AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON SMP PANGUDI LUHUR YOGYAKARTA SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Yustian Pristantyo
Student Number: 081214068
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON SMP PANGUDI LUHUR YOGYAKARTA SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Yustian Pristantyo
Student Number: 081214068
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
ii
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON SMP PANGUDI LUHUR YOGYAKARTA SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS
By
Yustian Pristantyo
Student Number: 081214068
Approved by
Advisor
iii
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON SMP PANGUDI LUHUR YOGYAKARTA SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
By
Yustian Pristantyo
Student Number: 081214068
Defended before the Board of Examiners on August 15th, 2013
and Declared Acceptable
Board of Examiners
Chairperson : Caecilia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. ____________
Secretary : Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. ____________
Member : Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. ____________
Member : Drs. Pius Nurwidasa Prihatin, M.Ed., Ed.D.____________
Member : Caecilia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. ____________
Yogyakarta, August 15th, 2013
Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University
Dean,
iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, August 15th, 2013
The Writer
Yustian Pristantyo
v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Yustian Pristantyo
Nomor Mahasiswa : 081214068
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
An Error Analysis on SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta Seventh Grade Students’ Descriptive Texts
beserta alat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 15 Agustus 2013
Yang menyatakan
vi
ABSTRACT
Pristantyo, Yustian. 2013. An Error Analysis on SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta Seventh Grade Students’ Descriptive Texts. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Student’s writing ability is very important to sustain student’s achievement
in English subject. Meanwhile, the students certainly make errors in their texts.
The research utilized descriptive text to investigate students’ errors. This research also focused on the students’ errors in descriptive texts.
This study discussed two problem formulations. The first one is SMP Pangudi Luhur seventh grade students’ errors in descriptive texts. The second one is possible causes of errors of SMP Pangudi Luhur seventh grade students. The researcher employed worksheets to gather the necessary data. The research
instruments were 55 students’ worksheets.
This research was an error analysis. To answer the first question, all
students’ worksheets were examined in order to find sentences and words that
contained errors. Afterward, the researcher classified the errors found in the
students’ sentences to three main categories: syntax errors, morphological errors, and other findings. Each main category was also divided into some subcategories. The error categorization was based on Linguistic Category Taxonomy by Politzer and Ramirez as cited by Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982). To answer the second
question, the researcher finished examining and categorizing students’ errors and
afterward, the researcher concluded the possible causes of errors from the result of
students’ worksheets examination. There were five possible causes of errors based
on Norrish’s (1983).
Based on the result of this research, some conclusions were drawn. From the discussion on the first question, the researcher concluded that syntax errors are
the students’ area of difficulty. Syntax errors (63.18%) had the highest percentage compared to morphological errors (19.81%) and other findings (17 %). Most of the found errors dealt with omission and addition. The possible causes of
students’ errors were basic grammar understanding of the students,
overgeneralization, students’ carelessness, incomplete application of rules, and first language interference. The suggestions for the teacher are to employ various techniques of teaching and to provide more exposure to grammar and English texts. The suggestions for the students are to grow students’ motivation and interest of English subject, to be aware of their English errors and to increases exposure of English texts.
vii
ABSTRAK
Pristantyo, Yustian. 2013. An Error Analysis on SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta Seventh Grade Students’ Descriptive Texts. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Keahlian menulis siswa sangatlah penting dalam mempertahankan prestasi siswa dalam mata pelajaran bahasa Inggris. Sementara itu, para siswa pastilah membuat kekeliruan dalam karangan mereka. Penelitian ini terpusat pada kekeliruan-kekeliruan siswa dalam karangan deskriptif.
Penelitian ini membahas dua rumusan masalah. Rumusan masalah yang pertama adalah kekeliruan siswa kelas tujuh SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta dalam teks deskriptif. Rumusan masalah yang kedua adalah penyebab-penyebab dari kekeliruan siswa yang mungkin. Peneliti menggunakan kertas kerja siswa. Instrumen penelitian yang digunakan berjumlah 55 kertas kerja siswa.
Penelitian ini adalah analisa kekeliruan. Untuk menjawab rumusan masalah pertama, kertas kerja siswa yang terkumpul diperiksa untuk mencari kalimat-kalimat dan kata-kata yang keliru. Setelah itu, peneliti mengelompokkan kekeliruan yang ditemukan dalam tiga kategori utama: kekeliruan sintaks, kekeliruan morfologis, dan temuan lain. Pengelompokan kekeliruan ini berdasar dari Linguistic Category Taxonomy oleh Dulay, Burt dan Krashen (1982). Untuk menjawab rumusan masalah kedua, peneliti menyelesaikan pemeriksaan dan pengelompokan kekeliruan siswa dan setelah itu, peneliti menyimpulkan penyebab-penyebab kekeliruan dari pemeriksaan pekerjaan siswa. Terdapat lima penyebab kekeliruan siswa yang didasarkan pada pernyataan John Norrish
(1983).
Berdasarkan hasil dari penelitian ini, peneliti membuat beberapa kesimpulan. Dari pembahasan rumusan masalah pertama, peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa kekeliruan sintaks merupakan kesulitan utama siswa. Kekeliruan sintaks (61,6%) mempunyai persentase tertinggi dibandingkan dengan kekeliruan morfologis (20,7%) dan temuan lain (16,3%). Mayoritas kekeliruan yang ada berhubungan dengan penambahan dan pengurangan. Penyebab kekeliruan siswa yang mungkin adalah pemahaman dasar siswa akan tata bahasa, generalisasi berlebihan, kelalaian siswa, penerapan tidak lengkap dari aturan yang ada, dan pengaruh bahasa ibu. Saran untuk guru yaitu untuk menggunakan beragam teknik pengajaran dan memberikan paparan yang lebih banyak akan tata bahasa dan teks-teks bahasa Inggris. Saran untuk siswa yaitu untuk menumbuhkan minat terhadap pelajaran bahasa Inggris, sadar akan kekeliruan yang dilakukan dan meningkatkan pemaparan akan teks-teks bahasa Inggris.
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the enormous help given in finishing this
research. I would like to thank Jesus Christ for His unconditional love and mercy
that brought me into this big step of mine. I would not be able to finish this thesis
without His blessings surrounding me every single day. The completion of this
thesis was definitely because of the support and encouragement from advisor,
lecturers, family and friends.
I would like to deliver my sincere and deepest gratitude to my research
advisor, Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. for his great patience in my
‘come back’, guidance, constructive feedbacks, suggestions, encouragement,
motivation and support for me in finishing this thesis. My gratitude also goes to
all PBI lecturers of Sanata Dharma University who have given me great
knowledge to support me in future life.
I also would like to thank the headmaster SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta, Bruder Valentinus Naryo FIC, M.Pd., for his warm welcome, approval and support to me in conducting this research and the English teacher of
SMP Pangudi Luhur, Bondan Rachmat Subagya, S.Pd., who has given me chances and great help in conducting this research. I also would like to thank Bu Priscillia Linawati, S.Pd., M.Pd., Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti, S.Pd., Margareta Okta Paulina, S.Pd., and Realino Oscar Artana, S.Pd., for providing me helpful information of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta and
ix
My special gratitude goes to My Father (Late) Toesmono who has guided and inspired me from heaven since I entered college and my Mother Endang Setyowati for the great compassion and everlasting love given to me during my college life. I would like to thank my sister, Adisti Herliningtyas, S.S., for supporting and encouraging me in finishing this thesis. I also dedicate this thesis
to my budhe, (Late) Toesnindarti, who could not see my graduation and had great patience supporting me from heaven.
My special thanks go to Caroline Niken Hapsari, who has accompanied me through difficult times in finishing this thesis with her great love and patience.
I thank her for supporting and reminding me to finish this thesis. I also would like
to thank ‘Wuluh Squad’ (Ahsan, Brian, Dimas, Novianto and Dodi) and
‘Tutul Squad’ (Ahsan, Dendot, Didin, Monjali, Galih, Deni) for giving me great help and support to finish this thesis. My gratitude also goes to Christian, Sebastian, Mari, Bruder Makus, Sekar and Leoas my ‘Brothers and Sister in Arms’ of thesis struggle for sharing togetherness and help.
The last is I would like to give thanks to all my friends of English
Language Education Study Program (especially Class A,B and C of PBI Batch
2008), Rendezvous team, Bright Company ( Ratna, Ika, Tania, Yosua), Micro Teaching Lab Assistants (Seto, Boni, Nico, Paskalis, Adit, Andri), FKIP Dean officers (Mas Antok, mas Agus, Mbak Agnes, Endarto and Dhea), and‘Power
Rangers’ (Beni, Adhi Vrater, Yosua, Adam and Sherly) for the friendship,
laughter and care.
x
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... iv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 12
A. Theoretical Description ... 12 1. Error Analysis ... 12
2. Error and Mistakes ... 16
3. Sources of Error ... 18
4. Causes of Errors ... 19
xi
6. Error Taxonomy (Linguistic Category Taxonomy) ... 28
7. Descriptive Texts ... 29
B. Theoretical Framework ... 30
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 33
A. Research Method ... 33
B. Research Setting ... 34
C. Research Participant ... 34
D. Research Instrument ... 37
E. Data Gathering Technique ... 38
F. Data Analysis Technique... 38
G. Research Procedure ... 40
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 43
A. Errors Made on Descriptive Texts by Seventh Grade Students of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta ... 43
B. Possible Causes of Errors Made on Descriptive Texts by Seventh Grade Students of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta .. 72
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 75
A. Conclusions ... 75
B. Suggestions ... 77
REFERENCES ... 79
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Figures Page
3.1 A Weighted Descriptive Texts Rubric adapted from Brown (2007) ... 35
3.2. The Error Classification Table ... 39
4.1. Syntax Errors and Frequency ... 45
4.2. Morphological Errors and Frequency ... 46
4.3. Other Findings and Frequency ... 46
4.4. Number of Errors in Use of Determiners ... 48
4.5. Number of Errors in Use of Prepositions ... 53
4.6. Number of Errors in Use of Pronouns ... 54
4.7. Number of Errors in Use of Verbs ... 57
4.8. Number of Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement ... 60
4.9. Number of Errors in Use of Lexical Categories ... 62
4.10. Number of Errors in Possessive Case ... 67
4.11. Number of Errors in Noun (Singular and Plural) ... 68
4.12. Number of Errors in Use of Suffix ... 70
4.13. The Examples of Ortographic Errors ... 71
xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
Examples of Students’ Errors ... 82
APPENDIX B
Students’ Exercise of Descriptive Text and a Brief Summary of
Descriptive text ... .91
APPENDIX C
Examples of Students’ Descriptive Text ... 97
APPENDIX D
1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the researcher will introduce the field and the background
of his research. There are six parts in which the researcher presents the basic
information of the research. Those are the research background, problem
formulation, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits and
definition of terms used in the research.
A. Research Background
Students‟ writing ability is very important toward the students‟ progress. Students‟ writing ability is also very important for the students themselves in their
upcoming years. As the students learn writing, there must be an outcome of that
process. The outcome could be students‟ improved writing skill, students‟ writing scores and also students‟ writing errors. Brooks (1960) as cited by Hendrickson
(1981: 1) stated that errors have relationship with learning: “Like sin, error is to be avoided and its influence overcome, but its presence is to be expected”. Based on Brooks‟ statement (1960), it is known errors are things that normally happen in
every part of learning. Errors are also beneficial in learning process as supported
by Corder (1973: 265) as cited by Hendrickson (1981: 3) as follows.
This research was an Error Analysis and conducted based on one purpose.
It was to identify the errors in SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta seventh grade
students‟ descriptive texts. This research was conducted because the researcher
proposed to investigate the errors in SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta seventh
grade students‟ descriptive texts. The researcher decided to conduct this research because students‟ errors in writing are important to be investigated. Students‟
errors are disastrous for the students if they are not immediately taken care of.
This research also helped the teacher to pinpoint parts of his teaching
which still needs more emphasis in order to overcome the students‟ errors. This research also provided feedback in form of list of errors for the teacher as stated
previously by Corder (1973). Zydatiss (1974), Lange (1977), and Lantolf (1977)
as cited by Hendrickson (1981) stated that errors are signals that actual learning is
taking place and errors can serve as indicators of progress and success. Therefore,
this research also presented indicators of students‟ writing achievement in
descriptive texts.
In this research, the researcher had three regular seventh grade classes
consisting of 43-44 students each class for this research. The reason why the
researcher chose regular classes was that because the teacher wanted to seek out
the students‟ progress in writing, especially descriptive texts. It was because
descriptive text was taught in both semesters. In the odd semester, the students
were taught about describing person‟s appearances and characteristics. Then, in
the even semester, the students were taught about describing places. Moreover,
descriptive text in the odd semester by using material enrichment before they
learned about describing places.
In this research, the researcher utilized descriptive text for identifying
the occurred errors. The reason why the researcher chose descriptive text was
because the students of seventh grade junior high school were required to be able
to make a good composition of descriptive text. That statement is stated in
Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) syllabus. Descriptive text is also
one important kind of texts because through this kind of text, the students can use
and explore their sensory details like smells, sound, sights, feeling, tastes, and
textures to create vivid images in reader‟s mind as stated by Henry, D. J. (2008).
Descriptive texts enable the students to explore their vocabulary and senses,
especially in describing a person. The researcher provided four famous characters
and the students were required to describe one of them.
In this research, there were errors found on the students‟ descriptive texts.
One of the errors which mostly occurred in these three regular classes was that the
omission of articles. That problem was quite serious, because the students‟ understanding of using article would affect the students‟ writing result in their
upcoming time. Besides the use of article, there were found many other errors that
also were important to identify such as the use of preposition, the omission of
suffix and any other else. Those errors are important and valuable; because
identifying those errors could locate in which part the students were facing
difficulties. The teacher could also make preventive actions towards those errors
for his future students.
The benefit of this research toward the teacher was that it could help the
teacher locate the students‟ weaknesses and the teacher could revise and
emphasize on which the students were facing difficulties. This research also
assisted the students with lists of students‟ errors. Therefore, the students could know which part to be fixed in their writing. The students were expected to be
aware of their errors occurred in their descriptive texts and prevent their errors in
their upcoming time.
B. Research Problem
This research comes up with two problems. They are formulated as follows.
1. What are the errors made on descriptive texts by seventh grade students of
SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta?
2. What are the possible causes of errors made on descriptive texts by seventh
grade students of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta?
C. Problem Limitation
This research is limited only in an Error Analysis on SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students‟ descriptive texts academic year 2012/2013. The researcher chose this type of research because errors in writing would give a
disastrous impact if these problems were not immediately taken care of. The
case, descriptive texts. They needed to know the errors they made because the
errors would show their weaknesses on a particular section. Therefore, they can
improve their writing based on the Error Analysis‟ result.
Furthermore, the researcher would examine the results of the material
enrichment (materi pengayaan) which has been given in order to elaborate what kinds or errors and how many errors which appeared in students‟ descriptive texts. This research would be beneficial for the teacher in order to improve students‟
skills in writing. It also could make the students be aware of their grammar ability
and through this research; they were expected to improve their writing skill and
grammar acquisition afterwards.
D. Research Objective
This research objective is to find out the answers of the questions stated in
problem formulation as follows.
1. The errors made on descriptive texts by seventh grade students of SMP
Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta.
2. The possible causes of errors made on descriptive texts by seventh grade
students of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta
E. Research Benefit
This research was expected to be beneficial for the teacher, the researcher,
1. The teacher
This research was conducted based on students‟ errors. The problem was about writing errors in students‟ descriptive texts. The teacher will get the benefit
of this research through the research result. The teacher can emphasize more on
some parts of descriptive texts, grammar, or writing which the students were
facing difficulties in. According to Corder (1973), errors analysis could provide
useful information about the teacher‟s technique effectiveness. Therefore, the
teachers could improve their technique in teaching, especially for writing. Using
this research‟ result, the teacher could locate the students‟ weaknesses in
descriptive texts, writing and also grammar. Corder (1981: 10) also stated the
benefit of Error Analysis as follows. “First to the teacher, in that they tell him, if he undertakes a systematic analysis, how far towards the goal the learner
has progressed and, consequently, what remains for him to learn”. Afterwards, the teacher could take some preventive actions toward the students‟ errors.
2. The Researcher
This research was conducted by the researcher as a thesis to obtain
Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. This research was also beneficial for the researcher, because
this research enabled the researcher to elaborate more SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students‟ errors through Error Analysis. The problem of this research was errors in students‟ descriptive texts. The researcher attempted to
grade students‟ descriptive text. Corder (1981: 11) also stated the Error Analysis
benefit for the researcher as follows. “They provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learnt or acquired, what strategies or procedures the
learner is employing in his discovery of the language”.
3. The Students
The seventh grade students of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta were
expected to be able to improve their writing skill, in this case, descriptive text.
Corder (1981: 11) stated the Error Analysis benefit for the students as follows.
“They are indispensable to the learner himself, because we can regard the making of errors as a device the learner uses in order to learn. It is a way the learner has of testing his hypotheses about the nature of the language he is learning. The making of errors then is a strategy employed both by
children acquiring their mother tongue and by those learning a second language.”
This research also helped the students recognize their errors in their
descriptive texts. The students also can elaborate on their errors with the teacher‟s
assistance: why the errors happened in their writing, how to overcome those errors
and etc. The students could conduct peer-assessment in their classes assisted by
the teacher. Therefore, the students could correct their errors and improve their
writing skill in future time. Through this research, the students were expected to
overcome their errors and produce improved descriptive texts in the upcoming
time.
F. Definitions of Terms
In order to avoid misconception and misunderstanding, the researcher gives
1. Writing
In this study, writing is a method of expressing ideas about any subject
content; it appears in classrooms everywhere and, therefore, must be the concern
of every teacher (Tiedt, 1989). Writing is one kind of productive skill in English
language acquisition. Maggie (2003) defined writing as both a process and a
product. In writing, there is a process to make a writing composition. The
processes are stated chronologically: imagining- organizing- drafting- editing-
reading and proofreading.
Writing has a process to follow in order to obtain the best result. Besides a
process, writing is also a product. This is called similar to that fact because
writing skill is a productive skill and as a result, writing has a result in form of a
writing composition. The researcher tended to assume that writing is a product,
because in this research, the research samples were the SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students‟ descriptive texts. In this research, the researcher only examined 55 students‟ descriptive texts in order to identify the
errors and provide feedback for the teacher.
2. Descriptive Text
In this study, the term descriptive text is understood as a kind of text that
enables SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta seventh grade to visualize a person with
all appropriate senses and describe the person‟s personality. McMurrey (1983:
239) points out that description is a way to enable the reader to visualize a person,
texts enabled the students to visualize famous characters they were interested in.
Therefore, the students were expected to be able to explore more their writing
compositions through their descriptive texts. Other definition of descriptive text
by Gerot, L. and Wignell, P. (1994) as cited by Mursyid (n.d.) is that descriptive
text is a kind of text which has a purpose to give information. The context of this
text is the description of particular thing, animal, person or others. The social
function of descriptive text is to describe particular person, place or thing.
Descriptive text also has its generic structure as stated by Hammond
(1992) as cited by Mursyid (n.d.). There are two main parts of the generic
structure: Identification and Description. In identification, the phenomenon to be
described is identified and in description, the phenomenon is described by parts,
qualities, characteristics and etc. In this research, the researcher descriptive text
about people‟s appearance and character. According to Berg (2011), descriptive
texts can indicate who is in the picture. Descriptive texts actually can provide
better face labeling in describing person. Berg (2011) also stated that descriptive
texts can indicate appearance characteristics. Descriptive texts can discover visual
attributes. Through descriptive, SMP Pangudi Luhur seventh grade students were
expected to be able describe a person in details. This describing person‟s
appearance and character material had been taught in the odd semester of
academic year 2012-2013. In the even semester, the researcher still attempted to
conduct a research related to descriptive texts and Error Analysis as the teacher
3. Error Analysis
In this study, Error Analysis was proposed by the researcher as a way to
investigate the errors occurred in students‟ descriptive texts of seventh grade of
SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta. Crystal (2003: 165) as cited by Abed (2012)
defined Error Analysis as “technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the unacceptable forms produced by someone learning
a foreign language, using any of the principles and provided by linguistics”. In
addition, Keshavarz (2012: 168) as cited by Abed (2012) defined Error Analysis
as “a procedure used by both researchers and teachers which involves collecting
samples of learner language, identifying errors, classifying them according to their
nature and causes, and evaluating their seriousness”.
This research is an Error Analysis. The researcher took students‟ worksheets as the object of his research. The researcher intended to search for the
errors that occurred in the students‟ descriptive texts. Corder (1967) as cited by
Ellis (1994: 78) stated the differences between mistakes and errors. He stated
mistakes as “mistakes are akin to slips of the tongue”. He also stated errors are systematic and likely to happen repeatedly. Norrish (1983) definederrors. An error
is when a learner has not learnt something and consistently „gets it wrong‟. Error Analysis also has its own benefits. Norrish (1983) stated that Error Analysis can
give a picture of the type of difficulty learners are experiencing. The other
benefits of errors analysis stated by Norrish (1983) are an Error Analysis can give
useful information about a new class, an Error Analysis can indicate problems
assess objectively how his teaching helps the students. The researcher
implemented the steps of Error Analysis by Corder (1974) as cited by Ellis (1994)
in this research. Those steps helped the researcher conduct this research. The
researcher also added additional steps of Error Analysis by Gass and Selinker
12
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES
In this chapter, the researcher presents the related theories and literatures
that underline the research field. The related literatures are discussed here as the
basis of answering the research question. There are two parts presented in this
chapter. They are the theoretical description and the theoretical framework. In the
theoretical description, the researcher presents theories related to error analysis,
error and mistakes, sources of errors, causes of errors, error taxonomy, types of
errors, and descriptive text. In the theoretical framework, the researcher presents
the steps of conducting an error analysis on students‟ descriptive texts.
A. Theoretical Description
In this part the researcher discusses some fundamental theories of this
research.
1. Error Analysis
Crystal (2003: 165) as cited by Abed (2012) defined error analysis as
“technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the
unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a foreign language, using any
of the principles and provided by linguistics”. Keshavarz (2012: 168) as cited by
Abed (2012) defined error analysis as “a procedure used by both researchers and
teachers which involves collecting samples of learner language, identifying errors,
seriousness”. In error analysis, there are steps to follow. Corder(1974) as cited by
Ellis (1994) stated the steps of errors analysis. They are presented as follows.
a. Collection of a sample of learner language
Ellis (1994: 49) stated that “the starting point in EA is deciding what
samples of learner language to use for the analysis and how to collect these
samples”. Ellis (1994) also stated that there are three kinds of samples‟ size. They
are massive sample, specific sample, and incidental sample. Ellis (1994: 49) stated
the differences of three kinds of samples‟ size as follows.
“A massive sample involves collecting several samples of language use from a large number of learners in order to compile a comprehensive list of errors,
representative of the entire population. A specific sample consists of one sample of language use collected from a limited number of learners, while an incidental sample involves only one sample of language use produced by a single learner.”
Besides the matter of samples‟ size, Ellis (1994) stated that the researcher
also needs to pay attention on a variety of factors that the learners make errors.The
researcher also has to decide regarding the manner in which the samples are taken.
Ellis (1994: 50) stated that “an important distinction is whether the learner
language reflects natural, spontaneous language use, or is elicited in some way.
The researcher also has to decide whether to collect the samples cross-sectionally
(one point at a time) or longitudinally (successive points over a period of time)
(Ellis, 1994). Svartvik (1973b) as cited by Ellis (1994) stated that most error
analyses use regular examination papers (composition, translations, etc.)
b. Identification of Errors
Identification of errors is carried out after all samples are taken. The first
phase in identification is to decide which variety of target language should be the
tongue and the target language of the learners. In phase two, the researcher is
required to differentiate between errors and mistakes. Then, in phase three, Corder
(1971a) as cited by Ellis (1994) suggested that the researcher also has to concern
whether the errors are overt (clear deviation form) or covert (superficially
well-formed but not reflecting the learners‟ intention). In phase four, the researcher
also has to decide to investigate deviations in correctness or also deviations in
appropriateness. Those phases are the steps in identification of errors.
c. Description of errors
Ellis (1994: 54) stated that “the description of learner errors involves a
comparison of the learner‟s idiosyncratic utterances with a reconstruction of those
utterances in the target language”. Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982) as cited by
Ellis (1994) argue the need for descriptive taxonomies that focus only on
observable, surface features of errors, as a basis for subsequent explanation. In
description of errors, the researcher needs to use error taxonomy to describe the
learners‟ errors in detail.
One of error taxonomies is linguistic category taxonomy by Politzer and
Ramirez (1973). Politzer and Ramirez (1973) as cited by Ellis (1994) set their
taxonomy with more general categories: morphology, syntax and vocabulary. This
taxonomy allows for both a detailed description of specific errors and also for a
quantification of a corpus of errors. In description of errors, the researcher also
needs to quantify the errors that occurred. Schachter and Celce-Murcia (1977) as
frequency we need to know the number of times it would be possible for learners
to have committed different errors”.
d. Explanation of Errors
Ellis (1994) stated that explanation of errors is concerned with establishing
the sources of the error. In explanation of errors, the researcher is required to seek
out the sources of students‟ errors based on the collected errors. Taylor (1986) as
cited by Ellis (1994) discovers three sources of errors. They are psycholinguistic,
sociolinguistic, epistemic and discourse. Psycholinguistic sources deal with the
nature of the L2 knowledge system and the learners‟ difficulties in using the L2
knowledge system. Sociolinguistic sources deal with learners‟ ability in adjusting
their language in accordance with the social context. Epistemic sources deal with
learners‟ of world knowledge. Discourse sources deal with problems in
organization of information into a coherent „text‟.
Richards (1971b) as cited by Ellis (1994) also provides the sources of errors.
The first one is interference errors. Interference errors occur as a result of the use
of elements from one language while speaking another. The second is intralingual
errors. Intralingual errors reflect the general characteristics of rule learning such
as faulty generalization, incomplete application of rules and failure to learn
conditions under which rules apply. The third is developmental errors.
Developmental errors occur when the learner attempts to build up hypotheses
about the target language on the basis of limited experience. Those sources of
e. Evaluating Errors
Evaluating errors is the last step in error analysis. Ellis (1994: 63) stated that
“error evaluation involves a consideration of the effect that errors have on the
person(s) addressed”. Ellis (1994) also stated the design of error evaluation. Error
evaluation involves addressees, judges, errors to be judged and how to judge. The
error judgment covers semantic or lexical aspects of English, grammatical features
and spelling. In this research, the error evaluation was carried out by the teacher
based on the result of description and explanation of students‟ errors. The
researcher only assisted the teacher to identify the students‟ errors, therefore, the
teacher could take evaluate his teaching and take some precaution actions towards
the result of students‟ errors.
Other steps of error analysis were also proposed by Gass and Selinker
(2001). The steps are: (1) data need to be collected, (2) identify errors, (3) classify
errors, (4) quantify errors, (5) analysis of the source, and (6) remediation. The
steps of error analysis both by Richards (1971b) and by Gass and Selinker (2001)
share the same characteristics. In this research, the researcher primarily used
Richards‟ (1971b) steps and also considered Gass and Selinker‟s (2001) steps.
2. Error and Mistakes
The researcher considered that his research is an error analysis. Therefore,
he provided the theories related to error. Corder (1974) as cited by Ellis
(1994)stated that the researcher has to differentiate between errors and mistakes in
error and mistakes. Norrish (1983) distinguishes between error, mistake, lapse and
careless slip as they are known as “types of error”. They are explained as follows.
a. Error
Error is when a learner has not learnt something and consistently „gets it
wrong‟. Norrish (1983) also mentions that in the same way, an ESL student makes
an error systemically, that is because the student has not learnt the correct form.
Norrish (1983) calls errors as “systematic deviations”.Corder (1967) as cited by
Ellis (1994: 51) stated that “an error takes place when the deviation arises as a
result of lack knowledge. It represents a lack of competence”. Errors occur as the
result of students‟ lack of competence. Gass and Selinker (2001: 78) state that “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”. In order to differentiate between
errors and mistakes accurately, Ellis (1994)stated that frequency of occurrence is
regarded the distinctive point. Error has high frequency of occurrence. Corder
(1967) as cited by Dulay et al (1982) stated that errors are obviously systematic
deviations.
b. Mistake
Norrish (1983) stated that a mistake occurs when a learner has been taught
an English sentence pattern, and he uses the correct pattern and sometimes he uses
the incorrect pattern. If that situation happens quite inconsistently and later that
situation is called “inconsistent deviation” or “mistake”.Gass and Selinker (2001)
also define mistakes as akin to slips of the tongue. Mistakes are generally
mistake and correct it if necessary. Corder (1967) as cited by Dulay et al (1982)
stated that performance errors are apparently mistakes.
c. Lapse
Norrish (1983) also presents lapse. Lapse happens because of the lack of
concentration, shortness of memory, fatigue and other factors. Lapse happens
when the students do not obtain a good atmosphere and situation of learning for
example due to the weather, or other particular situations. Lapse is neither an error
nor a mistake and lapse can happen to anyone at any time.
d. Careless Slip
Norrish (1983) also stated careless slip. Careless slip is caused by learner‟s
inattentiveness in class. Learner‟s inattentiveness could be triggered by many
factors. The factors are class‟ situation, learners‟ concerns and any other else.
Careless slip is considered as a minor type of „errors‟.
3. Sources of Error
In this research, the researcher also presents the theories about sources of
error. The theories are presented in order to give clear explanation for the
students‟ error in descriptive texts. Sources of errors are needed in the step of
error analysis. The step is explanation of errors by Ellis (1994).
Brown (1980) as cited by Hasyim(2002) presents the sources or errors.
this is the incorrect use of rules in the target language. (3) Context of Learning.
This is the overlapping of the interlanguage transfer and intralingual transfer. The
role of teacher and textbook is very important, because teachers and textbooks
might make wrong generalization about the language.(4) Communication Strategies. Communication strategies are used as a conscious verbal mechanism for communicating when linguistics forms are not available to the students for
some reasons.
Richards (1971b) as cited by Ellis (1994: 58) also presents three sources of
errors. They are (1)interference errors. „Interference errors occur as a result of the use of elements from one language while speaking another‟. (2) Intralingual errors. „intralingualerrors reflect the general characteristics of rule learning such as faulty generalization, incomplete application of rules and failure to learn
conditions under which rules apply‟. (3) Developmental errors.„Developmental errors occur when the learner attempts to build up hypotheses about the target
language on the basis of limited experience‟.
4. Causes of Errors
Norrish (1983) presents the causes of error. That is essential because those
causes could explain the error made by seventh grade students of SMP
PangudiLuhur Yogyakarta.Those causes are presented as follows.
a. Carelessness
Norrish (1983)stated that carelessness is often done due to lack of
capabilities. One aid to overcome those “carelessness” problems is to get the
students to check each other‟s work. This activity requires the students‟
capabilities in English and English can be used as a class language in this activity.
b. First Language Interference
Norrish (1983)stated that learning language whether it is a mother tongue
or a foreign language is a matter of habit formation. The learners‟ utterances were
elaborated to be gradually shaped towards the language they were learning.
Skinner (1957) as cited by Norrish (1983) stated a definitive statement of
behaviorist theory of language learning. It says that a language is essentially a set
of habits, and then when the learners try to learn the new habits, the former habits
will interfere with the new habits. That is called mother tongue interference. The
most appropriate way for teachers to overcome the first language interference is to
re-teach a given structure, or a piece of vocabulary, in a way which allows the
students to see the language item from as many points of view as possible. In
addition to that way, the student must have chance to use the items in an
appropriate situation.
c. Translation
Norrish (1983) also says that another popular idea why students make
errors is due to translation. The students often do word-by-word translation in
translating idiomatic expression. Errors due to translation may occur during the
discussion. It is where students have reached the stage of concentrating more on
the message (things they want to deliver) than the code they are using to express it
considered as a communication strategy. That means a learner can express himself
in the language he is learning using „interlanguage‟ as bridge between his own
language and the target language.
d. Overgeneralization
George (1972) as cited by Norrish (1983) explains an approach in study
learner‟s errors. They are Overgeneralization by Richards (1974) and Redundancy
Reduction by George (1972). The example of overgeneralization is that the
students construct a deviant structure. Norrish (1983: 31) also stated that this error
occur as “a blend of two structures in the „standard version‟ of the language” and
also as “a result of blending structures learnt in the learning sequence”. Richards
(1971b) as cited by Ellis (1994:59) says that “overgeneralization errors arise when
the learner creates a deviant structure on the basis of other structures in the target
language. Overgeneralization error generally involves the creation of one deviant
structure in place of two target language structures”. The examples of
overgeneralization are presented as follows.
e.g.: a. We are visit the zoo.
b. She must goes.
c.Yesterday I walk to the shop and I buy.
e. Incomplete Application of Rules
Richards (1974) as cited by Norrish (1983) adds another kind of errors and
that is incomplete application of rules. In this kind of error, Richards (1974) as
cited by Norrish (1983: 32) suggests two possible causes of this error. They are
discover that the learner can communicate perfectly adequately using deviant
forms”. In this error, the students tend to use deviant forms of language. Richards
(1971b) as cited by Ellis (1994: 59) also explains that “incomplete application of
rules involves a failure to fully develop a structure.” Richards (1971b) as cited by
Ellis (1994) also says that incomplete application of rules is included in
intralingual errors. The examples of incomplete application of rules are presented
below.
e.g.: Teacher: Ask her where she lives.
Students: Where you (she) live(s)?
f. Material Induced Errors
Norrish (1983) also stated there are two reasons regarded material
induced errors. The first is a “false concept” and the second is “ignorance of rule
restrictions”.False concept occurs when the material do not use appropriate
context to explain the learners. The example of false concept is the use of present
progressive tense in descriptive texts. Richards (1971b) as cited by Ellis (1994:
59) explains that “false concepts hypothesized arise when the learner does not
fully comprehend a distinction in the target language”. Richards (1971b) as cited
by Ellis (1994: 59) also explains that “ignorance of rule restrictions involves the
application of rules to the contexts where they do not apply”.It is probably more
difficult to avoid errors from ignorance of rule restriction than it is to avoid false
g. Error as a part of language creativity
Norrish (1983) stated that the learners who have limited capability in
English would form a hypothetical rules related to English on insufficient
evidence. The learners need to create new utterances, but with limited capability,
they may make mistakes or even errors. Language creativity is divided into two
major factors. The first factor is that the students‟ incapability to follow the target
language rules. The second factor is creative arts. It deals with some works on
literature such poems, novels or prose.
The causes of errors by Norrish (1983) have been presented by the
researcher. Those causes are essential because the origin of students can be found
out by searching through those causes. In this research, the researcher also
implements as Norrish (1983) suggested. It is to use correcting codes. The
purpose of using correcting codes is that because correcting codes can lead the
learners to work out for themselves what is wrong and to figure out some way
towards correcting it. Norrish (1983) suggested some codes to correct students‟
writing. They are T (tense), WF (word form), WO (word order), S (syntax), A
(agreement), V (vocabulary), Sp (spelling), P (punctuation), Art (article), R
(reference unclear), St (style) and many more. The researcher made correcting codes which were adopted from Linguistic Category Taxonomy by Politzer and
Ramirez cited by Dulay et al (1982). Those codes could facilitate the teacher to
give comments in a more student-friendly way instead putting a bunch of red ink
5. Types of Errors
Dulay et al (1982) explain the types of errors. These theories of error type
underline this error analysis. They are presented as follows.
a. Omission
Dulay et al (1982) stated that omission happens because of the absence of
an item that must appear in well-formed utterance. Some morphemes are potential
to be omitted in writing. They are two kinds of morpheme, content morpheme and
grammatical morpheme. The phenomenon that is often seen is the omission of the
grammatical morphemes. The grammatical morphemes are noun and verb
inflections (the s- in birds), articles (a, an, the), verb auxiliaries (is, will, can, is,
was, am, etc), and prepositions (in, on, under,etc.)
b. Additions
Dulay et al (1982) stated that addition errors are the opposite of omissions.
In this type or errors, the errors are characterized by the presence of an item which
must not appear in a well-formed utterance. This error happens because of the
result of the too faithful use of certain rules. Additions are also divided into three
different parts. They are double markings, regularizations, and simple additions.
1) Double Markings
In some cases, the students who have acquired the tensed form for
auxiliary and verb often place the marker on both. Dulay et al (1982: 156) stated
certain items which are required in some linguistic constructions, but not in
others”. The examples are he doesn’t knows my name or we didn’t knew about
it.The error above is called double markings, because two items rather than one
are marked for the same feature.
2) Regularization (additions)
Dulay et al (1982) say that a rule typically applies to all linguistic items,
however, some members of a class are exception to the rule. Regularization errors
that are included in the addition category are those in which a marker that is
typically added to a linguistic item is erroneously added to exceptional items of
the given class that do not take a marker. The examples of regularization errors
are eat- eated instead of ate, beat- beatedinstead of beat, sheep-sheepsinstead of sheep, put-putted instead of put and etc.
3) Simple Addition
Simple addition is the last category of additions. If an addition error is
neither a double marking nor a regularization error, it is called simple addition.
This error is still based on adding unnecessary morphemes to sentences, and
words. The examples of simple addition error are the train is gonnabroke it (past
tense), a this (article a), and etc.
c. Misformation
Dulay et al (1982) stated that misformation errors are characterized by the
use of wrong form of the morpheme or structure. The example of misformation
while it is not necessary. Misformation is also divided in three parts. They are
regularizations, archi-forms, and alternating forms.
1) Regularization Errors (misformation)
This error is caused by a regular marker used in a place if an irregular one.
The examples are run- runnedinstead of run, goose- gooses instead of geese. Regularization errors occurred most in the verbal output of both first and second
language learners. Dulay et al (1982: 160) also stated that “the overextension of
linguistic rules to exceptional items occurs even after some facility with the
language has been acquired”.
2) Archi forms
The selection of one member of a class of forms to represent others in the
class is a common characteristic of all stages of second language acquisition. The
students‟ selected forms are called archi forms. For example, the students choose
one demonstrative adjective (that, these, those, this) to add with some words,
thatcar- that cars.Dulay et al (1982) stated that “for the learner, that is the archi-demonstrative adjective representing the entire class of archi-demonstrative adjectives”.
3) Alternating forms.
These forms are still students‟ selected forms. This error happens because
of the influence of the students‟ grammar-vocabulary grow. In this error, the
d. Misordering
Dulay et al (1982) state that misordering error is characterized by the
incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes in an
utterance.Misordering occurs systemically both in L1or L2 learners. For example,
they produce wrong type of questions such what daddy is doing? The correct form is what is daddy doing?
e. Interlingual errors
Dulay et al (1982) stated that interlingual errors happen because the
influence of students‟ native language. The sentences or words that are made are
semantically similar or equivalent with the students‟ native language structure.
For example, Spanish students may produce the man skinny, because they are
influenced by their native language structure. That error is caused by the Spanish
adjectival phrase (el hombre flaco).
f. Ambiguous Errors
Dulay et al (1982) stated that ambiguous errors are classified both as
developmental error and interlingual error. This error reflects the students‟ native
language structure and children acquiring first language. The example for this
error is I no have car. In that example, it is shown that “no” shows two alternate error origin, the students‟ native language structure and also children acquiring
6. Error Taxonomy (Linguistic Category Taxonomy)
This research is considered as an error analysis. Due to that fact, the
researcher used Linguistic Category Taxonomy by Politzer and Ramirez (1973)
asDulay et al suggest (1982). Dulay et al (1982) as cited by Ellis (1994: 54) argue
“the need for descriptive taxonomies of errors that focus only on observable,
surface features of errors, as a basis for subsequent explanation”. Ellis (1994) also
stated that the simplest type of descriptive taxonomy is based on linguistic
category.
Politzer and Ramirez (1973) as cited by Ellis (1994) begin their taxonomy
with more general categories: morphology, syntax and vocabulary and they say
that Linguistic Category Taxonomy allows for both a detailed description of
specific errors and also for a quantification of a corpus of errors.The researcher
used Linguistic Category Taxonomytoclassify the students‟ errors and using this
taxonomy, the classification was faster and easier. The researcher used Linguistic
Category Taxonomy to project the errors from general categories: syntax,
morphology and other findings. Other findings consist of two kinds of errors:
orthographic and lexico-semantic (Keshavarz, 2012as cited by Abed, 2012). After
classified into generalcategories, the errors were, then, classified into some more
specific categories such as omission, addition and etc, and it can enable the
researcher to investigate deeper on the students‟ errors. The researcher also
combined Linguistic Category Taxonomyby Politzer and Ramirez (1973) as cited
by Dulay et al (1982) with types or errors by Dulay et al (1982) in order to
7. Descriptive Texts
McMurrey (1983) defined descriptionas a term used rather loosely in
ordinary conversation and it is used to explain person, place or things with
providing sensory details. McMurrey (1983) also says that description is often
combined with other kinds of writing, especially narration. The goal of description
as stated by McMurrey (1983) is to enable the reader to visualize a person, place
or thing and the details must be provided as many as possible.Descriptive text also
has its generic structure as stated by Hammond (1992) as cited by Mursyid (n.d.).
There are two main parts of the generic structure: Identification and Description.
In identification, the phenomenon to be described is identified and in description,
the phenomenon is described by parts, qualities, characteristics and etc.
Besides generic structure, descriptive text also has its language features as
stated by Hammond (1992) as cited by Mursyid (n.d.). They are: (1)Descriptive texts focus on a specific participant. The examples are my favorite public figure, my beloved pet, and etc. Descriptive texts are made to describe one thing in
detail.(2)Descriptive textsuse simple present tense. Simple present is used in descriptive texts because simple present tense explains general truth. Azar and
Hagen (2009) define the simple present tense as follows.simple present expresses
events or situations that always exist. The writer may use simple past tense if the
thing to describe does not longer exist.
(3) Descriptive textsuseverbs of being and having. The examples are: My pet is really lovely. It has a soft beautiful white fur. Verbs of being and having
texts may be coherently composed. (4) Descriptive textsuse descriptive adjectives. The examples of descriptive adjectives are white fur, strong legs, and black hair. Descriptive adjectives or attributive adjectives enable the writer to
clearly describe the condition of item described. (5) Descriptive textsuse detailed noun phrase. The examples of detailed noun phrase arevery outstanding performance, sweet young lady, and etc. The purpose of using detailed noun
phrase is to give information about the subject.
(6)Descriptive textsuse action verbs. The purpose of using action verbs is to explain material processes such asIt eats flesh, It runs slow.(6)Descriptive textsuse adverbials. The purpose of using adverbials isto give additional information about the behavior of the object of description such fast, at tree house
(7) Descriptive textsuse figurative language. Figurative language is used to clearly describe the object of description. The kinds of figurative language are
simile, metaphor, personification and etc. Another use of figurative language is to
compare the object of description with something else. One example of figurative
language is John is white as chalk.
B. Theoretical Framework
This research wasan error analysis on SMP PangudiLuhur Yogyakarta
seventh grade students‟ descriptive texts. The researcher proposed to conduct an
error analysis to investigate students‟ errors and find the possible causesof the
students‟ errors. The researcher chose error analysis as a way to investigate errors
in Chapter 2 to conduct this research. Those theories were used as guidance in
examining students‟ errors.
The researcher implemented the steps of error analysis by Corder (1974)
as cited Ellis (1994). Those steps were carried out one step at a time. In collecting
samples, the researcher took massive samples because the samples which were
taken covered three regular classes. Then, in identification of errors, the
researcher searched all the errors and decided whether they are errors or mistakes.
The researcher also decided to choose overt or covert errors to be investigated.
After identifying the errors, the researcher described the occurred errors in
description of errors. In description of errors, the researcher explained the errors
with assistance from Linguistic Category Taxonomy by Politzer and Ramirez as
cited by Dulay et al (1982). The researcher also used types of errors by Dulay et al
(1982) such as omission, addition and etc to clearly explain the errors. In this step,
the researcher also quantified errors that occurred as suggested by Ellis (1994) and
also Gass and Selinker (2001). That process was carried out to reveal the most
errors which the students produced. Then, in explanation of errors, the researcher
revealed the sources of students‟ errors. The last step is evaluation of errors.
However, the researcher did not carry out error evaluation because error
evaluation is the teacher‟s duty. The researcher only provided feedbackin what
extent the students committed errors and understood the descriptive texts.
The researcher continued to seek out the causes of SMP PangudiLuhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students‟ errors in descriptive texts. The theories were
SMP PangudiLuhur Yogyakarta seventh grade students‟ errors in descriptive
texts. The data gathering was conducted through students‟worksheets. The
students‟ worksheets were collected from material enrichment (materipengayaan).
The students‟ worksheets were taken by the teacher giving as an assignment. The
students‟ worksheets were then examined with some error analysis aspects such as
steps of error analysis, source of errors, causes of errors, and types of errors and
33
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researcher will present the research method, research
setting, research participants, instrument and data gathering technique, data
analysis technique, and research procedure.
A. Research Method
The research focused on errors which occurred in SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students’ descriptive texts. The purpose of this research
was to investigate errors in descriptive texts committed by SMP Pangudi Luhur
Yogyakarta seventh grade students and provide feedback for the teacher as Corder
(1973) as cited by Hendrickson (1981) stated. This research was to showcase
kinds of students’ errors in descriptive texts and provide valuable information and
feedback for the teacher. In this research, the researcher followed the steps of
error analysis by Corder (1974) as cited by Ellis (1994). The steps are: (1)
collection of a sample learner language, (2) identification of errors, (3) description
of errors, (4) explanation of errors, and (5) evaluation of errors. The researcher
followed all of those steps in sequences in order to analyze students’ errors in
descriptive texts.
The researcher classified the errors into three main categories. They are
morphological, syntactical and other findings. This research also aimed to seek the
stated by Corder (1974) as cited by Hendrickson (1981) that error analysis
purpose is to provide feedback, the researcher only presented the result of this
research to the teacher as feedback. Therefore, the researcher did not spent more
time on teaching or fixing some ways of teaching, yet this research only required
students’ worksheets of descriptive texts. The data from the student was examined
and analyzed afterwards by the researcher without any intervention either from the
teacher or the students.
B. Research Setting
This research was conducted in Sekolah Menengah Pertama Pangudi
Luhur Yogyakarta in the even semester of academic year 2012/ 2013 and to be
specific, in April 20th, 2013. This school was selected to be the field of research
because this school was proven as one of the best junior high schools in
Yogyakarta. That fact was seen from the intelligence of the students. The
researcher chose seventh grade students because seventh grade students had
descriptive text in the odd semester of academic year 2012/ 2013.
C. Research Participants
The participants of this research were fifty students from three regular
seventh grade classes of SMP Pangudi Luhur Yogyakarta Yogyakarta. The
researcher chose systematic sampling to define the objects of the research. The
total of collected students’ descriptive texts was 110 worksheets. The researcher
