ERROR ANALYSIS ON BASIC NOUN PHRASES
IN DESCRIPTIVE WRITING OF VIIF STUDENTS
OF SMP PANGUDI LUHUR 1 YOGYAKARTA
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Okta Paulina
Student Number: 081214009
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
ERROR ANALYSIS ON BASIC NOUN PHRASES
IN DESCRIPTIVE WRITING OF VIIF STUDENTS
OF SMP PANGUDI LUHUR 1 YOGYAKARTA
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Margaretha Okta Paulina
Student Number: 081214009
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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Conceive, believe, achieve…
(Anonymous)
v
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, 5 December 2012
The Writer,
Margaretha Okta Paulina
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Margaretha Okta Paulina
Nomor Mahasiswa : 08 1214 009
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
Error Analysis on Basic Noun Phrases in Descriptive Writing of VIIF Students of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta
beserta perangkat 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, mendistribusikannya secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet
atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin 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: 5 Desember 2012
Yang menyatakan
vii newspapers, and other sources of information. Since BNP are common, they must be mastered and formed well. Mastering BNP enables the students to grasp general idea and specific information and also build good sentences and paragraphs. However, VII graders of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta had problems and frequently made errors in forming BNP. This study aims to identify BNP errors made by the students, discover possible causes of the students’ errors and make suggestions to improve students’ understanding of BNP.
The researcher undertook a document analysis. There were three research problems in this study: 1) What are BNP errors made by the students? 2) What are possible causes of their errors? and 3) What are suggestions to improve students’ understanding of BNP? In responding to the first and second research problems, the researcher analyzed documents which are the students’ descriptive writing. In identifying possible causes of the students’ errors and making suggestions, the researcher conducted interviews to three English teachers and also three students, one made the most errors, one made the fewest errors and one made the greatest range of different types of errors. The participants of the study were 38 VIIF graders and three English teachers of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta in the 2011/2012 academic year. The theories applied to obtain the data were theories of a descriptive text and BNP proposed by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1972) and Lam (2004), and then to analyze the data, theories of error analysis, surface strategy taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt & Krashen (1983), causes of errors proposed by Brown (2000) and Indonesian noun phrases proposed by Alwi, Dardjowidjojo, Lapoliwa and Moeliono (1993) and Chaer (2009) were applied.
The finding showed that the students made 8 misformation errors in type 1 BNP. In type 2 BNP, the students made 76 omission errors (43.6%), 53 misformation errors (30.4%), 36 addition errors (20.9%) and 1 misordering error (0.5%). While, three possible causes of the students’ errors are interferences from the mother tongue, overgeralization and the context of learning. The result of the interview revealed that there are several suggestions to improve students’ understanding of BNP, namely giving feedback and increasing practice of the language through interesting activities. In addition, the researcher also offered recommendations for the teachers, students and the researchers who are interested in this topic.
viii
koran dan berbagai sumber informasi lainnya. Karena mudah ditemukan, maka
BNP harus dikuasai dan dibuat dengan benar. Dengan menguasai BNP, para siswa
dapat memahami gagasan utama dan informasi rinci dan mampu membuat kalimat dan paragraf yang benar. Namun, siswa kelas VII SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta mengalami kesulitan dalam membuat BNP. Mereka hampir selalu membuat kesalahan saat membuat BNP. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi BNP errors yang dibuat oleh para siswa, mengetahui penyebab siswa membuat kesalahan dan memberikan anjuran untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan siswa tentang BNP.
Peneliti melakukan document analysis. Ada tiga pertanyaan dalam kajian ini: 1) Kesalahan apa saja yang dibuat siswa? 2) Apa yang menyebabkan siswa-siswa membuat kesalahan? dan 3) Apa anjuran yang mungkin diberikan untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan siswa tentang BNP? Untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama dan kedua, peneliti menganalisis dokumen yang merupakan karangan deskriptif para siswa. Untuk mengidentifikasi penyebab kesalahan siswa dan memberikan anjuran, peneliti mengadakan wawancara terhadap tiga guru Bahasa Inggris dan tiga siswa yang membuat kesalahan terbanyak, tersedikit dan yang digunakan adalah teori error analysis, teori surface strategy taxonomy yang dikemukan oleh Dulay, Burt & Krashen (1983), teori penyebab kesalahan yang dikemukakan oleh Brown (2000) dan teori frasa nominal yang dikemukakan oleh Alwi, Dardjowidjojo, Lapoliwa & Moeliono (1993) dan Chaer (2009).
Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa siswa membuat 8 kesalahan
misformation di BNP type 1. Di BNP type 2, siswa membuat 76 omission
(43.6%), 53 misformation (30.4%), 36 addition (20.9%) and 1 misordering (0.5%). Sementara itu, tiga penyebab siswa melakukan kesalahan adalah pengaruh dari bahasa ibu, overgeneralization dan context of learning. Hasil wawancara menunjukkan bahwa ada beberapa anjuran untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan siswa tentang BNP yaitu dengan memberikan feedback dan meningkatkan latihan bahasa melalui aktivitas yang menarik. Selain itu, peneliti juga memberikan saran untuk guru, siswa dan peneliti lainnya yang tertarik dengan bidang ini.
Kata kunci: kesalahan, analisis kesalahan, frase kata benda sederhana, teks
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my never-ending gratitude to Lord
Jesus Christ, who already created me, Mother Mary, who always blesses me and
everyone who helps me in my frustrating thesis time. Without them, I am sure that
this thesis would be still empty now.
I am so delighted to have this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude
to my sponsor, Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., for his patience, guidance,
valuable suggestions and encouragement throughout this process. His way to
criticize my thesis was like a whip for me; it reminded me to force myself to do
my thesis with all my heart and to finish this thesis well. Big thanks are also
expressed to the PBI lecturers and the staff for supporting me in completing this
thesis in the right time.
I would like to thank Br. Valentinus Naryo, FIC, M.Pd., A. Ismargyaning
Utami, S.Pd., Pricillia Linawati Cahya P., S.Pd., M.Hum., M. Dyah Lintang P.,
S.Pd, Isidorus Sumardiyono, Msi., the other teachers and the staff of SMP
Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta for their kindness and priceless help. For VIIF
students, I would like to thank them for their willingness to do the assignments.
Sincere thanks are also expressed to the English teachers and the students who had
become the interviewees.
I would also like to express my special gratitude to my dearest parents,
Tanto Wiratno and Ana Sumiyarti for raising me until now and for my only one
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support, love, prayers and beneficial suggestions. Their assistance in my life is a
wonderful gift for me.
Special thanks go to Damianus Deni Kurnianto for being my number one
supporter. His love, support, patience, attention and prayer have motivated me to
finish this thesis and reminded me that there are still a lot of things to do to turn
my dreams into reality.
I would also like to express my appreciation to my dear friends in PSM
Cantus Firmus, PBI 2008, Nityambara, Ohunka, kost mb Desti, narlim and murai,
PPL SMP PL 1 and KKN 24 for helping me in the process of finding who I am.
Besides, their continuous questions about my graduation were like an alarm for
me to wake me up and finish this thesis sooner and better.
My deepest gratefulness also goes to Pricillia Linawati Cahya P., S.Pd.
M.Hum. and Yohannes Jatmiko Yuwono, S.Pd for their precious suggestions to
improve this thesis. I also thank Marita Elisabeth Arnold for being my proofreader
and a great teacher. I also thank her for her support and willingness to share her
experiences in teaching English and learning languages. It was fun and inspiring!
Sincere thanks also go to Sr. Margaret O’ Donohue FCJ, for her patience in
helping me to correct and proofread this thesis. Throughout my lifetime I will
remember their kindness and priceless help to me.
Last but not least, I would also like to express my gratitude to those whose
names I cannot mention here, especially to everyone who had supported and
helped me in finishing this thesis. Matur nuwun lan Berkah Dalem!
xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi
LIST OF TABLES ... xv
LIST OF FIGURES ... xvi
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xvii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the study ... 1
B. Problem of Formulation ... 4
C. Problem Limitation ... 4
D. Objectives of the study ... 5
E. Research Benefits ... 6
F. Definition of Terms ... 6
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ... 9
1. Error and Error Analysis... ... 9
a. Errors ... 9
b. Error Analysis ... 11
c. Types of errors ... 11
1) Linguistic Category Taxonomy ... 11
xii
a) Omission ... 12
b) Addition ... 12
c) Misformation ... 13
d) Misordering ... 13
3) Comparative Analysis Taxonomy ... 14
4) Communicative Effect Taxonomy ... 14
d. The Causes of Errors ... 14
e. Suggestions to Improve Students’ Understanding ... 15
2. Basic Noun Phrases (BNP) ... 16
a. Type 1 BNP: Pronouns and Numerals ... 17
1) Pronouns ... 17
a) Personal Pronouns ... 17
b) Possesive Pronouns ... 17
c) Indefinite Pronouns ... 18
d) Demonstrative Pronouns ... 18
e) Interrogative Pronouns ... 18
2) Numerals ... 18
a) Cardinal Numbers ... 18
b) Ordinal Numbers ... 18
b. Type 2 BNP: Noun Head with Determiners ... 18
1) Determiners ... 19
a) Predeterminers ... 19
b) Central Determiners ... 20
c) Postdeterminers ... 21
2) Noun Heads ... 22
a) The countable nouns ... 22
b) The uncountable nouns or mass nouns... 22
c) The proper nouns... 22
3. A Descriptive Text ... 22
a. Purpose ... 23
xiii
c. Language Feature ... 23
d. Types of Descriptive texts ... 23
1) Describing Process ... 23
2) Describing an Object ... 24
3) Describing a Place ... 24
4) Describing Personality ... 24
5) Describing an Event ... 24
4. Indonesian Grammar Theories ... 25
a. Indonesian Noun Phrases ... 25
b. Singular and Plural ... 26
1) Singular Concept ... 27
2) Plural Concept ... 27
c. Pronomina Penunjuk Atributif ... 29
B. Theoretical Framework ... 29
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ... 32
B. Research Setting ... 33
C. Research Participants/subjects ... 33
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique ... 34
1. Instruments ... 34
a. Documents ... 34
b. Interview Protocol ... 35
2. Data Gathering Technique ... 35
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 36
F. Research Procedure ... 40
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. The Errors in Basic Noun Phrases ... 43
1. Type 1... 46
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2. Type 2... 48
a. Omission ... 49
b. Addition ... 50
c. Misformation ... 52
d. Misordering ... 56
B. The Possible Causes of the Errors ... 56
1. Interferences from the Mother Tongue ... 58
2. Overgeneralization ... 59
3. Context of Learning ... 60
C. The Possible Suggestions to Improve Students’ Understanding about Basic Noun Phrases ... 62
1. Giving Feedback ... 63
2. Increasing Practice of the Language through Interesting Activities ... 64
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions ... 66
B. Recommendations ... 68
1. For English Teachers... 68
2. For Students ... 69
3. For Future Researchers ... 69
REFERENCES ... 70
xv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 The Number of Basic Noun Phrases (BNP) and Errors Based on each
Error Sub-classifications ... 37
3.2 The Number of Type 1 BNP Errors ... 38
3.3 The Number of Type 1 BNP Errors ... 38
3.4 Errors in each Student’s Writing ... 38
3.5 The Summary of Type 1 BNP Error Sub-classifications and Their Examples... 39
3.6 The Summary of Type 1 BNP Error Sub-classifications and Their Examples... 39
3.7 Possible Correction ... 39
4.1 The Number of Basic Noun Phrases and the Errors ... 44
4.2 Type 1 BNP Errors (Misformation) ... 47
4.3 Type 2 BNP Errors (Omission) ... 49
4.4 Type 2 BNP Errors (Addition) ... 50
4.5 Type 2 BNP Errors (Misformation) ... 52
4.6 Type 2 BNP Errors (Misordering) ... 56
xvi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 Basic Noun Phrases Type 1... 17
2.2 Basic Noun Phrases Type 2... 19
xvii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
Appendix 1 Surat Ijin Penelitian ... 78
Appendix 2 Sample of the Student’s Descriptive Writing ... 80
Appendix 3 The Number of BNP and the Errors Based on each Category . 82 Appendix 4 The Number of Errors in Type 1 ... 85
Appendix 5 The Number of Errors in Type 2 ... 87
Appendix 6 Errors in each Student’s Writing ... 90
Appendix 7 Possible Correction ... 98
Appendix 8 Interview Results ... 101
1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides general introduction to the research. There are six
sections that will be discussed. They are the background of the study, problem
formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study and
definition of terms.
A. Background of the Study
English, which is the foreign language and most commonly taught in
Indonesia, is not easy to learn. There are three elements of English language that
should be mastered, namely language structure usually called grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation. Radford (1997) says that grammar relates to the
rule about the construction of sentences (p.1). He also says that grammar is
traditionally concerned with the principles which determine the formation of
words, phrases, and sentences. Similarly, Thornbury (as cited in Pramesi, 2010)
argues that in order to acquire English accuracy, learners have to focus on form
(p. 1). In other words, second language learners should focus on the form of
grammatically correct words, phrases and sentences to master English grammar
and acquire English accuracy.
Noun phrases, basic element of the English grammar, must be well-formed
because they are common in English sentences. The existence of noun phrases in
can function as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, complements of the
subject, complements of the object, objects of prepositions, and/or appositions.
Noun phrases are a word or group of words that contain a noun or pronoun as the
head and which are modified by other words, for example: the girl, that book, etc.
Therefore, since noun phrases are frequently found and play an important role in
forming English sentences, they should be well-formed.
Indonesian students learning English are expected to be able to form noun
phrases well. Constructing well-formed noun phrases enables students to build
good sentences and paragraphs. Moreover, since noun phrases are common and
easily found in text books, magazines, newspapers, and other sources of
information, the students who master noun phrases are able to grasp general idea
and specific information in the texts as well.
In order to acquire well-formed noun phrases, the students are expected to
practise a lot. One of errors that the researcher found in the process of learning
was related to forming correct noun phrases. When the researcher became a
student teacher and a temporary English teacher in SMP Pangudi Luhur 1
Yogyakarta for five months during the 2011/2012 academic year, most of the
seventh graders found problems forming basic noun phrases. The researcher asked
the seventh graders to change the singular form this is a potato into its plural
form, these are many potatoes. Some of the students answered this is a potatoes,
these are two potato or these are a potatoes which are all incorrect. This example
shows that the students still lack knowledge about nouns and numerals which are
Considering this situation, the researcher was encouraged to analyze the
students’ errors in forming noun phrases. However, in this study the researcher
only focuses on the basic noun phrase, a type of a noun phrase, since it is an
essential foundation of noun phrases. The researcher also uses a descriptive text
type as an analytical tool for obtaining the data. As seen in the list of School
Based Curriculum or Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP), students are
familiar with a descriptive text until they finish learning in their secondary school.
Related to a descriptive text, everybody is expected to be able to describe
anything in real life. Describing anything clearer requires detailed information and
involves five senses such as sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Similarly, the
students are also expected to be able to describe anything in a text as detailed as
possible, for instance depicting the quantity, condition or quality of the things
being described. Therefore, since the students’ descriptive text deals with the
quantity, certain amount of numbers and nouns, basic noun phrases would be
easily found there.
The students’ descriptive writing might show errors and mistakes. Ellis
(1997) describes that mistakes are made by learners because they fail to show and
perform what they have already understood. On the contrary, errors occur when
learners do not master a concept or even misunderstand it (p. 17). Since
distinguishing errors and mistakes is not simple, this study does not differentiate
those two terms which are actually different. In other words, in this study the term
or failure to perform what the students have already understood about basic noun
phrase formation.
To sum up, this study focuses on errors in forming basic noun phrases
made by seventh grade students and uses the students’ descriptive texts as the
analytical tool to obtain the data. This study aims to find out the errors made by
the students through the students’ descriptive writing, discover the possible causes
of their errors and make suggestions to improve the students’ understanding of
basic noun phrases through an interview. Hopefully, by knowing students’ errors,
both the teachers and students are able to make better adjustments of what
teachers need to develop the quality of the teaching-learning process and of what
students need to improve and enrich their knowledge about basic noun phrases.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problems that can be formulated:
1. What are the basic noun phrase errors made by the students?
2. What are the possible causes of the students’ basic noun phrase errors?
3. What are suggestions to improve the students’ understanding of basic noun
phrases?
C. Problem Limitation
This study focuses on basic noun phrases made by VIIF grade students.
errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation of the whole paragraph of the
students’ descriptive writing were disregarded.
Since the study deals with seventh grade, this study is relevant to the
School Based Curriculum or KTSP which focuses on a text type, namely a
descriptive text. A descriptive text is chosen because it is closely related to the
students’ real life which is expected to be able to describe anything around them.
Besides, it also uses simple English tense, namely simple present tense.
Furthermore, it also deals with numbers and nouns which describe the quantity
and the quality of the things being described, so the basic noun phrases would be
easily found in the students’ descriptive writing.
The researcher is interested in selecting thirty eight students of RSBI
(Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf International) classes or International Designated
Rating Schools VIIF class of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta in the 2011/2012
academic year to be the participants of the study. It is because the researcher
found the problem there and hopefully this study provides feedback for them and
other classes that have the same problems forming basic noun phrases.
D. Objectives of the Study
This study is conducted in responding to the research problems formulated
in the problem formulation. Thus, the objectives of the study are to find out the
errors made by the students, discover the possible causes of the students’ errors,
and make several suggestions to improve students’ understanding of basic noun
E. Research Benefits
The researcher expects that the findings of the study may give contribution
for further development. Besides, there are some benefits aimed at the students,
teachers, and other researchers. For students, hopefully this study helps the
students to enrich their knowledge about basic noun phrases and improves their
writing skill, especially in forming grammatically correct English basic noun
phrases. It is also expected that the students would realize that the more they
practice the more they have a good command of the material, in this case basic
noun phrases.
For teachers, hopefully this study will help them to be aware of students’
needs and weaknesses so that they will make better improvement on their teaching
techniques. It is also expected that whatever the reasons the students have for
“getting it wrong,” the teachers should realize that students making errors is a
natural part of the learning process. The last, for future researchers, hopefully, this
study could inspire other researchers to conduct the study and follow up this study
further.
F. Definition of Terms
It is important to give appropriate information about the definition that the
researcher mentioned in this study to avoid misunderstanding and to lead the
readers to a better understanding on the topic being discussed. Several terms that
1. Error Analysis
Richards, Platt, & Platt (1992) state that “error analysis is the study and
the analysis of errors made by second language learners” (p. 127). Dulay, Burt &
Krashen (1982) concludes that “error analysis has two major purposes: to provide
data from which inferences about the nature of the language learning process can
be made; and to show which part of the target language students have most
difficulty producing correctly and which error type detract most from a learner’s
ability to communicate effectively” (p. 138). In this study, the term error analysis
refers to a study which identifies, describes and explains second language
learners’ errors to provide data analysis and feedback.
In addition, in this study the researcher does not differentiate between
errors and mistakes since distinguishing those two terms is not a simple task.
Thus, in this study the term errors refer to any of the students’ misproduction
which shows misunderstanding or failure to perform what the students have
already understood about basic noun phrase formation.
2. Basic Noun Phrases
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1972) state that basic noun phrase
is a word or group of words which contain a noun or pronoun as the head. Basic
noun phrase can be comprised of the head nouns with determiners or determiners
modified by pre-determiners and/or post-determiners (p. 127). In this study, basic
noun phrases are divided into two types. It is supported by Quirk et al. (1972) and
Lam (2004) who also state that basic noun phrases are classified into two types.
While type 2 basic noun phrase, it is comprised of a noun as the head and
determiners which occur before the head. In addition, this study focuses on basic
noun phrases made by VIIF grade students. Thus, any errors in grammar and
punctuation of the whole paragraph of the students’ descriptive writing were
disregarded.
3. Descriptive Writing
In this study, the term descriptive writing refers to the students’ English
assignment. The students are asked to write a descriptive text based on a picture
provided in their worksheets. In that picture, there is a farm and several farm
animals live there. The purpose of providing the picture in the student’s
assignment is to help the students to focus only on that picture so that they can
point out the actual object. Besides, it also helps the researcher to obtain data
about basic noun phrases since there are several farm animals and objects drawn
in the picture which deal with nouns and numerals.
4. VIIF Grade Students of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta
VIIF is one of the classes in SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta. This is the
first grade of junior high school level. VIIF grade students had problems in
forming basic noun phrases. They frequently made errors in forming basic noun
phrases. Therefore, to deal with identifying students’ basic noun phrase errors, the
9
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter aims to discuss the fundamental theories underlying this
study. There are two elements discussed in this chapter; theoretical description in
which relevant theories and research studies on the topic are outlined and
theoretical framework which relates these theories to the present study.
A. Theoretical Description
This section is divided into four subsections: error and error analysis, basic
noun phrases, a descriptive text and Indonesian grammar theories.
1. Error and Error analysis
This subsection explains the five main theories supporting this study: a)
errors, b) error analysis, c) types of errors, d) possible causes of errors and e)
suggestions to improve students’ understanding of basic noun phrases.
a. Error
Defining the term errors is not a simple task because it has often been used
synonymously with the term mistakes. Some scholars have tried to distinguish
between those two terms. Ellis (1997) states that mistakes are derivations in usage
that reflect the learners’ inability to use what they actually know of the target
language. In other words, mistakes are made by learners because they fail to show
and perform what they have already understood. In contrast to mistakes, Ellis
knowledge of the target language. In other words, errors occur when learners do
not master a concept or even misunderstand it (p. 17).
On the other hand, Dulay, Burt, & Krashen (1982) use the term errors to
refer to “any deviation from some selected norm of mature language performance,
no matter what the characteristics or causes of the deviation might be” (p. 139).
Radford (1997) has proposed another way of defining errors. He states that
misproductions and misinterpretations are performance errors. He defines
competence as having tacit knowledge of the grammar of the language; while
performance, which is the reflection of the competence, is the actual use of
language in concrete situations (p. 2). Similarly, Brown (2000) defines
competence as one’s underlying knowledge of a system, event, or fact whereas
performance is the realization of competence (p. 30).
Considering that distinguishing errors and mistakes is not simple, this
study does not differentiate those two terms. This study drew on the theories of
error proposed by Ellis (1997), Dulay et al. (1982) and Radford (1997). In other
words, in this study the term errors refers to any of the students’ misproduction
which shows misunderstanding or failure to perform what the students have
already understood about basic noun phrase formation.
b. Error Analysis
According to Richards et al. (1992), error analysis is the study and analysis
of the errors made by second language learners. Error analysis may be carried out
for several reasons: in order to identify strategies which learners use in language
common difficulties in language learning, and as an aid to teaching or in the
preparation of teaching materials (p. 127).
Dulay et al. (1982) add that error analysis is the study of learners’ error
and closely related to contrastive analysis. They state, based on contrastive
analysis, that the differences between the first and the second languages were
thought to account for the majority of a second language learner’s errors (p. 140).
According to Corder (1967), as cited by Ellis, Rod, & Barkhuizen (2005),
error analysis (EA) is “a set of procedures for identifying, describing, and
explaining learner errors.” They add that learner’s errors have three significant
roles in error analysis. They serve a pedagogic purpose by showing teachers what
learners have learned and what they have not yet mastered; a research purpose by
providing evidence about how languages are learned; and a learning purpose by
acting as devices by which learners can discover the rules of the target language
(i.e. by obtaining feedback on their errors) (p. 51). In brief, error analysis is a
study which identifies, describes and explains second language learners’ errors to
provide data analysis and feedback.
c. Types of Errors
Dulay et al. (1982) present the most useful and commonly used bases for
the descriptive classification of errors. They are (1) linguistic category; (2) surface
strategy taxonomy; (3) comparative analysis; and (4) communicative effect.
1) Linguistic Category Taxonomy
The linguistic category taxonomy classifies errors “according to either or
affects.” Language component include phonology (pronunciation), syntax and
morphology (grammar), semantics and lexicon (meaning and vocabulary), and
discourse (style). Constituents include the elements that comprise each language
component.
2) Surface Strategy Taxonomy
Surface strategy taxonomy highlights the ways surface structures are
altered. This taxonomy more concerns with identifying students’ cognitive
process of acquiring a new language. This taxonomy is divided into four
sub-classifications, namely omission, addition, misformation, and misordering.
a) Omission
Omission errors are characterized by the absence of an item that must
appear in a well-formed sentence, for example, *Mary president new company
instead of Mary is the president of the new company.
b) Addition
Addition errors are characterized by the presence of an item which must
not appear in a well-formed sentence. There are three types of addition errors,
namely double marking, regularization, and simple addition. Double marking
refers to an error which contains two or more items that are marked for the same
feature e.g. *We didn’t went there. Besides, regularization errors that fall under
the addition category are those in which a marker that is typically added to a
linguistic item is erroneously added to exceptional items of given class that do not
take a marker. For example, sheeps and putted are both regularizations in which
added to items which do not take markers. The last type of addition errors is
simple addition. If an addition error is not a double marking or a regularization, it
is called a simple addition.
c) Misformation
Misformation errors are characterized by the use of the wrong form of
morpheme or structure. While in omission errors the item is not supplied at all, in
misformation errors the learner supplies something, although it is incorrect, for
example, *the dog eated the chicken. As in the case of addition, misformations are
not random. There are three types of misformations errors, namely regularization
errors, archi-forms, and alternating forms.
Regularization errors that fall under the misformation category are those in
which a regular marker is used in place of an irregular one, as in *runned, *gooses
for geese. Archi-forms refer to forms selected by the learners. Dulay et al. (1982)
give example, a learner may temporarily select just one of the English
demonstrative adjectives this, that, these, and those, to do the work for several of
them, as seen in that dog and *that dogs. The last type is alternating forms.
Alternating forms refer to apparently fairly free alternation of various member of
a class with each other as seen in *those dog and *this cats (p. 160).
d) Misordering
Misordering errors are characterized by the incorrect placement of a
morpheme or group of morpheme in a well-formed sentence. For example, *he is
3) Comparative Analysis Taxonomy
Dulay et al. (1982) state that the classification of errors in a comparative
taxonomy is based on comparisons between the structure of second language and
certain other types of constructions (p. 163). According to Johnson and Johnson
(1999), as cited in Harendita (2009), in comparative taxonomy, the second
language learners’ errors are classified by similarity with the children’s first
language learner deviations from target language norms and/or similarity with the
errors made by second language speakers from different first language
background (p. 14).
4) Communicative Effect Taxonomy
The communicative effect taxonomy deals with errors from the
perspective of their effect on the listener or reader. It focuses on distinguishing
between errors that seem to cause miscommunication and those that do not.
d. The Causes of errors
Making mistakes or errors cannot be avoided in learning a language. There
are some possible causes of language learners’ errors that they made when they
were learning a language. Brown (2000) states, there are three major factors
which contribute to the learners’ errors. First, interlingual transfer, it is
interference from the mother tongue during the second language learning process.
Second, intralingual transfer; it refers to the overgeneralization within the target
language. The more they acquire parts of a new system, the more intralingual
example, the classroom with its teacher and material. The teacher or the materials
may lead the students to make faulty hypothesis about the language (pp. 223-225).
e. Suggestions to Improve Students’ Understanding
Some scholars have proposed some suggestions to improve students’
understanding of material being taught. Dulay et al. (1983), as cited in Harendita
(2009); state that exposure to formal language environment, which consists of rule
explanation and mechanical practice, can be helpful to increase students’
understanding about the material explained (p. 16). Besides, Ellis (2002) also state
that practice stage aims to “transfer what they know from short-term to long-term
memory” (p. 168). In addition, Dörnyei (2001) also suggests that the teacher
should be able to make the learning stimulating and enjoyable. They should break
the monotonous learning, make tasks more interesting and increasing the
involvement of the students (p. 73). In other words, interesting practices and
enjoyable activities would enable the students to keep and understand the material
in long-term memory.
In addition, according to Harmer (2007), the teachers should give feedback
in order to help to clarify the language in the students’ mind. He also states that
the explanation from the students’ peers can help out (p. 97). Similarly, Lewis
(2002), states that some benefits can be obtained from feedback. Feedback
provides information, language input and advice about learning. It also can lead
2. Basic Noun Phrases (BNP)
Noun phrases are easily found because they are normally used in a
sentence. Close (1975) states that a noun phrase is a group of words in which a
noun is the head and in which the other words modify the head. He adds that noun
phrases can function as subject, direct object, indirect object, complement of the
subject, complement of the object, object of prepositions, and apposition (p. 21).
In addition, Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1972) classify noun phrases
into two categories, namely basic noun phrases and complex noun phrases.
Basic noun phrases consist of pronouns of different types or numerals.
They also comprise the head nouns with determiners or determiners modified by
pre-determiners and/or post-determiners. Quirk et al. (1972) state
…’basic noun phrase’ consisting of pronouns and numerals and of nouns with articles or other closed-system items that can occur before the noun head including predeterminers like all, determiners like these, ‘ordinals’ like last, and quantifiers like few (p. 127).
In other words, Quirk et al. (1972) classify basic noun phrases into two types; 1)
pronouns or numerals, 2) noun head with closed system items. Similarly, Lam
(2004) also states that there are two types of basic noun phrases; 1) pronouns or
numerals as the head, 2) noun heads with determiners.
In contrast to basic noun phrase, complex noun phrases have three classes
which set up on the basis of their position; they are the head, the premodification
and the postmodification. Premodification compromises all the items placed
before the head. Determiners may be added to these pre-heads. While
post-modification takes place after the head notably prepositional and adverbial
dealt with basic noun
es of basic noun phrases as the guidance to iden
asic noun phrases are briefly presented below.
ic Noun Phrase: Pronouns or Numerals
phrases type 1 consists of head only, those a
ronouns or numerals are the minimal requi
ic noun phrase. If the noun phrase consists of a
numerals, the head must be realized as a plural
per noun or a pronoun. Thus, basic noun phrase
Figure 2.1: Basic Noun Phrases Type 1
artvik (1975) state that pronouns are words wh
hrase or as the head of a noun phrase. Many
cements for noun phrases in context (p. 275).
c) Indefinite pronouns:
(5) Someone keeps this farm clean and tidy.
(6) Everyone will be happy to see this farm.
d) Demonstrative pronouns:
(7) Those are black horses.
(8) This is my favorite piglet.
e) Interrogative pronouns:
(9) What is a husbandry?
(10) Where is the cock?
2) Numerals
According to Quirk et al. (1972), apart from pronouns, numerals including
cardinal numbers (‘one’, ‘two’, etc.) and ordinal numbers (‘first’, ‘second’, tenth,
last etc.) can form basic noun phrases (p. 225), as in:
a) Cardinal Number
(11) Two is better that one.
b) Ordinal Number
(12) So the last will be first, and the first last.
b. Type 2 Basic Noun Phrase: The Head with Determiners
Type 2 basic noun phrase is comprised of a noun as the head and
determiners which occur before head. Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik
(1990) distinguish determiners into three classes which set up on the basis of their
central determiners an
Figure 2.2: Basic Noun Phrases Type 2
iners alf, etc
(1990) state that predeterminers can occur only
but, since they are quantifiers, they do not
ative’ determiners: every, some, any, no,
ve of-constructions, which are optional w
sonal pronouns (p. 75):
he horses stand near their pen.
ice, three/ four… times, etc
type occurs with non-count and plural count n
oting number, amount, etc:
ary is double their salaries.
two-fifths, etc
artvik (1975) state that the fraction one-third, tw
(1972) add that those fractions can also be followed by determiners and have the
alternative of-construction. For instance,
(15) He did it in one-third (of) the time it took me.
b) Central Determiners Articles
According to Quirk et al. (1990), the definite and indefinite articles are the
most common central determiners and their distribution is dependent upon the
class of the accompanying noun. Relating definiteness to number, there is the
following system for count and non-count nouns:
COUNT NON-COUNT
SINGULAR definite the book the music
indefinite a book music
PLURAL definite the books
indefinite books zero article
Beside the sole definite article the, there are two indefinite articles a and zero, the
former occurring with singular count nouns, its zero analogue with non-count and
plural count nouns. Both the and a have a different form when the following word
begins with a vowel, though the does not display the difference in writing:
The bird [ðə] ~ the owl [ði] A bird [ə] ~ an olw [ən] (p. 73)
Demonstratives Adjectives
Determiners this and that occur with non-count and singular count nouns
while these and those occur with plural count nouns:
(16) I prefer this music to that music.
Possessives
There are five determiners which are called possessive, namely my, our,
your, his, her, its, their, etc.
(18) I admire her house.
(19) Their bodies are so fat.
Quantifiers
Like indefinite article, there are determiners that co-occur only with
singular count nouns:
(20) We need to interview every/each student separately.
(21) There is no parking permitted on either side of the street.
(22) Parking is permitted on neither side of the street.
Like zero articles, there are determiners that can co-occur only with non-count and
plural count nouns:
(23) I would like some bread/some rolls, please.
(24) We haven’t any bread/any rolls left.
c) Postdeterminers
According to Quirk et al. (1990), postdeterminers take their place
immediately after determiners just as predeterminers take their place immediately
before determiners. Postdeterminers fall into two classes (p. 77):
Ordinal numerals such as first, second, last, other etc. Quantifiers such as two, ninety, many, few, plenty of, a lot of.
Where they can co-occur, items (a) usually precede items (b); for example:
(26) A black horse is just watching other two horses from their cages.
Among the (b) items, there are two important distinctions involving few and little.
First, few occurs only with plural count nouns, little only with non-count nouns.
Second, when preceded by a, each has a positive meaning; without a, each has
negative meaning. Thus:
(27) I play a few games (ie ‘several’). I play few games (ie ‘hardly any’)
(28) She ate a little bread (ie ‘some’). She ate little bread (ie ‘hardly any’)
2) Noun Head
A head noun is the most important member which characterizes the basic
noun phrase. Therefore, the existence of a head in the basic noun phrase is
obligatory. There are some kinds of nouns which function as the head; they are:
a) The countable nouns:
(29) Horses are strong enough to bring some loads.
b) The uncountable nouns or mass nouns:
(30) The farm is running out of water.
c) The proper nouns:
(31) Smith has a large farm.
3. A Descriptive Text
D’Angelo (1980) describes that a descriptive text is closely related to a
mental process. It means picturing images verbally in speech or writing and
of impressions (p. 116). Its purpose, generic structure, and the language feature
are explained below:
a. Purpose
The goal of description is to enable the reader to visualize everything as
much detailed as possible. McMurrey (1983: 239) adds that the description
requires detailed information and sense impressions which involve five senses
such as sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.
b. Generic Structure
The generic structure of a descriptive text is 1) identification (mention the
special participant that will be described), 2) description (mention the part,
quality, quantity, and characteristics of the object being described), and 3)
conclusion.
c. Language Features
The language features of a descriptive text are the use of noun phrases,
adjectives, linking verbs, simple present and past tense, and degree of comparison.
d. Types of A Descriptive Text
According to McKay (1983), a descriptive text is divided into five types.
The types of descriptive texts are outlined below.
1) Describing a Process
Describing a process is to explain how something is done. The
grammatical focus of describing process is imperatives and the use of
2) Describing an Object
The best way to describe the physical characteristics of an object is to
point out the actual object or to show a picture of it. A description of the
important characteristics of the objects such as its quantity and quality is an
obligatory. The grammatical focus of describing an object is noun phrases, articles
and subject-verb agreement.
3) Describing a Place
The same as an object, the best way to describe a place is to show
someone the actual place or to take a picture of it. The grammatical focus of type
describing a place is subject-verb agreement and articles (a, an, the).
4) Describing Personality
The focus of describing personality is on describing one characteristic of
an individual and providing specific details that illustrate that characteristic. The
grammatical focus of describing a personality is past tense or present tense,
pronoun reference and descriptive adjectives of human characteristics.
5) Describing an Event
In describing an event, it is important to indicate the order in which things
occurred. One way to make this sequence clear is the choice of verb tense and
connecting devices such as before, after, and while. The grammatical focus of
4. Indonesian G
several Indonesian grammar theories pre
heories were chosen because they were selecte
ifferences to English grammar. They also
n forming basic noun phrases. The discus
re: a) Indonesian noun phrases, b) singular and
enunjuk atributif.
Noun Phrases
9) says that Frase nominal (FN) or Indonesian n
t contains a noun as the head and fills one or t
an function as subject, object and complement
widjojo, Lapoliwa and Moeliono (1993) state
hrase can be followed by a noun or more than
is ended with one of pronomina penunjuk
noun called pewatas depan or pre modifier.
at are commonly used; they are numeralia
sifier. Numerals take their place before the clas
Numeral is used to count people, animals, things and concept. Like
English, Indonesian differentiates numerals into two types; they are cardinal
numeral (e.g. satu ‘one,’ dua ‘two,’ banyak ‘many,’ semua ‘all,’ se- ‘a/ an,’ tiap
‘every’ etc.) and ordinal numeral (e.g. keenam ‘sixth,’ dua koma lima (2.5) ‘two
point five,’ etc). Besides, according to Dwijatmoko (1992), penggolong or
classifier shows the kind of noun which comes with a quantifier. Its use is
optional. There are a lot of classifiers used in Bahasa Indonesia. He adds that
there are three main classifiers used; namely orang, which literally means
‘person,’ for persons, buah, which literally means ‘fruit,’ for inanimate things and
ekor, which literally means ‘tail,’ for animals (p. 30). Nomina ‘noun’ is similar to
countable and uncountable nouns in English, for example teman ‘friend,’ buku
‘book’ and kera ‘monkey.’ Since the use of quantifiers in bahasa Indonesia is
optional, they can be either used or omitted. For instance,
(32) Belilah tiga buah buku tulis.
(33) Belilah tiga buku tulis.
Those two examples have the same meaning although classifier buah is omitted in
example (33).
b. Singular and Plural
Both Bahasa Indonesia and English have singular and plural concepts.
Indonesian calls singular as tunggal and plural as jamak. According to Gradiana
(2010), the functions of singular and plural noun in Bahasa Indonesia and English
are similar, but the concepts of the words indicating the nouns are different in
1) Singular Concept
Bahasa Indonesia uses se- to indicate singular noun. For instance,
(34) Seorang murid sedang membaca sebuah buku.
(35) Seorang murid sedang membaca buku.
The example (34) illustrates that there is a student who is reading a book.
Se-, which is a classifier, in seorang murid means one student. Similarly, se- in
sebuah buku also refers to one book. However, the use of se- is optional. Alwi et
al. (1993) state that classifiers indicating tunggal ‘singular’ can be omitted since it
does not change the meaning of the sentence (p. 314). Thus, se- can be omitted
like in the example (35). Although the word sebuah is omitted, its meaning is still
the same as the example (34). In other words, the example (35) does not use
sebuah, but it is understood that it is impossible to read many books in the same
time (p. 313). On the other hand, to indicate tunggal or singular in English, article
a must be added to every singular generic and singular indefinite countable nouns.
2) Plural Concept
Chaer (2009) says that in Bahasa Indonesia, people usually use numerals
and quantifiers like banyak ‘many,’ sedikit ‘few,’ beberapa ‘some,’ semua ‘all,’
setengah ‘half’ and kurang lebih ‘more or less’ to indicate quantity and plurality.
In addition, the words indicate unit like kilo ‘kilo,’ hektar ‘hectare,’ gelas ‘glass’
and cangkir ‘cup’ should also be added and put before the uncountable nouns to
indicate quantity (pp. 52-53).
(36) Ada banyak hewan di peternakan itu.
In other words, in Bahasa Indonesia, numerals and quantifiers (optional)
are added before nouns to indicate plurality. Similarly, in English, numerals and
quantifiers are also added before nouns to indicate plurality. Besides, in English
plural marker -s/-ies/-es must also be put in the end of regular countable nouns to
indicate plurality.
Besides, in Bahasa Indonesia, plurality can also be stated by pengulangan
or ‘reduplication.’ Reduplication means the repetition of parts or the whole word
which appearing the new meaning to mark a grammatical or semantic contrast, for
instance, orang-orang ‘people,’ meja-meja ‘tables.’ However, Alwi et al. (1993)
state that a word can also mean plural without adding any words indicating plurals
(p. 313). For instance,
(38) anjing suka tulang.
Depending on its context, the example above means all dogs like bones. It
is unacceptable among Indonesian people to say anjing-anjing suka tulang-tulang.
Alwi et al. (1993) agree that reduplication is not identical with plural form
because reduplication supports other meaning. Reduplication can be used to refer
similarities, for example, kekanak-kanakan ‘childish,’ and mobil-mobilan ‘playing
cars.’ In other words, though reduplication can be used to show plural form, it
cannot be used to indicate plural generic nouns. In brief, in Bahasa Indonesia
numeral and quantifiers (optional) are added to nouns to indicate plurality. On the
other hand, in English plural marker -s/-ies/-es should be put to regular countable
c. Pronomina Penunjuk Atributif
Bahasa Indonesia has pronomina penunjuk atributif which has almost the
same function as demonstratives in English grammar. Pronomina penunjuk
atributif is used as pewatas subyek or postmodifier. It is used when the speaker
and the listener share the same reference yet the pronomina penunjuk atributif
depends on the distance between the speaker and the thing referred, not the
countability. Alwi et al. (1993) explains there are two pronomina penunjuk
atributif used in Indonesia, namely ini and itu. Ini is used to refer to things both
singular and plural which are near the speaker. While itu, it is used to refer to both
singular and plural things which are far from the speaker (p. 287). For instance
(39) Pohon itu ditanam oleh Reinwardt.
(40) Bunga-bunga itu ditanam oleh Pak Hasan.
Those explanations show that Bahasa Indonesia does not differentiate ini
and itu based on countability. It is different from demonstrative rule which
considers countability.
B. Theoretical Framework
This study focuses on the students’ basic noun phrase. As the framework,
some points can be summed up. The researcher uses the theory of basic noun
phrases proposed by Quirk et al. (1972) and Lam (2004) and a descriptive text to
obtain the data. According to Quirk et al. (1972) and Lam (2004), a basic noun
phrase is classified into two types. Type 1 basic noun phrase consists of head
comprised of a noun as the head and determiners which occur before the head. In
relation to a descriptive text, the researcher took describing an object, a type of a
descriptive text, as the analytical tool to obtain data.
The major theories which are used to analyze data are an error analysis and
a surface strategy taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt, & Krashen (1982). Dealing
with errors, the researcher does not differentiate between mistakes and errors. In
this study, the term errors is drawn from the theories of errors proposed by Ellis
(1997) who differentiates between error and mistake, Dulay et al. (1982) who call
errors as any deviation from the norm of selected norm of mature language
performance and Radford (1997) who states that misproductions and
misinterpretations are performance errors. Thus, in this study, the term errors refer
to any of the students’ misproduction which shows misunderstanding or failure to
perform what the students have already understood about basic noun phrase
formation.
In relation to classifying the errors, the theory of surface strategy
taxonomy proposed by Dullay (1982) is relevant to the focus of this error analysis.
There are four error sub-classifications, namely (1) omission (2) addition (which
covers double marking, regularization, and simple addition) (3) misformation
(which consists of regularization, archi-form, and alternating form) and (4)
misordering. Nevertheless, the researcher does not differentiate between
archi-forms and alternating archi-forms as they both refer to errors as the result of free
In addition, besides the interview results and the researcher analysis, the
theory of the causes of errors proposed by Brown (2000) is helpful in identifying
the possible causes of the students’ errors. Here, the researcher highlights three
possible causes of the students’ errors; they are interferences from mother tongue,
overgeneralization and the context of learning. To see the interlingual transfer, the
researcher explains it based on Indonesian noun phrase theory proposed by Alwi
et al. (1993), Chaer (2009) and Dwijatmoko (1992).
Moreover, there are several suggestions offered by the students and the
English teachers to improve students’ understanding. Then, based on the interview
results, the researcher presents two suggestions: giving feedback and increasing
practices through interesting activities. The theory of giving feedback is proposed
by Harmer (2007) and Lewis (2002). Furthermore, the theory of increasing
practices through interesting activities is proposed by Dulay (1983) as cited in
32
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter will include a discussion of the method that is used in the
study, the research setting, the research participants/subjects, the research
instruments and data gathering techniques employed, the data analysis technique
and research procedures.
A. Research Method
This study has three research aims. First, it seeks to basic noun phrase
errors made by the students in the SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta. Second, it
attempts to discover the possible causes of the students’ errors and third, it
suggests strategies for improving students’ understanding of basic noun phrases.
To respond to these research problems, the researcher used a qualitative approach
since the study dealt with data primarily collected from documents and interviews.
This study was a document analysis. Ary, Jacobs & Sorensen (2010) state
a document analysis aims to identify specified characteristics of written or visual
materials (p. 457). This method was chosen because the researcher analyzed the
written data in the form of students’ descriptive writing. Ary et al. (2010) argue
that the qualitative researcher collects some numeric data as attempts to arrive at
rich description of people, object, events, places conversation and so on (p. 425).
Similarly, this study also includes numbers which are generated to enable the
B. Research Setting
The study was conducted at SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta. This study
of students’ descriptive writing ability was undertaken in the second semester of
the school year because one of the curriculum outcomes in the second semester
was to achieve a standard of competence in descriptive writing. The data was
collected from English teachers at the school between April 30 and May 16, 2012.
An interview was also conducted at SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta on
September 3, 2012, from 11.30 to 14.00 AM.
C. Research Participants/Subjects
The sample of this study was obtained using purposive sampling.
According to Ary et al. (2010) in purposive sampling, sample elements judged to
be typical or representative are chosen from the population. The population in this
study is made up of two hundred and thirty seventh graders at SMP Pangudi
Luhur 1 Yogyakarta in six classes which are divided into two RSBI (Rintisan
Sekolah Bertaraf International) classes or International Designated Rating
Schools and four regular classes. However, the researcher only gathered data from
one of the RSBI classes since it was not possible to involve all students in each
class as participants.
Thirty eight VIIF graders of SMP Pangudi Luhur 1 Yogyakarta in
2011/2012 academic year participated in this study. In addition, interview data
was obtained from three VIIF graders and three English teachers at SMP Pangudi
because the researcher attempted to conduct a qualitative study which focuses in
depth on the research problems. Consequently, as stated by Ary et al. (2010) the
result of the study using purposive sampling may be misleading. This is because
limited and typical participants will not be typical over a period of time (p. 156).
Therefore, this study does not intend to generalize to a larger population.
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique
This section explains the research instruments and the techniques used to
gather data. A detailed explanation of the research instruments and the data
gathering techniques will be presented in the following subsections.
1. Instruments
The researcher used two research instruments in the study: documents and
an interview protocol.
a. Documents
This study analyzed students’ descriptive writing. The students’
descriptive writing did not need to be transcribed since it was already in written
form. This descriptive writing was based on a picture which was given in a
worksheet. According to Ary et al. (2010), the students’ writing can be considered
as primary a source as it was written by people who experienced the phenomena
under study directly (443). The focus of the study was based on the students’
ability to form basic noun phrase in writing.
