop.

- If you like exciting mysteries, read this book.

2.6.4. Errors in Word Order / Function

Some English learners often make errors in ordering the words. They

are confused to order the words in sentence. They also misplace the words in

the sentence. They put the wrong position of adverb, verb, subject, object,

adjective, etc, for example:

* We gave the name to the baby John. (wrong)

We gave the name John to the baby. (right)

* My uncle has a garden very large (wrong)

My uncle has a very large garden (right)

* He neither speaks English nor French (wrong)

He speaks neither English nor French (right)

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2.6.5. Preposition

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 608-609) state that prepositions are words

or groups of words that indicate relationships between the object of the

preposition and some other words in the sentence. They function as indicators

of time, place, cause, manner, agency, association, or other relationships.

Usually, prepositions occur in phrases that function as adverbs or adjectives.

They add that when the object of the preposition is separated from the

preposition, the sentence may end in a preposition. This construction is one of

the worst grammatical sins in the English language. There is really no logical

reason for claiming that it is incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition.”

They also say that the objection to ending the sentences with a

preposition is that it makes the sentence sound informal and casual. Ending a

sentence with a preposition is not a grammatical but a stylistic matter, for

example:

- “Who are you going to the party with?”

- “Who are you mailing that to?”

Both sentences above are not grammatically arranged, it is better if

those sentences rewrite as follow:

- “With whom are you going to the party?”

- “To whom are you mailing that?”

Regarding explanation above, a well-placed preposition is useful for

writers in order to deliver what they want to intend in their writing.

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2.7 Mechanical Errors

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 676) state that mechanics are rules that

standardize certain things in writing. They are simply convention that standardize

things like capitalization, etc.

Memering and O’Hare (1980: 401) say as follow:

By comparison with larger matters of purpose and substance and structure,

such things as punctuation, spelling, and capitalization may seem trivial.

But all these mechanics of writing are tools the writer uses to signal the

reader. An occasional error may be excused, but writers cannot afford to

ignore the effect of mistakes on the reader. At the least, mistakes are

distracting and interrupt thought; faulty punctuation, a mistaken spelling,

even a word not capitalized may create a meaning unintended by the

writer. Careful writers take pains to ensure that the effect of their words is

not distorted by faulty mechanics.

They (1980: 401) add that mechanics can give you greater facility and

maturity of expression. Then, Digest (1975: 338) adds as follow:

“Don’t underrate good punctuation and spelling! These “little” skills are

basic tools in the writer’s constant quest for clarity and accuracy. And,

what’s more important, they can make all the difference in whether your

writing makes a fovarable or unfovarable impression on others.”

Regarding explanation above, mechanical errors is the second main point

of errors in writing which needs more attention of teachers and students who

engage the writing process. The mechanical errors are merely as harmful as the

grammatical errors. Mechanical errors in general involve the errors of spelling,

punctuation, and capitalization.

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2.7.1 Spelling Errors

Memering and O’Hare (1980: 423) say that misspelled words are

distraction to the educated reader. They add that a poor speller’s first step

should be to learn to proofread composition carefully for misspellings.

Many learners of English find the spellings difficult to remember.

However, to spell well is something that cannot be ignored. The followings

are examples for misspelled words:

Academiy for academy, _alloon for address, adverticement for

advertisement, archetect for architect, _alloon_e/asociate fot associate, autum

for autumn, _alloon/ballon for balloon, between for believe, between for

between, braught for brought, curiculum/curicullum for curriculum, devlop

2.7.2 Punctuation

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 660-661) states that punctuation is very

important in indicating the writer’s purpose. It is a series of rules that are

applied in sentences.

They add that correct punctuation is effective punctuation. The more

the writer writes, the more he / she will discover that punctuation marks can

work for him / her in directing the readers in the same way.

Digest (1975: 339) says that punctuation lends a carefulness to our

writing, gives it clarity, and conveys to the readers exactly the meaning we

intend. Punctuation is considerable importance to our writing, its clarity, and

its effectiveness.

38

Memering and O’Hare (1980: 401-421) state that one of the best tools

a writer has is punctuation. They add that with a view small signal, the writer

can tell the reader how to interpret the ideas on the page and how to

understand the relationships among them. There are dozen significant marks

in the punctuation system, they are: comma, semicolon, colon, parentheses,

dash, bracket, italics (underlining), apostrophe, quotation marks,

abbreviations, etc.

Example:

a. Period (.): Open the window, please.

b. Question mark (?): Is he a student?

c. Exclamation mark (!): Be careful!

d. Comma (,): Mary, by the way, received your mail last night.

e. Semicolon (;): The pianist was very ill, therefor, the concert was

cancelled.

f. Colon (: The following words are conjunction: and, but, or, …

g. Quotation mark (“…”): “I am going for a walk,” she said.

h. Apostrophe (‘): Can’t you run faster?

i. Parentheses ((…)): If it rain (and we hope it doesn’t), the picnic will

be cancelled.

j. Dash (---): There are four skills in English—listening, speaking,

reading, and writing.

k. Triple dots (…): The most important part of speech is the verb …

l. Hyphen (-): Forty-three plus twenty-nine equals seventy two.

39

Sometimes learners produce two patterns that exemplify over-

generalization of the “of” form; for example, “The car of my friend is new”

and “My friend car is new”. Both sentences are wrong, they should be “My

friend’s car is new”.

2.7.3 Capitalization

Memering and O’Hare (1980: 438) says that the basis rule, to which

there are very few exceptions, it to capitalize “first” words and words that are

considered proper names or titles.

The followings are some rules of using capitalization as quoted from

Cowan and Cowan (1980: 676-677):

a. Capitalize the first word of every sentence.

Example: “The University is one of the most famous universities

in the world.”

b. Capitalize proper nouns:

1) Names of persons

Example: “James Frank Harper”

2) Names of places

Example: “Washington, D.C.”

3) Events and periods

Example: “the Civil War”

4) Names of vessel

Example: “Apollo 8”

5) Monuments, museums, buildings, etc.

40

Example: “the Library of Congress”

c. Capitalize name of deities.

Example: “Krishna”

d. Capitalize titles before and after names.

Example: “Dr. John Smith, Ph.D.”

e. Capitalize the first word and all other words except prepositions,

conjunction, and articles in the titles of literary works, movies, and

works of art.

Example: “The Catcher in the Rye”

f. Capitalize name of recognize groups and organization.

Example: “National Organization for Muslims”

g. Capitalize specific course names.

Example: “Phycology 441”

h. Capitalize direction when they refer to specific geographical areas.

Example: “She’s from West Java”

2.8 The Common Problem Students Find in Writing

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CHAPTER III

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, two main data from handwriting compositions and

recorded interviews are classified. They are categorized into two main divisions of

errors; grammatical errors and mechanical errors. Grammatical errors involve

agreements, tenses, pronouns, word order/ function, and preposition. While the

mechanical errors involve spelling, punctuation and capitalization.

3.1 Grammatical Errors

The data from handwriting composition are analyzed, discussed, and

solved by giving a simple (alternative) solution. While the data from recorded

interviews give more information about how the participants (the learners) get the

troubles of writing process and about the reason why they make some mistakes

and errors in writing process.

In this chapter, some symbols are used such as P for Problem, AS for

Alternative Solution, and S for Solution, for example, P-13 means the thirteenth

problem, P-26 means the twenty-sixth problem, so on and so forth.

3.1.1 The Findings from Handwriting Compositions

a. Agreement (Subject-Verb Agreement)

P1 : Once upon a time, there was two monkeys …

S : Once upon a time, there were two monkeys …

P2 : … two monkeys that was hungry at a forest.

S : … two monkeys that were hungry at a forest.

42

P3 : When they was tired,

S : When they were tired,

P4 : … a garden that full of bananas.

S : … a garden that was full of bananas.

P5 : They was very happy.

S : They were very happy.

P6 : … as many as they could eat until they was satisfied.

S : … as many as they could eat until they were satisfied.

P7 : … that some bananas was eaten.

S : … that some bananas were eaten.

P8 : … who was stole his bananas.

S : … who stole his bananas.

P9 : because they was hungry.

S : because they were hungry.

P10 : … they was surprise that …

S : … they were surprise that …

P11 : because there was some glues …

S : because there were some glues …

P12 : His wife was passed away when she expressed her last

daughter.

S : His wife passed away when she expressed her last daughter.

P13 : His income only Rp. 10.000/ day.

S : His income was only Rp. 10.000/ day.

P14 : And not enough for buy rice.

S : It was not enough for buy rice.

P15 : He always be patient in his trouble.

S : He was always patient in his trouble.

P16 : Therefore, many people were very admire him.

S : Therefore, many people admired him.

43

P17 : There were a couple lived in a palace.

S : There was a couple lived in a palace.

P18 : One day, he advent guest.

S : One day, a guest came to his house.

P19 : He came for require food.

S : He came for requiring some foods.

P20 : because he not yet ate.

S : because he did not ate yet.

P21 : He very grateful to God.

S : He was very grateful to God.

P22 : One day, Dewi Limaran was walked in the garden.

S : One day, Dewi Limaran walked in the garden.

P23 : …and could not to use the arrow to shoot.

S : …and could not use the arrow to shoot.

P24 : Because of she was afraid to arouse the anger of the bear, …

S : Because she was afraid to arouse the anger of the bear, …

P25 : In a village, there was lived a big family.

S : In a village, there lived a big family.

P26 : All student who were graduated …

S : All students who were graduated …

P27 : There were three bus …

S : There were three buses …

The students made errors in subject-verb agreement when they

wrote and constructed the English sentences. Some examples of their

errors in making the subject-verb agreement can be seen below:

a. They did know when they should use “to be”. For example, it is

impossible to write the sentence like *his wife was passed away

44

when she expressed her last daughter, Dewi Limaran was walked

in the garden, they saw a garden that full of bananas. So, the

constructions do not need the “to be” if they have verbs, and they

must have “to be” if they are in nominal case. The sentences should

be “his wife passed away when she expressed her last daughter,

Dewi Limaran walked in the garden, they saw a garden that was

full of bananas.”

b. They also got difficulties to construct the sentences using the

correct subject-verb agreement. For example, “once upon a time,

there was two monkeys, when they was tired, as many as they could

eat until they was satisfied.” Those sentences must have the correct

number of verbs that agree with the subject. So those sentences

should be “once upon a time, there were two monkeys, when they

were tired, as many as they could eat until they were satisfied.”

c. The students forgot replacing the verb in the adjective clause

whereas it must agree with the noun or pronoun in the main clause

to which it refers, for example, “he knew that someone who was

stole his bananas was a human.” This sentence should be” he knew

that someone who stole his bananas was a human.

b. Tense

P1 : They do not eat anything for a week.

S : They did not eat everything for a week.

P2 : They walk and look for some food …

45

S : They were walking and looking for some food …

P3 : … that they can eat.

S : … that they could eat.

P4 : They see a garden …

S : They saw a garden …

P5 : Then, they go to the garden and eat bananas as many as they

can eat,

S : Then, they went to the garden and ate bananas as many as

they could eat,

P6 : … the owner of the garden come to see his bananas.

S : … the owner of the garden came to see his bananas.

P7 : He want to know who stole his bananas.

S : He wanted to know who stole his bananas.

P8 : He think about an idea how to catch the thief.

S : He thought about an idea how to catch the thief.

P9 : He find a good idea.

S : He found a good idea.

P10 : He was sure that the thief is not a human.

S : He was sure that the thief was not a human.

P11 : He make a statue from wood which is like a human.

S : He made a statue from wood which was like a human.

P12 : One day, the two monkeys come again.

S : One day, the two monkeys came again.

P13 : After they arrive in the garden,

S : After they arrived in the garden,

P14 : … and they cannot wait again.

S : … and they could not wait again.

P15 : So, they come to the statue, which they think that it is a

human, and they attack it.

S : So, they came to the statue, which they thought that it was a

46

human, and they attacked it.

P16 : Three years ago, I have a friend.

S : Three years ago, I had a friend.

P17 : I am in the same class with her.

S : I was in the same class with her.

P18 : The year is the first time I know her.

S : The year is the first time I knew her.

P19 : because she and I study in the same class.

S : because she and I studied in the same class.

P20 : I often ask to her about some subjects.

S : I often asked to her about some subjects.

P21 : which I do not understand from my teacher.

S : which I did not understand from my teacher.

P22 : She always help me to understand it.

S : She always helped me to understand it.

P23 : My feeling become great…

S : My feeling became great…

P24 : I am afraid and shy to tell her that I love her.

S : I was afraid and shy to tell her that I love her.

P25 : I think a way to tell her…

S : I thought a way to tell her…

P26 : I give the gift to her and I tell that I love her.

S : I gave the gift to her and I told that I love her.

P27 : Then she reply that she love me too.

S : Then she replied that she love me too.

P28 : The name of the second son is Husain.

S : The name of the second son was Husain.

P29 : His wife passed away when she express her last daughter.

S : His wife passed away when she expressed her last daughter.

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P30 : Abdullah and his son can not ate.

S : Abdullah and his son could not ate.

P31 : There was a couple live in a palace.

S : There was a couple lived in a palace.

P32 : She don’t know that the snail was old.

S : She did not know that the snail was old.

P33 : She can change herself to be something.

S : She could change herself to be something.

P34 : She take it and brought it to home.

S : She took it and brought it to home.

P35 : Then she can’t believe what she saw.

S : Then she could not believe what she saw.

P36 : He want to break the witch’s spell.

S : He wanted to break the witch’s spell.

P37 : They quickly carry the holy gamelan to the old woman’s

house.

S : They quickly carried out the holy gamelan to the old

woman’s house.

P38 : She shoot and killed so many ….

S : She shot and killed so many ….

P39 : However, the bear did not made the rabbit to get any…

S : However, the bear did not make the rabbit to get any…

P40 : I and my family go to Pangandaran beach.

S : I and my family went to Pangandaran beach.

P41 : There we take a rest at a house,

S : There we took a rest at a house,

P42 : A cap seller pass through a forest.

S : A cap seller passed through a forest.

48

The students made errors in tenses when they wrote and

constructed the English sentences especially in simple past tense. Some

examples of their errors of tenses in making sentences the can be seen

below:

a. The students made wrong tenses especially in determining the time

on which the event occurred, for example, “The year is the first

time I knew her.” To correct and modify this sentence we should

replace is with the suitable “to be” of past tense. So, the sentence

may become “The year was the first time I knew her.”

b. The students made errors in determining the past continuous tense,

for example, “When they walked and looked for some food, there

found a garden that was full of bananas.” To correct this sentence,

we should modify the tense into past continuous tense. So the

sentence may become “When they were walking and looking for

some food, there found a garden that was full of bananas.”

c. The students were not careful to maintain consistency in the use of

tense. Therefore, they made errors in meaning by shifting tense or

made a wrong sequences of tenses, for example, “I gave the gift to

her and I tell that I love her.” To correct this sentence, we should

be consistent to use the same sequences of tense. So, this sentence

may become for example, ““I gave the gift to her and I told that I

love her.”

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c. Word Order/Function and Sentence Construction

P1 : They could not do anything and they also was very hungry.

AS : They was very hungry but they could not do anything.

P2 : because I and she studied in the same class.

AS : because she and I studied in the same class.

P3 : They were prince Raden Putra and Dewi Limaran.

S : They were Prince Raden Putra and Princess Dewi Limaran.

P4 : Father’s Prince Raden Putra was king of the palace.

S : Prince Raden Putra’s father was the king of the palace.

P5 : They could not do anything and they also were very hungry.

AS : They were very hungry but they could not do anything.

P6 : He gave that cloth to Abdullah while gone.

AS : He gave that cloth to Abdullah when he would go.

P7 : When I had age threeten,

AS : When I was threeten,

P8 : This was a gift from my father to my birthday threeten.

AS : This was a gift from my father to my birthday.

P9 : I saw many views is beautiful in left and right of me.

AS : I saw some beautiful views in left and right of me.

P10 : We went back to our home with feel happy all of us.

S : We went home with happiness.

They made some errors in making simple sentence correctly. Some

examples of their errors of tenses in making sentences the can be seen

below:

a. They had a problem with simple sentence, for example, “and it not

enough for buy rice.” This sentence does not consist of the fully

simple sentence pattern. This sentence should be “and it was not

enough for buying some rice.”

50

b. They were not able to make a compound sentence correctly, for

example, “There was an old man, his name is Abdullah”. This

sentence is not perfect compound sentence because a compound

sentence must have a coordinating conjunction, such as and, but,

etc. if we do not use them, we must run on new sentences. So this

sentence should be “There was an old man. His name is Abdullah”

or “There was an old man, and his name is Abdullah”

c. Some of them were not able to make a complex sentence correctly,

for example, “then he gave that cloth to Abdullah while gone,” this

sentence should be “then he gave that cloth to Abdullah when he

would go / was going to go”.

d. Preposition

P1 : I often asked to her about some subjects,

S : I often asked her about some subjects,

P2 : I told that I love to her.

S : I told that I love her.

P3 : I want know more about her.

S : I want to know more about her.

P4 : In there I and my friends looked for machine shop.

S : There, I and my friends looked for machine shop.

P5 : The beggar lose the bowels in his cloth.

S : The beggar lose the bowels on his cloth.

P6 : They asked to her to stay on the palace.

S : They asked her to stay in the palace.

P7 : … aslo had food in her table.

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S : … aslo had food on her table.

P8 : ... she saw the golden snail on her net.

S : ... she saw the golden snail in her net.

Some of the students used the wrong prepositions and were

confused to determine the correct determine in a sentence, for example:

a. I often asked to her about some subjects.

This sentence should be “I often asked her about some subjects.”

b. I told that I love to her.

This sentence should be “I told that I love her.”

c. I want know more about her.

This sentence should be “I want to know more about her.”

d. … as the school subject since junior high school till high education.

This sentence should be “….as the school subject from junior high

school till high education.”

e. The distance between my house with Ciater was about 15 km.

This sentence should be “The distance between my house and

Ciater was about 15 km.

3.1.2 The Findings from Recorded Interviews

Some of the students, which were interviewed, told about their errors of

grammatical rules in writing as follow:

52

a. The first respondent

When I interviewed the first respondent, she got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. She still did not understand well about the use of tenses actually for

simple tense and past tense. (lack of understanding)

2. She also often was not sure when determining the appropriate

number of subject with its verb in a sentence. (lack of confidence)

3. She always got difficulty in making a complex sentence.

Sometimes she could make it, but she was often confused with the

structure or composition of the sentence. (lack of knowledge)

4. She also got some difficulties in determining the singular and plural

form from nouns. Then she was also still confused with

uncountable and countable noun forms when she was writing a

composition. (lack of knowledge)

5. It was still confusing her to determine the singular or plural form

from a verb which had to agree with its subject. (lack of

knowledge)

6. She was not sure to use the appropriate preposition actually for

word in and at. She said that she still did not know well about the

function from that prepositions in writing an English composition.

(lack of knowledge)

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b. The second respondent

When I interviewed the second respondent, he got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. He still made some errors in determining the appropriate verb with

its subject. He doubted whether he should use the singular or plural

form from the verb because he still did not understand yet about

that. (lack of confidence)

2. He often made errors in using morpheme –s for some nouns

because he was still confused in applying the morpheme. It

confused him because there are some nouns which mean plural but

the forms are like singular. (lack of knowledge)

3. He was still confused with tenses because there are too much

structures in the tense for him. (lack of knowledge)

c. The third respondent

When I interviewed the se respondent, he got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. He got difficulty in wiring English vocabulary because he did not

know about the words, except if he used a dictionary he could write

them. (lack of knowledge)

2. He still did not understand in determining subject and verb, and in

arranging the correct word formation in a sentence. (lack of

understanding)

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3. He always made some errors in determining the subject-verb

agreement. He was able to make a concord (agreement) between

the certain subjects; for example, the third singular pronoun and the

verb of the sentence. (lack of understanding)

4. He always made errors in writing a sentence without a correct tense

because he did not know yet and did not understand well about

tenses. (lack of knowledge)

5. He was also still confused in applying the correct pronoun because

he did not have a good understanding about it. (lack of knowledge)

6. He could make an agreement for certain subjects and the verbs

(be), but he still got confused with other agreement between them.

(lack of knowledge)

7. It was difficult for him to determining the correct preposition in a

sentence because he was still confused about it. (lack of

understanding)

d. The fourth respondent

When I interviewed the fourth respondent, she got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. She always made errors in tenses because she got the difficulty in

determining the base and participle form from a verb. Sometimes

when she was writing a text, she often forgot the tenses at all. She

doubted whether she should use the simple present or simple past

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tense because she didn’t understand those tenses. (lack of

confidence)

2. She was confused in using and determining the preposition,

whether it is as a subject or an object, because she still did not

understand well about it, so it often made her confused. (lack of

knowledge)

3. She had a little knowledge about agreement between a subject and

a verb. So she always got the difficulty when making a correct

agreement in a sentence. (lack of understanding)

e. The fifth respondent

When I interviewed the fifth respondent, he got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. He was always confused in using the correct preposition because he

still did not understand yet about the use of preposition. (lack of

knowledge)

2. He also still made errors in tenses because he had a little

knowledge about it and he was still confused with the form of base

and participle from a verb. (lack of knowledge)

3. He did not understand the sentence well so it made her confused in

determining the correct preposition. (lack in knowledge)

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f. The sixth respondent

When I interviewed the sixth respondent, she got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. She was confused in arranging the correct arrangement of a

sentence; such as which word that should be in the beginning or in

the end. (lack of knowledge)

2. She was not sure in making a singular and plural form, so she often

looked up a dictionary to help them in determining the form. (lack

of confidence)

3. She also was not sure in determining the correct preposition in a

sentence because she had a little understanding on it. (lack of

understanding)

4. She was confused with tenses and was not able to make a sentence

with its correct tense because she did not know about the tenses.

(lack of knowledge)

g. The seventh respondent

When I interviewed the seventh respondent, she got the following

problems of grammatical rules:

1. It was difficult for her to determine the plural or singular forms;

uncountable and countable noun, because those matters made her

confused. (lack of understanding)

2. She was also confused to differentiate between prepositions at, in,

and on. (lack of knowledge)

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3.2 Mechanical Errors

Mechanical errors in general involve the errors of spelling, punctuation,

and capitalization.

3.2.1 The Findings from Handwriting Compositions

b. Spelling

No. Mistakes Correction

1. Schock Shock

2. Birtday Birthday

3. There pore Therefore

4. Restorant Restaurant

5. Becouse Because

6. Threeteen Thirteen

7. Imfortant Important

8. Elementari Elementary

9. Goverment Government

10. Conpersation Conversation

11. Supprised Surprised

12. Trought Through

13. Spreed Spread

14. Neightbor Neighbor

15. Caracter Character

16. Undrestant Understand

17. Comunication Communication

18. Motorcicle Motorcycle

19. Distanse Distance

20. Miracel Miracle

21. Cildren Children

Table 3.1 (Table of Spelling Errors)

Some of the students misspelled many words which caused to their

writing difficult to read. When I asked why they made errors in

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spelling, they replied that they were careless to write the words and

never edited their writing. They seldom looked up the dictionary if they

had difficult words. The problem also came if they found the new words

which made them difficult to spell or to write. Their mother tongue also

interfered with the English spelling. They sometimes forgot to write one

letter, whereas the letter should be slipped on. They were also difficult

to differentiate the letter /f/ and /p/, /i/ and /y/.

c. Punctuation

P1 : Therefore they went back to their place.

AS : Therefore, they went back to their place.

P2 : So he decided to prepare a snare …

AS : So, he decided to prepare a snare …

P3 : Then he gave it a clothes …

AS : Then, he gave it a clothes …

P4 : Then he placed it in front of the garden.

AS : Then, he placed it in front of the garden.

P5 : I am in the same class with her class 2B.

AS : I am in the same class with her; class 2B.

P6 : Step by step I know her well.

AS : Step by step, I know her well.

P7 : Sometimes we go home together after school.

AS : Sometimes, we go home together after school.

P8 : There was an old man, his name is Abdullah.

AS : There was an old man. His name is Abdullah.

P9 : The name of the second son is Husain His wife was passed

away.

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AS : The name of the second son is Husain. His wife was passed

away.

P10 : After several days praying and mediating. Finally the God

granted his wish.

AS : After several days praying and mediating, finally the God

granted his wish.

P11 : A rabbit was a good shooter. But in contras, the bear was

clumsy.

AS : A rabbit was a good shooter, but in contras, the bear was

clumsy.

P12 : …and could not use the arrow to shoot (without a period)

AS : …and could not use the arrow to shoot.

P13 : There were lots of meats left after (without a period)

AS : There were lots of meats left after.

P14 : Fortunately the youngest children of the bear …

AS : Fortunately, the youngest children of the bear …

P15 : The poor rabbit went home hungirily (without a period)

AS : The poor rabbit went home hungirily.

P16 : (in a title) My Wordl My Heaven My Hero My Everyhing

AS : (in a title) My Wordl, My Heaven, My Hero, and My

Everyhing

The students used erroneous of the punctuation frequently. They

usually used the misused punctuation marks on their writing. The

misused punctuation, which more appeared in their writing, were full

stop, comma and semi colon. They sometimes forgot to end sentence

with full stop, in the contrary, they put the comma in the end of

sentence. Indonesian language also influenced their decision to cut the

60

English words based on the Indonesian syllable rules. The followings

are some example:

- Therefore, they went back to their place.

The sentence should be “Therefore, they went back to their place.”

- My Wordl My Heaven My Hero My Everyhing (in a title)

The sentence should be “My Wordl, My Heaven, My Hero, and My

Everyhing.”

- I am in the same class with her class 2B.

The sentence should be “I am in the same class with her class 2B.”

- There was an old man, his name is Abdullah.

The sentence should be “There was an old man. His name is

Abdullah.”

d. Capitalization

P1 : he had two sons and a daughter.

S : He had two sons and a daughter.

P2 : finally the god granted his wish.

A : finally the God granted his wish.

P3 : Once upon a time, There lived a rabbit and a bear.

S : Once upon a time, there lived a rabbit and a bear.

P4 : a rabbit was a good shooter.

S : A rabbit was a good shooter.

P5 : … was Very kind to the rabbit.

S : … was very kind to the rabbit.

P6 : His mother always gave him an extra large of Piece of meat.

S : His mother always gave him an extra large of piece meat.

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P7 : … and Pretent to Play ball …

S : … and pretent to play ball …

P8 : He kicked the ball of the meat into the rabbit House.

S : He kicked the ball of the meat into the rabbit house.

P9 : (in a title) The Monkey And The Cap Seller

S : (in a title) The Monkey and the Cap Seller

Some student did not care of the capital letters in their writing

activities. They often ignored the capital letters as follow:

- They made errors in the first word of sentences.

- They made errors in capitalization case in a title. The words also

did not include the preposition and coordinating conjunction.

- They made errors in the first word of people’s names.

- They made error in the first word of name of places / specific

location.

3.2.2 The Findings from Recorded Interviews

Some of the students, which were interviewed, told about their errors of

mechanical rules in writing as follow:

a. The first respondent

When I interviewed the first respondent, she got the problem of

mechanical rules. She got the difficulty in writing an English word

correctly if only she did not use the dictionary. (lack of understanding)

62

b. The second respondent

When I interviewed the second respondent, he got the following

problems of mechanical rules.

1. He got some difficulties in determining the correct spelling words

especially for some long words because he did not know well about

those words in his mind. (lack of understanding)

2. He did some errors when using capitalization for some nouns, but

he could use the correct capitalization for people names. (lack of

understanding)

c. The third respondent

When I interviewed the third respondent, he got the following

problems of mechanical rules. He got the difficulty in writing a correct

spelling word without a dictionary. (lack of understanding)

d. The fourth respondent

When I interviewed the fourth respondent, she got the problem of

mechanical rules. She felt that capitalization was not too difficult for

her because it is quite the same with Indonesian writing rules. (lack of

understanding)

e. The fifth respondent

When I interviewed the fifth respondent, he got the problem of

mechanical rules. She often did not write a word correctly, sometimes

63

she left one or two letter missed from the word, or she made a

misplaced word. (lack of carefulnees)

f. The sixth respondent

When I interviewed the sixth respondent, she got the problem of

mechanical rules. She always made errors in spelling rules because

sometimes she was in a hurry to write a composition and because the

rules of pronunciation and it writing are different. (lack of

understanding)

g. The seventh respondent

When I interviewed the seventh respondent, she got the following

problems of mechanical rules.

1. She was not sure of understanding the punctuation. She doubted

whether she must use a full stop and comma. (lack of confidence)

2. She was not able to write the words based on the spelling rules

easily because she was sometimes in hurry to write something and

never consulted the dictionary. (lack of time)

3.3 The Casual Factors of Composition Errors

They talked more about the casual factors why they made errors during the

writing process. The following statements are the results of the interview which

was conducted in the classroom.

1. They lacked of understanding the grammatical rules of English.

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2. They were confused to determine the singular and plural forms.

3. They did not understand to use the suitable prepositions.

4. They sometimes forgot to use the morpheme –s or -es for plural forms of

nouns.

5. They were in doubt about tense, so they only predicated the tense usage.

6. They felt confused to use the tenses because their teachers denied using

the tenses in daily conversation or composition.

7. They were in doubt about tenses because they never found them in

Indonesian.

8. They were difficult to study tenses because the patterns of tenses are very

complex.

9. They were confused to replace the noun with its pronoun.

10. They lacked of vocabulary mastery, so they had a problem to develop

sentences.

11. They felt confused to use the correct agreement between a subject and a

verb because they lacked of knowledge about it.

12. They were in doubt about placing the correct preposition in a sentence.

13. They were confused to make a good order of words in a sentence.

14. They were in doubt about punctuation marks and their usage because

they did not have the basic knowledge on the punctuation rules.

15. They seldom practiced writing. As they wrote the composition, they

never care of the correct punctuation.

65

16. They were in a hurry to write and finally they made some errors in

spelling.

17. Some of them did not have dictionaries with the spelling rules. So they

never lookup up the dictionary to make sure the correct spelling.

18. They were difficult to master the spelling rules because they were

accustomed to keep Indonesian spelling rules.

19. They were in doubt and sometimes forgot to use the capitalization for

some words which should be capitalized.

20. Their mother tongue influences their English.

21. When they wrote English composition, they never revised or edited their

works.

3.3 Summary of Findings

From the findings above, it can be summarized that the grammatical errors

have dominated the problems of writing, and the mechanical errors are not much

more than the grammatical errors. The results of findings are tabulated as follow:

3.3.1 Grammatical errors from 15 compositions

No. Category Item of Error

(Problem)

1. Subject-Verb Agreement 27

2. Tense 42

3. Word Order 10

4. Preposition 8

Ʃ 88

Table 3.2 (The Number of Grammatical Errors)

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Thus, from that table we can conclude that the most commonly kind of

error in grammatical rules that appeared in students’ writing composition was

the error in tense which tends to 42 problems.

3.3.2 Mechanical errors from 15 compositions

No. Category Item of Error

(Problem)

1. Spelling 21

2. Punctuation 16

3. Capitalization 9

Ʃ 46

Table 3.3 (The Number of Mechanical Errors)

The most commonly kind of errors in mechanical rules that appeared in

students’ writing composition was the error in spelling which tends to 21

problems. Thus, we can conclude that there are 88 problems of grammars and

46 problems of mechanics. Therefore, it can be said that the mechanical

errors is a half of grammatical errors.

3.3.3 The casual factors of errors

No. Casual Factor Respondent Number Total

1. Lack of knowledge

R#1, R#1, R#1, R#1, R#8, R#3,

R#3, R#3, R#3, R#3, R#4, R#5,

R#5, R#5, R#6, R#6, R#7

17

2. Lack of understanding R#1, R#2, R#3, R#3, R#3, RN 3,

R#4, R#6, R#7 9

3. Lack of confidence R#1, R#4, R#6 3

4. Lack of time R#1, 1

Ʃ 30

Table 3.4 (The Number of Casual Factors)

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Thus, from above table we can conclude that the casual factor which

often appears is that because the students lacked of knowledge about English

grammar and mechanics rules in writing composition.

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

After the writer conducted the research and found some various findings, in this

chapter the writer will draw the conclusion and give suggestion for further

research.

4.1 Conclusion

Based on the result of research on An Analysis of Grammatical and

Mechanical Errors in Writing Narrative Text Made by Grade Eleven Students of

SMA PGRI Tanjungsiang Subang can be concluded as follow:

1. The kinds of grammatical errors that appear in students’ writing

composition on narrative text are the error in subject-verb agreement,

tense, word order, and preposition. The most common mistakes that

students made of grammatical rules in their writing is the error in tense.

2. The kinds of mechanical errors in students’ writing composition on

narrative text that appear are the error in spelling, punctuation, and

capitalization. The most common mistakes that the students made is the

error in spelling.

3. The casual factors of errors in grammatical and mechanical rules from

students’ perceptions are (1) lack of knowledge, (2) lack of

understanding, (3) lack of confidence, and (4) lack of time. The most

69

commonly kind of casual factors in errors is lack of knowledge, which

tends to 17 students’ perceptions.

4.2 Suggestion

Based on the conclusion above, the researcher would like to propose some

suggestion in order to avoid the errors that students make in their writing below:

a. The English teachers should guide their students to write a composition

which is grammatically correct, especially for mastering tenses that is

the most commonly kind of grammatical errors that occur in their

writing. They have to give the students some tasks in mastering

grammar in English writing. Then, the teachers should give some

suggestions for them to write well by revising their writing.

b. The English teachers should guide their students to write a composition

which is mechanically correct, especially for spelling case, which is the

mostly error that appears in their writing. They have to give the students

some tasks in mastering mechanics in English writing, then the teachers

have to revise their compositions in order to give some suggestion for

their writing.

c. In the case of casual factors, the English teachers should give more

explanations to the students, especially in the case of tenses and

spelling, in order to get them have more knowledge related to grammars

and mechanics.