CHAPTER I
I N T R O D U C T I O N
1.1 Background o f t h e
S t u d y
I n t h e 1984 E n g l i s h c u r r i c u l u m f o r J u n i o r H i g h
S c h o o l , i t i s s t a t e d t h a t P r e s e n t P e r f e c t Tense i s one
o f t h e s u b t o p i c s o f E n g l i s h g i v e n t o t h e second y e a r
s t u d e n t s . ' t h e w r i t e r ' s E n g l i s h t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e
a t J u n i o r H i g h S c h o o l , most o f t h e s t u d e n t s g e t some d i f f i c u l t i e s i n c o n s t r u c t i n g P r e s e n t P e r f e c t Tense sen- t e n c e s . T h e y g e t c o n f u s e d i n u s i n g t h e a u x i l i a r y "Has and have", as as t h e use o f r e g u l a r v e r b s and i r r e g u l a r
ones. These phenomena a r e g e n e r a l l y known as t h e language
t r a n s f e r . The w r i t e r wonders whether t h e s e e r r o r s a r e
caused b y language t r a n s f e r o n l y .
R e a l i z i n g t h e f a c t t h a t most o f SUP s t u d e n t s have problems i n l e a r n i n g E n g l i s h grammar, t h e w r i t e r made some
o b s e r v a t i o n s on t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e s t u d e n t s ' E n g l i s h
grammar t e s t s . T h i s was done when she was asked t o check
t h e second y e a r s t u d e n t s ' f o r m a t i v e t e s t d u r i n g
d a t a . From 'her o b s e r v a t i o n , she f o u n d o u t t h a t s t u d e n t s
1
i n c o n s t r u c t i n g a d j e c t i v e c l a u s e . S u n d a r i (1990) d i s c u s s e d t h e e r r o r s i n u s i n g t h e c o n d i t i o n a l sentences.
7
Based on t h e f a c t t h a t o f t h e r e s e a r c h e r s have
i n v e s t i g a t e d e r r o r s i n p r e s e n t p e r f e c t tense, t h e
d e c i d e d t o make a s t u d y on i t and t h e causes o f t h e
S t a t e m e n t o f t h e Problems
T h i s t h e s i s t r i e d t o answer t h e f o l l o w i n g ques-
t i o n s :
k i n d s o f e r r o r s do t h e second y e a r s t u d e n t s make
c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E n g l i s h p r e s e n t p e r f e c t t e n s e
b. What a r e t h e p o s s i b l e s o u r c e s o f t h e s e e r r o r s ?
The O b j e c t i v e o f t h e S t u d y
The o b j e c t i v e o f t h i s s t u d y i s t o see t h e k i n d s o f
e r r o r s second y e a r s t u d e n t s o f SMPN Surabava made
u s i n g t h e p r e s e n t p e r f e c t t e n s e and t h e causes
o f
thesee r r o r s .
E r r o r s Made t h e Second Y e a r S t u d e n t s o f S t e l l a S u r a b a y a i n C o n s t r u c t i n g C l a u s e , Surabaya, F K L P U n i v e r s i t a s Widya
Surabaya, 1989.
7
S i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e S t u d y
The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y were e x p e c t e d t o h e l p t h e E n g l i s h t e a c h e r s g e t b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e i r
s t u d e n t s ' e r r o r s and causes o f e r r o r i n u s i n g p r e s e n t
p e r f e c t tense. By knowing t h e t y p e s and t h e sources o f
t h e s e e r r o r s , t h e y w i l l be a b l e t o h e l p t h e s t u d e n t s
m i n i m i z e ' t h e e r r o r s . B e s i d e t h a t , t h i s s t u d y w i l l g i v e t h e E n g l i s h t e a c h e r s more i n f o r m a t i o n s on how t h e s t u d e n t s
s h o u l d p r e s e n t p e r f e c t t e n s e b e t t e r i n t h e i r e f f o r t
m a s t e r E n g l i s h .
1.5 Scope and L i m i t a t i o n o f t h e S t u d y
T h i s s t u d y i s l i m i t e d on t h e use o f has o r have,
r e g u l a r v e r b s and t h e i r r e g u l a r v e r b s and t h e p a t t e r n
p r e s e n t p e r f e c t t e n s e .
The w r i t e r s t u d y on
p r e s e n t p e r f e c t tense sentences
.
F o r t h e reason, p r e s e n tp e r f e c t t e n s e has a l r e a d y been t a u g h t t o t h e t h i r d semes-
t e r o f t h e second y e a r s t u d e n t s o f SMPN 11 Surabaya a t t h e t i m e , t h e w r i t e r conducted a r e s e a r c h i n t h a t s c h o o l .
1.6 The T h e o r e t i c a l Framework
T h i s s t u d y employed t h e o r e t i e s o f e r r o r a n a l y s i s ,
1 . 6 . 1 E r r o r A n a l y s i s
T h i s t h e o r y was used as t h e b a s i s f o r d e t e c t i n g and
c l a s s i f y i n g t h e t y p e s of e r r o r made by t h e second y e a r s t u d e n t s o f SMPN 11 Surabaya i n c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e E n g l i s h s e n t e n c e s u s i n g p r e s e n t p e r f e c t tense.
1 . 6 . 2 C o n t r a s t i v e A n a l y s i s
T h i s t h e o r y was used t o p r e d i c t t h e causes o f
e r r o r s , o r even t h e s o l e cause o f d i f f i c u l t y and e r r o r
i n l e a r n i n g a second language i s i n t e r f e r e n c e f r o m t h e
l e a r n e r ' s n a t i v e language.
Presen t P e r f e c t Tense
P r e s e n t P e r f e c t Tense r e f e r s t o a p e r i o d o f t i m e
t h a t c o n t i n u e s up t o t h e p r e s e n t . 9
1.7
T h i s s t u d y was based on t h e assumption t h a t t h e
s t u d e n t s have l e a r n e d S i m p l e P r e s e n t Tense, S i m p l e P a s t
t e n s e and P r e s e n t P e r f e c t Tense.
D e f i n i t i o n of K e y Terms
I t
i s necessary t o d e f i n e t h e k e y - t e r m s used on8
L i m K i a t Boey, I n t r o d u c t i o n t o L i n g u i s t i c s f o r t h e Language Teacher, Singapore, U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1975,
9
Raymond Murphy;
English
Grammar i nUse,
Cambridge,i n o r d e r t o a v o i d m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g .
E r r o r s A n a l y s i s
A c c o r d i n g t o Rod E l l i s , e r r o r a n a l y s i s i s a
p r o c e d u r e w h i c h i n v o l v e s c o l l e c t i n g sample o f l e a r n e r
language, i d e n t i f y i n g t h e e r r o r s i n t h e sample, d e s c r i b i n g
t h e s e e r r o r s , e v a l u a t i n g t h e s e r i o u s n e s s o f t h e e r r o r s .
10
E r r o r
11 A c c o r d i n g t o Chomsky, as q u o t e d by D u l a y e t a l .
,
e r r o r s w h i c h a r e caused by l a c k o f knowledge o f t h e
language r u l e (Competence E r r o r s ) . 11
1.8.3 M i s t a k e
12
t o as q u o t e d by D u l a y
,
m i s t a k e s w h i c h a r e caused by f a t i g u e and i n a t t e n t i o n
( P e r f o r m a n c e E r r o r s ) .
1.9 O r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e T h e s i s
T h i s t h e s i s d i s c u s s t h e e r r o r s made by t h e second
y e a r s t u d e n t s o f SMPN 11 i n c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e
1 0
Rod E l i s , Under-standing Second Language O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1986.
H e i d y Dulay, H a r t i n a B u r t and Stephen Krashen, Language Two, New O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1982, p. 139.
E n g l i s h sentences u s i n g p r e s e n t p e r f e c t t e n s e c o n s i s t s o f
f i v e c h a p t e r s .
The f i r s t c h a p t e r i s t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e t h e -
s i s .
I t
c o n s i s t s o f background o f t h e s t u d y , s t a t e m e n t o ft h e problems, t h e o b j e c t i v e o f t h e s t u d y , t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e
o f t h e s t u d y , scope and l i m i t a t i o n o f t h e s t u d y , t h e
framework, assumption, and d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e
key terms.
The second c h a p t e r , d e a l i n g w i t h r e v i e w o f t h e
r e l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e . c o n s i s t s o f t h e t h e o r i e s o f e r r o r
a n a l y s i s , t h e t h e o r y o f c o n t r a s t i v e a n a l y s i s and t h e
i s h p r e s e n t p e r f e c t tense.
The t h i r d c h a p t e r c o n c e r n s t h e r e s e a r c h d e s i g n , t h e
s u b j e c t o f t h e s t u d y , t h e i n s t r u m e n t o f t h e r e s e a r c h ,
p r o c e d u r e o f c o l l e c t i n g t h e d a t a and t e c h n i q u e s f o r d a t a
a n a l y s i s .
The f o u r t h c h a p t e r t a l k s a b o u t f i n d i n g and I n t e r -
p r e t a t i o n .
I n t h e l a s t c h a p t e r , t h e w r i t e r p r e s e n t s
