ABSTRACT
Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University.
Grammar provides the blueprints for a person to produce novel utterances and sentences from limited words. Equally, the intelligibility of a language largely depends on the understanding of the grammar of that language. From these points, it is understood that language teachers as well as students of English Language Education will perform better in teaching by having extensive knowledge of grammar and understanding systems for assessing language as their subject matter. The X-Bar schema, as one of thriving systems for assessing language, can deliberately depict the formations of words, phrases and sentence. However, the use of the X-Bar schema has been apparently poles apart from the practice and consideration on language teaching especially in grammar studies which in turn make it worth researching.
This current study was conducted to answer two questions. The first question was on the performance of the sixth semester students of English Language Education on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The second question was on the general classifications of the students’ mistakes in analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The research was conducted to the sixth semester students of the English Language Education academic year 2007/2008. A test which consists of two parts was administrated to answer those two questions.
The research findings revealed that the performance of the students was sufficient in general in that the result of the test showed that the average score of the students was 57.77%. In details, the first part of the test which tested the students’ knowledge and comprehension of the topics the average score was 64.67% whereas the second part of the test which required the students to apply the concepts and theories of the topics the average score was 50.89%. These figures implied that the students’ performance needs improving so that better performance in their learning especially grammar could be attained. They also answered the first question of the research. On the other hand, the students made mistakes generally in (1) identifying an adjective clause in a complex sentence, (2) identifying a CP related to the noun which was modified, (3) identifying the head of a main clause and (4) merging the categories of a matrix clause in both subject-subject adjective clause and object-subject adjective clause. These findings answer the second question.
As the students’ performance needs improving, the writer proposed some ideas of teaching adjective clauses and syntax to the English Language Education students. Furthermore, the writer also recommended that future research be directed to look for the underlying factors of the students’ mistakes so that better performance can be attained.
ABSTRAK
Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing The Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Tata bahasa memberikan cetak biru bagi seseorang untuk untuk menciptakan ujaran dan kalimat baru dari kata-kata yang terbatas. Demikian pula, kejelasan atas sebuah bahasa sangat bergantung pada pemahaman atas tata bahasa dari bahasa tersebut. Dari hal ini dapat dipahami bahwa guru bahasa dan juga mahasiswa pendidikan bahasa Inggris akan berperforma lebih baik dalam mengajar dengan memiliki pengatahuan yang luas akan tata bahasa dan memahami sistem untuk menilai bahasa sebagai pokok persoalan. Skema X berpalang, sebagai salah satu sistem yang sangkil dalam menilai bahasa, menunjukkan pembentukan kata-kata, frase-frase dan kalimat-kalimat secara hati-hati dan runtut dengan cara yang cerdas namun sederhana. Namun demikian, penggunakan skema X berpalang nampaknya telah terpisahkan dari praktek pengajaran bahasa yang justru sebaliknya membuat hal ini layak untuk diteliti.
Studi ini berusaha menjawab dua pertanyaan. Pertanyaan pertama menanyakan performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Pertanyaan kedua menanyakan kesalahan-kesalahan umum yang dilakukan oleh mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan terhadap mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris tahun ajaran 2007/2008. Sebuah tes yang terdiri atas dua bagian diujikan untuk menjawab kedua pertanyaan tersebut.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi adalah cukup secara umum karena nilai rata-rata tesnya adalah 57,77%. Sebagai rincian, pada bagian pertama tes, yang mengujikan pengetahuan dan pemahaman dari topik-topik di atas, nilai rata-ratanya adalah 64,67% sedangkan pada bagian kedua tes yang mengujikan mahasiswa untuk menerapkan konsep dan teori dari topik-topik di atas nilai rata-ratanya adalah 50,89%. Angka-angka tersebut menyiratkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dalam studi terutama dalam tata-bahasa dapat dicapai. Hal tersebut juga menjawab pertanyaan pertama dari penelitian ini. Di sisi lain, mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan umumnya pada (1) mengidentifikasi sebuah klausa adjektiva dalam kalimat majemuk, (2) mengidentifikasi klausa pelengkap (CP) dalam kaitanya dengan kata benda yang diterangkannya, (3) mengidentifikasi kategori yang menjadi kepala dari klausa induk dan (4) menggabungkan kategori-kategori dari kalimat majemuk baik dalam subjek-subjek dan objek-subjek-subjek klausa ajektiva. Temuan-temuan tersebut menjawab pertanyaan kedua dalam penelitian ini.
Karena performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan, penulis mengajukan beberapa gagasan dalam mengajar klausa ajektiva dan sintaksis. Lebih jauh lagi, penulis juga menyarankan penelitian lanjutan diarahkan untuk mencari faktor-faktor yang menjadi penyebab mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dapat dicapai.
USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Ari Wijayanto
Student Number: 031214030
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS
IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Ari Wijayanto
Student Number: 031214030
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2009
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS
IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Prepared and Presented by Ari Wijayanto
Student Number: 031214030
Approved by
Date
Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum. 18 June 2009
Sponsor
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS
IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
By
ARI WIJAYANTO Student Number: 031214030
For my mom, my dad, Ari Novi Wardana, and Meyske Jeannette
“Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on
in language which is very far from the truth.”
Ferdinand de Saussure
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 quotation and
bibliography, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 18 June 2009
The writer
Ari Wijayanto 031214030
ABSTRACT
Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University.
Grammar provides the blueprints for a person to produce novel utterances and sentences from limited words. Equally, the intelligibility of a language largely depends on the understanding of the grammar of that language. From these points, it is understood that language teachers as well as students of English Language Education will perform better in teaching by having extensive knowledge of grammar and understanding systems for assessing language as their subject matter. The X-Bar schema, as one of thriving systems for assessing language, can deliberately depict the formations of words, phrases and sentence. However, the use of the X-Bar schema has been apparently poles apart from the practice and consideration on language teaching especially in grammar studies which in turn make it worth researching.
This current study was conducted to answer two questions. The first question was on the performance of the sixth semester students of English Language Education on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The second question was on the general classifications of the students’ mistakes in analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The research was conducted to the sixth semester students of the English Language Education academic year 2007/2008. A test which consists of two parts was administrated to answer those two questions.
The research findings revealed that the performance of the students was sufficient in general in that the result of the test showed that the average score of the students was 57.77%. In details, the first part of the test which tested the students’ knowledge and comprehension of the topics the average score was 64.67% whereas the second part of the test which required the students to apply the concepts and theories of the topics the average score was 50.89%. These figures implied that the students’ performance needs improving so that better performance in their learning especially grammar could be attained. They also answered the first question of the research. On the other hand, the students made mistakes generally in (1) identifying an adjective clause in a complex sentence, (2) identifying a CP related to the noun which was modified, (3) identifying the head of a main clause and (4) merging the categories of a matrix clause in both subject-subject adjective clause and object-subject adjective clause. These findings answer the second question.
As the students’ performance needs improving, the writer proposed some ideas of teaching adjective clauses and syntax to the English Language Education students. Furthermore, the writer also recommended that future research be directed to look for the underlying factors of the students’ mistakes so that better performance can be attained.
ABSTRAK
Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing The Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Tata bahasa memberikan cetak biru bagi seseorang untuk untuk menciptakan ujaran dan kalimat baru dari kata-kata yang terbatas. Demikian pula, kejelasan atas sebuah bahasa sangat bergantung pada pemahaman atas tata bahasa dari bahasa tersebut. Dari hal ini dapat dipahami bahwa guru bahasa dan juga mahasiswa pendidikan bahasa Inggris akan berperforma lebih baik dalam mengajar dengan memiliki pengatahuan yang luas akan tata bahasa dan memahami sistem untuk menilai bahasa sebagai pokok persoalan. Skema X berpalang, sebagai salah satu sistem yang sangkil dalam menilai bahasa, menunjukkan pembentukan kata-kata, frase-frase dan kalimat-kalimat secara hati-hati dan runtut dengan cara yang cerdas namun sederhana. Namun demikian, penggunakan skema X berpalang nampaknya telah terpisahkan dari praktek pengajaran bahasa yang justru sebaliknya membuat hal ini layak untuk diteliti.
Studi ini berusaha menjawab dua pertanyaan. Pertanyaan pertama menanyakan performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Pertanyaan kedua menanyakan kesalahan-kesalahan umum yang dilakukan oleh mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan terhadap mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris tahun ajaran 2007/2008. Sebuah tes yang terdiri atas dua bagian diujikan untuk menjawab kedua pertanyaan tersebut.
Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi adalah cukup secara umum karena nilai rata-rata tesnya adalah 57,77%. Sebagai rincian, pada bagian pertama tes, yang mengujikan pengetahuan dan pemahaman dari topik-topik di atas, nilai rata-ratanya adalah 64,67% sedangkan pada bagian kedua tes yang mengujikan mahasiswa untuk menerapkan konsep dan teori dari topik-topik di atas nilai rata-ratanya adalah 50,89%. Angka-angka tersebut menyiratkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dalam studi terutama dalam tata-bahasa dapat dicapai. Hal tersebut juga menjawab pertanyaan pertama dari penelitian ini. Di sisi lain, mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan umumnya pada (1) mengidentifikasi sebuah klausa adjektiva dalam kalimat majemuk, (2) mengidentifikasi klausa pelengkap (CP) dalam kaitanya dengan kata benda yang diterangkannya, (3) mengidentifikasi kategori yang menjadi kepala dari klausa induk dan (4) menggabungkan kategori-kategori dari kalimat majemuk baik dalam subjek-subjek dan objek-subjek-subjek klausa ajektiva. Temuan-temuan tersebut menjawab pertanyaan kedua dalam penelitian ini.
Karena performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan, penulis mengajukan beberapa gagasan dalam mengajar klausa ajektiva dan sintaksis. Lebih jauh lagi, penulis juga menyarankan penelitian lanjutan diarahkan untuk mencari faktor-faktor yang menjadi penyebab mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dapat dicapai.
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Ari Wijayanto
Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214030
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 12 Agustus 2009
Yang menyatakan
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for His
everlasting love, blessing and for making everything possible and beautiful just in
time.
My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor, Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd.,
M.Hum., for her precious time and support. Her criticism and suggestion were
very helpful to complete this thesis. I would like to address my thankfulness to
Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, M.A., for his permission to conduct my research in his class
and for his positive advice. I also would like to thank the sixth semester students
class A of Morpho-Syntax of the academic year 2007/2008 for their willingness to
be the respondents of this research.
My sincere appreciation also goes to my mother, my father and my brother
for their support in accomplishing this thesis. I would like thank Meyske Jeannette
for maintaining my sanity in time of difficulties through her everlasting love,
patience and smile.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the lecturers of the
English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, PBI
secretariat staff, Mbak Daniek and Mbak Tari, and the library staff, for their
guidance, inspiration, encouragement and help during my study. I would like also
thank Dr. Bambang Triguno who patiently supported and guided me to finish this
thesis. I also thank Mera Puspitasari, S.E., Aff. W.M., and Beatri Hiprakurniwan,
S.E., M.M., for her willingness to help my research on statistic.
I also want to express my gratitude to PBI fellows, Daniel, Mas Denny,
Niko, Devi ‘Amoy’, Reta, Lintang, Nina, Ozzy, Yuanita, Ipad, Dhea, Bagong,
Bhe, Ratna, Paulina, Alene ‘Cret’, Cimoy, Indra, Om Adit and Bram for the
unforgettable moments during the study. I thank my fellow teachers and staff of
Cresscendo Music School for their support in finishing my thesis. I also thank my
fellow teachers, staff and managers of LBA Interlingua especially Sari Irjayanti,
S. Hut., for her kindness to give me some opportunities to teach. I also thank
Imam Budi Purwoko. S.T., M.A. for his new insights of teaching and for
sharpening my knowledge through wonderful discussions.
Ari Wijayanto
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ...……... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xvii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1. Theoretical Review of Adjective Clause ... 8
a. Independent Clause, Dependent Clause and Modifier ...…... 8
c. Embedding ... ... 13
2. Validity and Reliability of the Instrument ... 33
a. Test Validity ... 33
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION A. Data Presentation ...…... 41
1. The Students’ Performance on the Test ... 41
a. The Students’ Performance in Each Part of the Test ...…... 42
b. The Students’ Final Scores ... 43
2. The Presentation of the Descriptive Statistics ... 45
B. Discussion ... ... 47
1. The Students’ Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clauses using the X-Bar Schema ... 47
2. The General Classifications of the Students’ Mistakes ... 49
a. Main Clause, Subordinate Clause and Modifier ... 49
b. Complementizer Phrase and Wh Movement ... 54
c. Wh Movement and Trace on Inflection Phrase ……... 60
d. Drawing the Tree Diagram ...…... 70
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 87
B. Teaching Implication ... 89
1. Teaching Syntax ... 89
2. Teaching Adjective Clause ... 91
C. Suggestion ... 92
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………....………. 93
APPENDICES Appendix A. The Test and the Answer………...……….………. 96
Appendix B. The Computation of the Test Reliability ….… ...………..……… 103
Appendix C. Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials ……….………… ...….. 109
Appendix D. Examples of the Students’ Test ……….……… ...… 127
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1 Specifiers in Relation to Head ... 16
Table 2.2 Lexical Categories and Their Inflectional Affixes ... 18
Table 2.3 Distributional Properties of Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives ... 18
Table 2.4 Syntactic Categories ... 19
Table 3.1 The Distribution of the Test Contents... 35
Table 4.1 The Students’ Scores in Part A... 42
Table 4.2 The Students’ Scores in Part B... ... 43
Table 4.3 The Students’ Final Scores ... 44
Table 4.4 The Students’ Scores in Relation to the Category... .. 45
Table 4.5 The Descriptive Statistics ... 46
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 2.1 The X' Schema ... 15
Figure 2.2 A VP Consisting of a Specifier, a Head, and a Complement ... . 16
Figure 2.3 Merge Operations in Action ... ... 20
Figure 2.4 The Structure of a Sentence ... 21
Figure 2.5 Complementizer Phrase ... 22
Figure 2.6 How Derivations Works ... ... 24
Figure 2.7 An Example of the D-Structure of an Adjective Clause ... 25
Figure 2.8 An Example of S-Structure as a Result of the Movement ... 25
Figure 2.9 The D-Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause ... .. 27
Figure 2.10 The S-Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause . ... 27
Figure 4.1a The Tree Diagram of the Correct CP ... 56
Figure 4.1b The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an IP ... 56
Figure 4.1c The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an NP ... 57
Figure 4.1d The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an IP ... 57
Figure 4.2 An Adjective Clause Modifies a NP ... 58
Figure 4.3a The Tree Diagram of the Question Number 7 and 8 ... 61
Figure 4.3b The D-Structure of the Sentence [4] ...….. 62
Figure 4.3c The S-Structure of the Sentence [4] ... 63
Figure 4.4a The Tree Diagram of the Question number 9 and 10 ... ... 66
Figure 4.4b The D-Structure of the Sentence [5] ... ... 67
Figure 4.4c The S-Structure of the Sentence [5] ... 68
Figure 4.5 The Correct Tree Diagram of the Sentence [6] ... 71
Figure 4.6a The Tree diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 72
Figure 4.6b The Tree diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 73
Figure 4.7a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... 74
Figure 4.7b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ...…. 75
Figure 4.8a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 76
Figure 4.8b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 77
Figure 4.8c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 77
Figure 4.9a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 78
Figure 4.9b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 79
Figure 4.10 The Correct Tree Diagram of the Sentence [7] ... ... 80
Figure 4.11 The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 81
Figure 4.12a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... .... 82
Figure 4.12b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... ... 83
Figure 4.12c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... ... 83
Figure 4.13 The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... ... 84
Figure 4.14a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... 85
Figure 4.14b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 85
Figure 4.14c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 86
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page Appendix A. The Test and the Answer………...……….………. 96 Appendix B. The Computation of the Test Reliability …… ....………..……… 102 Appendix C. Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials ………. ...….. 107 Appendix D. Examples of the Students’ Test ……….… ...… 124
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
The writer puts forward his rationale in doing the research in this chapter.
He questions two important problems which are going to be answered in this
research. The purpose, limitation and benefit of the research are also elaborated in
this chapter. Finally, the writer also provides the definition of terms based on the
relevant sources to avoid misunderstanding.
A. Research Background
The practice of English language teaching is closely related to the
grammar. Tracing back to the history of English language teaching, it reveals that
grammar becomes the main consideration in language teaching (Howatt and
Widdowson, 2004: 95-98). Grammar is evidently vital in the practice of English
language teaching and language itself in that grammar provides blueprints on how
one should combine words to form meaningful sentences and utterances. Equally,
the intelligibility of a language largely depends on the understanding of the
grammar of that language. Grammar is the answer on how one creates and
understands novel utterances and sentences from limited words (Fromkin,
Rodman and Hyams, 2003: 117-121). Therefore, it is understood that language
teachers as well as students of English Language Education will perform better by
having extensive knowledge of grammar. It cannot be denied that correcting
students’ performance on speaking or writing is grammatical. By knowing the
correct rules and patterns, teachers lead and help the students to be able to use
language grammatically, accurately and meaningfully. In addition, the tendency of
contemporary language teaching literatures and practices perceive grammar as a
skill in which it demands extensive knowledge of grammar (Celce-Murcia and
Larsen-Fremaan, 1999: 4-6; Larsen-Freeman, 2003: 34-48).
Therefore, this research is put down on the investigations of the grammar
studies which help the language teachers assess language as their main subject
matter. X-Bar schema, hereafter is abbreviated X' schema, is one of the thriving
methods to assess linguistic phenomena. Nevertheless, the use of the X' schema
has been apparently poles apart from the practice and consideration of language
teaching. It is due the fact that the X' requires understanding of various concepts
like complementizer, empty category, movement or tree diagram which are
somewhat unusual (Alip, 2006). Moreover, for those who are not accustomed to
using the X' schema to analyse linguistic phenomena it might be felt impractical.
In spite of the terms which are problematic, the X' schema provides simplicity and
deliberately shows generations of words, phrase or sentences. It means that the X'
schema does not only deals with the actual utterances or performance (Alip,
2006), but the X' schema also shows the competence in which the generation of
those elements are rooted in a speaker’s mind. Another colour of the X' schema is
the use of tree diagrams. The tree diagrams are graphic representations of
grammatical relations of each syntactic category. The X' schema widely employs
tree diagrams to show how words, phrases and sentences are generated. Once the
explanations to the students on language forms and functions are clear and
reliable.
To relate with the practice of English language teaching, this research puts
forward on the practical uses and the application of the X' schema to analyse
adjective clauses as one of the subjects of language teaching. The adjective
clauses have been interest for many researchers to investigate for their complexity
and usage (Annas, 2004 and Lin and Bever, 2006). Some teaching literatures
(Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999: 571-573; Murphy, 1985: 182-190 and
Yule, 2004: 239-240) also indicate that the adjectives clauses should be elaborated
in a great respect. However, most of the researchers investigate the adjective
clauses in the light of teaching strategies and second language acquisition.
Therefore, this research carries out the research in the framework of syntax as a
complement of those researches. This research is expected to give positive
contribution in language teaching by disclosing the students’ performance in
applying the X' schema as well as making general classifications of the students’
mistakes so that better performance in teaching could be attained.
B. Problem Formulation
The research questions are the followings:
1. What is the sixth semester students’ performance on analysing the adjective
clauses using the X-Bar schema?
2. What are the general classifications of the most mistakes commonly made by
C. Problem Limitation
This research is conducted to the sixth semester students of English
Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University academic year
2007/2008. The main focus of this research is to measure students’ performance to
analyse adjective clause using the X' schema. To measure the students’
performance the writer will administers a test. The test results are then analysed to
determine the students’ performance and to know the mistakes on analysing the
adjective clauses.
Since adjective clauses are a broad topic, the writer limits the topic of the
adjective clause. This research will focus on the restrictive adjective clauses
which use relative pronouns which, who, whom and that. According to Biber,
Conrad and Leech (2002: 284-286), those relative pronouns are included in the
high frequency of relative pronouns choices in conversation, fiction, news and
academic prose. Therefore, they clearly deserve priority from pedagogical
perspective to be analysed.
The writer uses and follows the theories which is used as the main sources
in Morpho-Syntax class to analyse the adjective clauses. The theories are taken
from the book entitled Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (2005) by
O’Grady, Archibald, Aronof and Rees-Miller. The consideration of taking that
book is because the sixth semester students who become the sample of the
research study the theories taken from the book. Therefore, in making the research
instrument and in discussing the findings, the writer refers to that theory as the
schema rather than philosophical. Therefore, it is suitable to be used for language
teachers and candidate of teachers as a media to depict language.
D. Research Objective
Based on the background of the problem and the problem formulation, the
purposes of the research are:
1. To find out the sixth semester students’ performance on analysing the adjective
clauses using the X-Bar schema.
2. To find out the general classifications of the most mistakes commonly made by
the sixth semester students on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar
schema.
E. Research Benefit
This research will give positive contributions to the field of language
teaching and linguistics. In language teaching, this research will measure the
students’ performance on their extensive knowledge of the grammar study related
to the adjective clauses and the X' schema. Besides, this research also looks for
general classifications of the students’ mistakes. Once the students’ performance
is measured and mistakes are classified, better improvement on grammar study
can be enhanced in which it will bring about a change in the knowledge and
behavior of the students in the teaching practice. On the other hand, in the area of
linguistics, this research can be used as a basis to conduct similar research with
F. Definition of Terms
This research uses some technical terms in the area of linguistics and
language teaching. In order to avoid misunderstanding among the readers, the
writer provides some definitions of terms related to the research based on relevant
sources.
1. Performance
According to McKean (2005), performance is an action, task, or operation
seen in terms on how successfully it was. In this research, performance refers to
on how successful the sixth semester students on applying the concepts and
theories of the X' schema to analyse the adjective clauses. Furthermore, a test
which consists of two parts is administered to elicit the students’ performance.
Once the students’ scores are obtained, the students’ performance is classified
according to the academic regulations of Sanata Dharma University which are
used as the benchmark.
2. Adjective Clause
Azar (1999: 267) states that adjective clause or relative clause is a
dependent clause that modifies a noun. It describes, identifies or gives further
information about a noun. On the other hands, Yule (2004: 240) adds that
adjective clauses do not only describe and identify nouns but also people.
An adjective clause uses relative pronoun such as who, which, whom and
182-184) elaborates that the relative pronoun who is used to talk about people,
which is used for things, that can be used either for people or things. In addition,
whom is used when the adjective clause functions as an object in formal English.
3. X-Bar Schema
According to O’Grady et al. (2005: 658), X' schema is the template for
phrase structure, indicating that a phrase is hierarchically organised with a head,
complement and specifier. The symbol X is used as a variable denoting any word
category. In addition, Radford (1997: 535) adds that the X' is an intermediate
projection headed by a word category. Furthermore, according to O’Grady et al.
(2005: 155-157), the X' schema captures four generalisations. First, all phrases
have a three-level structure. Second, all phrases contain a head. Third, if there is a
complement, it is attached at the intermediate X' level as a ‘sister’ of the head.
Fourth, if there is a specifier, it is attached at the XP level.
4. Tree Diagram
According to Radford (1997: 533), a tree diagram is a way of representing
the syntactic structure of a phrase or a sentence. In addition, the tree diagram
represents the formations of phrases and sentences hierarchically. It is called a
‘tree’ because the representation of the syntactic structures using this diagram is
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
The writer elaborates theories of adjective clause and X-Bar based on
relevant sources in this chapter. This chapter is also meant to present the
theoretical ground as the basis of analysis. Contemporary theories of adjective
clause and X-Bar are presented here.
A. Theoretical Review
In this part, the writer reviews many theories related to the adjective clause
and the X' schema to provide theoretical background to conduct the research. The
first part is related to the adjective clauses theory and the second part is related to
the X' schema. The followings are the complete elaborations of those theories.
1. Theoretical Review of Adjective Clause
Many literatures on grammar discuss adjective clauses extensively.
However, to avoid exaggerate discussion on the adjective clauses and to
synchronise those literatures with the aims of this study the writer will discuss
theories and concepts of the adjective clause related to the research.
a. Independent Clause, Dependent Clause and Modifier
According to Azar (1999: 267) and Murphy (1985: 182), a clause is a part
of a sentence which contains a subject and verb. On the other hand, Azar (1999:
267) also states that an independent clause or a main clause is a complete
sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a sentence. It should be also
contrasted with the term dependent clause or subordinate clause since an adjective
clause is a dependent clause. A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It
must be connected to an independent clause.
On the other hand, adjectives, as Azar (1999: A4) states, give a little
different meaning by describing or modifying nouns. Therefore, as the name
suggests, the adjective clause is a clause which functions to modify or to describe
about a noun. In line with the arguments, Murphy (1985: 182) states that an
adjective clause is not only to explain about a noun but also a pronoun. In other
words, the adjective clause functions as a modifier of a noun or pronoun. To make
it precise, sentence [1] illustrates those explanations.
[1] The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
The clause in italic is an adjective clause. It is an adjective clause because
it functions to modify or to give further information about the noun phrase the
woman. By adding an adjective clause after the noun phrase, a speaker intends to
be precise on which he or she means. Still according to Murphy (1985: 182),
sentence [1] actually consists of two sentences. They are [1a] and [1b].
[1a] The woman is a doctor.
[1b] She lives next door.
Comparing sentence [1a], [1b] and [1], it makes an impression that [1b] explains
or gives further information of sentence the [1a]. It gives further information of
less elegant and wordier. Therefore, the presence of the relative pronoun who
encodes the properties of [1b] so that it naturally attaches to [1a] to form [1]. The
next part discusses the theoretical description of the relative pronoun.
b. Relative Pronoun
The relative pronoun is the most noticeable feature of an adjective clause
because of its functions. The relative pronoun marks or introduces the adjective
clause as well as functions as a subject or an object in a sentence (Philips, 2003:
119 and Swan, 2005: 477). The relative pronouns such as who, which, whom and
that introduce the adjective clauses. However, the use of the relative pronouns
largely depends on the noun or pronoun which is modified. The followings are the
explanation of each relative pronoun.
1) Who
The relative pronoun who introduces an adjective clause when it modifies
or gives further explanation about people. The relative pronoun who replaces the
use of he, she, or they (Azar, 1999: 268 and Murphy, 1985: 182). Sentence [2]
illustrates the role of the relative pronoun who in a sentence.
[2] I thanked the woman who helped me.
The presence of the relative pronoun who in the clause who helped me
introduces that the phrase is an adjective clause. According to Azar (1999: 268),
the sentence [2] consists of an independent clause [2a] and dependent clause [2b].
[2a] I thanked the woman.
[2b] The woman helped me.
The phrase the woman in [2b] corresponds to the noun phrase the woman in [2a]
therefore the relative pronoun who is used when those two sentences are
combined in which one of those sentences functions as the modifier.
2) Which
Conversely, the relative pronoun which introduces an adjective clause
when it modifies or gives further explanation about things (Murphy, 1985: 182).
Sentence [3] illustrates the use of which in an adjective clause.
[3] Where is the cheese which was in the fridge?
Following the same arguments, dependent clause [3a] and independent clause [3b]
constitutes sentence [3].
[3a] Where is the cheese?
[3b] It was in the fridge.
The pronoun it in [3b] corresponds to the noun phrase the cheese in [3a].
Therefore, the relative pronoun which takes the position of the pronoun to form
the sentence [3].
3) Whom
Similar to the former relative pronoun, the relative pronoun whom
introduces an adjective clause when it modifies about people. However, as Azar
speaking, who is usually used instead of whom. However, in the perspective of
grammar, the relative pronoun whom is used when it functions as an object of the
verb. Sentence [4] illustrates the use of whom in an adjective clause.
[4] The man whom I met was Lecter.
Based on the arguments that an adjective clause connects to an independent
clause, sentence [4a] and [4b] comprise [4].
[4a] The man was Lecter
[4b] I met him.
Comparing [4a], [4b] and [4], the presence of the relative pronoun whom is clear
then. The object pronoun him which functions as an object corresponds to the
pronoun Lecter therefore the relative pronoun whom occupies the object position
to make up sentence [4].
4) That
Another relative pronoun which introduces either people or things is that.
According to Murphy (1985: 182-184 and Azar, 1999: 268), the relative pronoun
that occupies same properties as which and who. Instead of using who and which,
that can be used in an adjective clause. Following the arguments therefore,
sentence [5] and [6] below have the same meaning as sentence [2] and [3].
[5] I thanked the woman that helped me.
[6] Where is the cheese that was in the fridge.
A final point which should be clear is that those relative pronouns also
a connector in a noun clause (Philips, 2003: 117). However, the nature of the noun
clause naturally distinguishes from an adjective clause. As the name suggest, a
noun clause is a clause which is treated like a noun. Therefore, it can occupy the
position of subject, object and object preposition whereas an adjective clause
cannot. It should be another point which needs to be taken in to account in
considering an adjective clause in a sentence.
c. Embedding
The formation of an adjective clause entails embedding process.
Embedding is a process in which one clause embeds or pushes in within another
superordinate clause or a main clause (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999:
572). Thus, it implies that the adjective clause derives from a basic structure
consisting of more than one sentence in which one sentence modifies another
sentence. Furthermore, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999: 572) illustrates
the idea of embedding in sentence [7] clearly.
[7] The fans who were attending the rock concert had to wait in line for
three hours.
By observing [7] closely, it has a sense that the embedded clause in italics
is closely associated with the noun phrase the fans. The italics clause gives further
explanation or explains the noun phrase precedes it. In the perspective of Murphy
(1985: 182-184) and in line with Azar (1999: 268), sentence [7] consists of two
sentences. They are [7a] and [7b].
[7b] They were attending the rock concert.
The subject they in [7b] corresponds to the subject the fans of [7a]. Thus, relative
pronoun who can replace the subject position to form more elegant sentence such
as [7]. The process in which [7b] push in within [7a] to form a more elegant
sentence such as [7] is called the embedding.
2. Theoretical Review of the X-Bar Schema
Discussing the X-Bar, it traces back to the classical and notorious work of
Chomsky (1957). Chomsky mentions that phrase-structure rules might contain
another phrase of the same type. In a noun phrase, for example, it might have
another noun phrase which theoretically without any limit. Therefore, to avoid the
recurring use of phrasal category such as noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP),
prepositional phrase (PP) or adjective phrase (AP), Chomsky (1970) introduces
the concept of the X-Bar, where X can be any lexical category. O’Grady,
Archibald, Aronoff and Rees-Miller (2005: 155) and Radford (1997: 92) explain
further the X' in a hierarchal design in a concept of head, specifier and
complement. Therefore, the X' schema, as the name suggest, is the template for
phrase structure, indicating that a phrase is hierarchically organised with a head,
complement and specifier.
a. The Blueprint
O’Grady et al. (2005: 156) and Radford (1997: 92) state that a typical
complement. Figure 2.1 illustrates the blueprint of the X' schema (X' is
pronounced X-Bar) in which X stands for any category such as noun, verb,
adjective or preposition, thus XP stands for a phrase such as NP, VP, AP, or PP.
Figure 2.1 The X' Schema (O’Grady et al., 2005: 156)
The structure, as Figure 2.1 illustrates, which is often called tree captures the
hierarchical organisation of phrases and sentences. In particular, the X' schema
captures four generalisations. First, all phrases have three-level structure. Those
are X, X' and XP. Second, all phrases contain a head X. Third, if there is a
complement, it is attached at the intermediate X' level, as a sister of the head.
Finally, if there is a specifier, it is attached at the XP level. The followings are the
expansion of the head, specifier and complement feature and how those features
come up together.
1) Head, Specifier and Complement
The head is the essential core around which a phrase is built. Similar to the
XP notion above, X refers to any category functions as the head. Therefore, as an
example, a noun phrase contains a noun as the head as well as a verb phrase
contains a verb as the head. Although phrases usually consist of two or more
On the other hands, the type of specifier appearing in a particular phrase
depends on the category of the head. Syntactically, specifiers mark a phrase
boundary which occur at the beginning of the respective phrase whereas
semantically specifiers make the meaning of the head more precise (O’Grady et
al., 2005: 157). Needless to say, the specifier attaches to XP in accordance with
the X' schema. Table 2.1 presents the specifier in relation to the head.
Table 2.1Specifiers in Relation to Head (O’Grady et al., 2005: 157)
Category Typical Function Examples
Determiner
never, perhaps, often, always very, quite, more, almost
Finally, complements, which are themselves phrases, provide information
about the entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the
head (O’Grady et al., 2005: 158). In order to give clearer insight into the relation
between head, specifier and complement, Figure 2.2 as taken from O’Grady et al.
(2005: 158) illustrates it.
Figure 2.2A VP Consisting of a Specifier, a Head, and a Complement
(O’Grady et al., 2005: 158)
Figure 2.2 illustrates a phrase which consists of a head, a specifier and a
NP a hamburger as a complement comprises a determiner a and a noun
hamburger. Finally, the head takes the adverb never as the specifier to form a verb
phrase as it is illustrated above. The followings are the explanation on how those
categories can come up together and build larger phrases.
2) Merge Operation
According to O’Grady et al. (2005: 159) merge operation or merger
(Radford, 1997: 94) combines words in a manner compatible with the X' schema.
Figure 2.2 illustrates that a determiner a merge with a noun hamburger to form a
NP. It also captures that the verb eat merge with the adverb never and the NP a
hamburger to form a VP. In other words, merge actually combines smaller
syntactic category such as noun, verb, adjective and adverb to form a new phrasal
category. Radford (1997: 14-16 and 37) also argues that grammatical operations
in a natural language are category based and all words in the language belong to a
restricted set of category. There are three approaches according to O’Grady et al.
(2005: 154-155) to determine the category of words. The category of words can
be determined by meaning, inflection and distribution.
Meaning is used to determine the category of words based on designation.
Noun usually names entities or individual such as pen, book as well as Bob and
Ron. On the other hand, verb designates actions like in eat, drink and write.
Adjective denotes the property of a noun such as in beautiful girl, the word
beautiful modifies the word girl. Similarly, the adverb attributes the action,
but they have different category. As an example, the similarity between like and
found are difficult to be designated. Although they share the same meaning, they
belong to different category.
In addition to meaning, inflection also can be employed to determine the
category of words. Table 2.2 provides information and examples related to the
inflection.
Table 2.2 Lexical Categories and Their Inflectional Affixes (O’Grady et al., 2005: 154)
Category Inflectional affix Examples
Noun
However, inflection does not always provide information needed for assigning
category of word. For examples, some verbs like see, teach and sing have
irregular past form. Therefore, -ed inflection cannot be applied.
Finally, distribution is employed to determine the category of words by
figuring out the co-occurrence between the type of elements or functional
category with another functional category. Table 2.3 provides information about
the distributional properties.
Table 2.3 Distributional Properties of Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives (O’Grady et al., 2005: 155)
Category Distributional Property Examples
Noun
occurrence with a determiner occurrence with an auxiliary occurrence with a degree word
Therefore, based on the Table 2.3 it is certain that a verb cannot occur with a
determiner or a degree word and a noun cannot occur with an auxiliary.
Furthermore, according to O’Grady et al. (2005: 152-153) the four most
studied syntactic categories are noun (N), verb (V), adjective (A) and preposition
(P). These elements, which are often called lexical categories, play a very
important role in sentence formation. However, languages may also contain
nonlexical or functional categories, including determiner (Det), auxiliary verb
(Aux), conjunction (Con), and degree word (Deg). Such elements generally have
meanings that are harder to define and paraphrase than those of lexical categories
are. Nonlexical categories are easier to interpret when they attach to the lexical
category. Table 2.4 provides the information and examples of the lexical and
nonlexical category.
Table 2.4 Syntactic Categories (O’Grady et al., 2005: 153)
Lexical categories Examples
Harry, boy, wheat, policy, moisture arrive, discuss, melt, hear, remain, dislike good, tall, old, intelligent, beautiful to, in, on, near, at, by
will, can, may, must, should, could, be, have
and, or, but
too, so, very, more, quite
In short, merge operations combine two categories to form another phrasal
category in accordance to the X' schema. Figure 2.3 which is adopted form
a. b.
Figure 2.3 Merge Operations in Action (O’Grady et al., 2005: )
The noun phrase the computer consists of the words the and computer. According
to the syntactic categories, the is a determiner and computer is a noun. Therefore,
they merger to form a NP in which N functions as the head. Similarly, the word
book is a noun. It merges with the determiner the to form a NP. In the end, it
merges with the verb read to form a larger phrasal category. As the result, they
make a VP read the book in which the verb read functions as the head.
b. The I' and the Inflection Phrase
The merge operation allows a category to combine to another category to
form a larger phrasal category. Continued application of the merge operations
leads to the unlimited and complex formation of phrases and sentences (Alip,
2006 and O’Grady et al., 2005: 160). Following the arguments that each merge
should meet the generalisation of the X' schema, a sentence also has a head as the
major feature. According to O’Grady et al. (2005:160) and Fromkin et al. (2003:
133), sentences have an abstract category dubbed as Inflection (I) which indicates
auxiliary verbs and verbs take I as its category. To make it clear, Figure 2.3 as
taken from O’Grady et al. (2005: 160-161) illustrates the explanation above.
b. a.
Figure 2.4 The Structure of a Sentence (O’Grady et al., 2005: 160-161)
It is clear in Figure 2.4a that the auxiliary verb will is dubbed I as its
category because it marks the tense and specifies the time frame. The I merges
with the verb return to form an I' and finally the I' merge with the NP the
explorers to form an IP. However, in Figure 2.4b the merge operation is
somewhat different from Figure 2.4a yet it is clear that I is an abstract category.
According to Radford (1997: 94), the I' of the Figure 2.4b is the intermediate
projection of the verb returned. Finally, the I' merges with the NP the explorers to
form the IP. However, it is not the final of the merge operation. It is because a
sentence can be a modifier of another sentence (Fromkin et al., 2003: 148-150;
O’Grady et al., 2005: 165-167; and Radford, 1997: 94-95). The followings discuss
the sentence which becomes a modifier of another sentence.
c. Complementizer Phrase
Complementizer phrase (CP) is a phrase which functions as a complement
of another clause or phrase (O’Grady et al., 2005: 166). By seeing the nature of an
adjective clause can be categorised into a complementizer phrase. In relation to
the nature of the adjective clause as a complemetizer phrase. Furthermore,
Murphy (1985: 82) also elaborates that an adjective clause gives further
information about the noun or pronoun which precede it.
Another important feature of an adjective clause is the relative pronoun.
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985: 365) explain that the adjective
clause is introduced or marked by a relative pronoun. In the perspective of
O’Grady et al. (2005: 185) the relative pronoun is a noun phrase. Relative
pronoun is a noun phrase in view of the fact that it corresponds to the noun or
pronoun which are modified. The detail explanations of the relative pronoun
category are on the next topic. The following figure is to depict the relation of the
CP and the IP. Sentence [2] is used as the example.
Sentence [2] consists of a main clause and an adjective clause. The relative
pronoun who marks the clause who helped me as an adjective clause. Considering
the merge operation, the verb helped merges with the object pronoun me to form a
VP, however I' occurs because the verb helped marks and specifies the time
frame. The I' merges with the relative pronoun who to form a CP. CP merges with
the noun phrase the woman to form a NP. Then, it merges with the verb thanked
to form a VP, however, it should be dubbed as I' because it specifies the time
frame and marks the tense. Finally, the I' merges with the subject pronoun I to
form an IP. However, talking about the complementizer phrase does not only
involve merger operation but also movement operation. The following part
discusses the movement operation related to the adjective clause.
d. Wh Movement and Trace on Complemetizer Phrase
According to O’Grady et al. (2005: 171), there are two mechanisms which
can be employed to help in analysing sentences. First, merger operation accounts
for the formation of phrases from smaller syntactic category. The second one is
movement operation. The movement operation modifies the arrangement of the
syntactic category in the tree diagram by moving an element from one position to
another. This movement results on two distinct levels of syntactic structure. They
are deep structure or D-structure and surface structure or S-structure. Therefore, in
analysing the adjective those two mechanisms should be considered. By
considering those mechanisms it will give a complete explanation on the nature of
Merge
DEEP STRUCTURE
Move
SURFACE STRUCTURE
Figure 2.6 How Derivations Works (O’Grady et al., 2005: 172)
As Figure 2.6 depicts, merger operation accounts for the formation of the
larger phrasal category in accordance with X' schema. It results on the deep
structure. By the involvement of the movement operation in the deep structure, it
results surface structure. Sentence [8] which consists of [8a] and [8b] illustrates
those derivations.
[8] The car which John bought is cheap.
[8a] The car is cheap.
[8b] John bought the car.
By comparing [8a], [8b] and [8] it can be concluded that [8b] embeds in the main
clause [8a] to form a complex sentence [8]. Since the phrase the car in [8b]
corresponds to the same phrase in [8a], the relative pronoun which replaces it. In
addition, according to O’Grady et al. (2005: 175 and 184), the relative pronoun
should follows the Wh movement principle which requires the Wh phrase under
the position of CP. Another point is that there is an empty position which is left as
the result of the movement. This empty position is called a trace (t) (O’Grady et
al., 2005: 170). Those explanations are illustrated on Figure 2.7 and 2.8 on the
Figure 2.7 An Example of the D-Structure of an Adjective Clause (O’Grady et al., 2005: 185)
Figure 2.8 An Example of S-Structure as a Result of the Movement (O’Grady et al., 2005: 185)
In order to understand the nature of the Wh movement and the trace, observing the
relative pronoun which is very helpful. The noun phrase the car which has been
replaced by the relative pronoun which is originally located as the direct object of
under the CP, the relative pronoun which moves to the initial position of the
pronoun John. Once the position is vacated, the trace marks the original position
of the Wh phrase. The resulted phrase is the same as the phrase which is left.
e. The Syntactic Structure of the Adjective Clause
Another important colour of the X' schema is the use of tree diagrams
which can be used to represent the syntactic structure of a sentence. Alip (2006)
states that by using tree diagrams, several and theoretically unlimited number of
operations can be presented in the same diagram. Furthermore, Fromkin et al.
(2003: 140-143) also elaborate that tree diagrams describe grammatical relation
between words, phrases and sentences.
In other words, tree diagrams are representation of the language forms. In
addition, this tree diagram also shows how those forms are generated. Therefore,
it does not only deal with the surface structure or language performance but also
deals with the deep structure in which sentences are processed in speakers’ mind.
Furthermore, Alip (2006) also suggests the use of tree diagram in the scope of
language teaching as a tool in analysing linguistic phenomena because of its
practicality. The following paragraph shows the application of the tree diagram in
analysing the adjective clause of sentence [4].
One of the practical uses of tree diagram is to show how sentences are
generated. Sentence [4], as an example, can be analysed using the tree diagrams to
show its syntactic structure. Figure 2.9 shows the merge operations of the deep
Figure 2.9 The Deep Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause
The tree diagram as it is depicted by Figure 2.9 is able to capture the original
arrangement or the deep structure of the sentence [4]. By applying the Wh
movement to the deep structure it will result in a surface structure as Figure 2.10
illustrates.
Comparing Figure 2.9 to Figure 2.10, the tree diagrams clearly show the syntactic
structures of the sentence. It does not only capture the merge of each syntactic
category merges but also captures the transformation from the deep structures into
the surface structures.
Based on the use of the tree diagram to analyse a sentence which contains
an adjective clause as Figure 2.10 illustrates, it is clear that the tree diagram is
able to capture the merge operation of each syntactic category as well as the
movement and the trace of a category. The merge operations result on the deep
structure in which the relative pronoun whom is in its original position. The
movement operation then captures the movement of the relative pronoun whom
into new position which results the surface structure.
B. Theoretical Framework
X' bar schema provides analytical explanation on how sentences like the
adjective clause is generated. The core of the X' schema is the head, specifiers and
complement. The X' captures the hierarchical structures of phrases and sentence in
the form of tree diagram. In particular, X' schema captures four generalisations
(O’Grady et al., 2005: 156). First, all phrases have a three-level structure (X, X'
and XP). Second, all phrases contain a head X. Third, if there is a complement, it
is attached at the intermediate X' level as a sister. Finally, if there is a specifier it
is attached at the XP level. Head is the obligatory feature of a phrase whereas
operations. The merger operation is an operation by which two categories are
combined to form another category.
In the light of the X' schema, the adjective clause is perceived as a
complementizer phrase (CP). It is due to the fact that an adjective clause functions
as a modifier of another clause whereas the relative pronoun is categorised into a
noun phrase as its syntactic category. Since the adjective clause functions as a
modifier which embeds into another superordinate clause, two layers analyses are
needed. First, the deep structure as the results of the merger operation will capture
the actual arrangement of the sentence. Second, by applying the Wh movement
principle which requires to move the Wh phrase or the relative pronoun under the
CP, it will result to the actual performance or the surface structure. The Wh
movement also captures that there is an empty position which is resulted by the
movement of the Wh phrase. Once it is vacated, the position is marked by a trace
(t). As a result, the trace captures the original position of the relative pronoun
before the movement.
In spite of its rigorous use to explain language, the X' schema is utterly
poles apart from the practice of English language teaching which in turns makes it
worth researching. This current study tries to see the students’ performance on
using the X' schema to analyse the adjective clauses. The study also attempts to
make the general classifications of the students’ mistakes in applying the X'
schema. Once the students’ performance is observed and the mistakes are
recorded, further improvement for increasing the students’ performance could be
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The writer elaborates the methodology of the research in this chapter
mainly to put forward the rationale of using certain instrument as well as its
validity and reliability. It also provides the type of the research, data gathering
procedure and data analysis procedure. Related literatures are reviewed as the
basis of the methodology to disclose accurate and reliable data.
A. Research Method
The method which was used in this research was a survey. Wiersma
(1995:169) states that surveys are used to measure attitudes, opinions, or
achievements–any number of variables in natural setting. In line with Wiersma,
Sprinthall, Schmutte and Sirois (1991: 93) add that survey research may be used
to investigate virtually anything that people do or think. Furthermore, one of the
uses of survey information is to generalise the results to the population from
which the sample has been selected. In this research, survey was employed to
measure the performance of the sixth semester students of English Language
Education of Sanata Dharma University on analysing the adjective clauses using
X' schema. The results of the research were used to generalise the students’
performance and to classify their mistakes on analysing the adjective clauses
using the X' schema. Seeing the nature of the survey and the objective of the
research it was appropriate to select survey as the method of the investigations.
B. Research Respondent
The population of the research was the students of the English Language
Education of Sanata Dharma University academic year 2007/2008. The sample of
this research was the sixth semester students of English Language Education of
Sanata Dharma University academic year of 2007/2008 class A. The writer chose
the sixth semester students because they had learned adjective clause in their
previous structure courses before the research was conducted and they were
learning English Morpho-Syntax at the time the research was conducted.
There were two Morpho-Syntax classes, class A and class B, in the
academic year 2007/2008. However, the writer conducted the research only in
class A because of two reasons. First, considering the time and the affordability,
the writer could not investigate all of the population. Secondly, class A had
finished discussing the topic of adjective clauses whereas class B had not. Seeing,
the conditions, class A was appropriate to be the sample of the research.
In choosing the sample, the writer used cluster sampling procedure. As
stated by Wiersma (1999: 292), the cluster sampling is a procedure to choose the
sample which involves the random selection of clusters from the bigger
population of clusters. This sampling method was chosen because of two reasons.
The first was that this sampling method was easier to conduct since the writer did
not need to make new clusters. The second reason was that the sixth semester
students of the English Language Education Study Program were supposed to
share the same level of performance on adjective clauses and syntax at the time
result. As a result, the writer conducted the research to the 45 students of
Morpho-Syntax class A academic year 2007/2008.
C. Research Instrument
To elicit students’ performance and to classify the mistakes, certain
instrument was needed. In line with the objective of the research which would like
to measure students’ performance and to classify the mistakes, a test was used.
Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000: 171) sustain that a test can be used as the
instrument on a survey. The followings are the details.
1. Type of Instrument
The instrument which was used to measure students’ performance was a
test (Appendix A). The test was administered to the sample to obtain the data to
be analysed. In line with the purpose of this research and the purpose of testing
(Hughes, 1989: 7), the test was administered because of two reasons. First, testing
is able to discover how far students have achieved the objectives of course of
study. Second, testing is able to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses, to
identify what they know and what they do not know. Therefore, based on those
arguments the test can measure the students’ performance on analysing the
adjective clauses using the X' schema.
The test consisted of twelve items and it was divided into two parts. The
first part of the test consisted of ten items. In this part, the students were required
![Figure 4.3c The S-Structure of the Sentence [4]](https://thumb-ap.123doks.com/thumbv2/123dok/442767.47150/85.595.87.511.233.617/figure-c-s-structure-sentence.webp)
