MASTERY OF DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES BY STUDENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION
STUDY PROGRAM
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
R.Aj Triastuti Dian Kusumartini Student Number: 051214146
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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MASTERY OF DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES BY STUDENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION
STUDY PROGRAM
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
R.Aj Triastuti Dian Kusumartini Student Number: 051214146
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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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, April 8, 2011 The Writer
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : R.Aj Triastuti Dian Kusumartini Nomor Mahasiswa : 051214146
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma, karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
“Mastery of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses by Students of the English Language Education Study Program”
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, 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 saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal 8 April, 2011 Yang menyatakan
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Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity
in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's
work from beginning to end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
I dedicate this thesis to my Lord, Jesus Christ,
to my beloved parents, sister and brother,
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Lord Jesus Christ for His blessing and faithfulness of accompanying me so that I can finish my thesis. I thank Him for giving me a beautiful life complete with the happinesses and the sadnesses. Also, I thank Him for guiding me to walk in the best way in my life, and underpinning me when I fall. He is my mainstay.
I am very grateful to my sponsor Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. for her guidance, suggestions, and supports during my thesis accomplishment. I would like to thank the lecturers of English Language Education Study Program. My gratitude also goes to Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd. who also gives me supports and advices since I started studying in PBI. I thank Gregorius Punto Aji, S.Pd., M.Hum. for checking and giving feedback on my thesis. I thank also all PBI staffs who help me especially in administrative needs.
I like to express my special gratitude to Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto,M.A., the lecturer of Poetry I, for giving me permission to conduct my try-out test in his class and Hanandyo Dardjito, S.Pd., M.Hum., the lecturer of Academic Essay classes for allowing me to conduct my research in his classes. My gratitude also goes to all students of Poetry I Class A and Academic Essay Class A and Class E in academic year of 2009/2010 for the active and nice cooperation.
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My special thanks are addressed to my best friends, Yoan, Olive, Nancy, Tari, Nita and Delfin for our friendship, their support, guidance and prayers during study in PBI started from semester 1 till the end of finishing my thesis. I thank Mui, Bangkit and Wiwin for sharing and helping me during writing my thesis. I also thank Nita, Ari, and Wahyu “Bocong” for checking my thesis and giving me advice to improve it. I also thank Hawkeye English Course crew, all PBI students 2005, PBI students 2004 and 2006 who know me, I am grateful for our friendship in PBI. Hopefully, our friendship can grow forever.
I like to thank all of my friends I found in Sanata Dharma University, Afan FE’05, Widia Far’05, Simbah BK’04, Sepri BK’04, Pikal BK’04, Ndari BK’04, Asep BK’03, Pitra BK’03, Erna BK’03, Paul PBSID’03 for our nice relationship during I study in USD and live in Jogja, hopefully our relationship never lasting. I am very thankful to my boarding house friends, especially Puput, Eni, Ana, Riska, Nana, Sisil, Mbak Wulan, Refi, Rahma, Astri, and Tari for our sisterhood, their supports and helps during living together in our lovely boardinghouse. Also, I would like to thank my old friends, especially Hesti, Renny, Ari, Dimas, Jeka, Danik, Adit, Asih, Desy, Agus, Nita, Lidwina, and all my old friends who always support me since since junior high school till now.
My special gratitude goes to Mas Paul’s family, Asep’s family, Nita’s family, Yoan’s family and Olive’s family who accept me as their own family. Those family are my family in Jogja. They subtitute my family in Solo. They arise me during living in Jogja.
My gratitude also goes to those whom I cannot mention by names. I would like to thank them for their support, prayer, guidance and encouragement.
ix ABSTRACT
Kusumartini, R.Aj Triastuti Dian. 2011. Mastery of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses by Students of the English Language Education Study Program. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Relative clause is one of crucial English structure that the students should master. In English writing, the students sometimes use relative clauses. We sometimes find and use relative clauses in our daily activities, such as when we are talking to others, when we are reading a book, a newspaper, etc and we are writing a story, a letter, etc.
The students of the English Language Education Study Program learn relative clauses from semester II to semester V. therefore, the students should master relative clause materials such as relative pronouns, antecedents, main clauses, and relative clauses, structure of relative clause, defining and non-defining relative clauses, and punctuation (comma(s)) needed. Also, English Language Education Study Program students as candidates of English teachers have to master defining and non-defining relative clauses, which is an aspect of English structure that they will teach to their students in the future. However, they will face problems in mastering defining and non-defining relative clauses.
The research aims to find out English Language Education Study Program students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses. The problems to be evaluated are: (1) How is mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by studnets of the English Language Education Study Program? and (2) What errors occur in the students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses?
The researcher applied survey research to conduct the research. This research implemented of two data analysis techniques, quantitative to answer the first research question and qualitative to answer the second research question. She took 40 students of the fifth-semester students of English Language Education Study Program, in academic year of 2009/2010 as the representative sample of the research. She selected the sample using Cluster Sampling Technique. The instrument used in the research was an essay test. The test requires the students to produce complex sentences using defining and non-defining relative clauses. The researcher used the test to measure the students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses and to find the students’ errors occurring in mastering defining and non-defining relative clauses.
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grammar/structure of relative clause with percentage 42.14%. The third criterion was the use of punctuation (comma(s)) with percentage 45.34%. After classifying the errors, the researcher found misinformation errors and omission errors in students’ errors of relative pronouns. Then, she obtained misordering errors, addition errors, misinformation errors and omission errors in students’ errors of grammar/structure of relative clause. At the last, she found omission errors and addition errors in students’ errors of the use of punctuation (comma(s)).
xi ABSTRAK
Kusumartini, R.Aj Triastuti Dian. 2011. Mastery of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses by Students of the English Language Education Study Program. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Relative clauses merupakan salah satu struktur bahasa Inggris yang penting yang harus dikuasai oleh mahasiswa. Dalam setiap komunilkasi yang menggunakan bahasa Inggris, baik secara lisan maupun tertulis, setiap orang sering menggunakan relative clauses. Kita sering menemukan dan menggunakan relative clauses dalam kegiatan sehari-hari kita, seperti ketika sedang berbicara dengan orang lain, ketika sedang membaca sebuah buku, surat kabar, dan lain-lain yang menggunakan bahasa Inggris, dan ketika sedang menulis sebuah cerita, surat, dan lain-lain dalam bahasa Inggris.
Mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris belajar relative clauses sejak semester II sampai semester V. Sehingga mahasiswa sebaiknya menguasai materi relative clause seperti relative pronouns, antecedents, main clauses dan relative clauses, structure of relative clause, defining and non-defining relative clauses, dan punctuation (comma(s)) yang dibutuhkan. Selain itu, mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris sebagai calon guru Bahasa Inggris sebaiknya menguasai defining and non-defining relative clauses, yang merupakan salah satu bagian struktur bahasa Inggris yang akan mereka ajarkan pada siswa-siswi mereka kelak. Bagaimana pun juga, mereka masih bermasalah dalam menguasai defining and non-defining relative clauses.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penguasaan defining and non-defining relative clauses oleh mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Permasalahan yang dievaluasi yaitu: (1) Bagaimana mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahsa Inggris menguasai defining and non-defining relative clauses? dan (2) Kesalahan-kesalahan apa yang terjadi pada defining and non-defining relative clauses yang disusun oleh mahasiswa?
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Temuan penelitian tersebut menunjukkan bahwa para mahasiswa meraih 70.04% dari poin yang ditentukan. Jadi mereka mendapatkan skor 7.00. Berdasarkan skor standar Universitas Sanata Dharma, mahasiswa yang mendapat skor 7.00 memenuhi level baik. Bagaimanapun juga, para mahasiswa masih menghadapi beberapa masalah dalam menguasai defining and non-defining relative clauses. Mereka membuat kesalahan-kesalahan dalam tiga kategori. Kategori pertama ialah relative pronouns dengan persentase 12.52%. Kategori kedua yakni grammar/structure of relative clause dengan persentase 42.14%. Kategori ketiga yaitu the use of punctuation (comma(s)) dengan persentase 45.34%. Setelah mengklasifikasikan kesalahan-kesalahan, peneliti menemukan misinformation errors dan omission errors dalam kategori relative pronouns. Kemudian, dia mendapatkan misordering errors, addition errors, misinformation errors dan omission errors dalam kategori grammar/structure of relative clause. Terakhir dia memperoleh omission errors dan addition errors dalam kategori the use of punctuation (comma(s)).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY ... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... v
PAGE OF DEDICATION ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii
ABSTRACT ... ix
a. Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses ... 12
b. Relative Pronouns ... 14
3. Errors ... 22
a. Definition of Errors ... 22
b. Classifications of Errors ... 23
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CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY ... 29
A. Research Method ... 29
B. Research Participants ... 30
C. Research Instruments ... 32
1. Test Validity ... 35
a. Content Validity ... 35
b. Construct Validity ... 37
c. Face Validity ... 38
2. Test Reliability ... 39
D. Data Gathering Techniques and Type of Data ... 43
E. Data Analysis Techniques ... 44
F. Research Procedure ... 47
CHAPTER IV : RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 50
A. Students’ Mastery of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses ... 50
B. Students’ Errors of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses .. 54
1. Classifications od Errors ... 57
a. Relative Pronouns ... 58
b. Grammar/Structure of Relative Clause ... 60
c. The use of punctuation (comma(s)) ... 66
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 71
A. Conclusions ... 68
B. Suggestions ... 74
REFERENCES ... 75
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 : Standard Range of Score in Sanata Dharma University ... 11
Table 2 : Relative Pronouns According to Close (1977) ... 14
Table 3 : Distribution of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses ... 35
Tabel 4 : Students’ Achievement ... 51
Table 5 : The Percentage of Students’ Level ... 52
Table 6 : Students’ Errors ... 54
Table 7 : The Percentage of Students’ Errors in Each Criterion ... 55
Table 8 : Classifications of Students’ Relative Pronoun Errors ... 59
Table 9 : Classifications of Students’ Grammar/Structure of Relative Clause Errors ... 61
Table 10 : Classifications of Students’ Errors in the Use of Punctuation (Comma(s)) ... 66
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LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : Try Out Test ... 78
Appendix 2 : Answer Key to Try Out Test ... 81
Appendix 3 : Real Test ... 84
Appendix 4 : Answer Key to Real Test ... 87
Appendix 5 : Letter of Permission to the Chairperson of English Language Education Study Program ... 90
Appendix 6 : Students’ Work of Try-out Test ... 91
Appendix 7 : Students’ Work of Real Test ... 94
Appendix 8 : Table of “r” Values of Product Moment ... 97
Appendix 9 : Computation of Try Out Test ... 98
Appendix 10 : Computation of Real Test ... 100
Appendix 11 : List of Students’ Achievement ... 102
Appendix 12 : List of Students’ Errors ... 103
Appendix 13 : List of Students’ Relative Pronouns Errors ... 105
Appendix 14 : The Alternative Teaching Strategy ... 106
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter is an introductory chapter that describes research background, problem formulation, research objectives, research benefits and definition of terms. In research background, the researcher describes the reasons why the researcher conducts the research and chooses defining and non-defining relative clauses as the topic and the fifth-semester students of English Language Education Study Program as the sample. In problem formulation, the researcher mentions the research questions. In problem limitation the researcher shows the limitation of the area that the research applies for. In research objectives, the researcher explains the aims of the research. In research benefits, the researcher describes the benefits of the research. In definition of terms, the researcher defines briefly the meaning of the terms used in the research.
A. Research Background
In the case of English structure, the students learn English structure in Structure classes. There are five levels of Structure classes. The first level is Structure I, which is offered, in the first semester. The next is Structure II in the second semester. The third is Structure III in the third semester. The fourth is Structure IV in the fourth semester. The last is Structure V in the fifth semester. Those Structure classes teach English grammar and structure.
According to the previous research by Herning (2002: 137), there was no group achieved 75% of correct answers in the whole test. Herning (2002:137) state Structure IV students’ mastery of the Wh- and That clauses in relative clauses and noun clauses were categorized into “sufficient” level. The researcher conducts the research in order to investigate if the students’ mastery of relative clauses still in “sufficient” level or experiences a change. If the students’ mastery of relative clauses experiences a change, the researcher would like to investigate what changes occur in their mastery of relative clauses are.
In this research, Structure V students have passed the previous Structure classes, so in semester V the students should master English grammar and structure. That is the reason why the researcher chooses those students as the representative sample of semester V in order to evaluate whether the students have mastered defining and non-defining relative clauses or not. Also, the researcher would like to assess their mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses.
the students sometimes use relative clauses. They sometimes find and use relative clauses in their daily activities, for example when they are reading a book, a newspaper, etc and when they are writing a story, a letter, etc. That is the reasons why the researcher conducts a research about relative clauses. It aims to examine mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program.
Also, relative clause is a familiar English structure that the students learn in all Structure classes since semester II. It is taught in four levels of Structure class. The students learn relative clauses from semester II to semester V. Therefore, the students should have mastered relative clause materials such as relative pronouns, antecedents, main clauses and relative clauses, structure of relative clause, defining and non-defining relative clauses, and punctuation (comma(s)) needed.
In conclusion, because Structure V students of the English Language Education Study Program have learnt English grammar and structure in four levels of Structure class, the researcher chooses them as the representative sample of research. Moreover, the researcher possesses three reasons why she conducts the research focusing on defining and non-defining relative clauses. Besides relative clause is often used to communicate with others, the researcher sees that English Language Education Study Program students have learnt relative clauses in four levels of Structure class.
In addition, the researcher is aware that it needs good understanding and frequently practices to correctly distinguishing defining and non-defining relative clauses. In this case, the researcher measures the students’ understanding of defining and non-defining relative clauses. Therefore, this research aims to dig out how English Language Education Study Program students master defining and non-defining relative clauses and what errors occurred in students’ defining and non-defining relative clauses are.
B. Problems Formulation
In order to find out mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program and the errors occurring in their defining and non-defining relative clauses, there are two research questions to identify the problems:
2. What errors occurred in English Language Education Study Program students’ defining and non-defining relative clauses?
C. Problems Limitation
This research is a descriptive survey research, which describes mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program and the students’ errors occurred in defining and non-defining relative clauses. The research concerns with how English Language Education Study Program students master defining and non-defining relative clauses and what errors occurred in students’ defining and non-defining relative clauses. Therefore, this research is limited to English Language Education Study Program population especially the Structure V students as the sample of the research.
D. Research Objectives
This research is aimed to find out data of mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. It is expected to discover:
E. Research Benefits
The research brings many benefits for English Language Education Study Program lecturers, English Language Education Study Program students, and the future researchers.
1. Lecturers
Lecturers will recognize mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. It means that the lecturers understand how the students master defining and non-defining relative clauses correctly. As a result, the lecturers will find out the students’ strength and weakness in mastering defining and non-defining relative clauses. Those benefits are shown by the errors occurred in students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses. Therefore, the lecturers create some ideas how to improve their mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by considering their strenghts and weakness.
2. Students
3. Future researchers
Future researchers who also have a research in the same topic need references about mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program to support their research. Besides giving information they need for their researches, this research gives future researchers some suggestions about mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program so that their research is better than the previous researches. It is expected that this research is useful for those future researchers to finish their research.
F. Definition of Terms
The researcher gives the definition of terms used in this research as key words in order to help the readers to understand the meaning of the special words in the research. Thus, they can understand the ideas of the research.
1. Mastery
According to Stern (1983:346), mastery means knowing, competence and proficiency. He also summarizes four factors that a learner should have in order to master a language. Those factors are:
a. The intuitive mastery of the forms of the language,
b. The intuitive mastery of the linguistic, cognitive, affective and sociocultural meaning, expressed by the language forms,
d. The creativity of language use.
In this research, mastery refers to competence of defining and non-defining relative clauses and of applying them in writing.
2. Relative clauses
A relative clause is also called an adjective clause. According to Azar (1989: 238), an adjective clause is “a dependent clause” modifying a noun. A dependent clause is not “a complete sentence”. Therefore, an adjective clause needs to be connected to an independent clause by connector to construct a good complex sentence. In addition, there are two kinds of relative clause, defining and non-defining. In this research, a relative clause clause refers to a dependent clause that needs a connector to modify a noun in an independent clause in order to construct a complex sentence. This research uses both defining and non-defining relative clauses.
a. Defining relative clauses
According to Thompson and Martinet (1960:31), a defining relative clause is a relative clause that modifies the preceding noun to “distinguish it from other nouns in the same class”. In this research, a defining relative clause means a relative clause that explains and decribes a certain noun in independent to differ it from other noun in the same class.
b. Non-defining relative clauses
research, a non-defining relative clause refers to a relative clause which is not really important because it is only to give more information about the noun modified.
3. Students
10 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description 1. Mastery
Mastery refers to knowing, competence and proficiency. Stern (1987:346) provides a summary of four factors indicating having mastered a language. Those factors are:
a. The intuitive mastery of the forms of the language,
b. The intuitive mastery of the linguistic, cognitive, affective and sociocultural meaning, expressed by the language forms,
c. The capacity to use the language with maximum attention to communication and minimum attention to form, and
d. The creativity of language use.
In this research, mastery is competence of defining and non-defining relative clauses and of using them in writing. The researcher would like to measure the students’ competence of defining and non-defining relative clauses and their ability in constructing complex sentences using defining and non-defining relative clauses. The students’ competence was indicated by four factors provided by Stern (1987: 346).
Table 1. Standard Range of Score in Sanata Dharma University Percentage of the
Obtained Points The Obtained Score Level
80% - 100% 8.00 – 10.00 Very Good A
70% - 79% 7.00 – 7.99 Good B
56% - 69% 5.60 – 6.99 Sufficient C 50% - 55% 5.00 – 5.59 Insufficient D
0% - 40% 0.00 – 4.99 Fail E
The students who obtain scores in the range 80% - 100% or 8.00 – 10.00 are in the level A which means very good. The students who obtain scores in the range 7.00 – 7.99 or 7.00 – 7.99 are in the level B which means good. The students who obtain scores in the range 5.60 – 6.99 or 5.60 – 6.99 are in the level C which means sufficient. The students who obtain score in the range 5.00 – 5.59 or 5.00 – 5.50 are in the level D which means insufficient. The students who obtain scores in the range 0.00 – 4.99 or 0.00 – 4.99 are in the level A which means very good
2. Relative Clauses
needs a connector to connect to an independent clause. After connecting a relative clause to an independent clause, we can construct a sentence, which is called a complex sentence.
In complex sentence using relative clause, the independent clause is called main clause and the dependent clause is called relative clause. In order to connect main clause and relative clause, we use a relative pronoun. A relative pronoun begins the relative clause. It can be the subject of clause, the object of verb in the clause, the object of preposition or a possessive (Close, 1977: 52). It comes after the antecedent in the main clause. An antecedent is a noun phrase in the main clause that the relative clause modifies (Close, 1977: 51). That is why relative pronoun comes after the antecedent.
a. Defining and Non–Defining Relative Clauses
There are two kinds of relative clauses. These are defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses.
1) Defining relative clauses
who is standing at the door. This man wants to speak personally. Therefore, defining relative clauses give the information that makes the meaning clear, unless it will be confusing. Another example (2), the bungalow we rented last summer was not as well equipped as the one we had the year before. It has two defining relative clauses. The first relative clause is we rented last summer. The second relative clause is we had the year before. Both relative clauses are contact clauses because they omit the objective relative pronouns. If not, they should be which/that we rented last summer and which/that we had the year before.
2) Non-defining relative clauses
In this research, the researcher is going to test the students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses. Relative pronouns the researcher uses in the test are who(m), which, that and ∅. Those relative pronouns are used only
as a subject, object and object of preposition. Therefore, in the test, the researcher uses four relative pronouns for three functions in relative clauses, whereas, the researcher does not provide relative adverbs when and where because who(m), which, that and ∅ can substitute both relative adverbs. Also relative adverbs when and where function as adverbial of time and place that can be substituted by functions as subject, object and object of preposition. Besides adverbial of time and place, the researcher does also not use relative pronouns functioning as possessive in order to avoid confusing choices that cause many errors the students make.
b. Relative Pronouns
Close (1977:52) describes four types of relative pronouns; subject pronouns, object pronouns, object of preposition pronouns and possessive. Table 2 is the description of relative pronouns according to Close (1977:52).
Table 2. Relative Pronouns according to Close (1977:52) RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Function as a/an
Defining Relative Clauses Non-Defining Relative Clauses
Personal Non-Personal Personal Non-Personal a. Subject who, that which, that Who which
In the table, Close (1977:52) explicitly explains that there are two types of antecedent; personal and non-personal. Personal antecedents refer to people, whereas, non-personal antecedents refer to things. Besides explaining the antecedents, Close (1977:52-55) describes the use of relative pronouns based on their position. There are four functions of relative pronouns in the table. They are as a subject, as an object, as an object of preposition and as a possessive. Here is the description of relative pronoun usage based on their functions.
1) As a Subject
As a subject, we use three relative pronouns. Those relative pronouns are who, which and that. Here are the rules how those relative pronouns work. a) Who is used to modify personal antecedents both in defining and
non-defining relative clauses,
b) Which is used to modify personal antecedents both in defining and non-defining relative clauses, and
c) That is used to modify for both personal and non-personal antecedents only in defining relative clauses.
Those three relative pronouns have the same function. The function is as a subject of the relative clause. It refers to the antecedent in main clause, then, becomes the subject of relative clause. Therefore, it substitutes the antecedent’s function in the main clause into the subject of relative clause. Examples 4 and 5 describe how those relative pronouns work.
Example 4:
Ö I thanked the woman whohelped me, or
Ö I thanked the woman thathelped me.
Example 5:
The book is mine. It is on the table.
Ö The book whichis on the table is mine.
Ö The book thatis on the table is mine. 2) As an Object
As an object, we apply relative pronouns who, whom, which, that and ∅ . The following are the rules how those relative pronouns work.
a) Who/whom is used to modify personal antecedents both in defining and non-defining relative clauses,
b) Which is used to modify personal antecedents in both defining and non-defining relative clauses,
c) That is used to modify both personal and non-personal antecedents only in defining relative clauses, and
d) ∅ (Symbol of omission) is also used for both personal and non-personal antecedents in both defining and non-defining relative clauses.
In the case of omission symbol, ∅ means that it is possible to omit the relative pronouns functioned as an object in relative clause. This sign has the same aim as the relative pronoun in the bracket, as it is presented in Table 2. The
an object, there is no any difference between relative clauses with relative pronouns and relative clauses without relative pronouns.
Then, those three four relative pronouns work as an object in relative clause. They modify the antecedent in the main clause to be the object of verb in the relative clause. Here, the examples 6 and 7 draw how those relative pronouns work as an object.
Example 6:
The man was Mr. Jones. I saw him.
Ö The man who(m) I saw was Mr. Jones.
Ö The man that I saw was Mr. Jones.
Ö The man ∅I saw was Mr. Jones
Example 7:
The movie was not very good. We saw it last night.
Ö The movie which we saw last night was not very good.
Ö The movie that we saw last night was not very good.
Ö The Movie ∅we saw last night was not very good.
In relative clauses, those relative pronouns may be omitted and directly continued to the relative clause without any relative pronoun as a connector. In other words, sometimes the relative pronouns are able to be omitted. This relative clause is called a contact clause. Neuman (1984:32) states a contact clause is a defining relative clause that omits the objective relative pronoun (whom, that, or which). Relative clauses especially defining relative clauses without relative pronoun is called contact clause.
3) As an Object of Preposition
As an object of preposition, we use seven relative pronouns. They are to whom, to which, (who)/(whom)…to, (which)…to, which…to, (that)…to. Those relative pronouns always follow or are followed by preposition because those relative pronouns represent the object of preposition. Each relative pronoun has its own rule. These are their rules.
a) To (preposition) whom is used to modify personal antecedents either in defining or non-defining relative clauses,
b) To (preposition) which is used to modify non-personal antecedents either in defining or non-defining relative clauses,
c) (Who/whom)…to(preposition) is used to modify personal antecedents either in defining or non-defining relative clauses,
d) (Which)…to (preposition) is used to modify non-personal antecedents in defining relative clauses,
f) (That)…to (preposition) is used to modify either personal or non-personal antecedents in defining relative clauses, and
g) ∅ (Symbol of omission) is also used for both personal and non-personal antecedents in both defining and non-defining relative clauses.
In this function, as an object of preposition, relative pronouns in the bracket can be omitted. As explained in the previous function, bracket or ∅ show meaning that relative pronouns functioning as an object/object of preposition in the relative clauses can be omitted. Also, to in to whom, to which, (who/whom)…to, etc represents preposition. Therefore, to can be changed by other prepositions such as about, of, in, under, at, etc. Moreover, those relative pronouns change the antecedent’s function in the main clause into the object of preposition in the relative clause. Here are the examples how they work.
Example 8:
She is the woman. I told you about her.
Ö She is the woman about whom I told.
Ö She is the woman who(m) I told about.
Ö She is the woman that I told about.
Ö She is the woman ∅ I told about.
Example 9:
The music was good. We listened to it last night.
Ö The music to which we listened last night was good.
Ö The music which we listened to last night was good.
Ö The music ∅ we listened to last night was good.
Examples 8 and 9 explain relative pronouns are the objects of preposition. On examples 8 and 9, mostly a preposition comes after subject and verb because only very formal English places preposition in the beginning, before subject and verb in the relative clause (Azar, 1995: 269). However, relative pronouns that and who cannot immediately come after preposition because only relative pronouns which and whom who can follow the preposition. 4) As a Possessive
In the last position, as a possessive, we apply two relative pronouns; whose and of which. These are the rulesto use them.
a). Whose is used to modify both personal and non-personal antecedents either in defining or non-defining relative clauses, and
b) Of which is used to modify non-personal antecedents either in defining or non-defining relative clauses.
In order to show possession, a relative clause uses whose and of which to substitute the antecedents function in the main clause to be possessive function in relative clause. There two relative pronouns that substitute the possessive pronouns; whose used for people and animal characters in the story, and of which used for things and animals in general (Neuman, 1981: 32). However, relative pronoun of whichis written after the noun modified and usually used in non-defining relative clause. Here, examples 7 and 8 draw the use of relative pronouns whose and of which as the possessive pronouns.
I know the man. His bicycle was stolen.
Ö I know the man whose bicycle was stolen.
Example 11:
The student writes well. I read her composition.
Ö The student whose composition I read writes well.
Example 12:
The table is so high. Its foot is almost broken.
Ö The table, a foot of which is almost broken, is so high.
Examples 10 and 11 show that relative pronoun whose is the same as his, her, its, and other possessive pronouns. In relative clauses, whose cannot be omitted and comes in the beginning of relative clause. Also, whose usually modifies people as personal antecedents, but sometimes it can modify animal characters in a story. Example 12, while, shows a possession of things. It is the same as its in general. It is only used for things and animal in general as non-personal antecedents.
However, Azar (1999:277) combines object and object of preposition as one type of relative pronoun, whereas, Close (1977:52) separates them. Also she introduces two relative adverbs that can modify and relate the antecedents to the relative clauses. Those relative adverbs are when and where.
3. Errors
language” and mistakes are “deviation in usage that reflects learner’s inability to use what they actually know the target language” (Ellis, 1997:141). It means that errors occur because the learner does not really understand the correct forms and mistakes are made by carelessness that actually the learner understands correct forms. However, in this research, the researcher only discusses errors in order to find the students’ errors in defining and non-defining relative clauses. In order to discuss errors in depth, here are the definition and classification of error.
a. Definition of errors
According Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005:56), errors are defined based on two views, grammaticality and acceptability. In grammaticality, they cite that an error is “a breach of the rule of the code”. They state that it depends on the view that “what particular variety of the target language is chosen as the code” (Ellis and Barkhuizen, 2005:56). It means that errors break the rules of a variety of a target language as a code. On the other side, based on the acceptability, Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005:56) define that an error is “more dependent on the subjective evaluation of the researcher ...” and also “involves attempting to identify a situational context ...” (Ellis and Barkhuizen, 2005:56). It can be said that errors are dependable and based on the context used.
likelihood, not be produced by speakers’ native speaker counterparts” (Ellis and Barkhuizen, 2005: 56). It is clearly that errors happen in the same context and condition of production and are unlike what native speaker counterparts produce. In this research, the researcher searched the students’ linguistic forms that are produce unlikely as the native speaker counterparts produce defining and non-defining relative clauses.
b. Classifications of errors
Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005:60) classify errors based on the system of category, which is named taxonomy. There are two kinds of taxonomy they describe, linguistic taxonomy and surface structure taxonomy.
1) Linguistic Taxonomy
Linguistic taxonomy is drawn by descriptive grammar, which is famously called descriptive taxonomy. In English descriptive grammar or descriptive taxonomy, a grammar includes:
a) General categories such as sentence structure, verb phrase, noun phrase, preposition phrase, etc.
b) More specific categories such as:
1. Verb tenses (e.g. simple present tense, simple past tense, etc). 2. Aspect (e.g. perfective, progressive, etc).
3. Auxiliary verbs which are divided into primary (e.g. is, am, are, etc) and modal (e.g. can, may, will, etc).
“Errors should be classified in terms of the target language categories that have been violated rather than the linguistic categories used by learner” (Ellis and Barkhuizen, 2005: 60). Therefore, errors are classified based on the violation happening in the target language categories. Those errors are different from the linguistic categories the learner learns.
2) Surface Structure Taxonomy
Dulay, Burt, and Krasen (1982:150) that surface structure taxonomy is drawn based on “the ways surface structures are altered” Then, based on surface structure taxonomy; they suggest four principles of the learner’s errors:
a) Omission
The errors come because of the omission of a form that should appear in the construction of a sentence. For instance, the omission of auxiliary verb be in the sentence I beautiful. It should be I am beautiful.
b) Addition
The errors come because of the presence of a form that should not appear in the construction of a sentence. It happens in these sub-categories:
1. Regulation, for instance she eated soto yesterday (it should be she ate soto yesterday).
2. Double marking, for instance she did not studied last night (it should be she did not study last night).
c) Misinformation
The errors come because of the use of the wrong form of morpheme or the structure in the construction of a sentence. These errors happen in these sub-categories:
1. Regulation, for example do you be sad? (It should be are you sad?). 2. Archi-forms, for example me love you (It should be I love you). 3. Alternating forms, for example no smoke (It should be no smoking). d) Misordering
The errors come because of the incorrect placement of a morpheme or a group of morpheme in the construction of a sentence. For instance, misordering of the adverb phrase in the sentence I fight all the time my brother. It should be I fight my brother all the time.
B. Theoretical Framework
Making errors is a part of learning process. Errors always occur during the learning process. Students usually make errors when they learn and try to master the materials. Moreover, the errors the students made are indicators showing that the students still feel difficult to master those materials. That is the reason why researcher conducts this research. The research aims to know how the students master defining and non-defining relative clauses by identifying the errors in mastering defining and non-defining relative clauses.
defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. Because relative clause is one of English structure, the researcher does not use linguistic taxonomy, but she focuses on surface structure taxonomy to classify the students’ errors in defining and non-defining relative clauses. Consequently, the researcher implemented surface structure taxonomy in order to answer the second research question.
Relative clauses the researcher used in the research are defining and non-defining relative clauses with personal and non-personal relative pronouns functioned as subject, object and object of preposition such as who(m), which, that, and ∅. In this research, the researcher holds a test for the fifth semester students of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The test is about defining and non-defining relative clauses. A defining relative clause is a relative clause that modifies a noun by giving the crucial information about the noun modified (Neuman, 1981: 34), while, a non-defining relative clause is a relative clause that modifies a noun by giving the additional information about the noun modified (Neuman, 1981: 35).
with the correct punctuations to differentiate between a defining relative clause and a non-defining relative clause.
In the case of relative pronouns, Close (1977: 52) describes relative pronouns in four functions such as subject, object, object of preposition and possessive. In the research, the researcher provides four relative pronouns who(m), which, that and ∅ functioned as subject, object and object of preposition. The researcher does not use relative pronouns functioned as possessive because those relative pronouns can be replaced by relative pronouns functioned as subject, object and object of preposition.
In the case of grammar/structure relative clauses, the researcher examines the students’ understanding of main clauses and relative clauses. There is an antecedent in the main clause (Close, 1977: 51) and a relative pronoun in the relative clause (Close, 1977: 52). The students should master to distinguish both the main clause and the relative clause. The main clause has the antecedent and the relative clause has the relative pronoun.
In the case of punctuation, the punctuation needed is comma. The use of comma(s) differentiates between a defining relative clause and a non-defining relative clause. Comma(s) here bring a meaning that the information within the relative clause is only additional or non-defining information (Neuman, 1981: 35). Therefore, comma(s) are only used in non-defining relative clauses, which give only additional information to modify the noun modified.
29 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researcher would share about the research method, the research participants, the instrument used in the research, the technique of data gathering, the technique of data analyzing and the procedures of research. In this study, the research used descriptive survey research. The sample was the fifth semester students of English Language Education Study Program. The researcher had four stages to conduct the research. The researcher conducted a production test as the instrument of the research and the data was on the students’ answers of the test. Then, the researcher analyzed the data after scoring the students’ answers in order to find the results of the research.
A. Research Method
Parel, et. al (1978: 10) also state that the sample is only a small group of universe, “carefully chosen in such a way that it is truly representative of the universe.” The results of research among the sample represent the results of the population. They add that the difference between the sample estimates and the population estimates can be minimized by “a proper survey design and an adequate sample size” (Parel, et.al, 1978:10). Design of survey and size of sample become the crucial parts to conduct a survey research.
Survey is a descriptive research because it aims to perform and describe the accurate quantitative of the population (Parel, et.al, 1978:10). In this research, the researcher would like to perform and describe mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. The sample was the fifth semester students of English language Education Study Program in academic year of 2009/2010. This survey applied two data analysis techniques, quantitative data analysis technique to measure mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program and qualitative data analysis technique to identify and classify the students’ errors occurred in defining and non-defining relative clauses.
B. Research Participants
relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program, the sample of the research should have passed Structure I to Structure IV classes. Moreover, they were participating Structure V class, so that they had learnt English grammar and structure, especially defining and non-defining relative clauses. It means that the students had learnt and known defining and non-defining relative clauses. In this research, the researcher would measure their mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses that they had learnt in four levels of Structure class for four semesters.
In the research, the researcher used cluster sampling to take the research sample. Cluster sampling is a method to select a sample where the population consists of more than one sampling unit (Parel, et.al, 1978:10). Neuman (2000: 209) also adds that a research where the researcher randomly samples clusters and randomly samples the elements among the selected clusters has big advantages. Since the total number of the fifth semester students was about 150 students divided into 4 classes, the researcher took a small group as the representative sample by sampling randomly the students among two randomly selected classes.
the research. The researcher assumed that the portion of sample were representative enough to the whole population of fifth semester students in conducting the research. It was because the sample was taken from two classes of four Academic Essay classes. Students in those two classes represented all students in four classes.
C. Research Instruments
To observe mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program, the researcher applied an instrument to obtain a valid data. The instrument was a test which would examine mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. Test, measurement, and evaluation are processes to check students’ understanding of all the materials and before continuing learning new materials (Bertrand and Cebula, 1980:3). In addition, test is a method to measure people ability, knowledge or performance (Brown, 2004:3). In this case, the research used this test to check and measure mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program.
correctly, either deciding the correct relative pronouns or deciding whether the sentence included a defining or non-defining relative clause.
The test is a production test that the students should construct complex sentences using relative clauses. It was also identifying test where the students should analyze whether the complex sentence containing a defining or non-defining relative clause before constructing the sentence using relative clause. If the complex sentence contained a defining relative clause, they would not put comma(s) to separate the relative clause from the main clause. On the other hand, if the sentence contained a non-defining relative clause, they would put comma(s) to separate the relative clause from the main clause.
The objective of the test was to examine the students if they were able to correctly construct complex sentences using relative clauses by considering three criteria. Those criteria were correctly identifying defining or non-defining relative clauses by deciding to put comma(s) or not, determining the correct relative pronouns, and constructing relative clauses with the correct structure of relative clause.
Each of items had 3 points, 1 point for the correct relative pronoun, 1 point for the correct grammar/structure of relative clause, and 1 point for the correct punctuation (comma(s)). Comma(s) is used for identifying whether the complex sentence contained a defining relative clause or non-defining relative clause. Thus, the total points were 60 points. In order to score the students’ achievement, the researcher divided the total points the students achieved by 6. Therefore, the maximum score is 10 scores. If a student did the test without any error, he or she would get the maximum score, 10 scores. The following was the formula of scoring the test.
Each item had 3 points, consisting of :
Every correct relative pronoun : 1 point Every incorrect relative pronoun : 0 Every correct grammar/structure of relative clause : 1 point Every incorrect grammar/structure of relative clause : 0 Every correct punctuation (comma(s)) : 1 point Every incorrect punctuation (comma(s)) : 0 The maximum points : 20x3 points : 60 points The obtained scores:
The maximum scores: 60 points/6: 10 scores
The following is Table 3, which exposes the distribution of defining and non-defining relative clauses. There are ten items containing defining relative clauses and ten other items containing non-defining relative clauses.
Table 3. Distribution of Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses
Relative Pronouns
Number of Each category Number of Items
Defining
In order to conduct an effective test, the tester should consider to the principles of assessment. Bertrand and Cebula (1980: 108) state a good test should have the extremely important characteristics of test, validity and reliability. To meet those important characteristics, the researcher would discuss test validity and test reliability below.
1. Test Validity
validity, the researcher conducted try-out test in Poetry I class A. In this research, the test had three validity aspects. Those were content validity, construct validity, and face validity.
a. Content Validity
Content validity measures what students had learned before. It refers to “the appropriateness the content of the curriculum being studied” (Bertrand and Cebula, 1980: 112). The test really measures the students’ achievement in studying the materials being learned. Brown (2004:22) defines that a test can claim content validity if the test itself samples the subject matter and requires the test taker to perform behavior being measured. To reach content validity, a test must relate to the subject matter which is given before, represent the materials given before and stimulate the students to perform behavior as the response of their learning experience relating to the test’s purposes.
b. Construct Validity
Construct validity measures the students’ traits or qualities. According to Bertrand and Cebula (1980: 113), construct here means human traits or qualities. In this aspect of validity, problem-solving behavior is a way to train the students’ intelligence and judgment. It refers to that students’ ability to solve their problem indicates their quality of intelligence and judgment. Bertrand and Cebula (1980: 113) state behavior shows both “the existence and the quality of these cognitive powers”. The cognitive powers here refer to intelligence and judgment.
Considering the test’s purpose was to examine if the students master defining and non-defining relative clauses or not, the test used in this research possessed two proofs proving that the test had construct validity. First, the questions on the test were able to stimulate the students to perform their mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by choosing the correct relative pronouns in order to construct the correct sentences using relative clauses.
Second, the test was able to encourage the students to perform their qualities in making decision whether the complex sentence containing a defining or a non-defining relative clause. If the complex sentence contained a defining relative clause, they would not put comma(s) to separate the relative clause from the main clause. On the other hand, if the complex sentence contained a non-defining relative clause, they would put comma(s) to separate the relative clause from the main clause.
Pedagogical purposes show what the learners learnt and have not yet understood. In this research, the test was incidental test that the students had not yet known about the test. The test also was not conducted in Structure class, but in Poetry I class for try-out test and Academic Essay class so there was no preparation for the test. Having test without any preparation could minimize making mistakes. It proved that the incorrect answers in the test served pedagogical purposes. The researcher had three reasons to make sure that most of the incorrect answers were errors, not mistakes.
Research purposes provide evidence of language learning process. In the research, the test was conducted in the morning. The students came to the class just to submit their paper and there was no lecture too so the students’ condition was still fresh. This condition could also minimize appearing mistakes in the test. It was an evident that the incorrect answers in the test provided research purposes. Learning purposes show the rules of the target language. In the research, the students had learnt relative clauses in four levels of Structure class for four semesters. Therefore, they should possess sufficient understanding of relative clauses. Learning rules of target language regularly for four semesters were able to minimize occurring mistakes in the test too. It gave an evident that the incorrect answers in the test performed learning purposes.
c. Face Validity
examinees who take the test, a degree of the administrative personnel who evaluate the test’s use, and a degree of some other observers. In order to improve learning quality, the test’s appearance should be useful and relevant to measure what to be measured and is based on the agreement among the test-takers, administrative personnel and other observers. In this case, the researcher had done some consultations to some lecturer of English Language Education Study program in order to construct the test with right face validity.
2. Test Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of test or other measurement instruments on each time the measurement instrument is conducted. “A reliable test is consistent and dependable Brown (2004: 20).” Bertrand and Cebula (1980: 117) defines reliability is the degree of knowledge or cognitive ability measurement consistency, whether it is consistent or not on each time the test is given. Therefore, if the test produces the same results in each test conducted, it means the test is highly reliable. On the other hand, if the test produces different results on each time the test is conducted, the test tends to only have low reliability or even the test is unreliable.
students’ works, and then computed the test reliability by using split-halves method. Before computing the test reliability, the researcher might compute the test reliability coefficient. The formula used to compute the reliability coefficient would be discussed later. The result of try-out test reliability was 0.86, while the required reliability of test using 20 persons of sample with the level of significance 5% was 0.444. The list of the students’ scores and the computation is in Appendix 9.
Based on the results of computing try-out test reliability, the researcher revised and improved the test in order to make it better so that the test was reliable to conduct to the real sample. In this case, the researcher changed some words in several items in order to avoid ambiguity. Also, she revised the instruction in order to make it clearer. Therefore the students could do the test without any hesitation. The changes are in Appendix 3.
To compute the reliability coefficient, the researcher needed to provide two sets of scores. In this case, there are three common methods to compute the reliability coefficient. These are test retest reliability, equivalent forms reliability, and split-halves reliability. In this research, the researcher chose split-halves reliability to provide two sets of scores in order to measure the reliability coefficient. In this method, to provide two sets of scores, the test was divided into two halves that were the same and that had the same difficulties. The students should answer each item in the same way.
that test, got two scores. One was the first half, referring to odd numbered items, which was labeled X and the other was the second half, referring to even numbered items, which was labeled Y. The test the researcher conducted contained 20 essay items where the students should combine and construct two simple sentences into one complex sentence using a relative clause by considering whether it included a defining or non-defining relative clause.
The researcher used split-halves method to compute the test reliability coefficient. In this case, because the test consisted of two halves, the researcher used Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (Alderson and Bachman, 2004: 86) as the formula to compute the correlation coefficient of the scores of two halves test.
Where:
rxy : the correlation coefficient of the scores of the two halves of the test. N : the number of the students in the sample
ΣX : the sum of the X scores
ΣY : the sum of the Y scores
ΣX2 : the sum of the square of the X scores
ΣY2 : the sum of the square of the Y scores
ΣXY : the sum of the product of X and Y scores for each student
Spearman-Brown formula to measure the reliability of the entire test (Ebel, 1979: 2780).
Where:
r2 : the obtained reliability coefficient of the entire test rs : the obtained reliability coefficient of a half of the test.
The result of test reliability coefficient was 0.81 (See Appendix 10). It meant that the correlation between X and Y was very significant. Based on the table of “r” values of Product Moment (See Appendix 8), the required reliability coefficient of test using 40 persons of sample with 5 % is 0.312. Although the reliability coefficient of the real test is lower than the reliability coefficient of the try-out test, it is still reliable because the coefficient was much higher than the required reliability coefficient.
D. Data Gathering Technique
The researcher gathered the data by testing the students. She conducted the test in Academic Essay class A on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 and Academic Essay class E on Friday, December 11, 2009. First, the researcher introduced herself and also explained the aim of the research. Then she stated that she needed the students’ help to do the test. In this case, the students did not know the plan of this test, so there was no time for them to prepare for the test. As a result, the researcher could recognize mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program without any preparation for the test.
E. Data Analysis Technique
In this research, the researcher used two data analysis techniques. The first data analysis technique was quantitative data analysis because the first research question concerned with mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program. According to Neuman (2000: 320), researchers measure variation of quantitative data in three ways. Those are range, percentiles and standard deviation. In this research, the researcher applied percentiles to measure variation of quantitative data. Percentiles refer to “the score at a specific place within the distribution” (Neuman, 2000: 320). It describes a distribution. The researcher in this research used percentiles to describe the percentage of points the students achieved that referred to the students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses.
After scoring the students’ answers, the researcher computed the percentage of points the students achieved. In order compute the percentage of points the students achieved, firstly the researcher calculated the total points the whole sample achieved. Then the researcher divided the total points the whole sample achieved by 2400 points. After that, the result was multiplied by 100%. Finally, the researcher categorized the level of the percentage of points the students achieved according to the standard range of score in Sanata Dharma University. The level represented the students’ mastery of defining and defining relative clauses. The level of students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses answered the first research question.
In the research, the researcher used surface structure taxonomy by Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982:150) to classify the students’ errors in defining and non-defining relative clauses. Those classifications were omission, addition, misinformation and misordering. Before classifying the errors occurred in students’ defining and non-defining relative clauses, the researcher accounted the total number of errors. The total number of errors was obtained by subtracting 2400 points by the total points the sample achieved.
Then the researcher categorized the errors into three categories. Those categories were errors of relative pronouns, errors of grammar/structure of relative clause and errors of the use of punctuation (comma(s)). The researcher also computed the percentage of each category. Before computing the percentage of each category, the researcher counted the number of each errors category. Then the percentage of each errors category was obtained by dividing the number of each category by the total number of errors, and then the result was multiplied by 100%.
F. Research Procedure
In order to conduct research well, the researcher should prepare the research procedure. In this research, the researcher had prepared the research procedure into five steps. The following were those five steps of the research procedure.
1. Formulating Research Questions
As the researcher noticed that English Language Education Study Program students made errors in defining and non-defining relative clauses, the researcher possessed two research questions in the research. Those research questions were how mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses by students of the English Language Education Study Program is and what errors occurred in their defining and non-defining relative clauses are. The researcher expected that the research could help her to find the answers of the research questions and solve the problems.
2. Reviewing Literature
3. Deciding Research Method
After formulating the research questions and reviewing literature, the researcher decided the research method. In this research, the researcher applied descriptive survey research. In the research, the researcher performed the students’ mastery of defining and non-defining relative clauses. Also, the researcher identified and classified the students’ errors of defining and non-defining relative clauses.
4. Determining Research Participants
The researcher selected 40 students of the English Language Education Study Program as the representative sample. Those students were the fifth semester students. They were belong to Academic Essay class A and Academic Essay class E. the researcher selected them randomly by implemented Cluster Sampling Technique.
5. Designing Research Instrument
The researcher created an essay test about defining and non-defining relative clauses as the research instrument. The test consisted of 20 items. Each item possessed 3 points. One point was for the correct relative pronoun. One point was for the correct grammar/structure of relative clause. Another was for the correct punctuation (comma(s)).
6. Collecting the Data by Conducting the Test as the Instrument
