A Thesis
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement for S1-Degree
By EVI FITRIA NPM. 1211040102
Study Program : English Education
Advisor : Bambang Irfani, M. Pd Co-Advisor : Nunun Indrasari, M.Pd
TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY THE STATE INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
ii
THE FIRST SEMESTER OF THE EIGHTH GRADE OF SMPN 1 KARYA PENGGAWA PESISIR BARAT IN 2016/2017 ACADEMIC YEAR
By: Evi Fitria
In this research, the writer focused on the correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text. The objective of this research was to know whether there was a correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text at the first semester of the eighth grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 academic year. There were two variables in this research, the independent variable, students’ simple present tense mastery (X) and dependent variable, students’ ability in writing descriptive text (Y).
This is a correlation research. It is used to know the correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text. In taking the sample of the research, cluster random sampling was applied. The population of the research was taken from the students of eighth grade at SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 academic year. The sample of the research was taken 30 students from 121 population. In collecting the data of this research, the writer used objective test that were multiple choices consisted of 40 items test and writing descriptive text test. In this research, SPSS was used to compute Rank Spearmans’ formula.
After doing the hypothetical testing, the result demonstrated that there was positive correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text. Based on the data analysis computed by using SPSS, it was obtained that Sig = 0,001 and α = 0.05. It means that Ha is accepted because Sig < α = 0.05.
v
Tense Mastery and their Ability in Writing Descriptive Text at the First Semester of
the Eighth Grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 Academic Year” is completely my own work, I am fully aware that I have quoted some
statement and theories from various sources and they are properly acknowledged in
the text.
Bandar Lampung, 20 October 2016 Declared by,
Evi Fitria
vi
“Say : Nun. By pen and what they inscribe, you are not [ O Muhammad ] by the favor
of your lord a madman. And indeed for you is a reward uninterrupted. And indeed
you are of a great moral character.”1
vii
1. My beloved parents, Mr. Mat Halim and Mrs. Mursyidah who have already
prayed and supported for my success, and advised me all the time.
2. My beloved brothers, Ilham Aripin, Rizki Sanjaya, and Pegi Ramadan who
always motivate me to succeed.
viii
She is the first child of Mr. Mat Halim and Mrs. Mursyidah. She has three brothers.
She lives at Jalan Lintas Bengkulu Kelurahan Way Sindi, Kecamatan Karya
Penggawa, Pesisir Barat.
The writer began her study in Elementary School at SDN 1 Way Sindi Pesisir Barat
in 2000 and graduated in 2006. She continued her study in Junior High School at
SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat and Graduated in 2009. After that, she
continued her study to MAN 1 Krui Pesisir Barat and graduated in 2012. After
finishing her study in MAN, she decided to study in English Education Program of
Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty of State Institute of Islamic Studies Raden
ix
blessing and mercy given to the writer during her study and in completing this final
project. Then, the best wishes and salutation be upon the great messenger prophet
Muhammad S.A.W
This thesis presented to the English Education study program of IAIN Raden Intan
Lampung. The primary aim of writng this thesis is to fulfill a part of students’ task in
partial fulfillment of the requirement to obtain S1-degree.
For that reason, the writer would like to thank the following people for their ideas,
time and guidance for this thesis:
1. Dr. H. Chairul Anwar, M.Pd, the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher
Training and his staff who have given and opportunity and the help for the
writer when on going the study until the accomplishment of this thesis.
2. Meisuri, M.Pd, the Chairwoman of English Education Study Program of IAIN
Raden Intan Lampung who has given help to complete this thesis.
3. Bambang Irfani, M.Pd, the advisor who patiently guided the writer until the
completion of this thesis.
4. Nunun Indrasari, M.Pd, the co-advisor has guided the writer a lot until the
x
Melda Wati S.Pd, the English teacher, all administration staff and the eighth
grade students of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat for allowing her to
carry out the research in their institution.
7. Her beloved father, Mr. Mat Halim and mother, Mrs. Mursyidah, as well as
her beloved brother for their support, love, and everything that she cannot tell
all in words.
8. Her beloved friends, especially friends in class D who gave greately
contribution toward the completion of this thesis.
Finally, the writer is fully aware that there are still a lot of weaknesses in this thesis.
For this, the writer truthfully expects criticism and suggestion from the readers to
enchance the quality of the thesis.
Bandar Lampung, 20 October 2016
The Writer
Evi Fitria
xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
COVER ... i
ABSTRACT ... ii
APPROVAL ... iii
ADMISSION ... iv
DECLARATION ... v
MOTTO ... vi
DEDICATION ... v
CURRICULUM VITAE ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
LIST OF TABLES ... xii
LIST OF FIGURE ... xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xiv
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem ... 1
B. Identification of the Problem ... 7
C. Limitation of the Problem ... 7
D. Formulation of the Problem ... 7
E. Purpose of the Research ... 8
F. Use of the Research ... 8
G. Scope of the Research... 9
1. Subject of the Research ... 9
2. Object of the Research ... 9
3. Time of the Research ... 9
4. Place of the Research... 9
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Concept of Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language ... 10
B. Concept of Grammar ... 12
xii
D. Concept of Simple Present Tense ... 16
1. Definition of Simple Present Tense ... 16
2. Use of Simple Present Tense... 17
3. Form of Simple Present Tense ... 19
4. Time Signal of Simple Present Tense ... 21
5. Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 22
E. Concept of Writing ... 23
1. Definition of Writing... 23
2. Writing Process ... 24
3. Writing Ability ... 25
F. Concept of Text ... 27
1. Kind of Text ... 29
G. Concept of Descriptive Text ... 32
1. Definition of Descriptive Text ... 32
2. Generic Structure ... 33
3. Linguistics Features ... 34
4. Descriptive Text Writing Ability ... 34
H. Frame of Thinking ... 35
I. Hypothesis ... 36
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design. ... 37
B. Variable of Research ... 38
C. Operational Definition of Variable ... 38
D. Population, Sample, and SamplingTechnique ... 39
1. Population ... 39
2. Sample ... ..40
3. Sampling Technique ... 40
E. Data Collecting Technique ... 41
F. Try Out ... 41
G. Instrument of the Research ... 42
H. Scoring Procedure ... 46
I. Research Procedure ... 46
J. Validity, Reliability, and Readability of the Test ... 48
1. Validity of the Test ... 48
xiii
3. Readability of the Test... 53
K. Data Analysis ... 53
1. Prerequisite Test ... 53
a. Normality Test ... 53
b. Linearity Test ... 54
2. Hypothetical Test... 55
CHAPTER IV RESULT AND DISCUSSION A. Findings ... 57
1. Data Analysis... 57
2. Result of the Test ... 57
a. Result of Simple Present Tense Mastery Test ... 57
b. Result of Writing Descriptive Text ... 59
3. Result of Data Analysis ... 61
a. Result of Normality Test ... 61
b. Result of Linearity Test ... 63
c. Result of Hypothetical Test ... 63
B. Discussion ... 65
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 70
B. Suggestion ... 70
xiv
Table 1 Students’ Score of Writing Descriptive Text ... 4
Table 2 Students’ Score of Simple Present Tense ... 6
Table 3 The Scoring of Writing work by Tribble ... 26
Table 4 Population of Students ... 39
Table 5 Specification of Try Out Test of Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 43
Table 6 Specification Test of Simple Present Tense Mastery... 44
Table 7 Criteria of Reliability ... 52
Table 8 Normality of Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 62
Table 9 Normality of Writing Descriptive Text ... 62
xv
xvi
Appendix 1 Result of Interview for English Teacher ... 77
Appendix 2 Result of Interview for English Students ... 78
Appendix 3 Syllabus ... 83
Appendix 4 Instrument of Try out Simple Present Tense Mastery Test ... 89
Appendix 5 Instrument of Simple Present Tense Mastery Test ... 98
Appendix 6 Instrument Writing Descriptive Text Test... 105
Appendix 7 Scoring Writing by Tribble ... 106
Appendix 8 Validation Form for Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 107
Appendix 9 Validation Form for Writing Descriptive Text ... 108
Appendix 10 Result of Reliability Test ... 109
Appendix 11 Instrument of Readability Test ... 113
Appendix 12 Result of Readability Test ... 114
Appendix 13 Students’ Name of Try Out ... 115
Appendix 14 Students’ Name of Sample ... 116
Appendix 15 Score of Try Out Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 117
Appendix 16 Score of Simple Present Tense Mastery Test ... 118
Appendix 17 Score of Writing Descriptive Text ... 119
Appendix 18 Recapitulation Analysis Items Try Out Simple Present Tense ... 120
Appendix 19 Recapitulation Analysis Items of Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 124
Appendix 20 Descriptive Statistics for Simple Present Tense Mastery ... 128
Appendix 21 Descriptive Statistics for Writing Descriptive Text ... 129
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem
Language is important in human life, people use language for communication
between one and another and also it is used to deliver message or ideas from the
speaker to the listener in interaction among themselves or with the environment.
Without language it is impossible for people or everyone to join interaction each
other in daily life or in learning something and also the human activities could not run
without language. Every country has a different language, we need an international
language for communication around the world.
English is one of international languages which is used throughout the world and also
English used in many fields of life such as: in politics, economics, sosial and
education. Therefore, English as a language in international communication is clearly
needed by many learners to deliver thought or idea in variety of situation.
In Indonesia, English is a foreign language that is taught formally from junior high
claimed that the goal of the language teaching is to be able to read literature in this
original form.1
The goal of teaching and learning English is to make the students master English
skills. There are four English skills namely, speaking, reading, listening, and writing,
that should be mastered by the students. Writing is a psychological activity of the
language user to put information in the writing text.2 The written productive language skill is called writing. It is skill of a writer to communicate information to a reader or
group of readers. Her or his skill is also realized by his or her ability to apply the
rules of the language s/he is writing to transfer information s/he has in her or his mind
to her or his readers(s) effectively.3
Writing is a process of communication which uses conventional; graphic system to
convey a message to reader. For many of foreign language learners, writing is
considered as the most difficult skill because in writing they have to combine the
correct grammatical and also the coherence of the paragraph.4
In writing there are many kinds of text. One of the texts is descriptive text.
Descriptive text is a text which is intended to describe a particular person, place or
1Ag. Bambang Setiyadi, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, (Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2006), p. 32
thing.5 It means descriptive text is a kind of text with a purpose to give information about particular person, place or thing. “it differs from report which describes things,
animals, persons, or others in general. The social function of descriptive text is to describe a particular person, place, or thing”.6 It can be concluded that descriptive
text is a type of text which describe particular person, animal or thing and report text
is a type of text which describe person, animal or thing in general.
Based on an interview with Melda Wati, S.Pd, as English Teacher in SMPN 1 Karya
Penggawa Pesisir Barat in the preliminary research, she said that many students got
difficulties when they describe something. They looked difficult to arrange words
into sentences and becomes paragraph. They are just easy to describe something with
a vocabulary not sentence structure.7 Furthermore, based on the observation at SMPN 1 Karya penggawa Pesisir Barat, the writer found that there are many students who
still had low score of descriptive text. It is proven by the following data of writing
test at the eight grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017
academic year. Whereas, the criteria of minimum mastery score (KKM) of the school
is 75.
5Juanita Siahaan, An Analysis of Students’ Ability and Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Text. Journal of Englis and Education. Vol.1.Issue 1. 2013, p.115, http://www.ejournal.upi.edu, retrieved on April 2nd, 2016
6M Mursyid PW, English Learning Handout 2005, p. 4, http://www.mmursyidpw.files.wordpress.com, retrieved on April 2nd, 2016
Table 1
The Students’ Score of Descriptive Text Test at the Second Semester of the Seventh Grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in the Academic Year of 2015/2016
No. KKM The Number of Students Persentage
1. ≥70 48 39.67 %
2. <70 73 60.33 %
Total 121 100%
Source: Document of the Writing in Descriptive Text Score of Eighth Grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat 2015/2016.
Based on the table above, it can be seen that more than 60 % descriptive text score of
students was under the passing grade for English subject in SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa
Pesisir Barat. There were only 48 students from 121 students who passed the criteria
of minimum mastery (KKM). It shows that writing descriptive text ability of students
in SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2015/2016 academic year is still low.
In teaching and learning English as a foreign language it needs grammar to speak and
write correctly. The students need grammar in order to make good sentence.
Grammar is one of the components of language that must be mastered by the students
to learn English, because the grammatical rules of Indonesian language are different
from English. That is why, learning English grammar is very important to understand.
Brown says that grammar is a system of rules governing the conventional
arrangement and relationship of words in sentence.8 In other word grammar is one
kind of language component that give explanation or rule about how to join of the
words become a good sentence based on grammatical rule.9
Grammar is also called as organization words that are combined into sentences to
express thought and feeling or to express of the idea in writing. In teaching English as
foreign language, the students need to master grammar because by mastering
grammar students will be able to speak and write English correctly. In mastering
English grammar there are many rules and sentences that should be mastered by the
students. One of sentences is simple present tense.
The simple present tense refers to action or situation that to do not change frequently.
It is used to describe habits or routines, to express opinions, or to make genenral
statements of fact, the simple present can also be used to refer to the future.10 It means that simple present tense is one kind of sentence that is used to the express
daily activities and general statement. This sentence is used in descriptive text. As we
know in descriptive text often use simple present tense formula. According to Juanita,
Linguistic features of descriptive text are: use specific participant, written in present
tense, use linking verbs, use adjective, use relational and material process.11
Based on the interview with some students, they said that they were still confused
about tenses, the students still made many errors in using tenses. One of the tenses
9Ibid.
10Patricia Werner, Mosaic 1 A Content-Based Grammar, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990), p. 125
that was regarded difficult by them is simple present tense. They found difficulties to
understand the subject verb agreement in simple present tense, the formula of simple
present tense, and the rule of verb in simple present tense. In conclusion the students
ability in simple present tense is still low.12 It can be seen in the table below:
Table 2
The Students’ Score of Simple present Tense Test at the Second Semester of the Seventh Grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in the Academic Year of 2015/2016
NO KKM The Number of Students Percentage
1 ≥70 37 30.58 %
2 <70 84 69.42 %
Total 121 100 %
Source: Document of the Simple Present Tense Score of Eighth Grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat 2015/2016.
Based on the table above, it can be seen that 84 students got score of simple present
tense lower that 70, and only 37 students that get score passed the KKM. Moreover,
from the table above it can be seen that there were many students had still not
understood about simple present tense. They faced difficulties in simple present tense.
Based on the background, the writer conducted a research entitled “The Correlation Between Students’ Simple Present Tense Mastery and Their Ability in Writing
Descriptive Text at the First Semester of the Eighth Grade of SMPN 1 Karya
Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 Academic Year”
B. Identification of the Problem
Based on the problem above, the writer finds several problems as follows :
1. The students find difficulties to understand the subject verb agreement in
simple present tense.
2. The students find difficulties to understand the formula of simple present
tense.
3. The students find difficulties to understand the rule of the verb in simple
present tense.
4. The students find difficulties in writing descriptive text correctly based on the
grammatical rule.
5. The students find difficulties to arrange the sentence in writing descriptive
text.
6. The students find difficulties to understand the generic structure of descriptive
text.
C. Limitation of the Problem
In this research, the writer focuses on the correlation of students’ grammar mastery
and their ability in writing. The grammar used was focused on the simple present
D. Formulation of the Problem
Based on the background of the problem above, the writer makes a formulation of the
problem as follows :
Is there a significant correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and
their ability in writing descriptive text at the first semester of the eighth grade of
SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 Academic Year ?
E. Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this research is to know whether there is a correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text at
the first semester of the eighth grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in
2016/2017 Academic Year.
F. Use of the Research
The uses of the research are as follows :
1. Theoretically
To give information to the readers about the correlation between students’ simple
present tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive at SMPN 1 Karya
Penggawa Pesisir Barat.
2. Practically
a. For the students
The result of this research can motivate the students in learning English
b. For the teachers
The result of this research can give information for the teachers about the correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery and their ability in
descriptive text.
c. For the school
The result of this research is expected to be able to motivate the school to
improve the quality of learning English.
G. Scope of the Research
1. Subject of the research
The subject of this research was the eighth grade students’ of SMPN 1 Karya
Penggawa Pesisir Barat.
2. Object of the research
The object of this research was the correlation of students’ simple present
tense mastery and their ability in writing descriptive text.
3. Place of the research
The research was conducted at SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat.
4. Time of the research
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Concept of Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language
Since students use their mother language in their daily conversation, English teachers
has essential role to make students understand and enjoy the material. It is necessary
to make students comfort and enjoy in teaching and learning English. Language is the
situation whereby humans communicate and interact with one another by means of
habitually used oral auditory arbitory symbols. Many people use language to
communicate each other in their daily life. Language is also used to express the idea
as a share each people by using language through spoken and written form.
Language teaching is influenced by ideas on the nature language (language theories)
and the learning conditions that make learners to acquire the language (learning
theories).1 It means that English is different when English for communication and English for teaching materials and methods. These differences may influence in
teaching English achievement.
Teaching is the process of showing or helping someone to learn how to do something,
giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge, and
it is causing someone understand about something that learned.2 It describes that
1Ag. Bambang Setiyadi, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, (Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2006), p. 20
teaching is a process to help the learners for understanding something that learned. In
this case the English teacher should be able to create a real situation that can be used
to support learning and teaching process in order thet the students are able to use
English naturally for communication. The students should be put into situation that
they can use English for communication both in written and spoken forms.
Further, according to Harmer that English as a foreign language is generally taken to
apply to students who are studying general English at schools and institutes in their
own country or as transitory visitors in a target language country.3 Meanwhile, English generally has been learnt by the students since they were in the basic level of
education. It means that English as a foreign language is important, and is needed to
the English learner as a part their study in the school.
Based on the explanation above, it can be inferred that teaching English as a foreign
language is the process for helping the students to learn English and make their
understanding in learning process and do a lot of practice to master the English
language. In teaching English, the teacher should be creative to make the students are
interested in learning English as a foreign language.
B. Concept of Grammar
In teaching and learning English as a foreign language it needs grammar to speak and
write correctly. The students need grammar in order to make good sentence.
Grammar is one of the components of language that must be mastered by the students
to learn English. Because the grammatical rules of Indonesian language are different
from English. That is why, learning English grammar is very important to understand
English teacher. Brown says that grammar is a system of rules governing the
conventional arrangement and relationship of words in sentence.4 In other word grammar is one kind of language component that give explanation or rule about how
to join the words become a good sentence based on grammatical rule.
The statement indicates that grammar is a set of rules derived from language rules
that most of its native speaker rarely care about. However, thesis enable them to
communicate each other without creating misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
They commonly do not realize, that when they express themselves trough writing or
speaking, what they write or speak have patterns and they keep subconsciously
applying the patterns in their communication.
Meanwhile in the context of education especially in the learning and teaching of
foreign language, grammar is usually considered one of the language components
other that vocabulary and sound system which students should acquire. As foreign
language learners commonly do not have much direct exposure to the language
mastery. Language component is one of the ways to support the mastery of foreign
language skills. Harmer states grammar is not just concerned with syntax, however
the way words are formed - and can change their form in other to express different
meanings – is also at the heart of grammatical knowledge.5 Based on three statements above, the writer assumes that by mastering grammar can help the students to
complete sentence correctly.
Grammar is also called as organization words that combination into sentences to
express thought and feeling or to express the idea in written. In teaching English as
foreign language, the students need to master grammar because by mastering
grammar students will be able to speak and write English correctly, it is fact that
different countries have different language and every language has system which is
called grammar. It also happened in translating, in order to competence in translating
we should know of the language structure. In English grammar, tenses play an
important role in sentence formation, the tense of a verb shows the time of an even or
action.6
Based on the theories above, grammar is rule how to make a good sentence that can
be understood by the reader. In English grammar there is an important part called
5Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, (Edinburgh Gate: Longman, 2007), p. 32
tenses. Tenses is a verb shows the time of an event or action, it is very important in
constructing a sentence and it should be mastered by the learners.
C. Concept of Tenses
In learning English as a foreign language, there is component called grammar. When
we learn grammar, the tenses will be automatically correlated. Tense means time.
However, it should be pointed out that time in relation to action is a concept that
exists in the mind of speaker, reader, or listener. Tense, in actual usage, refers
consistently only to grammatical forms. Often tense and time do not correspond at
all.7 It means that tense is the linguistic indication of the time of an action. In fact, tense establishes a relation: it indicates the time of an event in respect to the moment
of speaking, reading or listening.
Tense is one of the important parts of structure in English. In teaching learning
English the teacher should make the students understand about tenses which are used
to make them able to make sentence because tenses are a verb form that are used in
certain time. So it must be mastered by the students. According to Lado, tense is form
of the verb that refers to change the time.8 It means that information of time that difference can influence form of the verb used in the sentences. In English grammar
there are 16 kinds of tenses:
7George E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English, (North York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd, 1980), p. 192
1. Simple Present Tense
2. Present Continuous Tense
3. Present Perfect Tense
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
5. Simple Past Tense
6. Past Continuous Tense
7. Pas Perfect Tense
8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
9. Simple Future Tense
10.Future Continuous Tense
11.Future Perfect Tense
12.Future Perfect Continuous Tense
13.Simple Past Future Tense
14.Past Future Continuous Tense
15.Past Future Perfect Tense
16.Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Each of these has a present, past, future, and past future form.9 It means that English
grammar has sixteen kinds of tenses, but in this research the writer will focus on
simple present tense.
According the definition above, tense is a particular form of a verb indicating the time
of an action or a state. It is also a grammatical category that locates a situation in time
that indicates the situation takes place. To have a good ability in writing descriptive
text, the learner or students should master the tenses well especially simple present
tense, because simple present tense is a sentence used in writing descriptive text.
D. Concept of Simple Present Tense 1. Definition of Simple Present Tense
The Simple Present Tense refers to action or situation that to do not change
frequently. It is used to describe habits or routines, to express opinions, or to make
genenral statements of fact, the simple present can also be used to refer to the
future.10
In English grammar, the simple present tense is a form of the verb that refers to an
action or event that is ongoing or that regularly takes place in present time (for
example, "He cries easily").11
The simple present tense is the one which we use when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly, which is why it’s sometimes
10Patricia Werner, Mosaic 1 A Content-Based Grammar, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990), p. 125
called present indefinite). The simple present tense is formed by using the root form
or by adding -s or -es to the end, depending on the person.12
2. Use of Simple Present Tense a. Repeated Actions
Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The
action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that
often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not
do.13
Examples:
1) The train leaves every morning at 8 AM. 2) The train does not leave at 9 AM. 3) When does the train usually leave? 4) She always forgets her purse. 5) He never forgets his wallet. b. Fact or Generalization
12Betty Schrampfer Azar, Basic English Grammar (2nd Ed), (New York: Longman Group, 1941), p. 200
The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before,
is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct
about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.14
Examples:
1) Cats like milk.
2) Birds do not like milk. 3) California is in America.
4) California is not in the United Kingdom. 5) Windows are made of glass.
c. Scheduled Events in the Near Future
Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near
future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it
can be used with other scheduled events as well.15
Examples:
1) The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
2) The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM. 3) When do we board the plane?
4) The party starts at 8 o'clock. 5) When does class begin tomorrow?
14Ibid.
15
d. Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is
happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous
Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.16
Examples:
1) I am here now.
2) She is not here now.
3) He needs help right now.
4) He does not need help now.
5) He has his passport in his hand. 6) Do you have your passport with you?
3. Form of Simple Present Tense
The following forms of simple present tense are:
a. Verbal
When the predicate is a verb, the sentence will be called “Verbal Sentence”.17
1) Positive form
Formula: S + Verb + (s/es) + O
Example: My father reads newspaper every morning. I get up 5 O’clock every day.
2) Negative form
16
Ibid.
Formula: S + do/does + not + verb + O
Example: My father doesn’t read newspaper every morning.
I don’t get up 5 O’clock every day.
3) Interrogative form
Formula: Do/does + S + verb1 + O?
Example: Does my father read newspaper every morning? Do you get up 5 O’clock every day?18
4) Negative Interrogative form
Formula: Do/does + not + S + verb1 + O?
Example: Doesn’t he speak English well?
Don’t you eat every day? b. Nominal
When the predicate (in a sentence) is a noun, pronoun, noun phrase, adjective or
adverb, the sentense will be called “Nominal Sentence”.19
1) Positive form
Formula: S + to be + noun adjective/adverb
Example: The world is round. Tom and I are students.
2) Negative form
Formula: S + to be + not + noun adjective/adverb
Example: My bed is not comfortable.
The shops are not open every morning.
3) Interrogative form
Formula: S + to be + not + noun adjective/adverb
Example: Is your parent at home? Are these hotel expensive?
4) Negative Interrogative form
Formula: To be + not + S + noun adjective/adverb
Example: Aren’t you a doctor? Yes, I am/No, I am not.
Isn’t she a nurse? Yes she is/No, she isn’t.20
4. Time signals of Simple Present Tense
Time signal are words and phrases that tell us when an event takes place. Time
signals for the simple present tense identify more than just one event. Remember that
the simple present tense is used for repeated events.
a. Adverb of Time
Every day Every week Every month Every year Every/each In the morning Once/twice a day Here/there
Note: adverb of time used in the first sentence or end sentence.
Example: You write a letter every day.
You do not write a letter every month, Do you write a letter every year?
Don’t you write a letter twice a day.
b. Adverb of Frequency
Always Never Seldom
Often Now sometimes
Note: adverb of frequency is often used before verb or after verb.21
Example: They usually study English. They do not always study English. Do they seldom study English?
Don’t they seldom study English?
Based on the statement above we can conclude that simple present tense is a sentence
construction which tells or shows the daily activities and general truth in the nominal
or verbal form of positive, negative, interrogative, and negative interrogative
sentences using its particular time signals.
5. Simple Present Tense Mastery
Mastery is a great skill or knowledge about something which is had by someone.
Meanwhile, Fullan defines that mastery is obviously necessary for effectiveness, but
it is also a means for achieving deeper understanding.22 It means that mastery is a complete of having control over something superiority in through knowledge of a
subject. According to Messer, mastery is the broad knowledge and skill in
understanding the world of physical objects.23 It can be concluded that mastery is have a broad skill of knowledge in understanding the objects.
21A. Faidal Rahman Ali, Fundamental of English Grammar a Practical Guide, (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2007), p. 252
22Michael G. Fullan, Why Teacher must Become Change Agents, Journal of Educational Leadership, 1993, p. 4, http://www.sunyedl630.wikispace.com, retrieved on April 2nd, 2016
According to Werner, Simple Present Tense refers to action or situation that to do not
change frequently. It is used to describe habits or routines, to express opinions, or to
make genenral statements of fact, the simple present can also be used to refer to the
future.24 It means that simple present tense is sentence that use to express daily activity, habitual, general statement, and it can also be used to express the future.
Based on those statement it can be concluded that simple present tense mastery is the students’ skill to construct sentences which tell or show daily activities or general
truth in the nominal or verbal form of positive, negative, interrogative, and negative
interrogative sentences using its particular time signals.
E. Concept of Writing 1. Definition of Writing
Writing is a psychological activity of the language user to put information in the
writing text.25 The written productive language skill is called writing. It is skill of a writer to communicate information to a reader or group of readers. Her or his skill is
also realized by his or her ability to apply the rules of the language s/he is writing to
transfer information s/he has in her or his mind to her or his readers(s) effectively.26
Writing is a process of communication which uses conventional; graphic system to
convey a message to reader. For many of foreign language learner, writing is
24Patricia Werner, Loc. Cit.
considered as the most difficult skill because in writing they have to combine the
correct grammatical and also the coherence of the paragraph.27
Writing is often characterized as a hierarchically organized goal directed problem
solving process. In writing consist of four main processes in writing they are
planning, writing, editing and reviewing.28 In writing skill have shown that an
instruction in each of these activities leads to better performance. To write a story or
paragraph well must use stages from planning through writing and editing to
reviewing.
Based on the theories above, the researcher can conclude that the definition of writing
is one of process to express the writer ideas, experience, thoughts and feelings
through writing.
2. Writing process
According to Harmer, there are four stages in the process of writing. There are:
1. Planning
Plan what they are going to write. When planning, writers have to think about
three main issues. In the first, place they have to consider the purpose. Secondly,
experienced writers think of the audience they are writing for. Thirdly, writers
have to consider the content structure.
2. Drafting
The first version of a piece of writing as a draft. As the writing process proceeds
into editing, a number of drafts may be produced on the way to the final version.
3. Editing ( Reflecting and Revising)
The writers tend to look at issues of general meaning and overall structure before
concentrating on detailed features such as individual words and grammatical
accuracy.
4. Final Version
The writers is now ready to send the written text to its intended audience.29
Based on those statements it can be concluded that writing is not instant activity. It
need some process that should be know by the writer. To write a text the writer has to
do some process of writing , they are planning, drafting, editing, and final version.
3. Writing Ability
Writing ability is the skill of a writer to communicate information to a reader or group
of readers.30 It means that writing ability is the ability to express the ideas and
thought in writing clearly that must be mastered by the writer. In writing, there are
five aspects that must be ordered by writer. It is needed to give clearly of information
that as the writer means. Writing has some component that must be attended. Tribble
states there are five scoring criteria for scoring of writing ; they are:
1. Content (the ability to think creatively and develop thoughts). 2. Organization (the ability to write in appropriate manner) 3. Vocabulary (the ability to use of word/idiom).
4. Language (the ability to write appropriate structure)
5. Mechanics (the ability to use punctuation, capitalization, spelling and layoutcorrectly).31
To give the score of students’ writing ability the writer used the scoring of writing
[image:42.612.118.534.239.684.2]work by Tribble. It can be seen on the table below:
Table 3
The Scoring of Writing work by Tribble
Areas Scores Descriptor
Content 30-27 Excellent to very good: knowledgeable - substantive.
26-22 Good to average: some knowledge of subject - little
substance.
21-17 Fair to poor: limited knowledge of subject - no stated.
16-13 Very poor: does not show knowledge of subject - non
substantive.
Organization 20-18 Excellent to very good: fluent expression – ideas clearly
stated.
13-10 Fair to good: non-fluent - ideas confused of disconnected.
9-7 Very poor: does not communicate - no organization.
Vocabulary 20-18 Excellent to very good: sophisticated range - effective
word/idiom choice and usage.
17-14 Good to average: adequate - occasional errors of
word/idiom form, choice, usage but meaning not obscured.
13-10 Fair to poor: major problem in simple/complex
construction.
9-7 Very poor: essentially translation - little knowledge of
English vocabulary.
Language use 25-22 Excellent to very good: effective complex construction.
21-19 Good to average: effective but simple construction.
17-11 Fair poor: major problems in simple/complex
construction rules.
10-5 Very poor: virtually no mastery of sentence construction
rules.
Mechanics 5 Excellent to very good: demonstrates mastery of
conventions.
4 Good to average: occasional errors in spelling,
punctuation.
3 Fair to poor: frequent errors in spelling, punctuation,
capitalization.
2 Very poor: non mastery of convention-dominated by
errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing.
Source: Christoper Tribble, Language Teaching Writing, p. 135
It means that in doing writing, the students have to attend the five components of
writing in order to create good writing. Based on the explanation, it can be concluded
that writing ability is the ability to express ideas, feelings, and thoughts in written
form to transfer a message to the readers, by fulfilling the five important points of
writing including content, grammar, organization, vocabulary, and mechanics.
F. Concept of Text
Text have a structure, they are orderly grammatical of words, clauses and sentences,
and by following grammatical rules writers can encode a full semantic representation
of their intended meanings.32 Futher, language is always produced, exchanged or
received as a text that is language as a system of communication is organized as
cohesive units we call texts.33 It means that text is used as a communication by the writer with organized the structure of the text and grammatical of words, clauses and
sentences.
32 Ken Hayland, Teaching and Researching Writing (2nd ed) (Edinburgh Gate: Pearson, 2009), p.8.
The text structure is how to produce and interpret a unified and coherent text and how
to select and use the correct grammatical aspects a certain unified and coherent text.34
According to emilia that a text has texture and good characteristic35, as follow: a. Coherence
Coherense refers to a group clauses or sentences relate with the context. Coherence
divided into situational coherence and generic coherence. Situational coherenceis the
reader can identify the text as one of the kind text such as recount, procedure,
narrative, exposition, discussion, and can identify the structure in the text.
b. Cohesion
Cohesion refers to how the writer relates each part from the text.
Based on those explanation, it can be inferred that a good text is a text that relates
with the theme, use correct grammatical and generic structure appropriate with the
text, and can be understood by the reader.
In the subject material for Junior High School based on curriculum of 2013, there
have many kind of the text must be learnt by students. Further, Emilia said that the
kinds of the text must be taught to give knowledge for the students in writing, such as
descriptive, recount, narrative, procedure, report, exposition, explanation, news item.
Then, besides that the teacher must teach about the generic structure and grammatical
34 Sanggam Siahaan and Kisno Shinoda, Generic Text Structure ( Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2008), p.3.
features from each the kind of the text above.36 It means that there have kinds of the text must be taught for the students challenge to express their idea in writing with
follow the learning process about the above.
Based on these explanation, it can be concluded that the kinds of the text those must
be mastered by the students in writing for increase the students writing ability. In this case, the researcher only focuses in students’ ability in writing descriptive text.
1. Kind of text
According to English Syllabus of School Based Curriculum (KTSP), the teaching of
writing for students of Senior High School involves the teaching of paragraphs or
text. In English, there are five kinds of English text in the teaching of wriring to SMA
of students. Each of these texts has its own characteristics and functions. Students
should have knowledge of these texts. The example below are the genre of the texts:37
a. Descriptive Text
Descriptive Text is a text that describes a particular person, place or thing. The
purpose of descriptive text is to describes people, place or something in specific.
Thefollowing is the generic stucture of descriptive text:
1) Identification, it is identify the subject or object to be described
2) Description, it gives information about the characteristics of an object.
36 Ibid,p.26.
b. Narrative Text
A narrative text is kind of text appropriate to tell activities or events in the past which
has purpose to amuse and give moral lesson to reader.38 The generic stucture of narrative text are orientation, complication, evaluation, and resolution. While the
language feature as follows focuses on specific participant, use past tense, uses time
connective and conjunction uses saying verb. The example of narrative text are
cinderella, mouse deer and crocodile, and malin kundang.
c. Recount Text
Recount text is to retell events for the purpose of informating or intertaining, events
usually arranged in a tempopral sequence. Following is the generic stucture of
recount text:
1) Orientation (provides information about situation)
2) Record of events (present events in temporal sequence)
3) Re-orientation (optional stage bringing the events into present).39 d. Report Text
Report text is used to describe and classify information. Informative reports usually
talk or tell about living things like plants and animals and non-living things like
rivers, montains or oceans.
Following is the generic stucture of report text:
1) Classification of subject, (it introduces the subject of the report, general
declaration of the report and the classification).
2) Description (they are usually in paragraphs. They contain series of facts
about various aspect of the subject.40 e. Procedure Text
Procedure Text is instruction how to do and how to make something through a
sequence of step.41 The purpose of procedure text is to describe how something is
accomplished through a series of actions or steps.42 The generic structure are goal, material, and steps. The language feature of procedure text are focus on general
human agents, use simple present tense, often imperative, use mainly of temporal
conjunction or numbering to indicate sequence, and use mainly of material process.
The example of procedure text are how to make sandwich, how to make a cup of
coffee, and how to make an omelet.
Based on these explanation, it can be concluded that there are many kinds of text in
teaching writing for student of senior high school and each student must be able to
understand the generic structure and language feature of the texts.
40Murkanto et al, English on the Sky for Senior High School Students Year XI, (Jakarta, Erlangga, 2006), p. 135
41 Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Type in English (South Yara: MacMillan Education, 2003), p.51
G. Concept of Descriptive Text 1. The Definition of Descriptive Text
Text is a continuous piece of spoken or written language, especially one with a
recognizable beginning and ending. It means text is a part of spoken or written
language form. In addition, non-creative forms of writing, particularly essay writing,
have traditionally been classified into four types.43 Richard has cleared in the book about list the four types of non-creative forms of writing as follows :
a. Descriptive writing as provides a verbal picture and account of a person, place
or thing. It ,means that descriptive writing is to describe the characteristic of
people, place or thing.
b. Narrative writing reports an event or tells the story of something that
happened.
c. Expository writing provides information about and explain a particular
subject. Pattern of development within expository writing include giving
examples, describing a process of doing or making something, analyzing
causes and effect, comparing and/or contrasting, defining a term or concept,
and dividing something into part or classifying it into categories.
d. Argumentative writing attempt to support a controversial point or defend a
position on which there is a difference of opinion, ESL writing programs have
often been based on the assumption that novice writers should begin with the
simplest mode-the descriptive essay, and gradually move to learning the most
difficult-the argumentative one.44
In addition, descriptive text is a text which is intended to describe a particular person,
place or thing.45 It means descriptive text is a kind of text with a purpose to give information about particular person, place or thing. “it differs from report which
describes things, animals, persons, or others in general. The social function of descriptive text is to describe a particular person, place, or thing”.46 It can be
concluded that descriptive text is a type of text which describes a particular person, or
thing.
2. Generic Structure
The generic structure of descriptive text consist of identification and description.
Identification is identifies phenomenon to be described. Description is describes
parts, qualities, characteristics, etc.47 it means descriptive text has two common composition of text. Those are identification and description.
44Jack C. Richard Schmidt, Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, (New York: Longman, 1992), p.372
45Juanita Siahaan, An Analysis of Students’ Ability and Difficulties in Writing Descriptive Text. Journal of Englis and Education. Vol.1.Issue 1. 2013,p.115, http://www.ejournal.upi.edu, retrieved on April 2nd, 2016
3. Linguistic Features
“Linguistic features of descriptive text are: use specific participant, written in present
tense, use linking verbs, use adjective, use relational and material processes”.48 It
means there are some linguistic features of descriptive text. Those are specific
participant, written in present tense, use linking verbs, use adjectives, use relational
and material processes. Thus, there is correlation between simple present tense and
descriptive text.
4. Descriptive Text Writing Ability
Writing ability is the skill of a writer to communicate information to a reader or group
of readers.49 It means that writing ability is the ability to express the ideas and
thought in writing clearly that must be mastered by the writer. In writing, there are
five aspects that must be ordered by writer. It is needed to give clearly of information
that as the writer means. It means that in doing writing, the students have to attend the
five component of writing in order to create good writing.
According to Siahaan descriptive text is a text which is intended to describe a
particular person, place or thing.50 It means descriptive text is a kind of text with a purpose to give information about particular person, place or thing.
Based on the explanation, it can be concluded that descriptive text writing ability is
the ability to express ideas, feelings, and thoughts in written form to describe and
give information about a particular person, place, or thing to the readers by fulfilling
the five important points of writing including content, grammar, organization,
vocabulary, and mechanics. Thus, in order to produce the good descriptive text the
students should have a good ability in writing.
H. Frame of Thinking
Teaching and learning English is the process to help the students to master English
both spoken and written. In mastering English the students should understand the
component and skill in English. Component and skills of language are very important
to be taught by the teacher and to be learnt by the students to increase their ability in
language. One of the language component is grammar. Grammar is rule how to make
a good sentences that can be understood by the reader. In English grammar there is an
important part called tense. Tense is a verb shows the time of an event or action, it is
very important in constructing a sentence and it should be mastered by the learners.
Tense is one important parts of structure in English. Simple present tense is one of the
English tenses that gives an idea that something occurred in the present. So, mastery
in simple present tense is reflected by the students’ ability to understand and to use
simple present tense correctly in the appropriate sense. Mastering of simple present
tense will help students to increase their language skill.
There are four skills in English, one of the skills is writing. There are many kinds of
text. As one of the English text descriptive text be mastered by the students.
Descriptive is kind of text tells about something or someone using simple present
tense, the linguistics features of descriptive text are: use specific participant, written
in present tense, use linking verbs, use adjective, use relational and material
processes. Descriptive text always use the simple present tense formula. It means that
if the students master of grammar more especially in simple present tense, they can
make descriptive text well. Therefore, the writer conducted the research to find out
whether or not there is a correlation between students’ simple present tense mastery
and their ability in writing descriptive text.
I. Hypothesis
Based on the frame of thinking above, the writer proposes the hypotheses as follows :
Ha: There is a correlation between students’ present tense mastery and their ability in
writing descriptive text.
Ho: There is no correlation between students’ present tense mastery and their ability
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Design
The research design employed in this research was correlational research.
Correlational research is a quantitative method designed to show the relationships
between two or more variables.1 It means that correlational research is one research designed that show the relationship of variables. According to Fraenkel and Wallen,
correlational research is also sometimes referred to as from of descriptive research
because it describes an existing relationship between two variables.2 In other words, correlational research is also descriptive research. The design is illustrated as follows:
T1 T2
Where:
T1 = Independent variable
T2 = Dependent variable
The symbol T1 is an instrument of measure to obtain the data from the first variable
and T2 is an instrument to the data the second variable. So there are three possible
relationships between data from T1 and T2. The first possibility, the first variable
affects the second variable. The second possibility, the second variable affects the
1Marguerite G. Lodico, Dean T. Spaulding and Katherine H. Voegtle, Methods in Educational Research: From Theory and Practice, (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), p. 14
first variable. The third possibility, there are variables that the unidentified affect first
and second variable.3 It means that between the first and second variable have a
relationship that affects both variables. Therefore, the research is only focused on
whether there is any correlation between students simple present tense mastery and
their ability in writing descriptive text or not.
B. Variable of Research
In this research there are two kinds of variables that investigated. Both of them are
dependent and independent variable, they are:
a. Independent variable is the students’ simple present tense mastery (X)
b. Dependent variable is the students’ ability in writing descriptive text (Y)
C. Operational Definition of Variable
1. Students’ Simple Present Tense Mastery
Student’ simple present tense mastery is the students’ skill to construct sentences
which tell or show daily activities or general truth in either the nominal or verbal
form of positive, negative, interrogative, and negative interrogative sentences
using its particular time signals.
2. Students’ Ability in Writing Descriptive Text
Students’ ability in writing descriptive text is the ability to express ideas, feelings,
and thoughts in written form to describe and give information about a particular
person, place, and thing to the readers by fulfilling the five important points of
writing including content, grammar, organization, vocabulary, and mechanics.
D. Population, Sample and Sampling Technique 1. Population
A population is the large groups to which one hopes to apply the result.4 It means that population is all of the total number of research subject. In this research, the
population was taken from all the students of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat
at the Eighth Grade in 2016/2017 Academic Year. The number of population is 166
students in the eighth grade. It can be seen in the table below:
Table 4
The table of population based on the number and gender of eighth grade at SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 Academic Year
Clases Gender Total
Female Male
VIII A 20 10 30
VIII B 18 12 30
VIII C 16 14 30
VIII D 20 11 31
Total 74 47 121
Source: the data of total students of the eighth grade in SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat in 2016/2017 Academic Year.
[image:55.612.108.531.209.576.2]
2. Sample
Lodico, Dean, and Katherine states that sample is a smaller group selected from a
larger population that is representative of the larger population.5 So it can be concluded that sample is smaller group as part of population and it is also chosen as
representative data of whole population. The sample in this research is a part
population of the eight grade of SMPN 1 Karya Penggawa Pesisir Barat. In this
research, the writer used a sampling technique called cluster random sampling
because the classes are homogenous and the sample from group or class. The sample
of the research was taken from VIII A class. It can be seen appendix 14.
3. Sampling Technique
In this research, the writer was used cluster random sampling as sampling technique.
The selection of groups, or clusters, of subjects rather than individuals is known as
cluster random sampling.6 Cluster random sampling is similar to simple random sampling expect that groups rather than individuals are randomly selected (that is, the
sampling unit is a group rather than an individual). The advantages of cluster random
sampling are that it can be used when it is often far easier to implement in schools,
and it is frequently less time-consuming. It is disadvantage is that there is a far greater
chance of selecting a sample that is not representative of the population.7 It can be concluded cluster random sampling is procedure of sampling that uses a group as
5Marguerite G. Lodico, Dean T. Spaulding and Katherine H. Voegtle, Op.Cit, p. 143 6Jack R. Fraenkel and Norman E. Wallen, Op.Cit, p. 95
sampling than individual. The names of each class was written in a small piece of
paper and then these papers are rolled in put into a box, after that the box is shaken
abd then took one piece of paper as the sample of the research. It was gotten VIII A
as a sample of the research.
E. Data Collecting Technique
In collecting the data of this research, the writer used the following test:
1. Simple present tense mastery test
The objective test that is multiple choices test with four options a, b, c, and d. The
writer used objective test in the form of simple present tense, The total of the items
test is 40 items.
2. Writing descriptive text test
To know the students’ ability of writing descriptive text, the writer asked the students
make a text to describe about people, place, or thing.
F. Try Out
Test are required to be reliable and valid.8 Try out of the tests are conducted to identify how valuable and effective the tests are before they would be used to collect
data of the research and to identify whether the test can be administered or not. It can
be seen from the result of reliability and validity of the test. Try out of the test was
conducted on October 7th, 2016, this test was given to the class VIII B. The try out
