An Error Analysis in Changing Direct Into Indirect Speech

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1 A. The Background of the Study

English is one of the most popular languages in the world. We need to

learn English because it is used in every sector. In terms of international

education, English is used more than other languages. Therefore, English has been

the most recommended language to learn and use in every country, either as a

first, second or foreign language.

In Indonesia, English is the foreign language that has to be taught in all

levels of education. It starts from elementary school, junior high school, senior

high school, and university. It is taught as one of the compulsory subjects in

formal education from junior high school up to senior secondary high school. It is

also one of the local content subjects in elementary school. While in the university

level, it is taught as a complementary one.

The teaching process in education levels is based on the guideline of rules

that is stated by the government in the curriculum. The latest one named

Kurikulum 2013. This curriculum provides some rules about teaching English for

each level of education. It states the objective of the teaching learning process that

is held in Draft of Badan Standarisasi Nasional Pendidikan (BNSP) 18 April

2013 which consist of Kompetensi Inti (KI) or main competence and Kompetensi

Dasar (KD) or Basic Competence for each language skill – Listening, Speaking,

Reading, and Writing. According to English syllabus of first grade of senior high

school, in writing skill, there are many kinds of text such as narrative, descriptive,

news items, etc. In narrative text, to quote somebody’s words or speaking need to use direct and indirect speech in a conversation. In news item, to report what

somebody quotes also need to use direct and indirect speech.

One of English materials that are taught in senior secondary high school

level is reported speech. Kompetensi inti or Main Competence of this material is

expressing the meaning of short functional written text and simple essay in form of

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Dasar (KD) or basic competence is expressing the meaning and rhetorical steps

accurately, fluently, and acceptable in a form of daily life context in a text of

narrative, descriptive, and news item form. The indicator or objectives of reported

speech is sentence to deliver an information/ news.

Grammar is one of the language components, which is taught to every

language learner. Ur says in A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and

Theory book “Grammar is a set of rules that defines how words (parts of words)

are combined of changed to form acceptable units of meaning within a language.1

As Eugene states that Grammar is a description of certain organizing aspects of a

particular language. It usually includes phonological (sound), morphological

(word composition), and syntactic (sentence composition) points.2 It means that

grammar includes many aspects of linguistic knowledge; the sound system

(phonology), the system of meaning (semantic), the rule of word formation

(morphology), the rules of sentence formation (syntax) and the vocabulary.

Therefore, Grammar should be taught appropriately because it is the basic of the

language. Without knowledge of grammar, the learners will find many problems

to build up sentences and to express their ideas in communication among the

people.

Talking about grammar, reported speech is one of many grammatical

categories which is important to be learned by students. It should be learned

because it is one of three ways for students to report what other people have said

and thoughts to other people especially when they communicate each other.

Reported speech is commonly used to report what other people have said

or thought without reporting the exact word. With indirect reported speech, one

wishes to report the content of the original source without necessarily repeating

sentences exactly as they were originally uttered.3

The students may commit errors because they set their minds that the

target language and their mother tongue are similar. In fact, they are totally

1 _{Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, (Cambridge:} Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 87.

2_{Eugene J. Hall, Grammar for Use, (Jakarta: Binarupa Aksara, 1993), p. 3.}

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different. They often generalize the similarity between two languages that is

called ‘overgeneralization’. Corder in Masachika states that “errors are evidence of the learner’s strategies of acquiring the language rather than the signs of inhibition of interference from NL (Native Language) habits.”4 According to him, learners when learning a foreign language essentially can do errors. It can happen

naturally because second language learners are actively engaged in figuring out

the rules for the language they are learning.

Based on the statements above, making error is acceptable. As Norrish

states, “It is natural for students as human being to make errors.”5_{It means that}

learners’ errors provide evidence to us that the teacher must have strategies and do

something to avoid students to make error again. The strategy that can prevent the

student from making error is error analysis. By using error analysis, the teacher

tries to identify, describe and explain the errors made by the students in the test. It

can help the teachers to minimize the students’ error in their learning. Realizing that error is inevitable in learning process, the teachers have to pay attention to

their students’ error. It will help them to avoid their students for making the same error by analyzing the students’ error itself.

According to the explanation above, the writer understands the important

of doing an error analysis. Through error analysis, the most common error that the

students make can be identified and the sources of error can be found. By

knowing at least the common errors, the students are expected not to commit the

same error again in the future.

There are grammatical differences between Indonesia and English

language. That is why students often do mistake and error when they quote direct

into indirect/reported speech in English. For example, when the students want to

report somebody’s word, thoughts and ideas in Indonesian language, the grammatical changes will not be happened or they do not need to change the tense

or pronoun like in English language. In this case, many students still have

difficulties in using reported speech. They state that they often do mistake when

4_{Masachika Ishida, Error Analysis and its Significance in Second Language Teaching: A} Brief Survey of the Theoretical Aspect of Error Analysis. 現代英米研究 , 1982, p. 12.

5_{John Norrish, Language Learners and Their Errors, (London: MacMillan Press Limited,}

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they quote the direct into indirect form. Some students still confuse with certain

grammatical changes that have to be made by them. Sometimes they feel hard to

decide what kind of tenses and pronoun that should be used when they quote the

word. It can be known that Indonesian language has not a grammatical form like

tenses and pronoun.

Therefore, in teaching and learning reported speech, errors cannot be

avoided. Error that the students made can be caused by learners’ native language

or target language. Brown states that “Error analysis is the fact that learners do

make errors and that these errors can be observed, analyzed, and classified to

reveal something of the system operating within the learner, led to a surge of

study of learner’s errors.”6 It implies that error analysis is a procedure including observing, analyzing and classifying the errors on the second language rules and

disclosing systems controlled by the learners. It is carried out to obtain

information for the teacher about the students’ error and the students’ mastery of the material.

The problems that the students of first year of SMA Islamiyah Sawangan

usually found in direct speech are the students often felt bored and didn’t have

more motivation to memorize some vocabularies, rules of tenses, etc. The

problem of teaching grammar especially in reported speech was the students

confused to use the right vocabularies in tenses, they sometime forgot the rules.

Most of them like listening skill because they like to listen English songs. They

said they didn’t understand well of direct speech because they felt difficult to

distinguish betweendirect and indirect speech.

The writer does a research at the first year students of SMA Islamiyah

Sawangan. By getting the students errors which are obtained from the test which

focuses in their interrogative of reported speech, the writer will know what kind of

errors that is commonly made by the students. Based on the condition, the writer

would carry out a research under the title “An Error Analysis in Changing Direct

into Indirect Speech” (a Descriptive Analysis at the First Year of SMA Islamiyah

Sawangan).

6_{H. D. Brown,}_{Principle of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York: Pearson}

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B. Identification of Problem

Based on the background of the study above, there are many problems that

can be identified in this research such as:

1. The students often felt bored and didn’t have more motivation to memorize

some vocabularies, rules of tenses, etc.

2. They did not use the correct rules and patterns because of their wrong

understanding of reported speech.

3. The students confused to use the right vocabularies in tenses, they sometime

forgot the rules.

4. They felt difficult to distinguish between direct and indirect speech.

5. There are some types of error that the students made.

6. There are some causes of error that the students made.

C. Limitation of Problem

Based on the limitation above, this research is limited only on analyzing

the students’ type of error and the causes of error.

D. Research Question

From the limitation of the problem, the writer formulated into the

following questions:

1. What were the kinds of errors made by the first year students of SMA

Islamiyah Sawangan in changing direct speech into indirect speech?

2. What were the causes made by the students in changing direct speech into

indirect speech?

E. Objectives of the Research

According to the research questions above, the objectives of this study are:

1. To find out what kinds of error the first year students of SMA Islamiyah

Sawangan do in changing direct into indirect speech.

2. To find out the causes of errors made by the first year students of SMA

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F. Significance of the Research

The findings of this research are expected to find the source of the

problems encountered by the student by analyzing the students’ error. It will help him to get the knowledge about students’ error as one of important aspect for him as a teacher in the future time. The writer hopes the result of this study will help

the other researchers to develop the better knowledge about students’ errors. For the writer particularly and readers broadly who are concerned with this paper, it is

as one of resources which can enhance their perception and knowledge in forming

reported speech of question. Hopefully, this study will help the students in finding

and solving their problems in English grammar and also gives a great beneficial to

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7 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

A.Error

1. Understanding of Error

When students learn a target language, they usually make errors or

mistakes. It happens because sometimes the students interfered by their native

language. The different system of the second language and the first language leads

them to make the errors. However, it can be used to know the understanding of

the students about the rules or system of the language being learned.

Some experts give the understanding of error. According to Brown “An

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

the interlanguage competence of the learner.”1 It means that an error is something

that can be seen; it shows the learner’s ability.

While Corder in Norrish states, “Errors are the result of some failure of

performance.”2 From the statement above; errors are caused by the incorrect form

on the learner’s work.

Hubbard, et.al. also have the same opinion with Corder. According to

them, “Errors are caused by lack of knowledge about the target language (English)

or by incorrect hypotheses about it.3 It means that errors can appear due to the

insufficient knowledge or the inappropriate rule about the language being learned.

1_{H. D. Brown, Principle of Language Learning and Teaching,}₅th_edition_{(New York:}

Pearson Education, Inc., 2007), 5th_{edition, p. 258.}

2_{Carl James, Errors in Language Learning and Use, (New York: Addision Wesley}

Longman, Inc., 1998), p. 79.

3_{Peter Hubbard, et al., A Training Course for TEFL, (New York: Oxford University Press,}

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Norrish has a broader definition than Brown. He states, “let us call

systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently

‘gets it wrong’, it is an error.”4 Norrish considers an error as a something which

comes up because the learners do not comprehend something and always use the

wrong one.

Susan and Larry give the similar opinion, they point out, “it is likely to

occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an error.”5_{They think an}

error is something that happens regularly and the learners do not realize it.

James makes the development of the understanding of error. He states, “If

the learner is unable or in any way disinclined to make the correction, we assume

that the form of the learner used was the one intended, and that is an error.”6 It

means that the learner cannot give the right form because they think what they use

is the correct one.

From all the statements above, the writer summarizes that error is wrong

forms of language performance in students’ work which happens regularly when

they face the same thing. The students have the lack of knowledge of it because

they do not realize what they did is an error unless other people explain about it. It

makes them cannot correct that error by themselves.

4_{John Norrish, Language Learners and their Errors, (London: Macmillan Press, 1983), p. 7.} 5_{Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker, Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory}

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2. Types of Error

Error can be classified into several types. Corder in Ellis distinguishes three

types of error according to their systematicity:

a. Pres-systematic errors occur when the learner is unaware of the existence of a particular rule in the target language. These are random.

b. Systematic errors occur when the learner has discovered a rule but it is the wrong one.

c. Post-systematic errors occur when the learner knows the correct target language rule but uses it inconsistently (i.e. makes a mistake). 7

From Corder points of view, the writer assumes that these types of error made

based on the sequences of time how learners learn the language is.

According to Dulay, in the book Language two, he classifies error into

four types; error based on linguistic category, error based on surface strategy

taxonomy, error based on comparative taxonomy, and error based on

communicative effect taxonomy.8

a. Error based on linguistic category

The linguistic category taxonomy classifies errors according to either or

both the language component and the particular linguistic constituent the error

affects. Language components include phonology (pronunciation), syntax and

morphology (grammar), semantic and lexicon (meaning and vocabulary),

discourse (style). Constituents include the elements that comprise each

language components. For example;

Morphology : A ant

Syntax : He no write

While in constituents, it includes the elements that comprise each

language components. For example within syntax, one may ask whether the

error is the main or subordinate clause, which constituent is affected.9

7_{Rod Ellis, Second Language Acquisition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), p.}

51.

8_{Heidi Dullay, et al, Language Two, ( New York: Oxford University Press, 1982) pp. 146}_—

189.

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b. Error based on surface strategy taxonomy

This type of error which has four subtypes. They are;

1) Omission

It is an error which happens because a learner does not put the

needed morphemes in his/her sentence. The morphemes which disappear

are from the content morpheme and grammatical morpheme. For

example in the sentence;

Content morpheme : (Budi) is a (leader)

Grammatical morpheme : Budi (is) (a) leader.

2) Addition

This type of error is contradictive to the previous one. The character

of the error is known by the presence of an item, which must not appear

in a well-formed utterance. This error usually appears in the later stage of

L2 acquisition, when the learner has already acquired some target

language rule. E.g., “He doesn’t know my name.”

3) Misinformation

This error is characterized by the use of wrong form of the

morpheme or structure. In this error the learner supplies something

although it is incorrect. E.g., “I see a teeth.”

4) Misordering

The incorrect placement of a morpheme or a group of morpheme in

an utterance is the character of this error. E.g, “I don’t know what that

is.”

c. Error based on comparative taxonomy

The classification is made based on the comparisons between the

structure of L2 errors and certain other types of construction. To this

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1) Development error

Development error is error similar to those made by children learning the

target language as their first language. E.g., “Mary eat the pineapple.”

2) Inter lingual error

Inter lingual error is an error similar in structure to a semantically

equivalent phrase or sentence in learner’s native language.

3) Ambiguous error

Ambiguous error is error that reflects the learner’s native language

structure. This error could be classified equally as development or inter

lingual error. E.g., “I no go to school.”

4) Other error

Other error is error that caused by the learner’s native language since the

learner used it on their second language form. E.g., “She do hungry.”

d. Error based on communicative effect taxonomy

Instead of focusing on aspect of the error themselves, the communicative

effect taxonomy concerned with the error from the perspective of their effect

on the listener or reader. The focuses are on distinguishing errors that seem to

cause miscommunication from those that do not. Error based on

communicative effect taxonomy is divided into two parts.

1) Global error

Global error hinders communication; it prevents the learners from

comprehending some aspect of messages. For instance, “we amused that

movie very much.”

2) Local error

Local error itself does not interfere with understanding of an

utterance, usually because there is only a minor violation of one segment

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According to Ellis in Corder, error fall into four categories, they are

omission of some required element; addition of some unnecessary or incorrect

element; selection of an incorrect element, and misordering of the elements.

Nevertheless, Corder himself adds that this classification is not enough to describe

errors. That is why includes the linguistics level of errors under the sub-areas of

morphology, syntax, and lexicon.10

Ellis maintains that “classifying errors in these ways can help us to

diagnose learners’ learning problems at any stage of their development and to plot

how changes in error patterns occur overtime.” This categorization can be

exemplified as follows:

Omission:

Morphological omission * A strange thing happen to me yesterday

Syntactical omission * Must say also the names?

Addition:

In morphology * The books is here

In syntax * The London

In lexicon * I stayed there during five years ago

Selection:

In morphology * My friend is oldest than me

In syntax * I want that he comes here.

Ordering:

In pronunciation * fignisicant for ‘significant’; *prulal for ‘prular’

In morphology * get upping for ‘getting up’

In syntax * he is a dear to me friend.11

As mentioned by some experts above, there are many types of error

according to them. The writer decides that the errors generally made by the

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11_{Vecide Erdogan, “Contribution}_{of Error Analysis to Foreign Language Teaching.}_”_Journal

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students based on Ellis’ classifications which are: omission, addition, selection

and misordering.

3. Causes of Error

According to Richards, he distinguishes the types of error into four causes,

they are:

a. Over-generalization

Over generalization is the use of previously learned rules in new situation.

Over generalization includes instance where the learner makes a rule on the

basis of his experience of other rule in the target language.

For example: Do you go to Bali last Year?

The correct one is: Did you go to Bali last year?

b. Ignorance of rule restriction

This type of errors is the result of the failure to observe the restrictions of

existing structure, that is, the application rules to context where they do not

apply.

For example: The man who I saw him yesterday is my teacher.

The correct one is: The man whom I saw yesterday is my teacher.

c. Incomplete application of rules

This error is the result of the learner’s high motivation to achieve

communicative ability. In achieving this, learner sometimes produces

grammatical incorrect sentence.

For example: She go to school every day

The correct one is: She goes to school every day.

d. False concept hypothesized

This error is the result of the faulty comprehension of distinction in the

foreign language, sometimes this error is because of the poor gradation of

materials of teaching.12

12_{Jack C Richards. Error Analysis Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. (London:}

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According to Brown there are four causes of errors, they are:

a. Interlingual Transfer

Interlingual transfer occurs because the interference of a mother tongue

into a target language. Interlingual transfer is significant source of error for all

learners. The beginning stage of learning a second language is especially

vulnerable to interlingual transfer from the native language.

For example:

- I miss he for I miss him

b. Intralingual Transfer

Intralingual transfer is a major factor in second language learning. The

early stage of language learning is characterized by a predominance of

interference (interlingual transfer), but once learners have begun to acquire part of

the new system, more intralingual transfer-generalization within the target

language is manifested. Negative intralingual transfer, or overgeneralization has

already been illustrated in such utterances as “he good.”

c. Context of Learning

Context refers to the classroom with its teacher and its material in the case

of school learning. In a classroom context, the teacher pr the textbook can lead the

learner to make faulty hypotheses about the language. Students often make errors

because of a misleading from the teacher, faulty presentation of a structure or

word in textbook.

d. Communication of Strategies

Communication strategies were defined and related to learning style.

Learners obviously use production strategies in order to enhance getting their

message across but at times, these techniques can themselves become a source of

error. In other hand, Ellis mentions three sources of error which are known by

error of omission, overgeneralization error and transfer error.13

1) Error of Omission. For example, learners leave out the article ‘a’ and ‘the’ and

leave the –s of plural nouns.

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2) Overgeneralization Error. Learners overgeneralize forms that they find easy to

learn and process. (The learner processes new language data in his mind and

procedures rules for its production, based on the evidence). For example, the

use of ‘eated’ in place of ‘ate.’

3) Transfer Error; reflect learners’ attempts to make use of their L1 knowledge. 14

While Hubbard proposed slightly different names;

a. A mother-tongue interference

Although young children appear to be able to learn a foreign language

quite easily and to reproduce new sound very effectively, older learners

experience considerable difficulty. The sound system (phonology) and the

grammar of the first language impose themselves on the new language and this

lead to “foreign” pronunciation, faulty grammatical patterns and, occasionally, to

the wrong choice of vocabulary.

b. Overgeneralization

The mentalist theory claims that errors are inevitably because they reflect

various stages in the language development of the learner. It claims that the

learner process new language data in his mind and produces rules for its

production, based on the evidence only partial, such us rules may produce

incorrect pattern.

c. Errors encouraged by teaching material or method

The teaching material or method can also contribute to the student’s errors.

Unfortunately, these errors are much more difficult to classify, as Pit Corder

admits this: “… it is, however, not easy to identify such errors except in

conjunction with a close of the materials and teaching technique to which the

learner has been exposed. This is probably why so little is known about them.” 15

The writer concludes that there are three sources of error according to

Hubbard et.al. They are mother-tongue interference which actually same with the

“interlingual” term from Brown, overgeneralization which caused by the

insufficient knowledge of the learners about the rule of their target language, and

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the last source is errors encouraged by teaching material or method which similar

with what Brown named “context of learning.”

The writer summarizes what some experts have explained above. As a

whole, there are three main sources of errors. First, error happens because the

influence of the student’s mother language is called interlingual. Second, error

happens because the target language itself is called intralingual. Third, error

happens because the influence of the process in teaching and learning when the

teachers explain the language.

4. Differences Between Mistake and Error

Learning a language is fundamentally process that involves making of

mistakes or errors. The mistakes include with vocabulary items, grammatical

pattern and sound patterns as well.

Based on Corder in Susan and Larry, “mistakes are akin to slips of the

tongue. That is, they are to recognize it as mistake and correct it if necessary. An

error, on the other hand, is systematic. That is, it is likely to occur repeatedly and

is not recognized by the learner as an error.”16 It means that an error is something

that learner do not realize it and always occur, and mistake is something that

learner can correct it if needed because they know where the wrong on their work

is.

According to Hubbard et.al, “Error caused by lack of knowledge about the

target language (English) or by incorrect hypotheses about it; and mistakes caused

by temporary lapses of memory, confusion, slip of the tongue and so on.”17_Based

on the statements above, error can appear due to the insufficient knowledge or the

inappropriate rule about the language being learned; while mistake happens

because of the learner forget about the rule or their carelessness when do the

work.

Furthermore, Brown explains that; A mistake refers to performance error

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

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system correctly. All people make mistakes, in both native and second language

situation. While error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native

speaker, reflects the competence of the learner and an error that reveals of a

portion of the learner’s competence in the target language. 18

Corder made a distinction between a mistake and error. Whereas a mistake

is a random performance slip caused by fatigue, excitement, etc., and therefore

can be readily self-corrected, an error is systematic deviation made by learners

who have not yet mastered the rules of the L2. A learner cannot self-correct an

error because it is a product reflective of his or her current stage of L2

development, or underlying competence. 19

Fisiak distinguished between error and mistake as follows: “mistakes are

deviations due to performance factors such as memory limitations (e.g., mistakes

in the sequence of tenses and agreement in long sentences), spelling,

pronunciations, fatigue, emotional strain, etc. errors, on the other hand, are system

a given stage of learning.”20

According to the understanding of mistakes and error above, it can be

distinguished the difference between mistakes and errors. Mistakes are

unsystematic of production which the students could correct their own mistakes if

their attention in focus and they realize what mistakes that they had done. In the

opposite, students do not understand that they had done and consistently do the

same error. They find it so hard to correct the errors they made. Furthermore, a

mistake can be self-corrected by the students but an error cannot be self corrected

by the students.

18_{Brown, op.cit, 2007, p. 257.}

19_{Diane Larsen-Freeman and Michael H. Long, An Introduction to Second language}

Acquisition Research, (London: Longman, 1991), p. 59.

20_{Jack Fisiak, Constractive Linguistics and the Language Teacher, (New Jersey: Prentice}

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B.Error Analysis

1. Understanding of Error Analysis

There are many understanding of error analysis that is suggested by some

experts. According to Gass and Selingker, “Error analysis is a type of linguistic

analysis that focuses on the errors learners make.”21_{It means that error analysis is}

a kind of linguistic analysis that concentrates on the errors made by learners.

Brown states that “error analysis is the fact that learners do make errors

and that these errors can be observed, analyzed, and classified to reveal something

of the system operating within the learner, led to a surge of study of learner’s

errors.”22_{It implies that error analysis is a procedure including observing,}

analyzing and classifying the errors on the second language rules and disclosing

systems controlled by the learners.

Meanwhile, according to James, “error analysis is the process of

determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessful

language.”23 In other words, error analysis is the procedure to decide the

occurrence, nature, reasons and results of failed-learning of a language.

Based on some definitions above, it can be concluded that error analysis is

a type of analysis which includes the process of observing, analyzing and

classifying the errors on the second language rules and disclosing systems

controlled by the learners. It also can be said as way to investigate the error made

by students to get some important data about students’ difficulty in learning a

language. It is believed by knowing more detail about problems faced by the

students and solve it, the teacher will improve their teaching to avoid their

students in making the same error again.

2. The Procedure of Error Analysis

Ellis states that there are five steps in conducting an error analysis, they are:

1. Collecting of a sample of learner language

21_{Gass and Selingker, op.cit., 2008, p. 102.} 22_{Brown, op.cit., 2007, p. 259.}

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The type of data collected can have a marked effect on the result of an

error analysis, as a result of the different production processes which they

typically involve. For example, Logoco found differences in the number and

type of errors in samples of learner language collected by means of free

composition, translation, and picture composition.24

2. Identification of Errors

The definition of ‘error’ is problematic, as James admits. The difficulty

centers on a number of issues. The first is whether grammatically (i.e.

well-formedness) or acceptability should serve as criterion. An utterance may be

grammatically correct but pragmatically unacceptable. ‘I want to read tour

newspaper’ addressed a complete stranger is grammatical but pragmatically

unacceptable.25

3. Description of Errors

The description of errors involves a comparison of the learner’s

idiosyncratic utterance with a reconstruction of those utterances in the target

language or, more recently, with a baseline corpus of a native-speaker

language.26 Ellis also describes the category of errors as seen in the table

below:

Table 2.1

The Category of Errors

Category Description Example

Omission

The absence of an item that must appear in a well-formed utterance

She sleeping

Addition

The presence of an item that must not appear in well-formed utterance

We didn’t went there

Misinformation

The use of the wrong form of the morpheme or structure

The do dated the chicken

24_{Rod Ellis, The Study of Second Language Acquisition, (New York: Oxford University}

Press, 2008), p. 46.

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Misordering

The incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morpheme in an utterance

What daddy is doing?

4. Explanation of Errors

Explanation is concerned with establishing the source of the errors, i.e.

accounting for why it was made. This stage is the most important for SLA

research as it involves an attempt to establish the processes responsible for L2

acquisition.

5. Evaluating of Errors

Error evaluation involves a consideration of the effect that errors have on

the person (s) addressed. This effect can be gauged either the terms of the

addressee’s effective response to the errors. Error evaluation studies

proliferated in the late 1970s and in the 1980s, motivated quite explicitly by a

desire to improve language pedagogy.27

3. Goals of Error Analysis

According to Gass and Selingker “the goal of error analysis is clearly one

of pedagogical remediation.”28_{It implies that the aim of analyzing error is}

evidently educational remediation.

Norrish states that “Error analysis can give a picture of the type of

difficulty learners are experiencing. If carried out on a large scale such a survey, it

can be helpful in drawing up a curriculum.”29_{It means that an error analysis can}

give useful information about new class. In a class-or country-with different first

languages, it can indicate problems common to all and problems to particular

groups.

Whereas, Corder in Fisiak’s book makes two different purpose of error

analysis: applied and theoretical purpose. The applied purpose of error analysis is

yields valuable insights into the nature of the intermediate ‘functional

communicative systems’ or languages constructed by them. Meanwhile, the

27_{Ibid., p. 56.}

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ment of

27

theoretical purpose of error analysis is to present insight into process of acquiring

learner’s language.30

The most typical use of the analysis of the error is the teachers. It is

designing pedagogical material and strategies. Dullay states that studying

students’ errors serves two major purposes:

a. It provides data from which inferences about the nature of the language

learning process can be made.

b. It indicates to teachers and curriculum developers which part of the target

language students have most difficulty producing correctly and which errors

types detract most from a learner’s ability to communicate effectively.

According to Fisiak, there are four goals of error analysis, they are:

1. Determining the sequence of presentation of target item in text book and

classroom, with the difficult item following the easier one;

2. Deciding the relatives degree of emphasis, explanation and practice require and

putting across various items in the target language;

3. Devising remedial lesson and exercise;

4. Selecting items for testing the learners’ proficiency.

C. Grammar

1. Understanding of Grammar

Penny Ur notes that “Grammar is defined as words are put together to

make correct sentences it does not only affect how the units of words are

combined in order to make correct sentences but also affects their meaning.”31

According to Thornburry “Grammar is partly the study of what forms (or

structure) are possible in language. Traditionally, grammar has been concerned

almost exclusively with analysis at the level of the sentence formed rules that

govern how a language’s sentences are formed.”32_{In conclusion, grammar is a}

30_{Jack Fisiak, Contrastive Linguistics and the Language Teacher, (Oxford: Pergamon Press,}

1981), p. 225.

31_{Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory, (London: Cambridge}

University Press, 1996), p. 75.

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field of linguistic that involves all the various things that make up the rules of

language.

2. Types of Grammar

Grammar may be separated into two common broad categories: descriptive

and prescriptive. Both views of grammar are in wide use, although in general,

linguists tend towards a descriptive approach to grammar, while people are

teaching a specific language; English, might tend towards a more perspective

approach.33

David Crystal lists six types of grammar: descriptive grammar,

pedagogical grammar, perspective grammar, reference grammar, theoretical

grammar, and traditional grammar.34

Kathryn Riley and Frank Parker state that there are four types of grammar;

perspective grammar is primarily interested in constructing rules of usage for the

prestige variety of a language, descriptive grammar is primarily interested in

describing the basic sentence patterns of all varieties of a language. Then,

generative grammar is primarily interested in discovering those principles of

sentence formation that are part of the human biological endowment; performance

grammar is primarily interested in the effects of context and real-time limitations

on language use.35

In the writer’s opinion, grammar can be divided into two main points;

descriptive and perspective grammar that can be broken down again into many

different points with different point of views.

33_{http://www.answers.com/topic/grammar, 8 Desember 20012.} 34_{http://www.IIp.armstrong.edu/5800/types.html. 8 Desember 2012.}

35_{Kathryn Riley and Frank Parker, English Grammar: Perspective, Descriptive,}

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D.Reported Speech

1. Understanding of Reported Speech

Reported speech refers to reproducing the idea of another person’s words.

Not all of the exact words are used: verb forms and pronoun may change.36 It

means, if we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the

speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported speech (indirect) speech.

Therefore, it needs to learn how to transform direct into indirect speech. The

structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a

statement, question or request.

Michael Swan stated in Practical English Usage that reported speech was

to quote somebody’s words or thoughts without quoting the exact words that had

been used and connected it more closely to our own sentence.37 Moreover,

Thompson and Martinet state in A Practical English Grammar, “In indirect

speech we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech, without necessarily

using the speaker’s exact words.”38 It means reported speech is the form we use to

speak about what others tell us. It is quite common to tell others what someone

else has told you.

It can be known from several definitions about that reported speech is to

quote somebody’s idea or thoughts without exactly repeating the exact word

produced by the speaker.

36_{Betty Schrampfer Azar, Fundamental of English Grammar, (UK: Prentice Hall, 1992), 2}nd

ed, p. 366.

37_{Michael Swam, Practical English Usage, (Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 533.} 38_{A.J. Thompson and A.V. Martinet, A Practical English Usage, (New York: Oxford}

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2. Kinds of Reported Speech

When one wishes to report what someone else says or has said (thinks or

has thought) or what one said or thought on a previous occasion oneself; two ways

are open to one, either to give the exact words: direct speech, or to adapt the

words according to the circumstances in which they are new quoted: indirect

speech.39 In other word, there are two main ways of reporting people’s words,

thoughts, and beliefs:

a. Direct Speech

It may be given the exact words (more or less) that were said, or

imagine that were thought. This kind of structure is called “direct speech”.

Direct speech conveys exactly what someone has said, often to dramatize and

to create sense immediacy. It is found in newspaper reports, fiction, and oral

narratives40.

Example:

So he said, ‘I want to go home,’ and just walked out.

Did she say, ‘What do you want?’41

It uses quotation marks when it quotes direct speech. Single quotation

marks (‘...’) are more common in British English, and double quotation marks

(“...”) in American English.

In direct speech, usually the words quoted are introduced by one of

the words say or think, put before the quotation. In writing, quotation marks

(‘...’ or “...”) are used. In literary writing, a large number of other verbs are

used (to add variety and to give additional information); for example; ask,

exclaim, suggest, reply, cry, reflect, suppose, grunt, snarl, hiss, and whisper.

b. Indirect Speech

It can be made a speaker’s words or thoughts part of his sentence,

using conjunction (e.g that), and changing pronouns, tenses and other words

39_{Otto Jespersen, Essential English Grammar, (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd}

Publisher, 1954), p.260.

40_{Martin Parrot, Grammar for English Language Teacher, (London: Cambridge University}

Press, 2000), p. 217.

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where necessary. This kind of structure is called ‘indirect speech’ or ‘reported

speech’

Example:

So he said that he wanted to go home, and just walked out. Did she just ask what I wanted?

Commas are not put before that, what, where, etc in indirect speech

structures.

Example:

Everybody realised that I was a foreigner.

(NOT Everybody realised that,...).

Reported speech is used when it is interested not in the words that

someone has chosen, but in the essential information they conveyed. It is often

used far fewer words to report this than were originally spoken. Reported speech

is found in newspaper reports, fiction, talking, or writing about conversation,

reports, articles or speeches that have been heard or read.42

In reported speech, the tenses, word-order, pronouns and other words may

be different from those in the original sentence.

Example:

Direct speech Reported speech

He said, ‘I am going home.’ He said he was going home.

‘Is it raining?’ He asked if it was raining

He said ‘I love you.’ He said he loved me. 43

To indicate that it is quoting or reporting what someone has said or

thought is by using a reporting verb. Every reporting clause contains a reporting

verb.44_{The most neutral and most common verbs to use to introduce what are}

reported are say and tell, and choosing between these verbs often poses a problem

to learners. Say is never followed by an indirect object (e.g. him, us, them, my

sister), whereas it has to use an indirect object after tell. It is better to choose to

tell when to draw attention specifically to the person who is being addressed.

42_{Martin Parrot, loc. cit.}

43_{Michael Swan, op. cit., pp.533}_—_534.

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Example:

He said (that) he was ill. He told me (that) he was ill.45

Here is a list of reporting verbs which can be used to report what people

[image:38.595.109.535.141.492.2]

say:46

Table 2.2

The List of Reporting Verbs

Acknowledge Add Admit Advise Agree Announce Answer Argue Ask Assert Assure Beg Begin Boast Call Complain Concede Confess Confirm Continue Convince Cry Declare Demand Deny Describe Direct Discuss Dispute Enquire Explain Imply Inform Inquire Insists Instruct Invite Maintain Mention Mumble Murmur Mutter Note Notify Object observe Order Predict Proclaim Promise Prophesy Propose Reassure Recall Recite Recomm end Record Refuse Remark Remind Repeat Reply Report Request Say Scream Shout Shriek State Stipulate Suggest Swear Teach Tell Threaten Urge Vow Wail Warn Yell

The following table is some common changes in expression of time in

indirect speech:47

Table 2.3

The Common Changes of Expression Time

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Today That day

Yesterday The day before

The day before yesterday Two days before

Tomorrow The next day/the following day

45_{Martin Parrot, op. cit., pp. 217}_—_218. 46_{Sinclair, op. cit., p. 315.}

[image:38.595.111.508.582.720.2]

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dge de dict

day

The day after tomorrow In two days’ time

Next week/year, etc. The following week/year, etc.

Last week/year, etc. The previous week/year, etc.

A year, ago, etc. A year before/ the previous year

But if the speech is made and reported on the same day these time changes

are not necessary.

Example:

At breakfast this morning he said, ‘I’ll be very busy today’

At breakfast this morning he said that he would be very busy today.

3. The Transformational Rules from Direct Question into Indirect Question

Reported question is used when people want to relate a question that

someone has asked.48 As well as reporting what someone says or thinks, it can be

also reported a question that one asks or wonders about.

John Sinclair states in Collins Cobuild Grammar, “Questions in report

structures are sometimes called reported question or indirect questions. There two

main types of report structure for questions. One type of questions is called a

‘yes/no’ question. These are questions which can be answered simply with ‘yes’

or ‘no’. The other type of question is called a ‘wh’-question. These are questions

in which someone asks for for information about an event or situation. ‘Wh’

-questions cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.49 The most common verbs for

reporting questions are ask and want to know. Ones also use inquiry for formal

question and wonderfor ask oneself.50

When one reports a ‘yes/no’ questions, he/she uses an ‘if’-clause

beginning with the conjunction ‘if’, or a ‘whether’-clause beginning with the

conjunction ‘whether’. ‘If’ uses when the speaker has suggested one possibility

48_{http://.www.bbc.co.uk 25 april 2010.} 49_{John Sinclair, op. cit., pp. 322}_—_323.

50_{Mark Folley & Diane Hall,}_{Longman advanced learner’s Grammar,}_{(Pearson Education}

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that may be true. Meanwhile, ‘whether’ uses when the speaker has suggested one

possibility but has left open the question of other possibilities.51

On the other hand, when one reports a ‘wh’ question, he/she uses a ‘wh’

word at the beginning of the reported clause. There are a few verbs which can be

used before clauses beginning with ‘wh’ words, because they refer to knowing,

learning, or mentioning one of the circumstances of an event or situation.

Here is a list of verbs which can be used before clauses beginning with ‘wh’

-words:52

[image:40.595.119.538.230.453.2]

Table 2.4

The Verbs Used before Clauses Beginning ‘WH’- Words

Decide Forget Realize Suggesst

Describe Guess Remember Teach

Discover Imagine Say Tell

Discuss Know See Think

explain Learn Wonder Understand

And the following are the form of grammar rules for reported question:

1) Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject

comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or 'did':

Example: “Where does Peter live?”

She asked him where Peter lived.

2) Yes / no questions: This type of question is reported by using ask+ if

/ whether + clause:

Example: "Do you speak English?"

He asked me if I spoke English.

"Are you British or American?"

He asked me whether I was British or American.

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sst

r

nd

3) Question words: This type of question is reported by using ask +

question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal

word order and with the necessary tense change.

Example: "What is your name?" he asked me.

He asked me what my name was.

"How old is your mother?” he asked.

He asked how old her mother was.53

Note: When someone reports questions with ‘who, what or which’

+ to be+ complement, the verb ‘to be’ can come before or after the

complement.54

The other changes to note when one reports the question is that there is no

inversion (or change of the word order) of subject and verb in reported speech and

no do/does/did when the question is reported.55 On the contrary, do can be used in

indirect negative questions, as a negative auxiliary.

In addition, when someone reports another person’s words in indirect

question, he/she often has to change the tenses and pronouns used in the direct

question.

53_{http://www.edufind.com 2 November 2012}

54_{http://www.eslbase.com 12 Desember 2012}

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[image:42.595.130.548.109.503.2]

Here is a list of characteristic changes in tense forms:56

Table 2.5

The Characteristics Changes in Tense

Direct Question Indirect Question

Simple Present

‘What is the matter?’

Simple Past

She asked me what the matter was

Simple Past

‘How did you make this

salad?’

Past Perfect

I wondered how she had madethat

salad.

Present Perfect

‘Have you bought a new

outfit for it?’

Past Perfect

She wondered whether Ihad

bought a new outfit for it.

Present Progressive

‘Where are you going?’

Past Progressive

I wanted to know where she was

going.

Future

‘Will you be in Paris on

Monday?’

Conditional

He asked me if I would be in Paris

on Monday.

Here is some common change in pronouns and possessive adjectives:57

Table 2.6

The Changes of Pronoun and Passive Adjectives Direct Question Indirect Question

I He or she

Me Him or her

My His or her

we They

[image:42.595.157.489.550.682.2]

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Then, pronouns and possessive adjectives, of the 1st and 2nd persons, are

all turned into the 3rdpersons in the indirect form, as follows:

a. I, you, (singular) my, your become he, she, his, her, their.

b. We, you (plural), our, your become they, their.

In addition, when one reports the question, the word order is generally the

same as that of statements.58 Reported questions do not have the same word –

order (auxiliary verb before subject) as direct questions often have. Do and

question mark are not used.

Example: ‘Do you have the time, please?’

Someone asked me if I had the time.59

58_Ibid.

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