AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED BY THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL CINERE A “Skripsi” Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of S. Pd. in English Language Education By RIZKI AWALIAH NIM. 104014000308 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION THE FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY J A K A R T A 2009
71
Embed
An ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING ...repository.uinjkt.ac.id/dspace/bitstream/123456789/7525/1...AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING REGULAR
AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED BY THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS
OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL CINERE
A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement
for the degree of S. Pd. in English Language Education
By
RIZKI AWALIAH
NIM. 104014000308
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
THE FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
J A K A R T A
2009
AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING REGULAR
AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED BY THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS
OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL CINERE
A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement
for the degree of S. Pd. in English Language Education
By
RIZKI AWALIAH
NIM. 104014000308
Approved By
Advisor
Drs. Nasifuddin Djalil M.Ag
NIP.150 244 628
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
THE FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
J A K A R T A
1430 A.H / 2009 A.D
ENDORSEMENT SHEET The examination committee of Faculty of Tarbiyah and teachers’ Training
certifies that the “Skirpsi” (Scientific Paper) entitle “An Analysis of the
Difficulties of Learning Regular and Irregular VerbFaced by the Second Grade
Students of SMPI HidayatulAthfal Cinere”written by Rizki Awaliah, Student’s
Registration Number: 1040140000308, was examined on November 4th
, 2009, and
was declared to have passed and, therefore, fulfilled one of the requirements for
the academic title of ‘S.Pd.’ in English Language Education at the Department of
English Education
Jakarta, November 10th
, 2009
THE EXAMINATION COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN : Drs. Syauki, M. Pd (………….…………)
NIP.1964121 199103 1 002
SECRETARY : Neneng Sunengsih, S. Pd (…………………….)
NIP. 150 293 236
EXAMINERS : 1. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd (……………………)
NIP. 1964121 199103 1 002
2. Prof. Dr. Hadjid Harnawidagda (……………………) NIP. 150 011 332
Acknowledgement by
Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training
Prof. Dr. Dede Rosyada, MA
NIP. 19571005198703 1 003
SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI
Saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini,
Nama :Rizki Awaliah
Tempat/Tanggal Lahir : Jakarta, 19 Februari 1986
NIM : 104014000308
Jurusan/Prodi : Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
Judul Skripsi : An ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF
LEARNING REGULAR AND IRREGULAR
VERB FACED BY THE SECOND GRADE
STUDENTS OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL
CINERE
Dosen Pembimbing :Drs. Nasiffudin Djalil, M. Ag
Dengan ini menyatakan bahwa skripsi yang saya buat benar-benar hasil karya
sendiri dan saya bertanggung jawab secara akademis atas apa yang saya tulis.
Pernyataan ini dibuat sebagai salah satu syarat menempuh Ujian Munaqosah.
Jakarta, 26 Oktober 2010
Mahasiswa Ybs.
Rizki Awaliah NIM. 104014000308
ABSTRACT
Awaliah, Rizki, 2009, An Analysis on the Difficulties of Learning Regular and
Irregular Verb Faced by the Second Grade Students of SMPI
Hidayatul Athfal Cinere, Skripsi, Department of English Education,
The Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training, Syarif Hidayatullah
State Islamic University, Jakarta
Advisor: Drs. Nasifuddin Djalil, M. Ag.
Key Word: Difficulties.
Regular and Irregular Verb
The main point which is discussed in this skripsi is about analysis on the
difficulties of learning regular and irregular verb faced by the second grade
students. As we know that one of the foreign languages, which is taught in the
schools of our country is English language. To have good English, the students
have to master the four basic language skills; they are listening, speaking, reading
and writing. Besides the four skills, they are sub skills; grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. But in fact, the students are still lack of knowledge in mastering
the grammar, because there are some students who say that in learning English grammar is more difficult than the others. Therefore, in this skripsi the writer will
study about difficulties faced by the students in learning grammar, which is learning regular and irregular verb. The writer only takes past tense and past
participle of regular verb and past tense and past participle of irregular verb. The method used in this research is descriptive with quantitative
analysis. The writer describes the data of the test and then they are analyzed by
using the formula p = f x 100 %
N
After that the writer asks the students about their reason or difficulty in
doing test by doing interview. By analyzing the error, the writer finally knows which part of lesson that has not yet been understood by the students. The
population of the research is the second grade students of SMPI Hidayatul Athfal
Cinere with 16 students and the writer takes 12 students to be the samples.
The result of this research is the second grade students of SMPI
Hidayatul Athfal Cinere are still get difficulty in determining past tense of
irregular verb and past participle of irregular verb.
ABSTRAK
Awaliah, Rizki, 2009, Analisis Kesulitan Belajar Regular dan Irregular Verbyang
Dihadapi oleh Siswa kelas Dua SMPI Hidayatul Athfal Cinere,
Skripsi, Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Ilmu
Pendidikan, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta.
Dosen Pembimbing: Drs. Nasifuddin Djalil, M. Ag.
Kata Kunci: Kesulitan.
Regular and Irregular Verb
Topik utama yang dibahas dalam skripsi ini adalah tentang Analisis
Kesulitan Belajar Regular dan Irregular Verb yang Dihadapi oleh Siswa. Seperti
yang kita ketahui bahwa salah satu bahasa asing yang diajarkan di sekolah sekolah
di negara kita adalah bahasa Inggris. Agar memiliki bahasa Inggris yang baik,
para siswa harus menguasai empat keterampilan dasar berbahasa
yaitu:mendengarkan, berbicara, membaca dan menulis. Disamping itu ada yang
disebut dengan sub skill yaitu: tata bahasa, kosakata dan pengucapan. Tetapi pada kenyataannya para siswa masih mempunyai pengetahuan yang kurang tentang tata
bahasa, karena ada beberapa siswa yang berpendapat bahwa dalam belajar bahasa Inggris materi tentang tata bahasa itu lebih sulit jika dibandingkan dengan materi
yang lain. Oleh karena itu dalam skripsi ini penulis akan mempelajari tentang kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh siswa dalam mempelajari tata bahasa yaitu dalam
belajar Regular verb dan Irregular verb. Penulis hanya mengambil past tense dan past participle dari Regular verb serta past tense dan past participle dari Irregular
verb.
Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif
dengan analisa quantitative. Penulis mendeskripsikan data dari tes kemudian data
tersebut di analisa menggunakan rumus p = f x 100 %
N
Setelah itu penulis bertanya kepada siswa siswa tentang alasan atau
kesulitan dalam mengerjakan tes dengan melakukan wawancarra.. Dengan
menganalisa kesalahan, penulis akhirnya mengetahui bagian mana dari pelajaran
tersebut yang belum dimengerti oleh siswa. Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah
seluruh siswa kelas dua SMPI Hidayatul Athfal Cinere sebanyak 16 siswa dan
penulis hanya mengambil 12 siswa sebagai sampel.
Hasil dari penelitian nini adalah siswa–siswi kelas dua SMPI Hidayatul
Athfal Cinere masih mendapatkan kesulitan dalam menentukan past tense dari
irregular verb dan past participle dari irregular verb.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
��� ا ا���� ا�����
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the world, for His Mercies and
Blesses, and He Has given the writer chance, ability, easiness, in finishing this
‘skripsi’, entitled: AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFIICULTIES OF LEARNING
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED BY THE SECOND GRADE
SRUDENT OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL CINERE. Mercy and peace of
Allah be upon the prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him, His family and
followers.
This’skripsi’ is presented to the Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers Training
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Strata 1 (S1) at English
Education Department.
In this opportunity, the writer would like to express her greatest gratitude
to her beloved mother Hj. Nurhayati who has given her best loving, guiding,
supporting the writer’s studying, and her praying in every time both day and night
for the writer’s success. And also her greatest inspiration her beloved father H.
Marhali (Alm.) who has given her a lot of sacrificing, kindness, biggest love and
unforgettable sweet moments.
The writer would like to express her gratitude to Drs.Nasifuddin Djalil,
M. Ag., her advisor , for time, correction advice and his valuable help in the
process of writing this skripsi.
The writer realizes that she would not complete writing this ‘skripsi’
without the help of people around her. Therefore, she would like to give her
gratitude ansd appreciation to:
1. All lecturers in English Department who always give their precious
knowledge.
2. Drs. Syauki, M. Pd., The Head of English Department
3. Neneng Sunengsih, S.Pd, The Secretary of English Department
4. Prof. DR. Dede Rosyada, M.A., as the dean off Tarbiyah and Teachers
Training Faculty.
5. Abdul Halim, S. Pd. I, The head of SMPI Hidayatul Athfal Cinere, all
the teachers and second grade students of SMPI Hidayatul Athfal
Cinere who had sincerely spent their time and valuable help in
collecting the data that the writer needed.
6. The Writer’s Sister and brothers: Sulaiman, Siti Muhibah and Lukman
Hakim and her nephew and nieces for giving spirit and pray.
7. All friends in English Department especially in class A-2004 and her
close friends: Ade Laili Akhiliyyah, Mutiara Fani, Lailatussaidah, Liza
Fauziah and Hangi Latifah for the great friendship
8. All friends who had prayed and motivated for her, Arifah Hilyati, Alfi
Syahrin , Siti Suharsih, Aisyah Henry, Nurafniati Khairunnisa , and
Yeni Handayani..
9. All friends in her ‘Spiritual Voyage’ especially Hj. Romlah Hasan and
Hj. Dra. Imas Masiti for the praying, all the valuable lessons, friendship
and brotherhood.
Words are not enough to say much appreciation for all their help and
contribution in finishing this ‘skripsi’. May Allah guide and give them the
happiness throughout their life, may Allah the Almighty bless them, Amin.
Jakarta, October 2009
The Writer
TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………………….
i
TABLE OF CONTENT…………………………………………………………..
iii
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………...
v
LIST OF FIGURE…………………………………………………………………
vi
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the
Study…………………………………………….. ……
1
B. Limitation of the Study…………………………………
3
C. Formulation of the Problem…………………………….
3
D. Significance of the Study……………………………….
4
CHAPTER II : THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Grammar…………………………………………………
5
1. The Definition of Grammar…………………………...
5
2. The Scope of Grammar………………………………..
7
3. The Purpose and the Role of Grammar………………..
8
B. Verb………………………………………………………
13
1. The Meaning of Verb………………………………….
13
2. The Kinds of Verb…………………………………….
13
3. The Form of Verb…………………………………….
14
4. The Use of the Verb…………………………………..
20
C. The Difficulties in Learning Regular and Irregular
Verb………………………………………………………
23
CHAPTER III :RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Purpose of the Study……………………………………..
26
B. Place and Time of the Study……………………………..
26
C. Design of the Study………………………………………
26
D. Population and Sample…………………………………...
27
E. Technique of Collecting Data……………………………
27
F. Technique of Analysis Data……………………………...
27
CHAPTER IV : RESEARCH FINDING
A. Data Description………………………………………….
30
B. Data Analysis…………………………………………….
31
C. Interpretation Of Data
Analisis……………………………42
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion………………………………………………
44
B. Suggsetion……………………………………………….
45
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………
.46
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………A1-
A10
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Aspect of the Teaching / Learning of Structure
………………………….9
Table 3.1 Number of Items of Regular and Irregular
Verb………………………...28
Table 4.1 Regular and Irregular Verb and each
item………………………….……30
Table 4.2 Students’ Score of Test
Result…………………………………………..31
Table 4.3 Students’ Response Distribution on Each Item of
Test…………………32
Table 4.4 Frequency of Error in Past Tense of Regular Verb……………………..
34
Table 4.5 Frequency of Error in Past Participle of
Regular
Verb…………………………………………………………….36
Table 4.6 Frequency of Error in Past Tense of Irregular
Verb……………………………………………………………………
…38
Table 4.7 Frequency of Error in Past Participle of Irregular
Verb………………………………………………………………………
40
Table 4.8 Percentage of Difficulty in Learning Regular and Irregular
Verb………………………………………………………………….......
42
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 2.1 Three Dimensional of Grammar………………………………………...
7
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents nd discusses the background of the study,
limitation of the study, formulation of the problem, and significance of the study.
A. Background of The Study
Language is Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system
of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols.
Language is the principal means used by human beings to communicate with
one another. Language is primarily spoken, although it can be transferred to
other media, such as writing, if the spoken means of communication is
unavailable, as may be the case among the deaf, visual means.
Discussion about the importance of language, Sidney Greenbaum
stated in his book “Good English and The Grammarian” that:
Schools should teach about language for a variety reason. First, an
understanding of the nature and functioning of language is a part of general
knowledge that students should acquire about themselves and the world they
live in. Language study has a place in curriculum as justifiable as (say)
biology, geography and history. For language is both our most personal
possession (every individual’s language is unique to some extent) and at the
same time a facility that contributes most to our relationships with others (it
is the major means of human communication). Secondly, linguistics (the
study of the language in all its aspect) is a central discipline for the social
sciences and humanities, just as mathematics is important for the physical
science. Its relationship to other disciplines is evident in the hybrid
disciplines that focus on language: psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, the
sociology of language and philology. Even at elementary levels, the study of
the language provides a useful introduction to research methods and
argumentation, since language data are readily available: students can draw
on their knowledge of the language and can easily collect samples of the
language of others1.
First of all it is quite clear that as a statement of simple fact English is
an international language in that it is the most widespread medium of
1 Sidney Greenbaum, Good English and The Grammarian, (New York : Longman
Inc., 1988), p. 27
international communication, both because of the number and geographical
spread who use it for its speakers, and because of the large number of non-
native speakers who use it for part at least of their international contact2.
One of the international languages that have important role in the
world is English. In the schools of our country, English becomes one of the
important subject material taught at school, even it includes as one of material
of national examination. In Indonesia, English is considered as the first
foreign language and becomes compulsory subject learned by all students
from the elementary school or even in the kindergarten up to the university
level.
English is different from Indonesian language. Every language has its
own characteristic, rules and skill.
In learning English, there are four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading
and Writing) that should be mastered by the students. Besides the four skills.,
there are language sub-skill or language component( Grammar, vocabulary
and pronunciation), they are also should be mastered by them.
Grammar consists of form and rules, as Dianne Larsen-Stated that:”
Grammar is about form and one way to teach form is to give students rules;
however grammar is about much more than form and its teaching is ill served
if students are simply given rules”.3
However, it is not easy to master Grammar, Especially for students in
the second grade of Junior High School. Most of them say that Grammar is a
boring lesson and it makes them confused. If they want their English is good
they should master the grammar and able to differentiate the kind of grammar
such as, `tense, comparison degree, the use of modal , passive voice, etc. and it
is not easy to do, as the writer found when she taught in SMPI HIDAYATUL
ATHFAL Cinere.
2 Christopher Brumfit, English for International Communication, (London:
Pergamon Pres Ltd., 1982), p. 1 3 Diane Larsen-Freeman (Mariane Celce-Murcia, editor), Teaching Grammar in
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, (USA:Heinle&Heinle Publisher,
2001), p. 251.
One of the difficulties which is faced by the students in learning
regular and irregular verb is lack of remembering of the past tense and past
participle change of whether that is regular or irregular verb.
Based on the statement described previously, the writer would like to
discuss about: “AN ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF
LEARNING REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERB FACED BY THE
SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPI HIDAYATUL ATHFAL
CINERE”. The writer chooses this title because there are many students still
face difficulties in using Regular and Irregular Verb. By observing the
students’ difficulties in using Regular and Irregular Verb, the writer tries to
identify and to analyze them. The writer hopes it can make teaching and
learning better and can give a new idea for her how to teach Regular and
Irregular Verb well.
B. Limitation of the Study
The writer will limit the study in analysis on the difficulties faced by
student at second year of HIDAYATUL ATHFAL Islamic Junior High School
in using past tense and past participle of regular verb and past tense and past
participle of irregular verb, as material in the second semester of second grade.
C. Formulation of the Problem
Based on the statement above the writer would like to formulate the
problem as follows:
1. Which is more dominant frequency of difficulty in using irregular verb or
regular verb?
2. Why do they face difficulties in using regular and irregular verb?
D. Significance of the Study
The results of this study are expected to provide useful information for
students, English teacher. And further researcher.
For the students, the result of this study will give an input to them to
improve their knowledge. For English teacher of SMPI Hidayatul Athfal
Cinere is to inform the teacher new information about some kind of students’
difficulties in learning regular and irregular verb and to improve their quality
of teaching English. And the last these findings of this study can be used by
other researcher to deliver useful information for other researchers who are
interested in English.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter presents and discusses about the theoretical framework
which consist of : grammar, verb, and the difficulties in learning regular and
irregular verb
A. GRAMMAR
1. The Definition of Grammar
The word grammar has many meanings. The definition of grammar
will be explained as follows.
According to David Nunan in his book Second Language Teaching
and Learning, Grammar is:
a. An analysis of the structure of the language, either as encountered in
a corpus of speech or writing (a performance grammar) or as predictive of a speakers knowledge (a competence grammar)
b. An analysis of that structural property which defines human language ( a universal grammar)
c. A level of structural organization, which can be studied independently of phonology and semantic. 4
Penny Ur stated in her book “Grammar Practice Activities: a Practical
Guide for Teachers” that grammar may be roughly defined as the way a
language manipulates and combines words (or a bits of words) in order to
form longer units of meaning.5
Craig Hancock sated Grammar is the natural, inherent, meaning-
making system of the language, a system that governs the way words come
4 David Nunan, Second Language Teaching and Learning (Boston: Massachusatts,
Heinle and Heinle Publisher, 1999), p. 97 5 Penny Ur, Grammar Practice Activities: a Practical Guide for Teachers, (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 4
together to form meaning; Grammar is also the study of the system, the
various theories or perspective that attempt to understand and describe it. A
popular idea of grammar – and one that we are discarding – is that grammar is
the set of prescriptive rules that limit the language we have available.6
According to Mark S. LeTourneau, Grammar is the discipline that
studies the structure of sentences in human language.7 While Scott Thornbury
said grammar is a system of rules (or patterns) which describe the formulation
of a language’s sentence.8
In book, “Language introductory reading” there is a sub chapter
discussing about Revolution in Grammar written by W. Francis. He divided
the meaning of grammar into three. Francis writes:
The first thing we mean by “grammar” is “the set of formal patterns in which the words of a language are arranged in order to
convey larger meaning”. It is not necessary that we be able to use them. In fact all speakers of language above the age of five or six know
how to use its complex forms of organization with considerable skill; in this sense of the world –call it ”Grammar 1”-they are thoroughly
familiar with its grammar. The second meaning of “grammar” —call it “Grammar 2”—is “
the branch of linguistic science which is concerned with the
description analysis, and formulization of formal language patters.”
Just as gravity was in full operation before Newton’s apple fell, so
grammar in the first sense was in full operation before anyone
formulated the first rule that began the history of grammar as a study.
The third sense in which people use the word “grammar” is
“linguistic etiquette.” This we may call “grammar3.” The word in this
sense is often coupled with a derogatory adjective: we say that
expression “ he ain’t hetre” is “ bad grammar.” What mean is that such
an expression is bad linguistic manners in certain circles? From the
6 Craig Hancock, Meaning Centered Grammar (London :Equinox Publishing Ltd,
2005), p. 6 7 Mark S. LeTourneau, English Grammar, (Orlando: Harcourt College Publisher,
2001), p. 2 8 Scott Thornbury , Uncovering Grammar, (Great Britain: Macmillan Publishers
Limited, 2001) , p. 1
point of “Grammar 1”it is faultless; it conforms just as completely to
the structural patterns of English as does “he isn’t here.” 9
Then, according to Jeremy Harmer The Grammar of a language is the
description of the ways in which words can change their foerms and can be
combined into sentence in that language.10
Another definition come from Sidney Greenbaum, he stated Grammar
refers to the properties and processes that underlie the use of the language—
that underlie the ability of speakers to speak and understand the language.11
2. The Scope of Grammar
Talking about scope of grammar, there are three main points that are
focused in grammar. They are form, meaning and use.
Figure 2.1
Three Dimensional of Grammar
9 Virginia P. Clark, Paul A. Eschholz, and Alfred F. Rosa, Language Introductory
Reading. (USA Martin’s Press, Inc. 1972), p. 112 10
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Languge, 3rd
Edition, (England:Pearson
Education Limited, 2001), p. 12
11
Sidney Greenbaum, Good English and…. p. 23
FORM
How is it formed MEANING
What does it
mean?
USE
When/Why it is used?
Larsen described about Three-Dimension Grammar framework as
below:
Our framework takes the form of a pie chart. Its shape helps us to make salient that in dealing with the complexity of grammar, three
dimensions must concern us: structure or form, semantic or meaning and the pragmatic conditions governing use 12
Grammar has so many forms. The first is form; every form has their
own characteristics that depend on the using. According to Krashen, grammar
teaching is attention to the forms of the language acquisition. More recently,
research suggested that without some attention to form, learners run the risk of
fossilization. A focus on form does not necessarily mean return to the drill-and
repeat type methods teaching. A focus on form may simply mean correcting a
mistake13
. Usually, in grammar book, the form is divided into Tenses etc. In
this case, Irregular Verb and Regular Verb are included in miscellaneous
things in grammar.
The second is meaning. Meaning has an important place in Grammar.
It becomes a focus in teaching learning grammar. The third thing is use. How
to use grammar, when we use grammar, and where we use it become a
discussion things and also an important things. Furthermore, we will discuss
how the state of the three things above in teaching learning grammar.
3. The Purpose and the Role of the Grammar in Language
Learning
Jeremy Harmer stated that our aim in teaching grammar should be
ensure that students are communicatively efficient with the grammar they
have at their level. We may not teach them the finer points of style at the
12
Dianne Larse-Freeman, Teaching Grammar in Teaching English as a Second
Languge or Foreign Languge (Marianne Celce et al editor), (USA: Heinle-Heinle
Publisher, 2001) p. 253
13 Scoott Thornbury, How to Teach Grammar, (England: Pearson Education
Limited, 1999), p. 25
intermediate level, but we should make sure that they can use what they
know.14
In teaching anyone of structures, one should be – getting students to
learn quite a large number of different, though related, bits of knowledge and
skill: how to recognize the example of the structure when spoken, how to
identify its written form, how to produce both its spoken and written form,
how to understand its meaning in context, and produce meaningful sentences
using it themselves. All these “bits” may be presented in the form of a table,
thus:
TABLE 2.1
ASPECT OF THE TEACHING/ LEARNING OF STRUCTURES
Language
Skills
Form Meaning
Listening Perception and
recognition of the spoken
form of the structure
Comprehension of what
the spoken structure
means in context
Speaking Production of well-
formed examples in
speech
Use of the structure to
convey meanings in
speech
Reading Perception and
recognition of the written
form
Comprehension of what
the written structure
means in the context
Writing Production of well-
formed example in
writing
Use of the structure to
convey meaning in
writing
14
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 3rd
edition,
(England:Pearson Education Limited, 2001) p. 23
Some teachers, and/or the course books they use, have a tendency to
concentrate on some of these and neglect others: they may spend a lot of time
on getting the forms right and neglect to give practice in using the structure to
convey meanings: or they may focus on written exercises and fail to cover the
oral aspects satisfactorily. It is important to keep a balance, taking into
account, of course, the needs of the particular class being taught.
In the organization of grammar teaching, Penny Ur explained some
best way to teach grammar, what t kinds of teaching procedures should be
used and in what order- will have to take into account both the wide range of
knowledge and skills that need to be taught. The organization of usage
suggested here to represent only a general framework into a wide variety of
teaching technique will fit. Ur advocates a traditional four-stage approach to
the teaching of grammar items:
1. Presentation, making the structure salient through an input text in which
the item appears
2. Isolation and explanation. Ensuring that the students understand the
various aspects of the structure under investigation
3. Practice. Getting students to absorbs and master the language
4. Test. Getting learners to demonstrate mastery15
.
The function of such exercises is simply to help make the rules of form
clearer and to ensure that they are learnt more thoroughly. A learner who has
worked through a series of them may find it easier, eventually, to express him
or herself correctly, in language that will be acceptable to a native speaker.
But because they give no practice in making meanings with the structure (and
are therefore, incidentally, usually not very interesting) these exercises have
limited usefulness; so we should move on to meaning-based practice as soon
as we feel our students have a fundamental grasp of the rules of form and their
application.
15 Penny Ur, Grammar Practice Activities... p. 7
Christopher Brumfit says in his book that there is only one method for
teaching grammar. The method never varies and it is called explanation, which
of course is something has been known all along. Explanation is always the
method: it is up to the teacher to decide what kind of explanation is the most
suitable in any given circumstance. If a child says to his mother ‘you buyed
this mummy’ and mother gently corrects:’ not buyed, dear, bought’, mother is
giving an appropriate lesson in grammar. If teacher are teaching young
children English as a foreign language and one of them says ‘ I haven’t got
some milk’ and they say: I haven’t got any milk. Using any is because they are
saying not’, they are giving their pupils a grammatical explanation. when
explaining, teachers use every means at their disposal, including contrasts with
the mother-tongue if necessary; they know that a particular sr\tructure will
interfere with one in the target language. It goes without saying that
explanations may be elicited from students as well as given by teachers.16
Scoot Thornbury stated there are basic principles for grammar
teaching: they are The E-Factor and The A-Factor.
� The E-Factor: Efficiency = economy, ease and efficiency
Given that dealing with grammar is only a part of a teacher’s activities,
and given that classroom time is very limited, it would seem imperative that
whatever grammar teaching is done as efficiently as possible.efficiency, in
turn can be broken down into three factors: economy, easy and efficacy
When presenting grammar, a sound rule of thumb is: the shorter the
better. It has been shown that economy is a key factor in the trainig of
technical skills: when learning how to drive a car or operate a computer, a
little prior teaching seems to be more effective that a lot. The more instructor
piles on instructions, the more compused the trainee is likely to become. The
same would seem to apply in language teaching: be economical.
The ease factor recognises the fact that most teachers lead busy lives,
have many classes, and simply cannot afford to sacrifice valuable free time
16
Christopher Brumfit, Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching, (London:
Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1991) p.50
preparing elaborate classroom materials. Of course, the investment of time and
energy in the preparation of materials is often acomponied by a commitment
on the part of the teacher to making them work, but, realistically, painstaking
preparation is not always going to be possible. Generally speaking, the easier
an activities is to set up, the better it is.
Finally and the most important is efficacy. This factor is the least easy
to evaluate. Learning, like language, resist measurement. Of course, there are
tests, and these can provide feedback to the teacher on the efficacy of the
teaching/learning process. Nevertheless, testing is notoriously problematic.
Moreover, there is much greater skepticism nowadays as to the extent that
teaching causes learning.
Efficiency, then, can be defined as the optimal setting of three related
factors: economy, ease, and efficacy.
� The A-Factor: Appropriacy
No class of learners is the same: not only are their needs, interest, level
and goals going to vary, but their beliefs, attitudes and values will be different
too. Thus, an activity that works for one group f learners, i.e that fulfils the E-
factor criteria- is not necessarily going to work for another. It may simply not
be appropriate. Hence, any classroom activity must be evaluated not only
according to criteria of efficiency, but also of appropriacy. Factors to consider
when determining appropriacy includes:
� The age of the learners
� Their level
� The size of the group
� The constitution of the group
� What their need are
� The learners’ interest
� The available materials and resources
� The learners’ previous learning experience and hence present
expectations
� Any cultural factors that might affect attitude
� The educational context17
B. VERB
1. The Meaning of The Verb
In the site of answers.com, there is stated that:
Verb, part of speech typically used to indicate an action. English
verbs are inflected for person, number, tense and partially for mood; compound verbs formed with auxiliaries (e.g., be, can, have, do,
will) provide a distinction of voice. Some English verb like forms
have properties of two parts of speech (e.g., participles may be used
as adjectives and gerunds as nouns). Verbs are also classified as
transitive (requiring a direct object) or intransitive. In Latin verb
inflection, voice and mood are indicated in every form. Most
languages have a form class resembling that of English verbs. In
many of them, unlike English, these words may form complete
sentences, e.g., in Spanish, “I am singing” is expressed by the single
word canto. Some languages (e.g., Turkish) can convey a great deal
of information through modifications of form in the verb stem and
ending, without the aid of auxiliary forms. A single word, for
example, can indicate reciprocity, reflexivity, necessity, time,
infinitive, number, person, and voice, as well as negative, causative, imperative, and intensive meanings. 18
Another stated that a verb is a word that expresses an action or
otherwise helps to make a statement.19
And according to Knud Schibsbye verb is defined as the sentence-
forming element of a word-group.20
2. The Kinds of Verb
All verbs are described as either regular or regular., according to the
manner in which the principal parts are formed.
17 Scoott Thornbury, How to Teach Grammar…p. 25-27 18
http://www.answers.com/topic/verb 19
John E. Warriner, English Grammar and Composition, ( USA: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc, 1982), P. 122
20
Knud Schibsbye A Modern English Grammar (Great Britain: Oxford University Press,
1978), p. 18
a. Regular Verb
A regular verb is one that forms its past and past participle by adding –
d or –ed to the infinitive form.21
Approximately 98% of all English verbs are morphologically regular
(’regular as to form’). English regular verbs all have just four forms: the base
form, the -s form, the –Ed form, and the –ing form. The base form is used
throughout the present tense except in 3. sg. (the third person singular); the
base form also constitutes the imperative, appears as the second element in the
future and the conditional tenses, and makes up the second element in modal
constructions. When preceded by the preposition to, the base form constitutes
the infinitive, which is widely used in complementizing clauses22
b. Irregular Verb
An irregular verb is one that forms its past participle in some other
way than does a regular verb, usually, but not always, by a vowel change
within the verb. 23
The 300 or so English verbs that are irregular ( which constitute only
about 2% of the total number of verbs in the language but include many that
are frequently used) have either three, four, five, or even eight forms.24
3. The Forms of the Verb
a. Regular Verb Form
The forms of a regular verb (i.e., a four-form verb whose forms
manifest no vowel or consonant changes whatsoever) are now presented:
Process (the base form)
21John E. Warriner, English Grammar ... P. 124
22 Richard V. Teschner and Eston Evans, Analyzing the Grammar of English (USA:
Georgetown University Press, 2000), p. 47
22
John E. Warriner, English Grammar … P. 124
24 Richard V. Teschner and Eston Evans, Analyzing the Grammar … p. 48
— To process (the infinitive):
“I want to process these applications.”
— I /you/ we/ they process (i.e., 1. sg. {first person singular}, 2. sg., and 1.
pl../ 2.pl./3.pl. present tense forms, that is to say, all present tense forms
that are not 3.sg., for which see below)
— process (imperative = the command form):
“Process these applications right now!”
— will process (future tense):
“I will process 500,000 more applications tonight.”
— would process (conditional tense)
“I would process even more if I could.”
— might process ( a modal construction)
“ I might process all the applications for the whole country.”
Processes (the third- person singular present tense form): “ He processes
applications for the fun of it.” “ That new computer processes with
incredible speed.” (Etc)., etc. Any singular subject that is not the first
person—I —or second person — you—is automatically third person, a fact
which emphasizes the third person singular’s great importance. { the same is
true in the plural: any person not first — we —or second —you —is
automatically third{)
Processed (the past tense form and the past participle form):
PAST TENSE:
“I processed vast quantities of data yesterday.”
PAST PARTICIPLE (Which is typically used in perfect tense)
“ I have processed all of three applications today.”
Processing ( the present participle { which is typically used in progressive tenses,
for which gerund form):
“ I was processing that data when the phone rang”
“ I enjoy word processing.”25
25
Richard V. Teschner and Eston Evans, Analyzing the Grammar… p. 47
In weak verbs, the preterit is formed with the suffix -ed: work →
worked., If the base ends in e, -d is simply added to it: hone → honed; dye >
dyed. Where the base ends in a consonant plus y, the y changes to i before
the -ed is added; deny → denied. Where the base ends in a vowel plus y, the y is retained: alloy →
alloyed. The rule for doubling the final consonant in regular weak verbs for the
preterite is the same as the rule for doubling in the present participle; see above. 26
Here the pronunciation guides:
Group A
Voiceless sound: – p – k – s – ch – sh – f – x – h - pronounce ED as “T”
Example: Ask, asked = ask(T)
Ed as “T”
asked
baked
brushed
cooked
cracked
crashed
danced (da:ns) + t
dressed dropped
Group B
Voiced sound : – l – v – n – m – r – b – v – g – w – y – z – and vowel sounds (diphthongs) pronounce ED as “D”