By Ari Wijayanto Student Number: 031214030 ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By Ari Wijayanto

Student Number: 031214030

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS

IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By Ari Wijayanto

Student Number: 031214030

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

2009

A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on

THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS

IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

Prepared and Presented by Ari Wijayanto

Student Number: 031214030

Approved by

Date Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum. 18 June 2009

Sponsor

A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on

THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS

IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

By

ARI WIJAYANTO Student Number: 031214030

For my mom, my dad, Ari Novi Wardana, and Meyske Jeannette

“Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on

in language which is very far from the truth.”

Ferdinand de Saussure

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotation and bibliography, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 18 June 2009 The writer

Ari Wijayanto 031214030

ABSTRACT

Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University.

Grammar provides the blueprints for a person to produce novel utterances and sentences from limited words. Equally, the intelligibility of a language largely depends on the understanding of the grammar of that language. From these points, it is understood that language teachers as well as students of English Language Education will perform better in teaching by having extensive knowledge of grammar and understanding systems for assessing language as their subject matter. The X-Bar schema, as one of thriving systems for assessing language, can deliberately depict the formations of words, phrases and sentence. However, the use of the X-Bar schema has been apparently poles apart from the practice and consideration on language teaching especially in grammar studies which in turn make it worth researching.

This current study was conducted to answer two questions. The first question was on the performance of the sixth semester students of English Language Education on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The second question was on the general classifications of the students’ mistakes in analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema. The research was conducted to the sixth semester students of the English Language Education academic year 2007/2008. A test which consists of two parts was administrated to answer those two questions.

The research findings revealed that the performance of the students was sufficient in general in that the result of the test showed that the average score of the students was 57.77%. In details, the first part of the test which tested the students’ knowledge and comprehension of the topics the average score was 64.67% whereas the second part of the test which required the students to apply the concepts and theories of the topics the average score was 50.89%. These figures implied that the students’ performance needs improving so that better performance in their learning especially grammar could be attained. They also answered the first question of the research. On the other hand, the students made mistakes generally in (1) identifying an adjective clause in a complex sentence, (2) identifying a CP related to the noun which was modified, (3) identifying the head of a main clause and (4) merging the categories of a matrix clause in both subject-subject adjective clause and object-subject adjective clause. These findings answer the second question.

As the students’ performance needs improving, the writer proposed some ideas of teaching adjective clauses and syntax to the English Language Education students. Furthermore, the writer also recommended that future research be directed to look for the underlying factors of the students’ mistakes so that better performance can be attained.

ABSTRAK

Wijayanto, Ari. 2009. The Performance on Analysing The Adjective Clause Using the X-Bar Schema of the Sixth Semester Students in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Tata bahasa memberikan cetak biru bagi seseorang untuk untuk menciptakan ujaran dan kalimat baru dari kata-kata yang terbatas. Demikian pula, kejelasan atas sebuah bahasa sangat bergantung pada pemahaman atas tata bahasa dari bahasa tersebut. Dari hal ini dapat dipahami bahwa guru bahasa dan juga mahasiswa pendidikan bahasa Inggris akan berperforma lebih baik dalam mengajar dengan memiliki pengatahuan yang luas akan tata bahasa dan memahami sistem untuk menilai bahasa sebagai pokok persoalan. Skema X berpalang, sebagai salah satu sistem yang sangkil dalam menilai bahasa, menunjukkan pembentukan kata-kata, frase-frase dan kalimat-kalimat secara hati-hati dan runtut dengan cara yang cerdas namun sederhana. Namun demikian, penggunakan skema X berpalang nampaknya telah terpisahkan dari praktek pengajaran bahasa yang justru sebaliknya membuat hal ini layak untuk diteliti.

Studi ini berusaha menjawab dua pertanyaan. Pertanyaan pertama menanyakan performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Pertanyaan kedua menanyakan kesalahan-kesalahan umum yang dilakukan oleh mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam menganalisis klausa adjektiva menggunakan skema X berpalang. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan terhadap mahasiswa-mahasiswi semester enam Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris tahun ajaran 2007/2008. Sebuah tes yang terdiri atas dua bagian diujikan untuk menjawab kedua pertanyaan tersebut.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi adalah cukup secara umum karena nilai rata-rata tesnya adalah 57,77%. Sebagai rincian, pada bagian pertama tes, yang mengujikan pengetahuan dan pemahaman dari topik-topik di atas, nilai rata-ratanya adalah 64,67% sedangkan pada bagian kedua tes yang mengujikan mahasiswa untuk menerapkan konsep dan teori dari topik-topik di atas nilai rata-ratanya adalah 50,89%. Angka-angka tersebut menyiratkan bahwa performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dalam studi terutama dalam tata-bahasa dapat dicapai. Hal tersebut juga menjawab pertanyaan pertama dari penelitian ini. Di sisi lain, mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan umumnya pada (1) mengidentifikasi sebuah klausa adjektiva dalam kalimat majemuk, (2) mengidentifikasi klausa pelengkap (CP) dalam kaitanya dengan kata benda yang diterangkannya, (3) mengidentifikasi kategori yang menjadi kepala dari klausa induk dan (4) menggabungkan kategori-kategori dari kalimat majemuk baik dalam subjek-subjek dan objek-subjek-subjek klausa ajektiva. Temuan-temuan tersebut menjawab pertanyaan kedua dalam penelitian ini.

Karena performa mahasiswa-mahasiswi perlu ditingkatkan, penulis mengajukan beberapa gagasan dalam mengajar klausa ajektiva dan sintaksis. Lebih jauh lagi, penulis juga menyarankan penelitian lanjutan diarahkan untuk mencari faktor-faktor yang menjadi penyebab mahasiswa-mahasiswi melakukan kesalahan sehingga performa yang lebih baik dapat dicapai.

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Ari Wijayanto

Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214030

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

THE PERFORMANCE ON ANALYSING THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE USING THE X-BAR SCHEMA OF THE SIXTH SEMESTER STUDENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM OF SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 12 Agustus 2009

Yang menyatakan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for His everlasting love, blessing and for making everything possible and beautiful just in time.

My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor, Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum., for her precious time and support. Her criticism and suggestion were very helpful to complete this thesis. I would like to address my thankfulness to Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, M.A., for his permission to conduct my research in his class and for his positive advice. I also would like to thank the sixth semester students class A of Morpho-Syntax of the academic year 2007/2008 for their willingness to be the respondents of this research.

My sincere appreciation also goes to my mother, my father and my brother for their support in accomplishing this thesis. I would like thank Meyske Jeannette for maintaining my sanity in time of difficulties through her everlasting love, patience and smile.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, PBI secretariat staff, Mbak Daniek and Mbak Tari, and the library staff, for their guidance, inspiration, encouragement and help during my study. I would like also thank Dr. Bambang Triguno who patiently supported and guided me to finish this thesis. I also thank Mera Puspitasari, S.E., Aff. W.M., and Beatri Hiprakurniwan, S.E., M.M., for her willingness to help my research on statistic.

I also want to express my gratitude to PBI fellows, Daniel, Mas Denny, Niko, Devi ‘Amoy’, Reta, Lintang, Nina, Ozzy, Yuanita, Ipad, Dhea, Bagong, Bhe, Ratna, Paulina, Alene ‘Cret’, Cimoy, Indra, Om Adit and Bram for the unforgettable moments during the study. I thank my fellow teachers and staff of Cresscendo Music School for their support in finishing my thesis. I also thank my fellow teachers, staff and managers of LBA Interlingua especially Sari Irjayanti, S. Hut., for her kindness to give me some opportunities to teach. I also thank Imam Budi Purwoko. S.T., M.A. for his new insights of teaching and for sharpening my knowledge through wonderful discussions.

Ari Wijayanto

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE ... ... i

APPROVAL PAGES ... ii

DEDICATION PAGE ...……... iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v

ABSTRACT ... vi

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xvii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1. Theoretical Review of Adjective Clause ... 8

a. Independent Clause, Dependent Clause and Modifier ...…... 8

c. Embedding ... ... 13

2. Validity and Reliability of the Instrument ... 33

a. Test Validity ... 33

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION A. Data Presentation ...…... 41

1. The Students’ Performance on the Test ... 41

a. The Students’ Performance in Each Part of the Test ...…... 42

b. The Students’ Final Scores ... 43

2. The Presentation of the Descriptive Statistics ... 45

B. Discussion ... ... 47

1. The Students’ Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clauses using the X-Bar Schema ... 47

2. The General Classifications of the Students’ Mistakes ... 49

a. Main Clause, Subordinate Clause and Modifier ... 49

b. Complementizer Phrase and Wh Movement ... 54

c. Wh Movement and Trace on Inflection Phrase ……... 60

d. Drawing the Tree Diagram ...…... 70

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 87

B. Teaching Implication ... 89

1. Teaching Syntax ... 89

2. Teaching Adjective Clause ... 91

C. Suggestion ... 92

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………....………. 93

APPENDICES Appendix A. The Test and the Answer………...……….………. 96

Appendix B. The Computation of the Test Reliability ….… ...………..……… 103

Appendix C. Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials ……….………… ...….. 109

Appendix D. Examples of the Students’ Test ……….……… ...… 127

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 Specifiers in Relation to Head ... 16

Table 2.2 Lexical Categories and Their Inflectional Affixes ... 18

Table 2.3 Distributional Properties of Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives ... 18

Table 2.4 Syntactic Categories ... 19

Table 3.1 The Distribution of the Test Contents... 35

Table 4.1 The Students’ Scores in Part A... 42

Table 4.2 The Students’ Scores in Part B... ... 43

Table 4.3 The Students’ Final Scores ... 44

Table 4.4 The Students’ Scores in Relation to the Category... .. 45

Table 4.5 The Descriptive Statistics ... 46

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 2.1 The X' Schema ... 15

Figure 2.2 A VP Consisting of a Specifier, a Head, and a Complement ... . 16

Figure 2.3 Merge Operations in Action ... ... 20

Figure 2.4 The Structure of a Sentence ... 21

Figure 2.5 Complementizer Phrase ... 22

Figure 2.6 How Derivations Works ... ... 24

Figure 2.7 An Example of the D-Structure of an Adjective Clause ... 25

Figure 2.8 An Example of S-Structure as a Result of the Movement ... 25

Figure 2.9 The D-Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause ... .. 27

Figure 2.10 The S-Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause . ... 27

Figure 4.1a The Tree Diagram of the Correct CP ... 56

Figure 4.1b The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an IP ... 56

Figure 4.1c The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an NP ... 57

Figure 4.1d The Incorrect Tree Diagram of the CP in which CP as an IP ... 57

Figure 4.2 An Adjective Clause Modifies a NP ... 58

Figure 4.3a The Tree Diagram of the Question Number 7 and 8 ... 61

Figure 4.3b The D-Structure of the Sentence [4] ...….. 62

Figure 4.3c The S-Structure of the Sentence [4] ... 63

Figure 4.4a The Tree Diagram of the Question number 9 and 10 ... ... 66

Figure 4.4b The D-Structure of the Sentence [5] ... ... 67

Figure 4.4c The S-Structure of the Sentence [5] ... 68

Figure 4.5 The Correct Tree Diagram of the Sentence [6] ... 71

Figure 4.6a The Tree diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 72

Figure 4.6b The Tree diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 73

Figure 4.7a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... 74

Figure 4.7b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ...…. 75

Figure 4.8a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 76

Figure 4.8b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 77

Figure 4.8c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... 77

Figure 4.9a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 78

Figure 4.9b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 79

Figure 4.10 The Correct Tree Diagram of the Sentence [7] ... ... 80

Figure 4.11 The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 4 ... ... 81

Figure 4.12a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... .... 82

Figure 4.12b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... ... 83

Figure 4.12c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 3 ... ... 83

Figure 4.13 The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 2 ... ... 84

Figure 4.14a The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... 85

Figure 4.14b The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 85

Figure 4.14c The Tree Diagram of the Students Achieved Score 1 ... ... 86

LIST OF APPENDICES

Page Appendix A. The Test and the Answer………...……….………. 96 Appendix B. The Computation of the Test Reliability …… ....………..……… 102 Appendix C. Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials ………. ...….. 107 Appendix D. Examples of the Students’ Test ……….… ...… 124

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The writer puts forward his rationale in doing the research in this chapter. He questions two important problems which are going to be answered in this research. The purpose, limitation and benefit of the research are also elaborated in this chapter. Finally, the writer also provides the definition of terms based on the relevant sources to avoid misunderstanding.

A. Research Background

The practice of English language teaching is closely related to the grammar. Tracing back to the history of English language teaching, it reveals that grammar becomes the main consideration in language teaching (Howatt and Widdowson, 2004: 95-98). Grammar is evidently vital in the practice of English language teaching and language itself in that grammar provides blueprints on how one should combine words to form meaningful sentences and utterances. Equally, the intelligibility of a language largely depends on the understanding of the grammar of that language. Grammar is the answer on how one creates and understands novel utterances and sentences from limited words (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, 2003: 117-121). Therefore, it is understood that language teachers as well as students of English Language Education will perform better by having extensive knowledge of grammar. It cannot be denied that correcting students’ performance on speaking or writing is grammatical. By knowing the

correct rules and patterns, teachers lead and help the students to be able to use language grammatically, accurately and meaningfully. In addition, the tendency of contemporary language teaching literatures and practices perceive grammar as a skill in which it demands extensive knowledge of grammar (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Fremaan, 1999: 4-6; Larsen-Freeman, 2003: 34-48).

explanations to the students on language forms and functions are clear and reliable.

To relate with the practice of English language teaching, this research puts forward on the practical uses and the application of the X' schema to analyse adjective clauses as one of the subjects of language teaching. The adjective clauses have been interest for many researchers to investigate for their complexity and usage (Annas, 2004 and Lin and Bever, 2006). Some teaching literatures (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999: 571-573; Murphy, 1985: 182-190 and Yule, 2004: 239-240) also indicate that the adjectives clauses should be elaborated in a great respect. However, most of the researchers investigate the adjective clauses in the light of teaching strategies and second language acquisition. Therefore, this research carries out the research in the framework of syntax as a complement of those researches. This research is expected to give positive contribution in language teaching by disclosing the students’ performance in applying the X' schema as well as making general classifications of the students’ mistakes so that better performance in teaching could be attained.

B. Problem Formulation

The research questions are the followings:

1. What is the sixth semester students’ performance on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema?

C. Problem Limitation

This research is conducted to the sixth semester students of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University academic year 2007/2008. The main focus of this research is to measure students’ performance to analyse adjective clause using the X' schema. To measure the students’ performance the writer will administers a test. The test results are then analysed to determine the students’ performance and to know the mistakes on analysing the adjective clauses.

Since adjective clauses are a broad topic, the writer limits the topic of the adjective clause. This research will focus on the restrictive adjective clauses which use relative pronouns which, who, whom and that. According to Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002: 284-286), those relative pronouns are included in the high frequency of relative pronouns choices in conversation, fiction, news and academic prose. Therefore, they clearly deserve priority from pedagogical perspective to be analysed.

schema rather than philosophical. Therefore, it is suitable to be used for language teachers and candidate of teachers as a media to depict language.

D. Research Objective

Based on the background of the problem and the problem formulation, the purposes of the research are:

1. To find out the sixth semester students’ performance on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema.

2. To find out the general classifications of the most mistakes commonly made by the sixth semester students on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema.

E. Research Benefit

F. Definition of Terms

This research uses some technical terms in the area of linguistics and language teaching. In order to avoid misunderstanding among the readers, the writer provides some definitions of terms related to the research based on relevant sources.

1. Performance

According to McKean (2005), performance is an action, task, or operation seen in terms on how successfully it was. In this research, performance refers to on how successful the sixth semester students on applying the concepts and theories of the X' schema to analyse the adjective clauses. Furthermore, a test which consists of two parts is administered to elicit the students’ performance. Once the students’ scores are obtained, the students’ performance is classified according to the academic regulations of Sanata Dharma University which are used as the benchmark.

2. Adjective Clause

Azar (1999: 267) states that adjective clause or relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. It describes, identifies or gives further information about a noun. On the other hands, Yule (2004: 240) adds that adjective clauses do not only describe and identify nouns but also people.

182-184) elaborates that the relative pronoun who is used to talk about people, which is used for things, that can be used either for people or things. In addition, whom is used when the adjective clause functions as an object in formal English.

3. X-Bar Schema

According to O’Grady et al. (2005: 658), X' schema is the template for phrase structure, indicating that a phrase is hierarchically organised with a head, complement and specifier. The symbol X is used as a variable denoting any word category. In addition, Radford (1997: 535) adds that the X' is an intermediate projection headed by a word category. Furthermore, according to O’Grady et al. (2005: 155-157), the X' schema captures four generalisations. First, all phrases have a three-level structure. Second, all phrases contain a head. Third, if there is a complement, it is attached at the intermediate X' level as a ‘sister’ of the head. Fourth, if there is a specifier, it is attached at the XP level.

4. Tree Diagram

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

The writer elaborates theories of adjective clause and X-Bar based on relevant sources in this chapter. This chapter is also meant to present the theoretical ground as the basis of analysis. Contemporary theories of adjective clause and X-Bar are presented here.

A. Theoretical Review

In this part, the writer reviews many theories related to the adjective clause and the X' schema to provide theoretical background to conduct the research. The first part is related to the adjective clauses theory and the second part is related to the X' schema. The followings are the complete elaborations of those theories.

1. Theoretical Review of Adjective Clause

Many literatures on grammar discuss adjective clauses extensively. However, to avoid exaggerate discussion on the adjective clauses and to synchronise those literatures with the aims of this study the writer will discuss theories and concepts of the adjective clause related to the research.

a. Independent Clause, Dependent Clause and Modifier

According to Azar (1999: 267) and Murphy (1985: 182), a clause is a part of a sentence which contains a subject and verb. On the other hand, Azar (1999:

267) also states that an independent clause or a main clause is a complete sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a sentence. It should be also contrasted with the term dependent clause or subordinate clause since an adjective clause is a dependent clause. A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be connected to an independent clause.

On the other hand, adjectives, as Azar (1999: A4) states, give a little different meaning by describing or modifying nouns. Therefore, as the name suggests, the adjective clause is a clause which functions to modify or to describe about a noun. In line with the arguments, Murphy (1985: 182) states that an adjective clause is not only to explain about a noun but also a pronoun. In other words, the adjective clause functions as a modifier of a noun or pronoun. To make it precise, sentence [1] illustrates those explanations.

[1] The woman who lives next door is a doctor.

The clause in italic is an adjective clause. It is an adjective clause because it functions to modify or to give further information about the noun phrase the woman. By adding an adjective clause after the noun phrase, a speaker intends to be precise on which he or she means. Still according to Murphy (1985: 182), sentence [1] actually consists of two sentences. They are [1a] and [1b].

[1a] The woman is a doctor. [1b] She lives next door.

less elegant and wordier. Therefore, the presence of the relative pronoun who encodes the properties of [1b] so that it naturally attaches to [1a] to form [1]. The next part discusses the theoretical description of the relative pronoun.

b. Relative Pronoun

The relative pronoun is the most noticeable feature of an adjective clause because of its functions. The relative pronoun marks or introduces the adjective clause as well as functions as a subject or an object in a sentence (Philips, 2003: 119 and Swan, 2005: 477). The relative pronouns such as who, which, whom and that introduce the adjective clauses. However, the use of the relative pronouns largely depends on the noun or pronoun which is modified. The followings are the explanation of each relative pronoun.

1) Who

The relative pronoun who introduces an adjective clause when it modifies or gives further explanation about people. The relative pronoun who replaces the use of he, she, or they (Azar, 1999: 268 and Murphy, 1985: 182). Sentence [2] illustrates the role of the relative pronoun who in a sentence.

[2] I thanked the woman who helped me.

[2a] I thanked the woman. [2b] The woman helped me.

The phrase the woman in [2b] corresponds to the noun phrase the woman in [2a] therefore the relative pronoun who is used when those two sentences are combined in which one of those sentences functions as the modifier.

2) Which

Conversely, the relative pronoun which introduces an adjective clause when it modifies or gives further explanation about things (Murphy, 1985: 182). Sentence [3] illustrates the use of which in an adjective clause.

[3] Where is the cheese which was in the fridge?

Following the same arguments, dependent clause [3a] and independent clause [3b] constitutes sentence [3].

[3a] Where is the cheese? [3b] It was in the fridge.

The pronoun it in [3b] corresponds to the noun phrase the cheese in [3a]. Therefore, the relative pronoun which takes the position of the pronoun to form the sentence [3].

3) Whom

speaking, who is usually used instead of whom. However, in the perspective of grammar, the relative pronoun whom is used when it functions as an object of the verb. Sentence [4] illustrates the use of whom in an adjective clause.

[4] The man whom I met was Lecter.

Based on the arguments that an adjective clause connects to an independent clause, sentence [4a] and [4b] comprise [4].

[4a] The man was Lecter [4b] I met him.

Comparing [4a], [4b] and [4], the presence of the relative pronoun whom is clear then. The object pronoun him which functions as an object corresponds to the pronoun Lecter therefore the relative pronoun whom occupies the object position to make up sentence [4].

4) That

Another relative pronoun which introduces either people or things is that. According to Murphy (1985: 182-184 and Azar, 1999: 268), the relative pronoun that occupies same properties as which and who. Instead of using who and which, that can be used in an adjective clause. Following the arguments therefore, sentence [5] and [6] below have the same meaning as sentence [2] and [3].

[5] I thanked the woman that helped me. [6] Where is the cheese that was in the fridge.

a connector in a noun clause (Philips, 2003: 117). However, the nature of the noun clause naturally distinguishes from an adjective clause. As the name suggest, a noun clause is a clause which is treated like a noun. Therefore, it can occupy the position of subject, object and object preposition whereas an adjective clause cannot. It should be another point which needs to be taken in to account in considering an adjective clause in a sentence.

c. Embedding

The formation of an adjective clause entails embedding process. Embedding is a process in which one clause embeds or pushes in within another superordinate clause or a main clause (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999: 572). Thus, it implies that the adjective clause derives from a basic structure consisting of more than one sentence in which one sentence modifies another sentence. Furthermore, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999: 572) illustrates the idea of embedding in sentence [7] clearly.

[7] The fans who were attending the rock concert had to wait in line for three hours.

By observing [7] closely, it has a sense that the embedded clause in italics is closely associated with the noun phrase the fans. The italics clause gives further explanation or explains the noun phrase precedes it. In the perspective of Murphy (1985: 182-184) and in line with Azar (1999: 268), sentence [7] consists of two sentences. They are [7a] and [7b].

[7b] They were attending the rock concert.

The subject they in [7b] corresponds to the subject the fans of [7a]. Thus, relative pronoun who can replace the subject position to form more elegant sentence such as [7]. The process in which [7b] push in within [7a] to form a more elegant sentence such as [7] is called the embedding.

2. Theoretical Review of the X-Bar Schema

Discussing the X-Bar, it traces back to the classical and notorious work of Chomsky (1957). Chomsky mentions that phrase-structure rules might contain another phrase of the same type. In a noun phrase, for example, it might have another noun phrase which theoretically without any limit. Therefore, to avoid the recurring use of phrasal category such as noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), prepositional phrase (PP) or adjective phrase (AP), Chomsky (1970) introduces the concept of the X-Bar, where X can be any lexical category. O’Grady, Archibald, Aronoff and Rees-Miller (2005: 155) and Radford (1997: 92) explain further the X' in a hierarchal design in a concept of head, specifier and complement. Therefore, the X' schema, as the name suggest, is the template for phrase structure, indicating that a phrase is hierarchically organised with a head, complement and specifier.

a. The Blueprint

complement. Figure 2.1 illustrates the blueprint of the X' schema (X' is pronounced X-Bar) in which X stands for any category such as noun, verb, adjective or preposition, thus XP stands for a phrase such as NP, VP, AP, or PP.

Figure 2.1 The X' Schema (O’Grady et al., 2005: 156)

The structure, as Figure 2.1 illustrates, which is often called tree captures the hierarchical organisation of phrases and sentences. In particular, the X' schema captures four generalisations. First, all phrases have three-level structure. Those are X, X' and XP. Second, all phrases contain a head X. Third, if there is a complement, it is attached at the intermediate X' level, as a sister of the head. Finally, if there is a specifier, it is attached at the XP level. The followings are the expansion of the head, specifier and complement feature and how those features come up together.

1) Head, Specifier and Complement

On the other hands, the type of specifier appearing in a particular phrase depends on the category of the head. Syntactically, specifiers mark a phrase boundary which occur at the beginning of the respective phrase whereas semantically specifiers make the meaning of the head more precise (O’Grady et al., 2005: 157). Needless to say, the specifier attaches to XP in accordance with the X' schema. Table 2.1 presents the specifier in relation to the head.

Table 2.1 Specifiers in Relation to Head (O’Grady et al., 2005: 157)

Category Typical Function Examples

Determiner

never, perhaps, often, always very, quite, more, almost

Finally, complements, which are themselves phrases, provide information about the entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head (O’Grady et al., 2005: 158). In order to give clearer insight into the relation between head, specifier and complement, Figure 2.2 as taken from O’Grady et al. (2005: 158) illustrates it.

Figure 2.2 A VP Consisting of a Specifier, a Head, and a Complement (O’Grady et al., 2005: 158)

NP a hamburger as a complement comprises a determiner a and a noun hamburger. Finally, the head takes the adverb never as the specifier to form a verb phrase as it is illustrated above. The followings are the explanation on how those categories can come up together and build larger phrases.

2) Merge Operation

According to O’Grady et al. (2005: 159) merge operation or merger (Radford, 1997: 94) combines words in a manner compatible with the X' schema. Figure 2.2 illustrates that a determiner a merge with a noun hamburger to form a NP. It also captures that the verb eat merge with the adverb never and the NP a hamburger to form a VP. In other words, merge actually combines smaller syntactic category such as noun, verb, adjective and adverb to form a new phrasal category. Radford (1997: 14-16 and 37) also argues that grammatical operations in a natural language are category based and all words in the language belong to a restricted set of category. There are three approaches according to O’Grady et al. (2005: 154-155) to determine the category of words. The category of words can be determined by meaning, inflection and distribution.

but they have different category. As an example, the similarity between like and found are difficult to be designated. Although they share the same meaning, they belong to different category.

In addition to meaning, inflection also can be employed to determine the category of words. Table 2.2 provides information and examples related to the inflection.

Table 2.2 Lexical Categories and Their Inflectional Affixes (O’Grady et al., 2005: 154)

Category Inflectional affix Examples

Noun

However, inflection does not always provide information needed for assigning category of word. For examples, some verbs like see, teach and sing have irregular past form. Therefore, -ed inflection cannot be applied.

Finally, distribution is employed to determine the category of words by figuring out the co-occurrence between the type of elements or functional category with another functional category. Table 2.3 provides information about the distributional properties.

Table 2.3 Distributional Properties of Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives (O’Grady et al., 2005: 155)

Category Distributional Property Examples

Noun

occurrence with a determiner occurrence with an auxiliary occurrence with a degree word

Therefore, based on the Table 2.3 it is certain that a verb cannot occur with a determiner or a degree word and a noun cannot occur with an auxiliary.

Furthermore, according to O’Grady et al. (2005: 152-153) the four most studied syntactic categories are noun (N), verb (V), adjective (A) and preposition (P). These elements, which are often called lexical categories, play a very important role in sentence formation. However, languages may also contain nonlexical or functional categories, including determiner (Det), auxiliary verb (Aux), conjunction (Con), and degree word (Deg). Such elements generally have meanings that are harder to define and paraphrase than those of lexical categories are. Nonlexical categories are easier to interpret when they attach to the lexical category. Table 2.4 provides the information and examples of the lexical and nonlexical category.

Table 2.4 Syntactic Categories (O’Grady et al., 2005: 153)

Lexical categories Examples

Harry, boy, wheat, policy, moisture arrive, discuss, melt, hear, remain, dislike good, tall, old, intelligent, beautiful to, in, on, near, at, by

will, can, may, must, should, could, be, have

and, or, but

too, so, very, more, quite

a. b.

Figure 2.3 Merge Operations in Action (O’Grady et al., 2005: )

The noun phrase the computer consists of the words the and computer. According to the syntactic categories, the is a determiner and computer is a noun. Therefore, they merger to form a NP in which N functions as the head. Similarly, the word book is a noun. It merges with the determiner the to form a NP. In the end, it merges with the verb read to form a larger phrasal category. As the result, they make a VP read the book in which the verb read functions as the head.

b. The I' and the Inflection Phrase

auxiliary verbs and verbs take I as its category. To make it clear, Figure 2.3 as taken from O’Grady et al. (2005: 160-161) illustrates the explanation above.

b. a.

Figure 2.4 The Structure of a Sentence (O’Grady et al., 2005: 160-161)

It is clear in Figure 2.4a that the auxiliary verb will is dubbed I as its category because it marks the tense and specifies the time frame. The I merges with the verb return to form an I' and finally the I' merge with the NP the explorers to form an IP. However, in Figure 2.4b the merge operation is somewhat different from Figure 2.4a yet it is clear that I is an abstract category. According to Radford (1997: 94), the I' of the Figure 2.4b is the intermediate projection of the verb returned. Finally, the I' merges with the NP the explorers to form the IP. However, it is not the final of the merge operation. It is because a sentence can be a modifier of another sentence (Fromkin et al., 2003: 148-150; O’Grady et al., 2005: 165-167; and Radford, 1997: 94-95). The followings discuss the sentence which becomes a modifier of another sentence.

c. Complementizer Phrase

adjective clause can be categorised into a complementizer phrase. In relation to the nature of the adjective clause as a complemetizer phrase. Furthermore, Murphy (1985: 82) also elaborates that an adjective clause gives further information about the noun or pronoun which precede it.

Another important feature of an adjective clause is the relative pronoun. Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985: 365) explain that the adjective clause is introduced or marked by a relative pronoun. In the perspective of O’Grady et al. (2005: 185) the relative pronoun is a noun phrase. Relative pronoun is a noun phrase in view of the fact that it corresponds to the noun or pronoun which are modified. The detail explanations of the relative pronoun category are on the next topic. The following figure is to depict the relation of the CP and the IP. Sentence [2] is used as the example.

Sentence [2] consists of a main clause and an adjective clause. The relative pronoun who marks the clause who helped me as an adjective clause. Considering the merge operation, the verb helped merges with the object pronoun me to form a VP, however I' occurs because the verb helped marks and specifies the time frame. The I' merges with the relative pronoun who to form a CP. CP merges with the noun phrase the woman to form a NP. Then, it merges with the verb thanked to form a VP, however, it should be dubbed as I' because it specifies the time frame and marks the tense. Finally, the I' merges with the subject pronoun I to form an IP. However, talking about the complementizer phrase does not only involve merger operation but also movement operation. The following part discusses the movement operation related to the adjective clause.

d. Wh _{Movement and Trace on Complemetizer Phrase}

Merge

DEEP STRUCTURE

Move

SURFACE STRUCTURE

Figure 2.6 How Derivations Works (O’Grady et al., 2005: 172)

As Figure 2.6 depicts, merger operation accounts for the formation of the larger phrasal category in accordance with X' schema. It results on the deep structure. By the involvement of the movement operation in the deep structure, it results surface structure. Sentence [8] which consists of [8a] and [8b] illustrates those derivations.

[8] The car which John bought is cheap. [8a] The car is cheap.

[8b] John bought the car.

Figure 2.7 An Example of the D-Structure of an Adjective Clause (O’Grady et al., 2005: 185)

Figure 2.8 An Example of S-Structure as a Result of the Movement (O’Grady et al., 2005: 185)

under the CP, the relative pronoun which moves to the initial position of the pronoun John. Once the position is vacated, the trace marks the original position of the Wh phrase. The resulted phrase is the same as the phrase which is left.

e. The Syntactic Structure of the Adjective Clause

Another important colour of the X' schema is the use of tree diagrams which can be used to represent the syntactic structure of a sentence. Alip (2006) states that by using tree diagrams, several and theoretically unlimited number of operations can be presented in the same diagram. Furthermore, Fromkin et al. (2003: 140-143) also elaborate that tree diagrams describe grammatical relation between words, phrases and sentences.

In other words, tree diagrams are representation of the language forms. In addition, this tree diagram also shows how those forms are generated. Therefore, it does not only deal with the surface structure or language performance but also deals with the deep structure in which sentences are processed in speakers’ mind. Furthermore, Alip (2006) also suggests the use of tree diagram in the scope of language teaching as a tool in analysing linguistic phenomena because of its practicality. The following paragraph shows the application of the tree diagram in analysing the adjective clause of sentence [4].

Figure 2.9 The Deep Structure of a Sentence Containing an Adjective Clause

The tree diagram as it is depicted by Figure 2.9 is able to capture the original arrangement or the deep structure of the sentence [4]. By applying the Wh movement to the deep structure it will result in a surface structure as Figure 2.10 illustrates.

Comparing Figure 2.9 to Figure 2.10, the tree diagrams clearly show the syntactic structures of the sentence. It does not only capture the merge of each syntactic category merges but also captures the transformation from the deep structures into the surface structures.

Based on the use of the tree diagram to analyse a sentence which contains an adjective clause as Figure 2.10 illustrates, it is clear that the tree diagram is able to capture the merge operation of each syntactic category as well as the movement and the trace of a category. The merge operations result on the deep structure in which the relative pronoun whom is in its original position. The movement operation then captures the movement of the relative pronoun whom into new position which results the surface structure.

B. Theoretical Framework

operations. The merger operation is an operation by which two categories are combined to form another category.

In the light of the X' schema, the adjective clause is perceived as a complementizer phrase (CP). It is due to the fact that an adjective clause functions as a modifier of another clause whereas the relative pronoun is categorised into a noun phrase as its syntactic category. Since the adjective clause functions as a modifier which embeds into another superordinate clause, two layers analyses are needed. First, the deep structure as the results of the merger operation will capture the actual arrangement of the sentence. Second, by applying the Wh movement principle which requires to move the Wh phrase or the relative pronoun under the CP, it will result to the actual performance or the surface structure. The Wh movement also captures that there is an empty position which is resulted by the movement of the Wh phrase. Once it is vacated, the position is marked by a trace (t). As a result, the trace captures the original position of the relative pronoun before the movement.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The writer elaborates the methodology of the research in this chapter mainly to put forward the rationale of using certain instrument as well as its validity and reliability. It also provides the type of the research, data gathering procedure and data analysis procedure. Related literatures are reviewed as the basis of the methodology to disclose accurate and reliable data.

A. Research Method

The method which was used in this research was a survey. Wiersma (1995:169) states that surveys are used to measure attitudes, opinions, or achievements–any number of variables in natural setting. In line with Wiersma, Sprinthall, Schmutte and Sirois (1991: 93) add that survey research may be used to investigate virtually anything that people do or think. Furthermore, one of the uses of survey information is to generalise the results to the population from which the sample has been selected. In this research, survey was employed to measure the performance of the sixth semester students of English Language Education of Sanata Dharma University on analysing the adjective clauses using X' schema. The results of the research were used to generalise the students’ performance and to classify their mistakes on analysing the adjective clauses using the X' schema. Seeing the nature of the survey and the objective of the research it was appropriate to select survey as the method of the investigations.

B. Research Respondent

The population of the research was the students of the English Language Education of Sanata Dharma University academic year 2007/2008. The sample of this research was the sixth semester students of English Language Education of Sanata Dharma University academic year of 2007/2008 class A. The writer chose the sixth semester students because they had learned adjective clause in their previous structure courses before the research was conducted and they were learning English Morpho-Syntax at the time the research was conducted.

There were two Morpho-Syntax classes, class A and class B, in the academic year 2007/2008. However, the writer conducted the research only in class A because of two reasons. First, considering the time and the affordability, the writer could not investigate all of the population. Secondly, class A had finished discussing the topic of adjective clauses whereas class B had not. Seeing, the conditions, class A was appropriate to be the sample of the research.

result. As a result, the writer conducted the research to the 45 students of Morpho-Syntax class A academic year 2007/2008.

C. Research Instrument

To elicit students’ performance and to classify the mistakes, certain instrument was needed. In line with the objective of the research which would like to measure students’ performance and to classify the mistakes, a test was used. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000: 171) sustain that a test can be used as the instrument on a survey. The followings are the details.

1. Type of Instrument

The instrument which was used to measure students’ performance was a test (Appendix A). The test was administered to the sample to obtain the data to be analysed. In line with the purpose of this research and the purpose of testing (Hughes, 1989: 7), the test was administered because of two reasons. First, testing is able to discover how far students have achieved the objectives of course of study. Second, testing is able to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses, to identify what they know and what they do not know. Therefore, based on those arguments the test can measure the students’ performance on analysing the adjective clauses using the X' schema.

second part consisted of two items. In this part, the students were required to analyse two adjective clauses by applying concepts and theories of the X' schema and adjective clauses in the form of tree diagrams. The test should be finished in forty-five minutes. In order to elicit the students’ performance and to get reliable data and measurement to be analysed, the test should meet some criteria. Those are validity, reliability and practicality.

2. Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

In order to elicit the performance of the students, the writer composed a test as the instrument. As a research instrument, a test should meet certain criteria so that the data obtained really provided the intended information that the researcher wanted to know. Ary, Jacob and Razavieh (2002: 256) state that a research always depends on the measurement. In this case, there are two important characteristics that every measuring instruments should possess, namely test validity and test reliability. The following is the further discussion about the validity and the reliability of the test used in this research.

a. Test Validity

In addition, Hughes (1989:22) states that the concept of validity reveals a number of aspects. They are content validity, criterion-related validity, construct validity and face validity. To construct a test which meets all these aspects is a difficult task. A test may only have some of the aspects, but it does not mean that the test is not valid at all. In this research, the test composed did not have all the aspects above, since it only included three of the aspects: content validity, construct validity and face validity.

1) Content Validity

According to Hughes (1989: 22), a test is said to have content validity if its contents constitute a representative sample of the language skills, grammars, vocabularies or other elements with which they are meant to be concerned. The test will have content validity if it includes a proper sample of the relevant structures which depend on the purpose of the test. Considering that this reserach was intended to investigate the students’ performance on analysing adjective clause using the X' schema, the test which was composed by the writer met the content validity because the test contained proper sample of items on the adjective clause and the X' schema.

Table 3.1 The Distribution of the Test Contents

PART A

Number Concepts and Theories

1 dependent clause and main clause

2 dependent clause, main clause, modifier, and relative pronoun 3 dependent clause, main clause and relative pronoun

4 merger, I', inflection phrase, complement and complementizer phrase

5 complement, complemetizer phrase and Wh movement 6 complement, complemetizer phrase and Wh movement

7 tree diagram, relative pronoun, complement, complementizer phrase, Wh movement and trace

8 main clause, merge operations, I', inflection phrase and head

9 tree diagram, relative pronoun, complement, complementizer phrase, Wh movement and trace

10 tree diagram, modifier, complement and complementizer phrase PART B

1

subject-subject adjective clause testing about merge operations, I', inflection phrase, complement, complementizer phrase, Wh movement and trace

2

object-subject adjective clause testing about merge operations, I', inflection phrase, complement, complementizer phrase, Wh movement and trace

The test met the requirement of content validity because it is clear that all of the concepts and theories of the adjective clauses and the X' schema were present. The concepts and theories were also presented in the linear order or from the easiest to the most difficult.

2) Construct Validity

sixth semester students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University on analysing the adjective clauses using the X' schema. Hughes (1989: 26) and Brown (2001: 389) underlie those arguments. Furthermore, Bachman and Palmer (1996: 21) explain that the term construct validity is therefore used to refer to the extent to which we can interpret a given test score as an indicator of the abilities or construct. The score of the test would show the students’ performance on the related subject of the test.

3) Face Validity

According to Mousavi (2002: 244) as quoted by Brown (2004: 26-27), face validity refers to the degree to which a test looks right and appears to measure, based on the subjective judgment of the examinees who take it, the administrative personnel who decide on its use, and other psychometrically unsophisticated observers. Brown adds that face validity is not something that can be empirically tested by a teacher or even by a testing expert. Therefore, to elicit the face validity the writer had asked the supervisor and the lecturer who teach Morpho-Syntax to give feedback before the test was administrated. According to their opinion, the test had met the requirements to be used in the research.

b. Test Reliability

reliable if it measures accurately and consistently, from one time to another. Therefore, if a test is administered to the same students on different time and the students’ scores are stable, it can be said that the test is reliable, but if not, the test is unreliable. In addition, Hughes (1989: 36-42) states that there are some criteria that should be met to make a test reliable. They are related to the sample, items writing, construction and scoring. Beside all of those factors, test reliability can be determined by the calculation of the standard deviation.

The writer chose Coefficient Alpha as the way to test the reliability of the test. The Coefficient Alpha or Cronbach Alpha was used because it has wider application than other methods and it was suggested for language teacher because of its practicallity. The formula is the followings (Brown, 2005: 179):

where

α : reliability of the test

Sodd : standard deviation for the odd-numbered items

Seven : standard deviation for the even-numbered items

Stotal : standard deviation for the total test scores

c. Test Practicality

Another point that should be considered in making a test is test practicality (Brown, 2004: 19-20). Brown states that a test is practical when it is not excessively expensive and relatively easy to administer. He also adds that the test should stay within appropriate time constrains and has a scoring or evaluation procedure that is specific and time efficient. Therefore, as an example, a grammar test which requires hundreds of students to have dozens paraphrasing test with only one administrator is certainly impractical. The test in this research met the practicality because it was easy to administer and appropriate within the time constrain. The test also was not excessively expensive because the samples were still reasonable in number. Moreover, the test also had reliable scoring system. The test consisted of objective and subjective parts and the scoring system (Appendix A) provided guidelines to provide reliable scoring.

D. Data Gathering Technique

There were some steps in conducting the research. Before collecting the data about the students’ performance on analysing the adjective clause using X' schema, the writer conducted library study to explore related literatures to construct the test. In this step, the writer selected some books which were essential for constructing the test.

instructions of the test. Soon after that, the writer asked the students to do the test individually in forty-five minutes. After the test had been administered and submitted, the writer scored the students test. Finally, the data then were analysed to get the expected outcome.

E. Data Analysis Technique

After the test had been submitted, the writer scored the test. Then, the writer calculated and grouped the students who achieved certain scores to determine the students’ performance whether they fell on fail, poor, sufficient, good or very good category. The students’ performance was the comparison between the students’ scores and the academic regulations of Sanata Dharma University (2004). Furthermore, to determine the general performance of the sixth semester students on analysing the adjective clause in the light using the X' schema, the mean between the students’ scores and the academic regulation were compared. Finally, the students were classified along with the scores they achieved in each part of the test as well as the entire test.

F. Research Procedure

There were five stages to conduct the research. Those stages were done step by step to elicit the certainty, validity and reliability of the research. The stages are the followings:

1) Preparing the research

The researcher discussed the topic that were going to be investigated with the major sponsor in order to get an overview of what the researcher should do. Next, the researcher asked permission to the lecturer in charge of the Morpho-Syntax class to conduct the research on his class.

2) Doing library study

The researcher did library study to get insight into the subject that was going to be investigated. In addition, the test was also constructed during the library study.

3) Administering the test

The researcher administered the test to elicit the students’ performance on the subject that was investigated.

4) Analysing the test

The test was analysed to find out the students’ performance on the subject that was investigated and to disclose the research findings.

5) Writing the report

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION

The writer discusses the research findings based on the research questions and the primary data in this chapter. It presents the students’ performance and the students’ mistakes in analysing the adjective clauses using the X' schema. The data of the students’ performance and mistakes are compared to related literatures and presented thoroughly to disclose the real practice rather than premise.

A. Data Presentation

The data presentation presents the students’ performance on the test. It presents the students’ performance in each part of the test and the final scores. On the other hand, it also presents the descriptive statistic of the primary data.

1. The Students’ Performance on the Test

In the research, a test was used as the instrument to obtain the data. The test was administered to the sixth semester students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University academic year 2007/2008 on 13 May 2008. The test consisted of two parts – part A and part B. The part A was a multiple choices test. In part A, the students were required to choose the best answer based on the question and provided answers. Part B was an analysis test. In this part of the test, the students were required to analyse two adjective clauses based on related theories and concepts and to draw their tree diagrams.

a. The Students’ Performance in Each Part of the Test

Table 4.1 shows the students’ scores in part A. There were ten numbers in part A. The total of the correct answer was multiplied by 10 to reach 100-scale. In contrast, Table 4.2 shows the students’ scores in part B. A rubric was used to determine the students’ scores in this part (Appendix A). Then, it was multiplied by 10 to reach 100-scale.

Table 4.1 The Students’ Scores in Part A

Range of Scores (%) Number of Students

Achieving the Range of Scores Percentage (%) 90-100

Table 4.1 presents that three students (6.67%) achieved the highest scores. Furthermore, nine students (20%) achieved 80-89, 13 students (28.89%) achieved 70-79, 11 students (24.44%) achieved 60-69, two students (4.44%) achieved 50-59 and three students (6.67%) achieved 40-49. However, four students (8.89%) came in the range between 30-39.

Table 4.2 The Students’ Scores in Part B

Range of Scores (%) Number of Students

Achieving the Range of Scores Percentage (%) 90-100

On the other hand, Table 4.2 presents that five students (11.11%) achieved the highest scores. Conversely, 16 students (35.56%) achieved the scores on the range of 20-29. In between, nine students (20%) achieved 80-89, two students (4.44%) achieved 70-79, three students (6.67%) achieved 60-69, seven students (15.56%) achieved 50-59, two students (4.44%) achieved 40-49, one student or (2.22%) achieved 30-39.

b. The Students’ Final Scores

The students’ final scores should be firstly determined in order to know the students’ performance. The students’ final scores were the average of the students’ scores in the test. Part A and part B was summed and the resulted score was divided by two to yield the students’ final scores.

Table 4.3 The Students’ Final Scores

Range of Scores (%) Number of Students

Achieving the Range of Scores Percentage (%) 90-100

Table 4.3 shows that two students (4.44%) achieved the highest score. There were seven students (15.56%) achieved 80-89, nine students (20%) achieved 70-79, seven students (15.56%) achieved 60-69, three students (6.67%) achieved the scores between 50-59, eight students (17.78%) achieved 40-49, five students (11.11%) achieved 30-39. In addition, there were four students (8.89%) achieved the scores between 20-29. Finally, the students’ final scores were compared to the academic regulations to classify their performance.

Referring to academic regulations of Sanata Dharma University (2004: 14), a student who achieves 56% of the total scores passes with sufficient level. The complete scores category is listed as follows.

Score Category

Table 4.4 The Students’ Scores in Relation to the Category

Score Category Number of Students Achieving the Category

Referring to the Table 4.4 there were nine students (20%) came in the category of very good. There were also nine students (20%) were on the category of good. On the other hands, seven students (15.56%) were on the category of sufficient. In addition, there were three students (6.67%) came into category of insufficient. The rest of the students in which there were 17 students (37.78%) came in the category of poor. Based on the category, 25 students (55.56%) of the total students passed the test. On the other hand, 20 students (44.44%) of the total students failed on the test because of their final scores did not reach the category of sufficient. In addition, descriptive statistics revealed the students’ performance in general and described the distribution of the score.

2. The Presentation of the Descriptive Statistics

Table 4.5 The Descriptive Statistics

Standard Deviation 16.55 24.47 21.07

The table presents that 45 students joined the test which consisted of two subtests. The test consisted of 12 items in which part A consisted of 10 items and part B consisted of two items. The result of the test revealed that the mean was 57.77. Based on the academic regulations, students’ performance was considered sufficient. The value which occurred most frequently or the mode was 40. The test revealed that seven students achieved this score. Furthermore, the median of the test result was 60. In addition, the midpoint of the test score was 62.5. On the other hands, the range of the scores was 76. Finally, the standard deviation which revealed the spread and the volatility of the scores (Ary et al., 2002: 135 and Gay, 1992: 393) was 21.07. Similarly, Brown (2005: 103) explains that standard deviation is a sort of average of the differences of all scores from the mean. The standard deviation 21.07 of the entire test revealed that the dispersion of the students’ scores from the mean was around that number.

B. Discussion

This part deals with answering the research questions. The research questions were (1) What is the sixth semester students’ performance on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema? and (2) What are the general classifications of the most mistakes commonly made by the students on analysing the adjective clauses using the X-Bar schema? The discussion on those two questions are based on the students’ work and related theories.

1. The Students’ Performance on Analysing the Adjective Clauses using the X-Bar Schema

The result of the test showed that the students’ performance was considered sufficient in that the students achieved the average score 57.77% on the test. In details, the mean of the scores in the first part of the test was 64.67% whereas the second part of the test was 50.89%. Considering the academic regulation of Sanata Dharma University, both the first part and the second part of the test came in the group of sufficient. By looking at the Table 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, the students’ performance in each part of the test was elaborated in details.

be able to apply those concepts and theories to perform the analyses. The test was constructed for the students to measure the students’ performance in a linear order. It started from the level of knowledge and comprehension up to the level of application and analysis (Kemp, 1977: 24-25 and 31).