i
Gestari, Rita. 2013. AN ANALYSIS OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS ON THE STUDENTS DESCRIPTIVE TEXT WRITING.A Case Study at First Grade of SMAN 1 Cibarusah, Bekasi. Skripsi, English Education Department Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.
Advisor: Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd.
Key words: Descriptive text, Grammatical Error Analysis, Writing, SMA Negeri 1 Cibarusah
The purpose of this skripsi is to analyze student’s grammatical error in writing a descriptive text of the first grade of SMAN 1 Cibarusah, Bekasi. In this research the writer used a qualitative method. The researcher asked the students to make descriptive writing, and it is used as the materials of this research. The collection of the descriptive texts is analyzed by the researcher in order to find out the errors of theirs English writing.
ii
Gestari, Rita. 2013. AN ANALYSIS OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS ON THE STUDENTS DESCRIPTIVE TEXT WRITING. A Case Study at First Grade of SMAN 1 Cibarusah, Bekasi. Skripsi, English Education Department Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.
Advisor: Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd.
Key words: Descriptive text, Error Analysis, Writing, SMA Negeri 1 Cibarusah
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah untuk menganalisa kesalahan gramatikal siswa dalam menulis karangan deskripsi di kelas sepuluh SMAN 1 Cibarusah, Bekasi. Di dalam penelitian ini penulis mengunakan metode qualitatif. Peneliti meminta siswa untuk menulis karangan deskripsi yang digunakan sebagai bahan penelitian. Pengumpulan karangan deskripsi ini kemudian di analisa oleh peneliti dengan maksud untuk mencari kesalahan penulisan bahasa Inggris siswa.
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First of all, the writer like to thank Almighty God Allah SWT, Who has blessed and guided the writer so that she can accomplish this skripsi as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan at the faculty of Tarbiyah, State Islamic University, Jakarta.
Her gratitude should also be addressed to his advisor, DR. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd for his patience, valuable guidance, comments, and suggestions in accomplishing her Skripsi.
The writer’s sincere gratitude also goes to:
1. Nurlena Rifa’I, MA. Ph, D. the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.
2. Drs. Syauki, M. Pd., the Chairman of English Education Department. 3. Zahril Anasy, M.Hum. the Secretary of English Education Department.
4. Darwanto, M.M the Head Master of SMAN 1 Cibarusah Bekasi who have give the writer an opportunity to do research in the school and special thanks for students grade ten of senior high school for their corporation as the respondent of this research.
5. All lectures English Department who have tough and given knowledge to the writer whose name can not be men tioned one by one.
6. My beloved parents Jumardi and Sumami, my husband Sugeng Riyadi, sisters Rina Wijayanti, and my daughter Princess Adeline Riyadi for their help and encouragement.
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Jakarta, 19 Desember 2013 The Writer
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APPROVAL
ENDORSEMENT SHEET
SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI
ABSTRACT………...……i
ABSTRAK………ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………....……….iii
TABLE OF CONTENT………....………..v
CHAPTER : I. INTRODUCTION A. The Background of Study………...…1
B. The Limitation of the Study………....3
C. The Formulation of Problem………...3
D. The Objective of Study………...4
E. The Significance of the study...………..4
F. Organization of the Study……….………..4
CHAPTER : II. THEROTICAL FRAMEWORK A. The Definition of Error……….…………..6
1. Description of Error Analysis……….7
2. Categorize of Error………8
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2. The Writing is Process...………12
3. Purposes of Writing...………13
C. Descriptive..………..………...14
1. Definition of Descriptive Text………14
2. Generic Features of Descriptive Text………..…….15
3. The Purposes of Descriptive Writing………..…….15
4. Characteristic of a Good description………..……..17
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS A. Research Methodology………..26
1. Time and Location………26
2. Method of the Research...………26
3. The Unit Analysis.………26
4. Techniques of Collecting Data………26
B. Research findings.………...…...27
1. Data Description………..…27
2. Data Analysis and Error Reconstruction………28
3. Data Discussion………...…32
4. Data Analysis………...…35
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion………..………..………….36
B. Suggestions………..………..…………36
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….………..i
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The function of language is to communicate ideas, feeling and desires. Language is a tool of communication among people. By language, we can communicate with other people not only local community but also international society. The local community communicates between people in one area or even in one nation. They used their local language or their national language. Meanwhile communication between different countries in the world people will used international language. There are some languages used for International communication today such as English language.
Nowadays, in this globalisation era English as an International language has been used by many people in the world. The English used as communication between people in Asia, Africa, America, Europe, etc. This International language is very important because English used by native and non-native to communicate. This language uses for business, education, conferences, correspondences, etc. One of the importances of English language functions because it gives solution for people in the world who have different language in their life.
From this importance and function of English some people categorise it as their second or foreign language such as Singaporean who born as Asian but used English as their second communication. Furthermore in computer technology in this modern time English is often use by people around the world. Because of this function and importance some countries in the world put the English as the subject of the lesson at school formal or informal. For example Indonesian government makes English as one of the subject at school such as in Junior and Senior High School. In learning English at school Indonesian students learn four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing.
One of important skills is writing, because with writing skill students can write a simple text use English language.
According to Penny Ur “writing is the expression of idea”1 it means that when students or human are able to write, they can express their feelings, ideas, thoughts and their opinions to others people. However to able to write English people should try to write and practice it every time.
In Senior High School level for example the students must able to make English text such as narrative, descriptive, recount texts. The definition of descriptive according to Mulyono and M. J. Ari Widayanti 2 “texts which are used to describe particular place, person and thing. Relating with this statement it can be said that descriptive text tell or describe detail information of place like Jakarta, person like Barack Obama and thing like Samsung X50. The detail information when describe about people are name, skin color, hair style, ages, nationality, address, job, etc. They must explain in detail because the goal of descriptive text is to describe something in detail so the reader will understand of their description. The outline of descriptive texts consists of two part identification of the topic and the detail description itself to tell the readers usually people, place, animal etc.
However when students make a descriptive text in writing, they often make a mistakes such as verbs, tenses, capitalization etc, because those errors in writing is part of the process and practices to be a good writer. Inside a process of study, when student making an error, it is used as indicator of step to understand the English
1
Penny Ur, A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press, 1986), p163
2
Mulyono and M. J. Ari Wdayanti, Engilsh Alive for Senior High School, Yudhistira ( Yudhistira Jakarta Timur) ,
language. An error also gives teacher information of students’ weakness in studying English.
Errors and mistake are natural parts in teaching learning process. These errors occurred in many aspect of language skill such as in writing. Writing is not easy because writing is a complex process not only presents the idea of thought and feeling but also need to master grammatical rules like tense. Because of this errors teacher is trying to help students and guide them every times. According to Robert Keith Miller
“Writing can help you deepen your understanding of yourself as well as to achieve the
goals you set for yourself”3
It means with many writing practices, they will get an understanding on how to write English correctly. However to write correct grammar is not easy, the learners often make errors and these errors can be observed, analyzed and classified. This study of this case is called errors analysis.
Relating to this case the writer is interesting to analyze the students errors when they write a descriptive text, in SMAN 1 Cibarusah Bekasi, the writer would like to find out what is the problem and the error of their writing.
B. Limitation of the Study
In order to limit the problems in this „skripsi’, the writer just focused on discussion relating to the error analysis of the students in writing descriptive text at the first grade of SMAN 1 Cibarusah bekasi. The material of analysation consist of verb tense, spelling, singular-plural, capitalization, pronoun and preposition.
C. Formulation of Problem
Based on the explanation above, the writer would like to formulate research as follow:
1. What kind of students eror in writing descriptive text?
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2. What is the cause of the students error in SMAN 1 Cibarusah Bekasi?
3. What is the strategy to minimize the students error case in writing descriptive text.
D. The Objective of Study
The objective of the study is the writer would like to mention the objectives of this study as follow:
1. To find out what are the most common errors made by the students in their descriptive writing.
2. To investigate what is the cause of error made by students before and after write the text.
3. To find out the solution of this students writing errors.
E. Significance of the Study
In this study of this error investigation is expected to give significancies to
1. Students are understand what are their error in writing descriptive text so which a lot of practices can make improvement to their writing skill.
2. Teachers will get the data of the students error in writing so they can find out the startegy to teach how to write descriptive text effectively.
3. The readers who read this case will get additionl information relating to the Indonesian student problem in writing descriptive.
F. Organisation of the Study
The second chapter is divided into three sub-chapters. The first sub-chapter is error and error analysis that contains of definition of error, error analysis, and types of error, clarification of error, cause of error and goal of error analysis. The second sub-chapter is writing that consists of the concept of writing, the writing process and purposes of writing. The third sub-chapter is descriptive that contains of the concept of descriptive, purposes of descriptive, kinds of descriptive and characteristics of a good description.
The third chapters divided into two sub-chapters. The first sub-chapter is research methodology and findings consist of purposes of research, time and location, population and sample, instrument of research and technique of data analysis. The second sub-chapters is research finding consists of data description, data analysis and data interpretation.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A.
Definition of ErrorAs we know, that learning the second language is different from learning first language. Therefore, the students often made error during the learning process. For the students foreign language, they get a new rules of language, vocabulary, grammatical patterns and pronunciation which different from their language. Error is natural for the students whom learned the second language; because of English is second language for them.
In addition, Heidy Dulay stated that “error is the flawed side of
learner speech or writing”.1
It means that there is some of not correct action made by the students or learners when they learn to speak or write the English language. The students make an incorrect speaking or writing when they learn English.
And then Jeremy Harmer said that ”the errors are part of the learner interlanguage, that is the version of the language which a learner has at any one stage of development and which is continually reshaped as he/she toward full mastery.2 It means that an error is connected with intralingual process of the native language or bahasa Indonesia and the English as foreign language. The process of learning, practices and step by step of
study will offer skill and fluency to the students who’s learn of the English language.
There are many definition of error. According to James Carl “error analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes and
1
Heidy Dulay, Language Two, (New York: Oxford University press, 1982), p. 138
2
consequences of unsuccessful language”.3
It means that an error is happen because of wrong writing, speaking, ideas and action made by students when they study English.
Then, it is important to make different between error and mistake. Otherwise, some people still misunderstanding about the definition of them. To make clear between error and mistakes, H. Douglas confirmed “a mistake refers to a performance error that is either a random guess or a
“slip” in that it is failure to utilize a known system correctly”4
it means that students writing and speaking performance base to their guessing which they think correct, but actually its wrong then the guessing here its call a mistake.
From those statements the writer concludes that eror analysis is the study or investigation of an error which made by students when they learn english. The error is important to investigate because it is useful for teachers and students to find out the solution. Furthermore the study also helps teachers to know the skill or the weakness of their students.
1. The Description of Error Analysis
Carl James wrote in his book that there are five procedures in identification of error.
a. Error Detection
We check the sentence as items of analysis and the errors finding suspicion.5
b. Locating Error
Error location is pointed in for examples the cases of (a) preposition, (b) tenses and (c) said the errors is in this
words, however locating the errors isn’t always easy because some of the cases are located in the sentence or the whole paragraphs of the text that contain error.6
3
James Carl, Errors in Language Learning and Use, (London and New York, Longman, 1998), p. 1
4
H. Douglas brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York, Prentice Hall, 1987), p. 170
5
James Carl, Errors in Language Learning and Use, (London and New York, Longman, 1998), p 91
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c. Describing Error
Describe the error cases into others language standard, like in the case of Brunian errors into Bahasa Melayu or Indonesian English cases into American or British English.7 d. Classifying Error
We able to find and choose the best words to replace the errors cases and put it in order 8
e. Counting Error
The analyst count the errors made by the students and explained into per cent calculation.9
2. Categorize of Errors a. Interlingua Transfer
Mother language of the learner has a great influence in learning second language or foreign language. It is called
interference or interlingual transfer. As Brown stated “the
beginning stages of learning a second language are characterized by a good deal of interlingual transfer from the
native speakers” b. Intralingua Transfer
According to Brown “intralingua transfer is one of the sources of error that must be recognized in second language learning, because it’s now clear that intralingua transfer (waiting the target language itself) such as overgeneralization is a major factor in second language learning.”10
c. Communication Strategy 1. Holistic Strategies
The term holistic refers to the learner’s assumption. If the
student can say X in the L2, then the student must be able to say Y. The most general term of synonym, an example is the L1 French learner of English who substitute credibility: truth, or use super ordinate term of fruit: blackberries. These
assumption make leaner’s sometime don’t use correct words
but use the synonym. For example: you are so good: you are so beautiful.
2. Analytic Strategies
According to James and Persidou (1993) Analytical strategies are the concept of indirectly, by allusion rather than by direct reference. Analytic strategy refers to the two
7 ibid 8 ibid 9 ibid 10
types of learners whom studied different context of leaning. The student who learned English in British council and others who learned English informally (from tourist, movie, music etc.) for example gimme your love: give me your love. There are two differential style and result which taken from them.
d. Induced
1. Material-Induced Error
The learning material should appropriate to the learners
level, don’t to difficult and don’t to easy. Give not appropriate topic and lesson make students confuse and committed error. For example the learning material for Senior High School students in Indonesia should appropriate to the students needs not contain many difficulty English words which make them confuse. 2. Teacher-Talk Induced Error
One of the roles of teachers is to provide models of the standard teaching language in the class. Sometime
teachers don’t speak English well and the quality of their
pronunciation giving differential sound to the originality. English teacher from India with English teacher from Australia will have differential pronunciation where the non-native is often make an error pronunciation.
3. Look up Error
This common error (dis-order) is dictionary used to translate L1 to L2. For example the Indonesian students used Bahasa Indonesia the sentence Kucing hitam berlari change into The Cat Black ran. This case sometime happened because of L1 and L2 have differ style and system.
3. Grammatical Problems
Each student has a different type in making errors when they made paragraph.
a. Capitalization
The conventions of capitalization are so familiar for us. We put capitals in the right places without even thinking about what we are doing. Daniel Brown classify the errors in writing, there are: 1. Capitalize the first word of each sentence.
3. Capitalize proper names, the days of the week, the months, and holiday.
4. Capitalize titles when they are used with a name. for example Admiral Zumwalt, Governor Smith, Chief Justice Hughes,and etc.11
b. Singular-plural
If a word refers to a single item it is singular. If it refers to lots of
things it is plural. For example, “potato” is singular “potatoes” is a plural. According to George Braine “singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs.”
Singular:
One student is standing under the tree. She likes to play tennis on the weekends. Plural:
Three students are standing under the tree They like to play tennis on the weekends.12 c. Verb Tense
The tense or a verb is related to the time when the action takes place. The most fundamental tenses (times) are past, present, and future.
Past tense:
When I was five years old, I moved to Pakistan Present tense:
I am studying my history textbook now, Future tense:
I will be finished with these problems soon.13 d. Pronoun
Pronouns are he is for boy or man, she is for Linda, it is for thing or noun like table, bag, and umbrella. They or theirs is for men or boys. This is the example of pronoun
Lydia gave her assignment to the professor. (in this sentence the pronoun her refers to the antecedent Lydia).
Another pronoun problem is agreement. The rule for pronoun agreement is simple: A pronoun should agree with its antecedent. This means singular nouns take singular pronoun, and plural nouns take plural pronoun, for example:
The boy dropped his book. The boys dropped their books.14 e. Spelling
11
Daniel Brown, A Contemporary Rhetoric, (Boston, USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984), p.309
12
George Braine and Claire may, Writing from sources, (London. California, McGraw Hill, 1996), p.69
13 ibid
There are differential spelling between British and America The example of English spelling are:
-t/ed (in the past tense) British English uses –t, as in burnt and learnt; American English uses –ed, as in burned and learned. -re/-er some British English words end in –re, such as metre, theatre, and centre. In American English, these words end in –er, such as meter, theater, and center.
B. Writing
1. Definition of Writing
Writing is one skill of language, like an athletic skill which comes more naturally to some people, but which improves with practice for everyone. Practice is necessity. Writing is important to express the idea without sound. However, the students can channel their desire by writing. People learn how communicate with the other people when the people is not around them.
There are many different definitions about writing given by experts of
many resources. According to Barnet and Stubb’s said, “writing as a physical act, it requires both performer material and energy and like most physical acts, to be performed to bring pleasure, to both performer and audience, it requires practice”.15 it means when we write sentence its need thinking ideas, action, concentration, time and practice, so both of the reader and writer is interest to read.
On other side, Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper said “writing is a complex process and such as contains element of mystery and
surprise”.16 It means when we write there are many steps to do like finding ideas, topic, sentences, draft, revision, etc. it is often the writer write new word which unpredictable.
Students are expected to convey their ideas, feelings, desire and knowledge by writing. Sometimes the teacher feels difficult to ask the
15
Barnet and Stubbs’, Practical guide to Writing ,(Canada: Brown Company, fourth edition 1983), p. 3
16
Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, The St.Martin;s Guide to writing, (New York: St
students to write. In fact, writing is more complicated because writing needs many aspects not only grammatical and vocabulary but more than that.
The important thing of writing for the students is to express their feeling and produce in their own language on the paper. To be good writer, the students must practice and try to write and to increase their capability. Considering of definitions above, the writer conclude that writing is important skill to improve the English knowledge, and also writing need full concentration and it is not easy to convey something and make the reader understand about our writing.
2. The Writing is Process
To understand how important this matter of playing attention to the process of writing is, we need to consider just what a process involves. A process is, of course, a series of actions. But it is not just any series of actions; it is of deliberate steps carried out in a particular order and leading to specific result. A process has a beginning, middle, and an end and one of the keys to learning to write well is realizing a simple but often overlooked fact: when we write, we go through a process. The more aware we are of steps we go through in this process, and the better we are able to control them, the more easily and successfully we will write.
Writing is not mysterious, but it can complex, depending on what we are writing about. Often, the best way to handle complex tasks is to break them down into steps, into a process, and that’s just as true of writing as of anything else. If we are not aware of some of the basic steps in the writing process, or we have not found the best order in which to carry them out, we are likely to find writing much more frustrating than needs to be.
The process has two main steps: invitation and presentation or we can be even more specific and say that the writing process involves the nine steps listed below:
1) Gathering information
2) Finding ideas in the in formation
4) Forming a main idea about the topic
5) Selecting and arranging the supporting ideas from the gathered information
6) Writing rough drafts 7) Revising the drafts 8) Writing a final drafts 9) Proofreading the paper.17 3. Purposes of Writing
Successful writers do not plan their writing in a vacuum. Instead, they consider the context in which their writing occurs. The writing context includes
the reason for writing (the writer’s purpose). Purpose is an important element of
the collage essay because it influences our approach.
There are really only four common purposes in writing. Whether we are writing a love letter or a term paper, we write to inform, to explain, or to persuade, and to amuse others.18
a. Writing to inform
In the writing project we intend simply to inform our readers about a subject. To inform is to send out necessary information about subject to the readers, and usually this means just telling the readers what the facts are or what happen. The writing also gives description information to readers, to transfer important information like news, story, and report is as the purposes. All writing provides sort of information to however they should choose or select it effectively. The information should be arranged in order way so the reader easily to read it.
b. Writing to Explain
Writing to explain means give details description of information or topic to readers so the readers will get clear understanding after read the topic. There are three items of explaining the writing: explain with example means to give information by use an example relating to the topic for example when we write of volcanoes eruption the writer should give an example Merapi, Sinabung, explain on contrast or comparison is give two differential or alternative understanding to readers like bad or good, or alternative choices in the exam two compare between true or false. Explain a process is give detail or step for example on how to make coffee there is step to make it like prepare the glass, sugar and hot water. Explain cause and effect is a
17
Daniel Brown and Bill Burnette, Connections ‘A Rhetoric/Short prose reader, (New Jersey: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984) P. 7
connection of reason and cause for example illegal logging with forest destruction, animal extinction etc.19
c. Writing to Persuade
Writing gives important information with meaning and impression to readers. Writing will interest the readers and convince them when they read sentences, words and paragraphs which supporting the main ideas. The interest sentences grow strength from words to words when readers enjoy reading. The writing able to persuade and convince them to accept the ideas, even though it may be controversial.20
C. Descriptive
1. Definition of Descriptive Text
Descriptive text is a text that describes the features of someone, something, or a certain place. According to Ari Widjayanti M.J. that descriptions are the texts which are used to describe particular place, person, or thing.21 It means the description is a detail of explanation to show the specific object to reader or audience. For example the description about Jokowi is (Jakarta governor, black hair, Indonesian, Javanese, kind man, wise, familiar, brave, smart, etc.
Descriptive text has its own generic structure, having two components: identification or classification, and description of features. The generic structures of descriptive text:
a. Identification: identifies/introduction of phenomenon to be describe. It means when describe something we explain base on the situation in general. The general condition of the topic is like: mountain, president, animal, city etc.
b. Description: describe features to order of importance, there are: parts/things (physical appearance), qualities (degree of beauty, excellence, or worth/value), and other characteristic (prominent aspect that are unique). It means a description contain an important picture or photo or words which give detail of physic appearance like big body, thin, tall, medium, short etc. Meanwhile qualities are
19 ibid 20 ibid 21
good girl, pretty, polite, wise, strong, gentle etc. Unique in here means differ with another.
From the definition above, the writer concludes that descriptive text is a description of noun, people, place and others. The description is start from the generality condition of the topic for example in the topic of Mount Merapi the descriptive text is explain the generality of Volcanoes Mountain in Indonesia, after that the second paragraph the writer will give a detail of Mount Merapi like the location, high, rock, sand,etc. The goal of the description is the reader or audiences will understand the detail of the description of topic.
2. Generic Features of Descriptive Text a. Use of Simple Present Tense
b. Frequent use classifiers in nominal groups.
c. Use of “be”: is, are, was, and were for the identification and showing qualities.
d. Use of verb “have”: have, has, had to give detailed description of the
object’s features.
e. Use of action verb related to the topic, especially when describing behaviors or personalities.
f. Use of adjectives in describing especially the qualities. 3. The Purposes of Descriptive Writing
Description adds an important dimension to our lives because it moves our emotions and expands our experiences. When we read descriptions of beautiful places and scenes, we are uplifted; when we read newspaper
accounts of the devastation of wars and natural disasters, we are saddened. Description expands our experience by taking us to places we might not
otherwise know much about, which explains the popularity of descriptive travel essays in magazines and newspapers. Description can also give us a fresh appreciation for the familiar. For example, a description of a neighborhood park we pass every day can help us rediscover its beauty.22 As social beings, we want to share our experience, so we write to others to describe things such as vacations, childhood homes, and people we encounter. We even use description to persuade others to think or act in particular ways: advertisers describe products to persuade us to buy them;
22
travel agents describe locales to entice us to visit them; and real estate agents describe properties to stimulate a desire to see them. As the examples in the following chart show, description enables us to entertain, express feelings, relate experience, inform, and persuade.23
Table 1.1
Purposes for Description
No. Purposes Description
1 To entertain An amusing description of a teenager’s bedroom.
2 To express Feelings A description of your favorite outdoor retreat so your reader understand why you enjoy it so much
3. To relate experience A description of your childhood home to convey a sense of the poverty you grew up in 4. To inform (for a reader unfamiliar
with the subject)
A description of a newborn calf for a reader who has never seen one
5. To inform (to create a fresh appreciation for the familiar)
A description of an apple to help the reader rediscover the joys of this simple fruit
6. To persuade convince the reader that some music videos degrade women
A description of a degrading music video
Although it can serve a variety of purposes as stated in the table above, but description is most often helps writers share their perceptions, so it most often helps writers share their perceptions. As human beings, we have a compelling desire to connect with other people by sharing our experiences with them. Description helps us do that. In addition, because well-written description can be beautiful and therefore pleasurable to read, a secondary purpose of description is often to entertain.
23
Since description helps the reader form mental pictures, writers often rely on it to add interest and vividness. That is, description helps writers do more than just tell that something is true, it allows them to show that something is true. For this reason, writers often combine description with order patterns of development.
4. Characteristic of a Good description
Good descriptions usually have three important qualities. They have a dominant impression supported by specific details, clearly recognizable mood, and logical development
a. Dominant Impression
The first sentence or even the first words of a description may establish the dominant impression. Succeeding sentences will then reinforce and expand it by supplying further information and filling in details. In other words, the sentence which established the dominant impression usually serves as the topic sentence of the paragraph.
b. A Mood
A mood is feeling that goes beyond measurable physical appearances. Feeling and emotions such as joy, happiness, fear, and anxiety evoke or create moods. Mention of good or bad qualities may contribute to establishing the general mood.
c. Logical Development
conclude with a dominant impression. Listed are some of steps that may be followed in writing a description:
1) Establish the point of view. Make it clear to the reader where the writer is in relation to the thing being described.
2) Give the general overall view or impression.
3) Give the details of the description in a logical sequence. One kind of logical sequence is space sequence:
From near far or from far to near. From left to right or from right to left.
Description can also be oriented from the general to the specific or from the specific to the general.24
Furthermore, successful descriptions require a lot of specific details. The more specific we make any piece of writing, the more interesting, exiting, and effective it will be. Things are needed to make a good descriptions, they are:
Knowing our subject
Gathering descriptive details becomes easier when we know the
person, place, or thing we’re describing. Of we need to learn more
about our subject, spend some time observing it. Use our five senses-sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell- to gather important information.
And don’t be afraid to take notes. Write our observations, reactions,
and impressions in our journal, or note cards, or at least scratch paper.
Using Language that Sows
Using language that shows makes any writing you do far more concrete, specific, and vivid than simply telling your readers what you mean. Such language is vital to description.
Use Concrete nouns and Adjective
The next thing to remember is to make your details as concrete as
possible. For example, if we’re describing a friends, don’t say that “He’s not a neat dresser” or that his “wardrobe could be improved”. Include concrete nouns and adjectives that will enable
24
our readers to come the same conclusion. Talk about “the red dirt
along the sides of his scuffed, torn shoes; the largest rips in the knees of his faded blue jeans; and the many jelly spots on his shirt. The same is true when describing objects and places.
Create Figures of Speech
One of the best ways to make our writing clear and vivid is to use figures of speech, expression that conveys a meaning beyond their literal sense. Writers rely heavily on figures of speech when they need to explain or clarify abstract, complex, or unfamiliar ideas. Metaphor, simile, and personification can be used to compare an aspect of the person or thing being described to something with which readers are already familiar.
In addition, figures of speech make it possible for writers to dramatize or make vivid feelings, concepts, or ideas that would otherwise have remained abstract and difficult to understand.
Rely on Our Five Sense
Example of Descriptive text a. Descriptive Text of Animal
Hamster
I have a hamster. It is small and cute. I give him a name, Dion. I bought him last month when I visited Jogjakarta. I really love him.
b. Descriptive text of people
Irene Kharisma Sukandar
Irene Karisma Sukandar is to be the most successful woman chess player in our country. Just in her age of 17, she has become champions in many tournaments. She has got many trophies and medals from both national and international titles. She is the first Indonesia’s Woman Gran Master (WGM).
First she was drawn to play chess by her elder brother, Kaisar Genius Hakiki. Although she begins to play chess at relatively senior age of 7, her talent becomes evident early on.
For Irene, playing chess is something good to do. She disagrees with many Indonesian people who associate chess wit a lack of productively, for example as a game for the unemployed. She proves that she earns many things from that game. By playing she received Rp 500 million bonus prize money for her contribution to her province at the national games.
c. Descriptive Text of Place Prambanan Temple
The Prambanan Temple, which is well-known as the temple of Lara jonggrang, is one of the vulture inheritances from the ancestors of Indonesian people having worldwide international value. The Prambanan Temple is to be the biggest Hindu in the world. This temple has been known well all over the world since many years ago. Lots of local as well as foreign visitors have come for a close at the temple.
Prambanan Temple, which is located in the village of Karang Asem, the ward of Bokoharjo, the Prambanan district of Sleman Regency of Yogyakarta Province, was built by Rakai pikatan, the second king of Mataram dynasty in 850 AC. Recently, all of the land aaround the temple that covers not less than 20 hectars has been freed from the inhabitants. Today, in this vast land has been built an open theater, an indoor theater, offices, an archeological museum, a parking area, a cafeteria, a souvenirs shop, asphalt road, and all other means supporting toursm. The ornamental motifs chiseled in the Lara Jonggrang temple are very luxurious and various: Prambanan motifs, flora motifs, and fauna motifs. The carving of the Prambanan motifs are located between the lower frame and the upper frame of the balustrades at the outside part of the foot of the temple. This motif is one of the special characteristics fund in Lara Jonggrang temple and none of the kind is found in other temples in Indonesia.
The very fine carving with extra-ordinary imagination has totals 135 panels surrounding each of the balustrades in each temple. They can be classified as follow:
1. Civa temple : 32 panels
2. Brahma temple : 23 panels
3. Wisnu temple : 23 panels
4. Nandi temple : 19 panels
5. Temple A (eagle) : 19 panels 6. Temple B (goose) : 19 panels
Identification
The flora motifs or the motifs from the world of plants are numerous on the foot as well as the body of the temple. Those motifs are especially the leaves of the tree, which are depicted in naturalistic idealized form.
The fauna motifs or the animal world motifs are only found on the foot the Civa, Wisnu, bahma, Wahana, and Apit temples. In this description, the fauna motif are naturalistic. The kind of animals depicted are goose, dog, hen, squirrel, crocodile, hawk, fish, elephant, tiger, reptile, cockatoo, horse, snail, crow, crab, dove, parrot, deer, cow, rat, lion, and snake.
22 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS
1.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Time and LocationThe writer conducted the research at SMAN 1 Cibarusah, Bekasi, the school is located on JL. Cibarusah Raya, Cibarusah, Bekasi, West Java. The researcher started the job from 14 until 28 of August 2012.
2. Method of The Research
In conducting this research the writer uses qualitative method. The writer teaches the students to write a descriptive text and then find out the students common error of English grammatical problem. The researcher then classified the grammar error, these are capitalization, spelling, verb tenses, pronoun, singular-plural and punctuation The identification and correction process in the end is expected to find reliable data (student’s problems) during and after learning of foreign language or L2.
3. The Unit Analysis
The scopes and unit of investigation in this research are (capitalization, spelling, verb tenses, preposition, pronoun, singular-plural and punctuation). These units area are functioned as filtered tool which carefully correcting their writing test in case study research. The tool is aimed to find directly the mistake and error of their descriptive project. The error will be investigated carefully to find the students error.
4. Techniques of Collecting Data
There are many steps in collecting data used by the writer, they are
“observation, tests, error reconstruction. Test is to measure the student’s achievement in learning descriptive paragraph writing; the teacher used an independent essay test with the topic. It’s describes about animal live. The students had to make paragraphs related to the topic. This test is used to find the sources of errors that students made and know the reason why they did such errors.
2. RESEARCH FINDINGS 1. Data Description
In this part the writer bring the data which taken from the students work in school. There are many errors which researcher classified after the test, the errors classification arecapitalization18, spelling12, verb tenses11, pronoun11, singular-plural7 and punctuation2.
The data and the discription of this error is put in the table of data analysis and reconstruction. The researcher checked the students writing to find out the error, after finish it shown that the highest rates of the student’s error are capitalization18 cases followed by spelling12 cases. Meanwhile the least data of the error made by students are singular-plural7and punctuation cases2,word orders case the researcher found the highest data of the error is capitalization and the least is punctuation.
These two problems is happened because students is often used capitalization in the middle of sentence like in the case of Luthfi Nurhasanah
(It’s So funny. the rabbit is Very Much Liked by people. because its Very annoy. Rabbit is also Very suitable to be Kept). Meanwhile the least case is punctuation which taken from Mia Islamiati and (I’m have cat He name Nuno Nuno Very Cute, and have fur soft). There aren’t comma and full stop which used correctly from this sentence.
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
heve
heve eye is green
drink day is milk
Spelling
Verb
2. The second and thirds errors are interlingual case student wrote wrong spelling, this happen
because student doesn’t know how to write it or he/she assumes that pronounced (have) is heve so he/she writes base to the pronunciation voices. The correct sentence is have
3. The fourth error is interlingual case of student’s verb. In bahasa Indonesia verb never add s/es, but in English writing he/she/it should add s/es because the subject is singular (cat: one cat). However for plural subject like (many cats/ cats) the verb is not necessarily add s/es.
The correct words is Cat drinks milk everyday
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
Student 03
Cat is animal that are very cute
It have/have eye is yellow.
fur are whites and black/ drink days/ foods days is fish.
Induce look up
Word order
Word order Verb tenses
1. This error is categorized as induce look up error because the student uses bahasa Indonesia writing style as a result his/her english is wrong because English used different form .
The correct sentence is Cat is very cute animal.
2. This error is categorized in interlingual error because English writing is (yellow eyes not eyes yellow) and have which
isn’t appropriate for subject it, this indicate the impact of his/her mother language (Bahasa Indonesia) is used even when write English. The correct sentence is It has soft fur and yellow eyes.
3. There is no pronoun as the subject and the verb form is wrong this case include in intralingual (pronoun) and interlingual (verb error)
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
Sheeps is.
It is have four lagged.
Sheep is mammals.
I looke shaun Singular-plural Pronoun Plural Spelling Verb Capitalization
1. The error is include in interlingual case the
student’s should use a singular (one sheep or sheep) as the subject, or if the subject is more than one/plural to be (are) because the sheep is more than one. The correct word is Sheeps are herbivore.
2. The second error is intralingual pronoun case (It is have) and meanwhile the plural (four legged) is interlingual. This case is happened because some students not yet know how to use (have/has and singular/plural). The sentence should be: They have white wool and run with their four legs.
3. The third error is classified in interlingual case the word mamal (adjective) can’t be pluralize, this is happened because student still learn (adjective is not plural or singular). However student’s should write Sheep is mammal
4. This error is interlingual problem the verb is not correctly written, it must be I had looked the movie. This case is happened because a student is yet knows tenses, this kind of sentence is called past perfect tenses, and it means that the subject/you had already seen/looked the movie.
Student 04
sometime didn’t aware that Shaun is a name
or nickname of the sheep, to write a name should start with capital letter, it should be Shaun the sheep.
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
In Austrralian
populer
Kangaroo it’s so funny
Spelling
Spelling
Pronoun
1. This error is classified in interlingual case the spelling is wrong student should write In Australia (name of a country). Australian isn’t place it is an adjective functioned to tell that men or thing is from Australia this case sometime happened because student didn’t know the differential between prepositional place and adjective (Australian/ Australia)
2. The error is in interlingual case, it indicate that student spelling is wrong the correct sentence is popular, this happen because she/he used Bahasa Indonesia style when writing English.
Student 05
Kangaroos always brings
ther pocket.
Verb
Pronoun
student wrote the double pronoun or subject indicated that he/she still didn’t understand how to use pronoun (it) however it can be used as the replacement of Kangaroo/subject. The correct sentence is Kangaroo is so funny.
4. This error is interlingual problem the verb is not correctly written, it must be Kangaroos always bring.. In this case the subjects (kangoros) are more than one so the verb is not adds s/es. This case is happen because student not yet now the quantity of the subject (singular/ plural) and how to put the verb whether it add s/es or not.
5. This is an intralingual problem the correct sentence is their pocket. This case is happened because student
didn’t know how to write possessive pronoun. In this case possessive mean the pocket is belong to them.
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
White Rabbit Red
Student 06 Rabbit like eating
Verb tense
which explain that the rabbit fur is white/red. In this case she/he didn’t write correctly because capital letter is used to name an animal, it should be: The white rabbit have soft feather, red eyes.
2. This is interlingual problem the verb is not correctly written, it must be Rabbit like to eat carrots. This error happened because students not yet know that (eating) is used either for gerund or continues/progressive verb
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
Student 07 Panda bear eating bamboo leaf
at country china
shouldt
Verb
Capitalization
Punctuation
1. This is interlingual problem the verb is not correctly written, it must be Panda bear is eating bamboo leaves. This error happened because students not yet know that (eating) is continues/progressive verb form so she/he should put to be (is) before verb. This tense is called present continuous tense.
This is interlingual problem, in this case she/he didn’t
write correctly because to write a name like nation, place, city, capital it should start with a capital letter, it should be: China. This case is happened because the writer didn’t know that how write it in correct order.
2. The kind of error is include in intralingual problem the correct word is shouldn’t this case is happened because there is differential system to write a negative word between Bahasa Indonesia and English. Some students sometime forget to put a punctuation to shorten negative
Student 08
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction I’m have cat
He name Nuno
and have fur soft
and drink Favorite days is milk
Pronoun
Pronoun
Word order
Capitalization Pronoun
1. This is an intralingual problem the student wrote (I’m have) this case is happened
because student didn’t know how to write
possessive pronoun. The correct one is I have cat. In this case he/she possess or the owner of the cat.
2. The intralingual error is similar like the previous pronoun, it can be summed up that student need to learn how to write possessive pronoun correctly. The writing is His name is Nuno, we can use His/her it depend on the gender of the cat.
3. This error is categorized in interlingual error because the student can’t appropriately uses (has/have) form to write English. The correct sentence is Nuno is very cute and He has soft fur
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction The Giraffe African
Its food is leaves
animall
Induce
Pronoun
Spelling
1. This error is categorized in (induce look up) error because the student still uses his/her language Bahasa Indonesia to translate into English, however translating
process sometime make the writing isn’t
correct because Indonesian language has different form with English. The correct sentence is The African giraffe.
2. This error is intralingual case, student
didn’t use appropriate pronoun, this is because student still learns to write and need practices, and the pronoun which used for this sentence is replaced with The giraffe food is leaves.
Student 09
I thinks, cuted. Spelling
student didnt know how to write animal in English.
4. This is similar interlingual case, it indicates that student ability to write English is a little, she/he need practices. The wrong spelling happened because
student didn’t has enough vocabulary, the
correct sentence is I think, giraffe is very cute and funny.
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
The Elephant sumatra sumatra.
Capitalization 1. This is interlingual problem, there are two errors in write name of place and animal, sometime
Student 10
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
Honey bears is Big Bear
Capitalization 1.This is interlingual problem, there are two errors of capitalization, sometime student
didn’t aware that capital is use in the It’s has
it’s has
it’s has eat Vegetable.
It’s has mamalia
Pronoun
Capitalization
Spelling
2. These errors are intralingual case, student didn’t use appropriate pronoun, this is because student still learns to write and need practices, and the pronoun which used for this sentences are It has 3. This is interlingual error, to write not a name it
shouldn’t start with capital letter, and in this case
the correct writing is vegetable.
Student 11
It has four leg.
insecct
It can up to tree for search inseet.
Plural
Spelling
Word order Spelling:
beginning of sentence for name or place but
Big Bear here is adjective so she/he shouldn’t
start to write with capital letter, the correct writing is big bear
2. The error is including in interlingual case the
student’s should use a plural (four legs) which is add (s/es) behind the noun, this case is happened because the students not yet know how to write plural/ singular sentence in English.
3. This is interlingual case, this problem
happened because of student didn’t know how
to write insect in English, however she/he need to practices. The correct word should be insect.
Student 12
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction
It is Black eyes. His skin is Gray. weight Until 1 ton. Elephant is Mammal. Africa Elephant /asian
Capitalization: 1. These five errors cases are including in interlingual error, these cases happened because the student
didn’t understand how to write correct capitalization or perhaps she/he didn’t carefully
write the word of capitalization in the sentence. Writing is need concentration and focus to the ideas which is being written, however the correct writing form are black eyes, gray, until, mammal, Asian Elephant.
Student’s Error Kind of error The reconstruction small mammals
it’s have beautiful fur
the rabbit
Spelling
Pronoun
Capitalization
1. This is interlingual case, this problem happened
because student didn’t know how to write
mammal in English, however she/he need to practices. The correct word should be mammal. 2. These errors are intralingual case, student
didn’t use appropriate pronoun, (It’s have) is not correct, student still need to write and practices, however the pronoun which used for this sentences are It has
3. This is interlingual error, to write in the beginning of a sentence it should start with capital letter, this case is happened because
sometime student didn’t carefully to check
his/her writing and in this case the correct writing is The rabbit
2. Data Discussion
Table of 1.3 The Students Error Finding
NO ERROR QUANTITY
1 WORD ORDER 8
2 SPELLING 11
3 INDUCE 2
4 VERB TENSE 6
5 SINGULAR/PLURAL 4
6 PRONOUN 9
7 SPELLING 11
8 CAPITALIZATION 13
9 PUNCTUANTION 1
3. Data Analysis
In this part the writer will accumulate the errors that students made in the first process of action research and analysis them as follow:
a. Word Order
This is common error for learners, this case happen when they write used a dictionary in translating L1 to L2. Indonesian Students used Bahasa Indonesia-Bahasa Inggris Dictionary (the sentence Kucing hitam berlari change into The Cat Black ran). This case sometime happened because of L1 and L2 have differ style and system.
b. Induce
.
c. Singular-Plural
The second rate of error made by student in their writing is singular and plural error. The frequencies of error are 7 errors. They did this error because in the way their native writing style is different with English. For example in the case of Eli Octaviani she wrote (And have fur are whites). The way she writes is not correct, in here student should write (and has a white fur). Another case and example of the singular-plural error case is “has four leg.”
In the case of Devi Putri is wrong. In Bahasa “Hewan itu mempunyai kaki
empat” is not change the form words of “mempunyai” whether the quantity is more than one, however in English the quantity of the object is important to use “have or has”. The correct answer is “It has four legs”. There is additional
“s” after the word leg. d. Punctuation
The last error made by students is punctuation, in this problem there are two cases which is found out from students. Mia Islamiati wrote (I’m have cat He name Nuno Nuno Very Cute, and have fur soft). There aren’t comma and full stop which used correctly from this sentence.
The others error made by the students in their writing is spelling error. The frequency of error is 12 errors. They did these errors because in theirs native language-Bahasa Indonesia spelling is very different with English. there is no significance difference between spelling and writing. In contrast English
has different way on how it’s spelled and how it’s written; therefore some
students remain to make such an error. Thus the error of spelling includes to intra-lingual source of error. In the case of Elfrida Saputri the word of
“animall”is wrong the correct one is “animal”. f. Verb Tenses
The table above shows that most students were confused in using singular- writing with numbers of error. For example the student number 11, her name is Eli Octaviani (black and drinks days is milk and foods days is fish) the right one is (He drinks a milk and eats fish everyday). She did it because she still interfered to their mother tongue. Besides that she are lack of grammar basic knowledge and understanding.
g. Pronoun
These word choice errors mainly occur because of student’s lack of vocabulary and its use. In this case the frequency of error is 11 errors. For example(It favorite food is sweet honey) It should be (Theirs favorite food is sweet honey).
h. Capitalization
In this capitalization area the writer found 18 errors. Some students did not put any capital letter in the beginning of sentence and students use capitalization in the middle of the sentence. Some students didn’t know the role and the important of capitalization. One of the error examples is taken
from student’s nameDevi Putri P.” Honey Bear is Big Bear” the correct one is
43
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
In this chapter the writer would like to give some conclusion and offer some suggestion that may have relation to the subject.
A. Conclusion
Based on the analysis and the data description in the previous chapter, it be concluded that the common errors area are capitalization, spelling, verb tenses, pronoun, singular-plural and punctuation.
The cause of error made by students before and after write the text is that students usually need to develop and practices every time to get more understanding how to write English correctly.
The solution on this writing practices for senior high school grade one is effective teaching on writing and practices everyday. With a lot of practices students writing and theirs creativity will be better. The students learn from theirs error and practice, however encouragement and motivation from teachers are important too.
B. Suggestion
1. Student English Writing should be supported and encouraged even from simple sentence in descriptive text even another text.
45
Ari Widayanti M.J, English Alive, (East Jakarta: Yudhistira, 2010)
Barbara Fine Clouse, The Students Writer, Third Edition, (Boston, McGraw Hill Companies, 2002)
Barnet and Stubbs, Practical guide to Writing, (Canada: Brown Company, fourth edition 1983)
Daniel Brown and Bill Burnette, Connections ‘A Rhetoric/Short prose reader, (New Jersey: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984)
George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English, (New York: Litton Educational Publishing, 1980)
H. Douglas brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York, Prentice Hall, 1987)
James Carl, Errors in Language Learning and Use, (London and New York, Longman, 1998)
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of Language and Teaching, Third Edition (London, Longman, 2001),
Brown C. The Interrelation Between Speech Perception and Phonological Acquisition From Infant to Adult. (Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers Limited.,2000)
Daniel Brown, A Contemporary Rhetoric, (USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984), George Braine and Claire may, Writing from Sources, (London. California, McGraw
Hill, 1996)
Heidy Dulay, Language Two, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982)
Penny Ur, A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press, 1986)
Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, The St. Martin;s Guide to writing, (New
47
APPENDIX I
Nama Sekolah Mata Pelajaran Kelas/Semester Pertemuan Ke Alokasi WaktuRENCANA PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN (RPP)
: SMAN 1 CIBARUSAH
: Bahasa Inggris
z X l 2
z 1 2
z 2x45 menit
A. Standar Kompetensi
Membaca
11. Memahami makna teks fungsional pendek dan esei sederhana berbentuk
narrative, descriptive dan news item dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari dan
untuk mengakses ilmu pengetahuan.
B. Kompetensi Dasar
Il.2 Merespon makna dan langkah-langkah retorika dalam esei sederhana secara
akurat, lancar dan berterima dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari dan untuk
mengakses ilmu pengetahuan dalam teks berbentuk na:rative, descriptive, dan
news item.
C. IndikatorPencapaianKompetensi
I
l Indikator Pencapaian Kompetensi
Nilai Budaya Dan
Karakter Bangsa ^*-.,1 I I l I I l
: . Mengidentifikasi makna kata dalam teks jReligius, jujur, toleransi, disiplin, kerja i keras, mandiri, demokratis, rasa ingin tahu,]
i
i
4 8
, . Mengidentifikasi makna kalimat dalam teki semangat kebangsaan, cinta tanah air, i
i ' i
i yang dibaca ]menghargai prestasi, bersahabat, cinta i i r Mengidentifikasi . Mengidentifikasi komplikasi dalam s.u.runldamai, komplikasi dalam sebuahldamai, gemarmembaca, gemarmembaca, peduli peduli jJi
! 1
cerita narasi llingkungan, peduli sosial, tanggung jawab' j
l t
. Mengidentifikasi kejadian dalam teks yang imandiri I dibaca
. Mengidentifikasi ciri-ciri dari benda/orang yang dideskripsikan
. Mengidentifikasi inti berita yang didengar . Mengidentifikasi sumber berita yang
didengar
. Mengidentifikasi langkah-langkah retorika dari teks
. Mengidentifikasi tduan komunikasi teks
dibaca
I
II
Kewirausahaanl Ekonomi Kreatif :
o Percaya diri (keteguhan hati, optimis).
. Berorientasi pada tugas (bermotivasi, tekun/tabah, bertekad, enerjik).
o Pengambil resiko (suka tantangan, mampu memimpin)
o Orientasi ke masa depan (punya perspektif untuk masa depan).
D. Tujuan Pembelajaran
. Siswa dapatmengidentifikasi makna kata dalam teks yang dibaca
' Siswa dapatmengidentifikasi makna kalimat dalam teks yang dibaca
