THE MASTERY OF ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS AMONG THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF 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 Eva Kristina
Student Number: 061214023
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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THE MASTERY OF ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS AMONG THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF 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 Eva Kristina
Student Number: 061214023
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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ll need time to get you off my mind
I may sometimes bother you; try to be in touch with you Even ask too much of you, from time to time
Now and then, Lord, you know I’ll need a friend ‘Til I get used to losing you, let me keep on using you, ‘Til I can make it on my own
I’ll get by, but no matter how I try
There’ll be times that you’ll know I’ll call Chances are my tears will fall
And I’ll have no pride at all from time to time But they say, oh, there’ll be a brighter day But ‘til then I lean on you, that’s all I mean to do, ‘Til I can make it on my own
Surely someday I’ll look up and see the morning sun Without another lonely night behind me
Then I’ll know I’m over you And all my cryin’s done
And no more hurtin’ memories can find me
But ‘til then, Lord, you know I’m gonna need a friend ‘‘Til I get used to losing you, let me keep on using you ‘Til I can make it on my own…
(‘Til I Can Make It on My Own by Billy Gilman)
I dedicate this thesis to
my parents, my sisters, my little brother
=
,
and my dreams
as the gift for their infinite tenderness
which made me want to
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ABSTRACT
Kristina, Eva. 2010. The Mastery of English Phrasal Verbs among the Sixth Semester Students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Grammar is one important thing which should be learnt by the English Language Education Study Program students since a good grasp of English grammar is a necessary qualification for optimal effectiveness as an ESL/EFL instructor. There are many topics to be mastered by the students; one of them is phrasal verbs. Gaining competency in English phrasal verbs is not easy. However, as the teacher candidates, they are expected to be able to use phrasal verbs in order to convey the ideas with idiomatic English. Knowing the fact that phrasal verbs are very important and should be mastered by the students, it is important to measure their mastery as well as to find out the possible causes for their errors.
There were two research questions presented in this study: (1) How well have the sixth semester students of the 2009/2010 academic year in the ELESP of Sanata Dharma University mastered the two types of English phrasal verbs, the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs? (2)What are the possible causes of the students’ errors in using the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs?
In order to answer those two research questions, the researcher administered a test and conducted an interview. The test, which consisted of three parts, aimed at measuring mastery as well as finding out errors committed by the students. Subsequently, the interview was conducted to discover the reasons why the students still made errors.
From the data gathered, overall, the errors committed by the students in producing phrasal verbs were to associate the verbs with the wrong particles and these errors mostly appeared in the items which had inseparable phrasal verbs. Though the students made various kinds of errors, they still could be said to have sufficient mastery of phrasal verbs. This inference was drawn from the mean of the results of the test which was 58.8 out of 100. This achievement was slightly above the minimum standard of mastery, which is 56% of the maximum score as the lower margin to pass with grade C or ‘sufficient’. Based on the scoring category, this score was categorized in the level of sufficient or grade C. The interview, then, revealed two major causes which made the students make errors namely lack of knowledge of English phrasal verbs and lack of concentration due to nervousness. Furthermore, the researcher also offered suggestions addressed to students and lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program which were taken from the results of interview as well as the suggestions for future researchers who have an interest in this topic.
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ABSTRAK
Kristina, Eva. 2010. The Mastery of English Phrasal Verbs among the Sixth Semester Students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Tata Bahasa Inggris adalah salah satu hal penting yang harus dipelajari oleh mahasiswa Program Studi Bahasa Inggris. Pemahaman yang mendalam akan tata bahasa Inggris merupakan salah satu syarat untuk menjadi seorang guru bahasa Inggris yang optimal. Terdapat beberapa topik yang wajib untuk dikuasai oleh mahasiswa; salah satunya adalah phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs memiliki tingkat penguasaan yang cukup sulit, namun sebagai calon guru, mahasiswa diharapkan mampu menggunakan phrasal verbs untuk menyampaikan ide-ide secara natural layaknya pengguna asli dari bahasa Inggris. Phrasal verbs mempunyai peran yang penting sehingga mahasiswa diharapkan mampu menguasainya. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, maka sangatlah penting untuk mengukur kemampuan penggunaan phrasal verbs dan mengetahui kesalahan dalam penggunaannya beserta penyebabnya.
Terdapat dua pertanyaan dalam penelitian ini: (1) Bagaimana tingkat kemampuan mahasiswa semester enam tahun ajaran 2009/2010 di Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma dalam menguasai dua tipe phrasal verbs, yaitu separable phrasal verbs dan inseparable phrasal verbs? (2) Apa saja faktor-faktor penyebab timbulnya kesalahan dalam menggunakan separable phrasal verbs dan inseparable phrasal verbs?
Pada penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan tes dan melakukan wawancara untuk menjawab kedua pertanyaan tersebut di atas. Tes yang digunakan terdiri dari tiga bagian dengan tujuan untuk mengukur penguasaan mahasiswa terhadap phrasal verbs serta mengetahui kesalahan-kesalahan yang dibuat oleh mahasiswa dalam menggunakan phrasal verbs. Wawancara dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk menemukan faktor penyebab mahasiswa masih membuat beberapa kesalahan.
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rekomendasi atau masukan kepada mahsiswa dan dosen Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris juga para peneliti yang yang tertarik pada topik yang sama.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, although it is hard to find proper words to express my
thankfulness, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ and
Mother Mary for the never-ending blessing, spirit, and health given to me. I am
grateful to Him for increasing my faith when He answers my prayer and
increasing my patience when He delays my prayer. Above all, I realize that He
always has better plans for me in my life.
My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd.,
M.Pd., for spending her precious time for paying incredible attention to every
detail of this thesis. Her specialist input has been very useful for me to write this
thesis. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to my proofreader,
Silvia Rehulina Ginting, S.Pd., for her sincere willingness to read my work even
though she was also busy with her study.
I am deeply indebted to Fidelis Chosa Kastuhandani, S.Pd., Dionisius
Sasmoyo, S.Pd., and Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang, S.Pd., for the permission
to administer the test in their classes. I would like to thank the sixth semester
students in classes A, B, and C of Translation courses of the academic year 2009/
2010 for their willingness to be the participants of the research. They make this
thesis possible.
Sincere thanks are also expressed to Caecilia Tuyandari S.Pd., M. Pd.,
my academic advisor and all lecturers of the English Language Education Study
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shared with me. Without that knowledge, this thesis is just a bundle of blank
papers.
I would like to express my biggest gratitude to my parents, Amang and
Inang, for being the infinite source of love and support that I have so needed to
guide me in this game of life and for being compassionate and understanding as I
grow as a person. I do appreciate everything they have done for me. I could never
repay them for all that they have done for me, their love and support is priceless.
Many, many thanks to my four sisters, Elisabeth (Mrs.Tamba), Elferida,
Emeliana, and Emerentiana, I could not ask for four better sisters, I love them
loads and I am very lucky to have them all – I know it is not always easy putting
up with me. Further, I thank them for being there for me through thick and thin. I
would also like to thank to my little angel Eduardus for his infinite prayer for me.
I know that in his silence he also takes part of my success.
My gratitude also goes to my close friend, Fina-Ndung-Soegito, for her
brilliance and lovely friendship during this four years endeavor. My thanks also
go to my amazing friends Nia, Ranie, Sarce, Adhis, for their friendship, patience,
and help which made every difference in my world; for my friends in 3G a.k.a the
crew of Sorry I Love You - the best play I have ever watched and joined -,
Optimus Prime –We have provided the best!!, PPL II Stella Duce 2, KKN 07 –
especially Poeput, as well as students of ELESP in class A, I must thank them for
hard work, no sleep, - from laughter, success, and happiness to fights and tears
and all-night work and those dreaded early morning classes. We have had them
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My special thanks to my big supporters, my colleagues in ALL Plus for
being a brilliant family and giving me chances to learn many new things; my little
angels in Kanisius Duwet Elementary School for their smiles which tell me that
life is a beautiful adventure; Widi_PBI’07 for the unbelievable kindness she gave
to me; and the Bellarminus Chapel for providing me a space for escaping for a
while from the strict timetable.
Finally, for anyone that I have inadvertently missed, I hope they can
forgive. God bless them all.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
ABSTRAK ... vii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ... ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... x
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xiii
LIST OF TABLES ... xvi
LIST OF FIGURES ... xvii
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xviii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 5
C. Problem Limitation ... 5
D. Research Objectives ... 6
E. Research Benefits ... 6
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CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description ... 9
1. Phrasal Verb ... 9
a. Definitions of Phrasal Verbs ... 9
b. Types of Phrasal Verbs ... 13
c. The Significance of Phrasal Verbs ... 19
2. Brief Review on Language Errors ... 20
a. Definitions of Errors ... 20
b. Brief Review on the Causes of Errors ... 22
3. Mastery of a Language ... 24
a. Definition of Mastery ... 24
b. The Criteria of Mastery ... 26
B. Theoretical Framework ... 27
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ... 30
B. Research Participants ... 31
C. Research Instruments ... 32
1. Types of Instruments ... 33
a. Test ... 33
1) The Validity of the Test ... 35
2) The Reliability of the Test ... 39
b. Interview ... 41
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 42
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F. Research Procedure ... 44
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Students’ Mastery of English Phrasal Verbs ... 48
1. Data Presentation ... 48
2. Discussion ... 57
B. The Causes Underlying the Errors ... 68
1. Data Presentation ... 68
2. Discussion ... 70
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 74
B. Suggestions ... 77
1. For Lecturers ... 77
2. For Students ... 77
3. For Other Researchers ... 78
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 Optional Separation of Phrasal Verb (Object Comes After Particle) ... 15
2.2 Optional Separation of Phrasal Verb (Object Comes After Verb)... 15
2.3 Obligatory Separation of Phrasal Verb (Pronoun Separates Verb and Particle) ... 16
2.4 Inseparable Phrasal Verb with a Noun as the Object ... 17
2.5 Inseparable Phrasal Verb with a Pronoun as the Object ... 17
3.1 The Classification of the Reliability Coefficient ... 41
4.1 The Students’ Scores in Part I of the Test ... 49
4.2 The Students’ Scores in Part II of the Test ... 50
4.3 The Students’ Scores in Part III of the Test ... 51
4.4 The Students’ Final Scores in the Whole Part of the Test ... 51
4.5 The Students’ Scores in Relation to the Category ... 52
4.6 The Percentage of the Correct Answers in Each Type of Phrasal Verbs ... 53
4.7 The Percentage of the Correct Answers in Each Type of Phrasal Verbs in Part I of the Test ... 55
4.8 The Percentage of the Correct Answers of Each Type of Phrasal Verbs in Part II of the Test ... 55
4.9 The Percentage of the Correct Answers of Each Type of Phrasal Verbs in Part III of the Test ... 56
4.10 The Percentage of the Erroneous Answers in the Test ... 56
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 A Basic Structure of Separable Phrasal Verb
in which a Particle Follows the Verb ... 10
2.2 A Basic Structure of Separable Phrasal Verb
in which a Particle Comes after the Direct Objet ... 11
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
A Surat Permohonan Ijin Penelitian ... 82
B The Blueprint and the Test on Phrasal Verbs ... 84
C The Key of the Test ... 89
D The Samples of the Test’s Results ... 91
E The Students’ Test Score ... 99
F The Reliability of the Test ... 103
G The Total of Correct Answers and Incorrect Answers in Each Number ... 105
H The Students’ Erroneous Answers ... 108
I The Interview Guide ... 120
J The Interview Transcripts ... 123
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This research is aimed to investigate the mastery of English phrasal verbs
among the sixth semester students of the English Language Education Study
Program (ELESP) of Sanata Dharma University. This chapter briefly explains the
background of the research, the problem formulation, the problem limitation, the
objectives of the research, the research benefits, and the definitions of some
important terms.
A. Research Background
English is an international language. Most scientific journals and books
are written in English. Besides, most of the technologies nowadays use English
both for the instructions and the content. That is why the students of almost every
nation learn it either as a second language or as a foreign language. One of the
nations that learns English as a foreign language is Indonesia.
Since English is important and is used as a means of communication by
many people all over the world, English is now a compulsory subject in schools in
Indonesia. To fulfill this requirement, each school provides some English teachers
who will help the students to learn English and to be able to communicate in
English well.
Thus, as the English teacher candidates who are later going to work in the
have to be good models for their students. Furthermore, they have to be competent
in English in front of their students by using English language properly and by
demonstrating good and fluent control of the English language. However, gaining
competency in English is not easy.
“A teacher of English as a second or foreign language must have conscious knowledge of the rules of the English language such as the sound system, the grammatical system, the lexical system, and the discourse structure” (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1983: 1).
Therefore, it is clear that English teacher candidates or those who want to master
English should learn the elements of grammar in order to have conscious
knowledge of the rules of the English language.
Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 2) stated that even if you feel a
bit insecure about your ability to deal with English grammar, it is important to
realize that virtually all specialists and teachers agree that a good grasp of English
grammar is a necessary qualification for optimal effectiveness as an ESL/EFL
instructor. Grammar, according to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 2),
affects students’ performance in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. In other words, grammar provides rules that enable them to produce
correct and appropriate sentences or utterances. Because grammar consists of
many elements, it cannot be understood easily. Then, according to Shoebottom
(2001), one of the grammar elements regarded as difficult by English Foreign
Learners (EFL), such as Indonesian learners, is English phrasal verb.
“English phrasal verb is defined by traditional grammarians as a verb
followed by a particle” (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1983: 265). Particles in
combination of the two. Because of these many particles, English phrasal verbs
are problems for EFL students. Moreover, their meanings are idiomatic; there is
no logical pattern or formula for learning them. Then, to make the matter worse,
according to Brown (2002), many phrasal verbs have more than one idiomatic
meaning.
In brief, as stated by Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman in The Grammar
Book (1983: 265), “English phrasal verbs are highly productive lexical category in
English; however, we have no way of knowing in advance exactly which verb will
join with which particle to form a new phrasal verb.” Furthermore, since there are
many of phrasal verbs which are used idiomatically, there is also certain
unpredictability as to what the meaning of a new phrasal verb will be.
Additionally, according to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 265), “there
are few non-Germanic languages that have phrasal verbs.” As a result, most of
EFL students will find such verbs strange and difficult, and some non-native
speakers have a tendency to overuse single lexical items in informal contexts
where a phrasal verb would be much more appropriate.
As the EFL students, the ELESP students will face the same problems. In
fact, the ELESP students are English teacher candidates. Thus, they have to
master the English phrasal verbs in order to be good models for their students.
Then, they must avoid making errors in order to perform well as English teachers.
Based on the problems above, the researcher would like to find out how well the
Actually, there is one study showing that phrasal verbs are still
problematic. It is a study conducted by a senior among the sixth semester students
of the ELESP of Sanata Dharma University nine years ago. From the findings, it
can be seen that the students’ mastery of phrasal verbs was sufficient. Budiarti
(2002: 52) concluded that although the students had already mastered the English
phrasal verbs, they still made errors.
Unlike the study mentioned above, which focused on the mastery of
phrasal verbs as a whole, this study specifically focuses only on the mastery of the
two types of English phrasal verbs only, separable and inseparable phrasal verbs.
Furthermore, different from Budiarti (2002: 52) who observed the possible causes
of the errors by observing students’ performance, the researcher is going to
conduct an interview to find out the possible causes of the students’ errors.
This research focuses on the sixth semester students of the 2009/2010
academic year in the ELESP of Sanata Dharma University. The researcher
chooses the sixth semester students because they are supposed to have already
passed the five courses of Structure. Thus, they have surely recognized and learnt
the English phrasal verbs during those five courses.
Besides, the researcher would like to find out whether the sixth semester
students of ELESP still make errors in using phrasal verbs by asking them to work
on a test that can measure their mastery of English phrasal verbs. Then, in
identifying the kinds of English phrasal verb errors made by the students, the
researcher tries to find out some possible causes of the errors. There can be many
learnt English for several years often make the same mistake in the simplest
grammar. In this example, the possible cause of the error is that the teacher let the
students make errors so that the students do not realize their grammatical errors.
B. Problem Formulation
Referring to the problems above, the researcher formulates the following
questions:
1. How well have the sixth semester students of the 2009/2010 academic year in
the ELESP of Sanata Dharma University mastered the two types of English
phrasal verbs, the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs?
2. What are the possible causes of the students’ errors in using the separable and
the inseparable phrasal verbs?
C. Problem Limitation
The focus of this research is on the mastery of English phrasal verbs
among the sixth semester students of the 2009/2010 academic year in ELESP. The
researcher chooses the sixth semester students because they have definitely learnt
about English phrasal verbs and they have learnt a lot about grammar and its
elements. Thus, the students at this level are supposed to be able to produce
correct and proper sentences or utterances, especially using phrasal verbs.
This research also limits the English phrasal verbs only into two types.
Actually, a phrasal verb, according to Peaty (1983: 5-23), has four types. Those
inseparable phrasal verb, and (4) phrasal verb linked to an object by an extra
preposition. However, the researcher only focuses on two types of English phrasal
verbs. They are the second and the third types of English phrasal verbs, the
separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs, according to Peaty (1983: 5-23). The
researcher only discusses those two types of English phrasal verbs because of the
time limitations on this research. Furthermore, those two types of English phrasal
verbs are already complex because according to Yule (2004: 168), the separable
phrasal verbs are still categorized into two categories and the inseparable phrasal
verbs as well.
D. Research Objectives
The objectives of this research are:
1. To find out how well the sixth semester students of ELESP of Sanata Dharma
University have mastered the two types of English phrasal verbs, the separable
and the inseparable phrasal verbs.
2. To find out the possible causes of the students’ errors in using the separable
and the inseparable phrasal verbs.
E. Research Benefits
This research will benefit both lecturers and students. For the lecturers,
this research enables them to improve their teaching ability because from this
research they are able to find out the students’ mastery of the English phrasal
verbs. By identifying the students’ errors, the lecturers are then able to find the
difficulties the students have and find new techniques to overcome the problems.
While, for the English learners or those who are interested in learning
English, this research enables them to know more about English phrasal verbs
because this research gives more information about English phrasal verbs and the
errors mostly made by the sixth semester students of ELESP students, the real
EFL students. Furthermore, by obtaining information about the English phrasal
verbs errors, the students can avoid making errors by studying harder, especially
studying these two kinds of English phrasal verbs. Then, the teachers are also
supposed to help the students to improve their learning.
F. Definition of Terms
It is important to give the sufficient information about some terms used in this
research in order to avoid misunderstanding. These words below are some terms
used in this research.
1. Phrasal Verb
In this research, phrasal verb refers to a phrasal verb which is formed by
combining a simple verb and one of a number of particles (McArthur, 1973: 9).
Although it looks like a phrase, it functions as a single word. It is a unit. “The
verbs may form combinations with adverbial particles such as down, in, off, on,
out, up” (Leech, 1994: 336). Then, according to Leech (1994: 336), verbs can also
Phrasal verbs that are going to be discussed further here, however, exclude
the prepositional phrases or prepositional verbs such as look at, etc. This research
is going to discuss further the two types of English phrasal verbs. They are the
separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs.
2. Mastery
“Mastery is a great knowledge about or understanding of a particular
thing” (Hornby, 2000: 788). The term of mastery in this research refers to the
explanation proposed by Charles Fries (1948: 3).
“A person has “learned” a foreign language when he has thus, within limited vocabulary mastered the sound system (that is when he can understand the stream of speech and achieve an understandable production of it) and has, secondly made the structural devices (that is the basic arrangement of utterances) matters of automatic habit.”
Thus, the term of mastery in this study is related to the second requirement of
mastery (mastery of ‘structural devices’) as it listed above. It is because English
phrasal verbs are parts of structural devices and they have their own form,
meaning, and uses. In other words, those who are considered to have mastered the
structural devices should meet the requirements such as knowing the forms and
the rules underlying them, knowing the meaning of those forms, and knowing
how to use those constructions correctly and appropriately.
Therefore, according to the explanation above, the students, who are
considered to have mastered the English phrasal verbs, especially the separable
and the inseparable phrasal verbs, are those who have known the forms and the
rules of using the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs, have known the
9
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher discusses the related literature which serves
as the basis of the research. This chapter consists of two main parts. The first part
is theoretical description which elaborates the theories underlying this research.
The second part is theoretical framework in which the researcher explains the
relevance of the theories to the study.
A. Theoretical Description
In this part there are some theories which are going to be elaborated. They
are the theories of phrasal verbs, the errors, and the students’ mastery.
1. Phrasal Verbs
a. Definitions of Phrasal Verbs
According to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 265), traditional
grammarians define a phrasal verb as a verb followed by a particle (variously
described as a preposition, an adverb, or some combinations of the two), e.g.:
(1)I got up at 6 a.m. (arose)
(2)I will look into that. (investigate)
(3)He put off the meeting. (postponed)
Meanwhile, according to McArthur (1973: 9), “a phrasal verb is formed by
combining a simple verb and one of a number of particles.” He states that the
“Although it looks like a phrase, it functions as a single word; it is a unit”
(McArthur, 1973: 9). It is agreed by Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 426)
who state that a phrasal verb (PV) is made up two (or more) parts that function as
a single verb. For example, in sentence (1), got up is categorized as a phrasal verb
since it is a combination of a verb got and a particle up, but they function as a
single verb which creates a single meaning.
As stated above by Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 426), phrasal
verbs are sometimes called two-word verbs because they usually consist of a verb
plus a second word. They also mention that the second word often referred to as
an adverb. However, this research refers to the second word of the phrasal verb as
a particle to show its close association with the verb, and to distinguish it from
prepositions and other adverbs. Further, Figure 2.1 will show the basic structure of
the use of a phrasal verb turn out in which the particle out directly follow the verb
turn in a sentence Jamie turned out the light.
Figure 2.1
Figure 2.1 shows the basic structure of a sentence in which a particle follows the
verb directly. While, according to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 426),
although the particle is part of the phrasal verb, it need not be contiguous with it.
Figure 2.2 will show a tree where the particle is not contiguous with the verb but
rather is separated from it by an intervening direct object. This structure, later, is
called as phrasal verbs with optional separation.
Figure 2.2
A Basic Structure of Separable Phrasal Verb in which a Particle Comes after the Direct Objet
(Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999: 427)
However, there is one type of phrasal verbs namely inseparable phrasal verbs in
Figure 2.3
A Basic Structure of Inseparable Phrasal Verb (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999: 429)
From the structure, it may already be obvious that ESL/ EFL students are
dealing with a structure that is very difficult for them. Moreover, according to
Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 425), “the meaning of phrasal verbs is
often noncompositional: that is someone can know the meaning of the verb and
the apparent meaning of the particle, but when they are put together, a unique
meaning is derived.”
(4)I gave my mother the letter.
(5)Jennifer gave up.
The meaning of the verb gave in sentence (4) is absolutely different from the
phrasal verb gave up in sentence (5). Gave in sentence (4) means to hand
A final learning challenge involves the conditions governing optional or
obligatory separation of the verb and the particle for phrasal verbs used
transitively as shown by Figures 2.1 and 2.2 and some examples as follows.
(6)She turns out the lights.
(7)She turns the lights out.
(8)She turns them out.
(9)She turns out them.*
Sentences (6) and (7) have phrasal verbs with optional separation. On the other
hand, sentence (8) has a phrasal verb in which the particle is separated from the
verb since its direct object is a pronoun. Then, sentence (9) is an incorrect
sentence since the particle is not separated while the direct object is a pronoun.
The optional or obligatory separation of the verb and the particle will be discussed
further in the types of phrasal verbs.
b. Types of Phrasal Verbs
According to Peaty (1983: 5-23), phrasal verbs can be classified into four
types. They are phrasal verbs without an object, separable phrasal verbs,
inseparable phrasal verbs, and phrasal verbs linked to an object by an extra
preposition. However, according Yule (2004: 168), there are two major types of
phrasal verbs. They are separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. This research,
therefore, only focuses on those two types of phrasal verbs.
Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 427) state that like single-word
Martinet (1986: 315), it is important to learn whether the combination is transitive
(i.e. requires an object) or intransitive (i.e. cannot have an object).
(10) I am looking for my passport.
(11) Look out! This ice isn’t safe!
The phrasal verb look for in sentence (10) is transitive. Meanwhile, look
out in sentence (11) is intransitive. This research, however, only discusses the
transitive phrasal verbs since the transitive phrasal verbs are still divided to some
types. According to Celce-Murcia (1999: 428), the transitive phrasal verbs can be
divided into two types. They are separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. Those
types of phrasal verbs are elaborated as follows.
1) Separable Phrasal Verbs
One type of transitive phrasal verbs which is discussed in this research is
separable phrasal verbs. As stated above, since the separable phrasal verbs are
categorized into transitive phrasal verbs, they usually have objects. They are used
in the same way as normal verbs, except that they must be separated by pronoun
objects.
According to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999: 428), the separable
phrasal verbs can be divided into two types based on the separation of the particle
from the verb. They are called as optional separation and obligatory separation.
The separation is optional when the particle can be separated from the verb by the
direct object. Meanwhile, the separation is obligatory when the direct object is a
(12) Mark threw away the ball.
(13) Mark threw the ball away.
(14) Mark threw away it. *
(15) Mark threw it away.
Sentence (12) and (13) are the examples of the separable phrasal verbs
with the optional separation. The particle away in the phrasal verb threw away in
sentence (12) is not separated from the verb, while in sentence (13) it is separated.
They have same meaning and both of them are correct sentences. However,
sentence (14) is not a correct sentence. In sentence (14), the particle in the phrasal
verb threw away is not separated from the verb. In fact, it must be separated from
the verb since the direct object is a pronoun it as shown in sentence (15).
From the analysis above, thus, the pattern of the use of phrasal verbs with
optional separation is as in Table 2.1 and Table 2.2. Then, the pattern of the use of
the phrasal verbs with the necessary or obligatory separation is shown in Table
2.3.
Table 2.1 Optional Separation of Phrasal Verb (Object Comes After Particle)
Rachel looked up the information.
Subject Verb Particle Object (Noun)
Table 2.2 Optional Separation of Phrasal Verb (Object Comes After Verb)
Rachel looked the information up.
Subject Verb Object
(Noun)
Table 2.3 Obligatory Separation of Phrasal Verb (Pronoun Separates Verb and Particle)
Rachel looked it up.
Subject Verb Object (Pronoun)
Particle
2) Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
Transitive separable phrasal verbs, according to Celce-Murcia &
Larsen-Freeman (1999: 428), are the largest and the most productive category of phrasal
verbs. However, they argue that the students should also posit a smaller category
of inseparable phrasal verbs, where the particle cannot be separated from its verb.
The inseparable phrasal verbs as the separable phrasal verbs always have objects,
but the objects can never be separated by the particles. They are sometimes
separated by adverbs.
(16) I came across an interesting article last night.
(17) I came an interesting article across last night.*
(18) I came across it last night.
(19) I came it across last night.*
As stated above that, although the inseparable phrasal verbs have objects,
they can never be separated by the objects. It means that “there is no separation of
the verb and particle under any circumstances” (Celce-Murcia, 1983: 267).
Therefore, sentences (17) and (19) are incorrect since the particle across in both
sentences is separated from the verb. The particle should always follow the verb
phrasal verbs, although the direct object is a pronoun, the particle is still not
separated as in sentence (18). Thus, sentence (19) is totally incorrect.
Based on the explanation above, thus, there is only one possible pattern of
the use of inseparable phrasal verbs as shown in Tables 2.4 and 2.5.
Table 2.4 Inseparable Phrasal Verb with a Noun as the Object
John ran into an old friend.
Subject Verb Particle Object
(Noun)
Table 2.5 Inseparable Phrasal Verb with a Pronoun as the Object
John ran into him.
Subject Verb Particle Object
(Pronoun)
Principally, according to Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 268), “to our
knowledge there is no general rule or principle that would help us determine a
priori which phrasal verbs are separable and which are inseparable.” Thus, the
question of separability or inseparability becomes one of the many lexical features
that must be specified for phrasal verbs.
Furthermore, besides the types mentioned by Celce-Murcia &
Larsen-Freeman (1999: 427-428), Fraser (1976) in Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Larsen-Freeman
(1983: 274) points out that phrasal verbs exhibit interesting semantic differences
1) Literal Phrasal Verbs
Literal phrasal verbs are those items where the particle retains its literal
adverbial meaning as the up does in the examples (1) and (2) as follows.
(1)I hung up the pictures on the wall.
(2)I hung the pictures up on the wall. (ada dua up, mana yang benar?)
Some other examples of literal phrasal verbs are sit down, dish out, hand out, and
take down. These phrasal verbs are among the easiest for nonnative speakers to
understand and acquire.
2) Completive Phrasal Verbs
Completive phrasal verbs are those where the particle indicates completed
action. The particles up, out, off, and down all seem to be used this way; however,
up is the most frequently used in this function.
(1)I tore up the piece of paper.
(2)I tore the piece of paper up.
Some other completive phrasal verbs are mix up, wind up, wear out, fade out,
burn down, run down, cut off, and many other examples.
3) Figurative Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are considered “figurative” when there is no systematic way
of semantically associating the verb and the particle. The component has merged
into a new meaning and does not have meaning of their own, which means that
once they are combined, they lose their individual meaning. For example,
(1)She looked up the information.
Some other figurative phrasal verbs are turn up (arrive, appear), catch on
(understand), give in (surrender), look over (review), and so on. Such phrasal
verbs are the most difficult one for EFL students to master.
c. The Significance of Phrasal Verbs
According to Celce-Murcia & Larsen Freeman (1999: 425), as also stated
above, the meaning of phrasal verbs is often noncompositional or as pointed out
by Fraser (1976) in Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1983: 274) that says that
phrasal verbs have both literal and idiomatic meanings. In addition, they mention
that there are very few non-Germanic languages that have phrasal verbs. Because
of those reasons, most ESL/ EFL students find such verbs strange and difficult.
“Yet they are ubiquitous in English; no one can speak or understand English, at
least the informal register, without a knowledge of phrasal verbs” (Celce-Murcia
& Larsen Freeman, 1999: 425).
In addition, one factor that makes English speakers prefer phrasal verbs
such as pull off, call off, and show up to their Latinate counterparts postpone,
cancel, and arrive – is presumably a question of register. In fact, it is also
mentioned above that “phrasal verbs are common in informal registers, although
not completely absent from formal discourse” (Cornell, 1985) in Celce-Murcia &
Larsen-Freeman (1999: 434). Because some non-native speakers such as the
students of ELESP do not realize this, they have a tendency to overuse single
lexical item which a phrasal verb would be much more appropriate. Thus, it is
clear that mastering the English phrasal verbs is important for the students of
are preparing themselves to practice teaching in the real schools. It means that
they should be able to use correct and proper English phrasal verbs in order to be
the good model for their students.
2. Brief Review on Language Errors
This section deals with the errors the students committed in their test. This
theory is useful for the data analysis presented in chapter four. There are two
major points. The first is the definitions of errors and the second is the discussion
on causes of errors.
a. Definitions of Errors
There are many definitions of errors proposed by linguists. One of them is
proposed byDulay, Bart, and Krashen in their book Language Two (1982: 138).
Dulay et al. define errors as the flawed side of learners’ speech or writing. “They
are those parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected
norm of mature language performance” (Dulay et al., 1982: 138). In other words,
error is the systematic deviation because the learner is still developing knowledge
of the second language rule system. These errors can be in the students’ speech or
writing.
People sometimes are confused with the difference between errors and
mistakes. According to Ellis (2003: 17), “errors reflect gaps in learner’s
knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct”. Then,
occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or
she knows.”
On the other hand, Brown (1994: 205) defines error and mistake in another
way. Brown (1994: 205) defines a mistake as “a performance error which refers to
a failure to utilize a known system correctly.” It means that the person who makes
mistake is not successful in utilizing a known system correctly. In addition,
Brown (1994: 205) defines the mistake as “the imperfection of speech production
such as hesitations and slips of the tongue.” Then, according to Brown (1994:
205), “an error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native
speaker, reflecting the interlanguage competence of the learner.”
Meanwhile, Dulay et al. (1982: 139) prefer to distinguish between “errors
caused by factors such as fatigue and inattention (what Chomsky (1965) called
performance” factor), and errors resulting from lack of knowledge of the rules of
the language (what Chomsky (1965) called “competence”).” It is agreed by
Corder (1974: 24-25) who also prefers to distinguish between errors of
performance, which are unsystematic, and errors of competence, which are
systematic.
According to Dulay et al. (1982: 139), “in some of second language
literature, performance errors have been called “mistakes” while the term “ errors”
was reserved for the systematic deviations due to the learner’s still developing
knowledge of the second language rule system.” In other words, what Corder
(1974: 24-25) and Chomsky (1965), in Dulay et al.’s book entitled Language Two,
call mistakes, and the errors of competence is the same as errors in Ellis and
Brown’s definition.
Although some linguists have defined the differences of errors and
mistakes, Brown (1994: 206) states that it is not always simple to distinguish
between an error and a mistake. Therefore, this research does not differentiate
between errors and mistakes. In this research, the term errors refer to the
explanation proposed by Dulay et al. (1982: 139) which just define the errors
because of some factors either because of fatigue or lack of knowledge. In this
study, furthermore, the errors refer to the students’ answers in the test which are
inappropriate and deviate from the rule of phrasal verbs patterns without really
considering they are errors or mistakes.
b. Brief Review on the Causes of Errors
There are many possible answers regarding the causes of errors. Corder
(1974: 228) mentions that basically there are three causes of errors, namely the
native of the mother tongue, the basis analysis, and the nature of the teaching and
learning materials. Meanwhile, Norrish (1983: 21) mentions more than three
causes of errors. However, he categorizes those causes of errors into two parts.
The first part is the causes of errors based on popular idea such as carelessness,
first language interference, and translation from the first language. Then, the
second part is the causes of errors based on the current theories such as contrastive
analysis, general order of difficulty, and overgeneralization.
Then, Dulay et al. (1982) state that “most errors are resulted from the
173) calls the interference of learner’s mother tongue as interlanguage errors.
Richards (1974: 173) in his paper entitled A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error
Analysis mentions another source of errors beside interlanguage. It is intralingual
errors. Intralingual errors deal with the second language itself and those errors
reflect the general characteristics of rule of learning, such as faulty generalization,
incomplete application of rules, and failure to learn conditions under which rules
apply.
Richards’s explanation about the source of errors is agreed by Brown
(1994: 213-215). He mentions three kinds of errors’ sources. The first is
interlingual transfer as mentioned by Richard (1974: 173). Brown (1994: 213)
also defines interlingual as interference of native language before the system of
second language is familiar. Then, Brown (1994: 214) mentions the second type
of errors’ source as the opposite of interlingual transfer. This type is intralingual
transfer or in other words the errors come from the language itself.
Some researchers have found that the early stages of language learning are characterized by a predominance of interference (interlingual transfer), but once learners have begun to acquire parts of the new system, more and more intralingual transfer –generalization within the target language – is manifested (Brown, 1994: 214).
Then, another type mentioned by Brown (1994: 215) is about context of learning.
Context, according to Brown (1994: 215), refers to the classroom with its teacher
and its materials in the case of school learning. He states that “in a classroom
context the teacher or the textbook can lead the learner to make faulty hypotheses
about the language, what Richards (1971) called “false concepts” and what
“students often make errors because of a misleading explanation from the teacher,
faulty presentation of a structure or a word in a textbook, or even because of a
pattern that was rotely memorized in a drill but not properly contextualized.”
Therefore, it can be concluded that basically there are some kinds of
causes of the students’ errors in learning the target language, in this case, English.
The first is from the students’ first language or mother tongue. The second is the
nature of the target language. It seems that English is complicated. The third is
external factors which come from things outside students such as the classroom,
the teacher and the textbook.
3. The Mastery of a Language
This part will elaborate the definition and the criteria of mastery since they
serve as bases for conducting the research.
a. Definition of Mastery
In this research, the term mastery is understood as proposed by Charles
Fries. Fries (1948) states that a person has learnt a foreign language when he has
thus, within limited vocabulary, mastered the sound system (that is when he can
understand production of it) and has, secondly, made the structural devices (that is
the basic arrangement of utterances) matters of automatic habit. The researcher
particularly pays attention to the second requirement of mastery that is the
mastery of ‘structural devices’. Since English phrasal verbs are part of the
structural devices, thus, one is considered to have mastered these structural
a. knows the forms and the rules underlying them,
b. knows the meaning of those forms,
c. knows how to use those constructions correctly and appropriately.
Furthermore, Hagboldt (1935: 2) states that “we have a mastery of a
language when our comprehension by ear is spontaneous; our reading is effortless
and fluent; our use of words, idioms, and sentences in spoken and written forms is
habitual and skillful.” In this research, the researcher in some way focuses also on
the using of words and idioms since phrasal verbs are still categorized into the use
of words, especially verbs and particles. Besides, those words have idiomatic
meanings. From Hagboldt’s definition, it can be concluded that a person who
masters phrasal verbs is someone who is able to use phrasal verbs properly both in
spoken and written forms. However, this research only focuses on the ability to
use phrasal verbs in written form.
In addition, according to Lado (1977: 142), “the way the native speakers
of a language master the language is different from the non-native speaker who is
learning the language.” The native speakers, according to Lado (1977: 142), have
mastered the basic structure of their language, that is, the basic underlying
patterns on which they build sentences and sequences of sentences. “Thus, when
they study the grammar they usually become involved, not in the basic
framework, which they “know”, but in problems of variant usage” (Lado, 1977:
142). On the other hand, the non-native speakers who are learning the language do
not know its structure. They need to acquire the basic framework in order to
Yet, Lado (1977: 142) mentions also that the non-native speakers and those who
teach them often forget this fact and proceed with the teaching and learning of the
foreign language as if they were the native language speakers; they take up
matters of variant usage, lose sight of the central structure of the language, and
ignore its importance and its difficulties.
By reason of Lado’s explanation (1977) about the students’ mastery of the
language structure, the researcher is going to find out whether the context of
learning, as stated by Brown (1994: 215) above, is one of the many factors that
influence the mastery of the students of ELESP on the English phrasal verbs. This
problem will be solved by interviewing some students who are later found having
low scores in the test on English phrasal verbs.
b. The Criteria of Mastery
Referring to Peraturan Akademik Mahasiswa or academic regulation of
Sanata Dharma University (2002: 14), the minimum standard of the mastery is
56% of the maximum achievement. The students who achieve 56% of the highest
score are classified into the category of sufficient. If the students only achieve
50% of the highest score, they are classified into the category of insufficient. The
minimum scores for the category of good and very good are determined by the
lecturers by considering the score distribution above the minimum passing score
(56%). The following is the list of score category which is used to classify the
Score Category
80-100 Very good (A)
70-79 Good (B)
56-69 Sufficient (C)
50-55 Insufficient (D)
< 49 Fail (E)
B. Theoretical Framework
One of the elements of grammar that should be mastered by the foreign or
second language learners like Indonesian students and the students of English
Language Education Study Program as well is the English phrasal verbs. Phrasal
verb is only one of many grammar elements that the ELESP students have to learn
as teacher candidates. The English phrasal verbs are very important since
non-native speakers of English have a tendency to overuse single lexical item which a
phrasal verb would be much more appropriate. The non-native speakers also have
a tendency to overuse single lexical items because there are very few
non-Germanic languages that have phrasal verbs. Thus, they find such verbs strange
and difficult. Phrasal verbs are also considered to be difficult since they made two
or more parts up that function as a single verb. Since they usually consist of a verb
and a second verb, phrasal verbs are sometimes called two-word verbs. The
second verb is often referred to as an adverb. In this research, the researcher refers
to the second part of the phrasal verb as a particle, to show its close association
There are four types of the English phrasal verbs. However, this research
only focuses on the largest and the most productive category of phrasal verbs.
They are the transitive separable phrasal verbs, namely optional and obligatory
phrasal verbs where sometimes the particle can be separated from the verb by the
direct object and sometimes it cannot, and small category of inseparable, where
the particle cannot be separated from its verb.
Then, in this research, the participants are asked to do the test. The test
requires the participants to fill in the gaps with correct particles to follow the
verbs and put them in the correct places. The participants are also asked to match
the phrasal verb and its synonym. Then, errors committed by the participants in
the test are discussed further. In defining error, the researcher agrees with Brown
(1994: 205) and Dulay et al. (1982: 139), who state that the differences of error
and mistake cannot always be clearly observed. Thus, the researcher regards all
deviant forms in utilizing the English phrasal verbs as errors. However, the
researcher here does not classify the errors since the research does not focus on
analyzing errors. The results of the elaboration of the errors are used as feedback
for both lecturers and students, as the participants, to improve the teaching and
learning processes since the errors show some parts in which the students still
have difficulties. Meanwhile, the results of the test administered to the sixth
semester students of ELESP are used to show their level of mastery in utilizing
the separable and the non separable phrasal verbs.
Furthermore, beside the interview results, supporting references and
and propose possible recommendations to improve the production of English
phrasal verbs. The researcher then may have interference in elaborating the
interview results in order to explain more about what has been found through the
interview.
30
BAB III METHODOLOGY
In this chapter the researcher discusses (1) the method employed in this
study, (2) the research participants, (3) the research instruments, (4) the data
gathering technique, (5) the data analysis technique, and (6) the research
procedure.
A. Research Method
The method employed in this research was survey research. “Survey
research is used to describe specific characteristics of a large group of persons,
objects, or institutions” (Jaeger, 1988: 303). The researcher categorizes this
research as survey research because this research has characteristics of survey
mentioned by Fraenkel & Wallen (2009: 391). They are as follows.
1. Information is collected from a group of people in order to describe some
aspects or characteristics (such as abilities, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, and/ or
knowledge) of the population of which that group is part.
2. The main way in which the information is collected is through asking
questions; the answers to these questions by members of the group constitute
data of the study.
3. Information is collected from a sample rather than from every member of the
This research covers those characteristics of survey research. Therefore, this
research can be defined as survey research.
Before conducting the survey research, the researcher conducted a library
research first, which aimed to search for information and learn about the theories
related to the research. Then, after conducting the library research, the researcher
administered a test followed by an interview to some research participants to find
the possible causes of the errors made by them.
B. Research Participants
Research participants of this research were the sixth semester students of
the 2009/2010 academic year in the English Language Education Study Program
(ELESP) of Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta. They were chosen because
they were assumed to have taken Structure V class, the last Structure class offered
in ELESP. Thus, they were expected to have sufficient knowledge of the English
phrasal verbs. They already learnt those phrasal verbs when they were in the fifth
semester of their study in ELESP.
Because of the time limitations on conducting the research, the researcher
then selected a sample with an assumption that a portion of the research
participants was quite representative to study the sixth semester students’ mastery
of the English phrasal verbs.Then, the researcher generalized the results obtained
from the sample to the population. The researcher drew a sample from three
different Translation II classes of ELESP, class A, B, and C. Since class A had
and C. Then, a sample of fifty (50) participants was drawn from the two (2)
classes, class B and C. The researcher took those 50 participants with the
consideration that they had represented the sixth semester students’ mastery of the
English phrasal verbs.
To select the representative sample, the researcher used the cluster
sampling technique. This research employed this technique since, as stated by
Ary, Jacobs & Razavieh (2002: 168), the sampling unit chosen in this research is
not an individual but a group of individuals who are naturally together that is the
sixth semester students. Furthermore, the sixth semester students of the English
Language Education Study Program were assumed to share the same level of
mastery in utilizing English Phrasal Verbs because they had learnt about the
English phrasal verbs in the same semester. Thus, there would no big differences
among the achievement in each cluster.
Further, for conducting the interview, the researcher chose five
participants whose scores were the lowest. Those five (5) students were later
asked about the errors they made and the possible causes of their errors. The
researcher only took 5 participants as the interviewees because the researcher
assumed those 5 participants had been able to represent the whole students who
got low score.
C. Research Instruments
The collection of data is an extremely important part of all kinds of
were also important. In order for the research results to be valid and reliable, it
should have a valid and reliable instrument. The following is the description of the
instruments and of their validity and reliability.
1. Types of Instruments
In this research, the researcher used a test and an interview as instruments
to identify the errors and the mastery of the participants.
a. Test
The test was used as an instrument to collect the data related to the errors
in the use of the English phrasal verbs from the research participants. The test was
constructed in the form of production and recognition types. The test consisted of
three parts, and each part had its own objective. The first part of the test was
production test. The next two parts of the test were recognition tests.
The first part of the test was twenty (20) items of gap filling. The
objective of this test was that the participants were able to place the right particles
for the main verbs in the right gaps to create meaningful sentences. This part was
defined as a production test because it did not provide any choices to assist the
participants to do the test by guessing only. In fact, those items required the
participants to be able to demonstrate their ability to use the English phrasal verbs.
On the other hand, the second and the third part of the tests were
recognition tests. The second part of the test was ten (10) items of gap filling. The
participants were asked to place the direct objects, in the parentheses, in the
appropriate gaps in each sentence to create meaningful sentences. The objective of
underlying the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs. Then, the third part of
the test was ten (10) items of matching. The objective of the matching items was
that the participants were able to recognize the meaning of some phrasal verbs by
giving them some choices. These parts were defined as recognition tests since the
researcher provided some choices to assist the participants to do the test.
As it was explained before, the researcher constructed forty (40) items for
the test. The distribution of items for each type of phrasal verbs were thirteen (13)
items for the first type of the separable phrasal verbs namely optional phrasal
verbs, fifteen (15) items for the second type of the separable phrasal verbs namely
obligatory phrasal verbs and twelve (12) items for the inseparable phrasal verbs.
Then, most of the items in the test were taken from the trustworthy English
grammar textbooks and the researcher, referring to those textbooks as well,
constructed a few of them.
According to Fraenkel & Wallen (2009: 147), “the quality of the
instruments used in research is very important, for the conclusions researcher
draw are based on the information they obtain using these instruments.” Due to its
essential role in this research, the test as the instrument employed by the
researcher should meet the requirements of measurement. These requirements are
validity and reliability. According to Ary et al. (2002: 242), being valid and
reliable are two essential criteria of the quality of any measuring instrument
should posses because if a researcher’s data are not obtained with valid and
reliable instruments, one would have little faith in the results obtained. In the
1) The Validity of the Test
Validity, according to Lado (1977: 321), is essentially a matter of
relevance. “Is the test relevant to what it claims to measure?” (Lado, 1977: 321).
In other words, “a test is said to be valid if it measures what it is intended to
measure” (Heaton 1975: 153).
There are four ways to consider the validity of a test. Fraenken & Wallen
(2009: 148) defines those ways as types of evidence to support the interpretations
researcher wish to make concerning data they have collected. “They are “content
validity, construct validity, criterion-related validity and face validity” (Hughes,
1989: 22-27). However, in this research, the researcher did not explain the
criterion-related validity of the test since the researcher was not going to compare
the participants’ performance on the test with their performance on some other
independent criterion as explained by Fraenkel & Wallen (2009: 148). The
researcher was only going to administer the test to measure the participants’
mastery.
a) Content Validity
“A test is said to have content validity if its content constitutes a
representative sample of the language skills, structure, etc. with which is meant to
be concerned” (Hughes, 1989: 22). Then, Hughes (1989: 22) states also that the
test would have content validity only if it included a proper sample of the relevant
structures. Just what are the relevant structures will depend, of course, upon the
purpose of the test. Furthermore, according to Hughes (1989: 22), in order to
specification of the skills or structure that is meant to be covered. In this research,
the specification is the participants’ errors in using the English phrasal verbs in
order to know the mastery of the participants of the English phrasal verbs.
Therefore, the test should test those errors.
Bachman (1995: 244-245) divides the content validity into two parts. The
first is content relevance, which means that the content of the test should be
relevant to the purpose of the test. Then, the second is content coverage which
means that the test should cover all (or adequately sample) elements of the
language to be tested. Thus, based on Bachman’s (1995: 244-245) explanation,
the test in this research was said to have the content validity since, first, its content
was relevant to the purpose of the test, which was to measure the participants’
mastery of the English phrasal verbs, especially the separable and the inseparable
phrasal verbs. It could be seen from the three parts of the test which required the
participants to demonstrate their mastery of the separable and the inseparable
phrasal verbs by placing the particles and the direct objects in the appropriate
gaps. Furthermore, in this research, English phrasal verb was also relevant to the
sixth semester students’ ability, as the participants. Second, the test covered types
of phrasal verbs which had been limited into two types of the English phrasal
verbs, the separable and the inseparable phrasal verbs, and adequately sampled the
uses of the English phrasal verbs.
b) Construct Validity
“A test is said to have construct validity if it can be demonstrated that it
