An error analysis on students` use of prepositions in teaching practice - USD Repository

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AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON

STUDENTS’ USE

OF PREPOSITIONS IN TEACHING PRACTICE

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

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

in English Language Education

By

Yohanes Widi Abirama Putra Student Number: 081214099

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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AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON

STUDENTS’ USE

OF PREPOSITIONS IN TEACHING PRACTICE

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

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

in English Language Education

By

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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AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON

STUDENTS’ USE

OF PREPOSITIONS IN TEACHING PRACTICE

By

Approved by

Advisor Date

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AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON

STUDENTS’ USE

OF PREPOSITIONS IN TEACHING PRACTICE

By

YOHANES WIDI ABIRAMA PUTRA

Student Number: 081214099

Defended before the Board of Examiners on April 3, 2013

and Declared Acceptable

Board Examiners

Chairperson : C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. __________________ Secretary : Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. __________________ Member : Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. __________________ Member : Drs. Pius Nurwidasa Prihatin, M.Ed., Ed.D. __________________ Member : C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. __________________

Yogyakarta, April 3, 2013

Faculty of Teachers Training and Education Sanata Dharma University

Dean,

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No matter what people say,

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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 3, 2013 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 : Yohanes Widi Abirama Putra Nomor Mahasiswa : 081214099

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

AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON

STUDENTS’ USE

OF PREPOSITIONS IN TEACHING PRACTICE

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 yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 3 April 2013

Yang menyatakan,

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ABSTRACT

Putra, Yohanes Widi Abirama. 2013. An Error Analysis on Students’ Use of Prepositions in Teaching Practice. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma Univesity.

The use of proper English in the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University is a common issue. As the students are prepared to be teachers, they have to be able to use English properly with their grammar mastery so that later on they will not mislead their future students. As the students, they are expected to have sufficient knowledge in using proper language structures; including prepositions. However, preposition problems are still encountered; and it was obvious during their teaching practice in Microteaching course.

There are two problems in this research, namely: 1) What are the errors or mistakes in using prepositions which are made by the students of the Microteaching course? and 2) What are the causes of these errors or mistakes? The objectives were to find out the errors produced along with its categories and to seek for the causes of their making mistakes.

To obtain the answers to these questions, the researcher used two methodologies: content analysis and survey. The researcher analyzed some students‟ recorded teaching practices and then noted the errors generated. After that, the researcher conducted a survey by distributing a questionnaire to the corresponding students to obtain their opinions about their reason of making mistakes. After all data were gathered, the researcher correlated one result with the others, and also with the theories related to it.

The first finding shows that mistakes still appear in the teaching practices. Besides, there are several categories of the errors; and the highest rate is the category „Using the wrong preposition‟. It occurs 17 (seventeen) times (43.58%). The second finding confirms that „forgetfulness‟ becomes the most common reason for the students in making errors. This fact more or less shows that the students lack of practice and experience in using English. However, the other result shows that they had strong concern about their utterances. It can be shown from the fact that only 25% respondents did not care about the proper use of prepositions. Suggestions go to the lecturers to provide more exercise and encourage the students to use English more frequently; to the students to practice independently and speak in English much of the time; and to other researchers to adapt this research for the betterment of future research.

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ABSTRAK

Putra, Yohanes Widi Abirama. 2013. An Error Analysis on Students’ Use of Prepositions in Teaching Practice. Yogyakarta: Univesitas Sanata Dharma.

Penggunaan Bahasa Inggris yang baik dan benar di Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma adalah isu yang umum. Para mahasiswa dipersiapkan untuk menjadi guru, dan diharapkan dapat memaksimalkan penguasaan berbahasa Inggris agar tidak memberikan ajaran yang salah kepada murid mereka. Mahasiswa di semester 6 dianggap telah memiliki ilmu yang cukup dalam penguasaan struktur bahasa; termasuk preposisi. Namun demikian, permasalahan masih dijumpai dan nampak dalam kelas Microteaching saat mahasiswa sedang berlatih mengajar.

Ada dua masalah yang dibahas dalam penelitian ini, yaitu: 1) Kesalahan apa saja yang dihasilkan oleh mahasiswa kelas Microteaching? dan 2) Apa saja yang menyebabkan mereka melakukan kesalahan? Tujuan dari penelitian ini yakni untuk mengetahui kesalahan-kesalahan yang dihasilkan dan untuk mencari tahu alasan di balik kesalahan-kesalahan tersebut.

Penulis menggunakan dua metode: konten analisis dan survey. Penulis menganalisa beberapa video lalu mencatat kesalahan-kesalahan yang muncul. Setelah itu, penulis melakukan survei dengan cara menyebarkan kuesioner kepada responden terkait untuk mendapatkan data berupa opini mereka tentang hal-hal yang menyebabkan mereka melakukan kesalahan. Pada akhirnya, penulis mengaitkan hasil analisa data satu dengan yang lain, serta dengan teori-teori yang berhubungan.

Temuan pertama menunjukan bahwa memang masih ada kesalahan-kesalahan yang terjadi, yang terbagi dalam beberapa kategori. Kategori yang paling sering muncul adalah „Penggunaan preposisi yang salah‟. Kategori tersebut muncul sebanyak 17 kali atau 43.58%. Temuan yang kedua menujukkan bahwa „kelupaan‟ manjadi faktor penyebab yang paling umum. Ini menunjukkan bahwa mereka mungkin jarang menggunakan Bahasa Inggris untuk berkomunikasi. Hasil yang lainnya justru menjelaskan bahwa pada dasarnya mereka peduli dengan apa yang akan mereka katakan; terlihat dari hanya dua orang (25%) yang mengaku tidak peduli. Penulis menyarankan kepada para dosen agar memberikan latihan lebih banyak lagi serta mendorong mahasiswa untuk menggunakan Bahasa Inggris secara lebih intens. Para mahasiswa pun disarankan agar dapat belajar secara mandiri di luar kelas dan agar mereka menggunakan Bahasa Inggris sesering mungkin. Bagi para peneliti, penulis berharap mereka bisa meneliti atau mengadaptasi topik ini secara lebih mendalam.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to devote my utmost and deepest gratitude to the Almighty

Jesus Christ for He has given me all the enormous blessing, love, power, and everything that make me even stronger day by day. Without Him, I am nothing in this life.

I would like to grant my admiration and gratitude to my thesis advisor,

Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., for spending a little of his valuable time to share his suggestions and advice with me and also for his willingness to guide me in completing my thesis.

My gratitude sincerely goes to all of the lecturers of Microteaching course year academic 2011/2012: Agustinus Hardi Prasetya, S.Pd., MA., Caecilia Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd., Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum., Christina

Kristyani, S.Pd., M.Pd., Gregorius Punto Aji, S.Pd., M.Hum., Made Frida

Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., and Veronika Triprihatmini, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A. for their permission to use several recent recordings of teaching practices. I would also thank all of my respondents: Ajeng, Anggit, Dhian, Ega, Encus, Linda, Nana, and Nino, for their willingness to spend time filling in my questionnaire.

I would like to express my appreciation and greatest love to my parents,

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My special thankfulness goes to my beloved girlfriend, Lia Ayu Prabandari, for being so patient to me, for being a place to share my feelings, for her prayers, love, care, support, and for her help in guiding me to finish this thesis. My gratitude also goes to her parents, who always kindly give me their support.

I would like to thank all of my friends: Farikha, Pakdhe Ryo, Agatha, Riska, Vinsen,Team JRS Project Sewon, JRS Country Officers, all refugees

in Rumah Dinas Sosial Sewon, and other people whose names I cannot mention one by one for making me keep my spirit on and smile only by remembering them. God always be with them and bless them in their lives.

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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

3.5.1 Examples of the use of prepositions ... 25

4.1.1 Errors and/or Mistakes produced by the respondents ... 28

4.1.2 Error and/or mistakes categories ... 32

4.1.3 The percentage of occurrence of the errors and/or mistakes ... 35

4.1.4 The correct forms ... 36

4.2.1 The result of the questionnaire ... 39

4.2.2 The kinds of prepositions appear in the utterances ... 45

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

Appendix 1. Covering Letter ... 59

Appendix 2. Video Transcriptions ... 61

Appendix 3. Questionnaire and Test ... 98

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1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background of the research. It also provides the research problems and its limitation for the research. Research objectives and research benefits will also be presented in this chapter as well as the definition of terms that become the concern in this research.

A. Research Background

English is nowadays becoming so much popular among a lot of people in almost all countries. Numbers of people start learning English since it is now seemed to be the international language in this world. In most aspects of life, English becomes one of the considerations so that people are required to be able to use English as, at least, one of the means of communication. As a result, people are racing to learn English as well as courses are racing to provide their best lessons for those who want to learn English. However, learning English is not simply learning how to read and write appropriately; it needs the learners to be able to listen to and speak in English as well.

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of English, namely, listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill, and writing skill. Indeed, they also need to master the good, effective ways of teaching when they teach their students later.

In teaching language, good communication is absolutely needed and we cannot avoid the use of it, especially orally. One of the keys in accomplishing good oral communication is being able to speak clearly, accurately, and acceptably in front of the class or students. ELESP in Sanata Dharma University offers a series of speaking courses, from semester 1 until semester 5. They are: Interactional Speech I, Interactional Speech II, Transactional Speech, Public Speaking I, and the last is Public Speaking II. Each speaking course has its own focus and goals of study, and they are ordered from the level of beginner up to advanced. The aims are to let the students to step-by-step learn and get accustomed with speaking in English.

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When the students of ELESP have taken those subjects, both speaking and structure courses, they can apply their knowledge to be used in their teaching practices. Besides, they probably should share their knowledge with their students whenever their teaching material is speaking or grammar. In practicing their knowledge, students of ELESP must take the Microteaching course. It is a course where students are trained to be teachers – English teachers to be precise. All students should perform their ability to teach in front of their friends, who are supposed to be their students. When performing their teaching practice in the classroom, they are videotaped with three cameras in three points of view and observed by the lecturer and some friends behind a see-through mirror. Anyway, the fact is that Microteaching course is offered in the sixth semester, so that all students have the opportunity to take the ten courses mentioned above.

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The pink t-shirt is similar with mine is an example of common inaccuracy in the use of prepositions. That sentence is incorrect because the word similar should be followed by to, and thus the correct sentence is The pink t-shirt is similar to mine. There are still many other common mistakes and/or errors made by the students in practicing their teaching. This is not a good situation because their students are assumed to imitate what have been said or taught by the teacher. If such factual mistakes and/or errors are still observable, it can lead the students to use the wrong forms of prepositions in the future.

Regarding this case, the researcher wants to identify the common mistakes and/or errors which were made by the students in their teaching practices. Absolutely, the participants of this research were the students of the English Language Education Study Program who have taken Microteaching course in semester six. The researcher assumes that the sixth semester students still remember the theories of grammar and speaking; and at least they have the fresh experiences in Public Speaking II and Structure V.

B. Research Problems

There are two problems that lead the researcher to conduct a research in order to find out the solutions. The problems are:

1. What are the errors or mistakes in using prepositions which are made by the students of the Microteaching course?

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C. Problem Limitation

To limit this research, the researcher focuses the research on the students‟ use of preposition during their teaching practice. Other inaccurate grammar, mispronunciations, misspelling, and misuse of tenses will be ignored.

Another limitation is the English which is used as the standard in evaluating students‟errors and/or mistakes in the teaching practices. The Standard English will be used for this research, since Standard English is the most common English that is used for communication all over the world.

The next one is that this research will only focus on the students who have taken Microteaching course. To be exact, they are the students of batch 2009 (picked randomly) from all classes in Microteaching course who have taken Microteaching course. They are considered having enough knowledge of speaking and grammar.

D. Research Objectives

Related to the problems of the research, it is expected that after this research the researcher will find the common errors and/or mistakes in using prepositions during the teaching practices. And also, the reasons why the students still result errors and/or mistakes in that level are expected to be clear and visible.

E. Research Benefits

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1. For the Teacher-students

By knowing their weaknesses, they can afford to make improvements towards their ability in communicating in and using English appropriately. Since the students or participants are also teacher candidates, they are also projected to give appropriate examples to their further students and/or other people.

2. For the Lecturers

By knowing that their students still have weaknesses, they can evaluate more their teaching approaches, methods, or techniques so that students can study English and English Language effortlessly.

3. For the Developers of Teaching Materials

Regarding the teaching materials, this research may be useful for the syllabus designers to create better and more appropriate materials for the students of ELESP.

4. For the Readers

This research may be useful for its readers because readers could get information that the use of prepositions in fact needs more attention.

F. Definition of Terms

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1. Speaking

Speaking is the process of expressing thoughts, ideas, minds, or feeling for communication orally. In Microteaching class, teachers need to speak English correctly when performing the practice to give proper example for the students.

2. Grammar

Grammar is the form or structure of sentences, or in this case, utterances. There are many patterns that people should consider when expressing utterances in order to avoid miscommunication and misperception from the listeners.

3. Preposition

Preposition is the words that show link or relationship between nouns, pronouns and phrases with the other words in the sentence. Some examples of prepositions are: on, at, in, between, above, below, in addition to, due to, etc.

4. Mistakes and Errors

Mistakes “reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur because the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows” (Ellis, 2003, p. 17).

Meanwhile errors, according to Ellis (2003), show the learner‟s lack of knowledge and it “occur because the learner does not know what is correct” (p. 17). In this study, both of them are associated with incorrect or inaccurate use of prepositions in practice teaching.

5. Students of Microteaching Course

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter contains the discussion of the theories which are used as a set of principles in the research progress. Brief clarification related to the theories needed to solve the problem questions are provided in this section. Commentary and relationship between the theories and the problem will be presented as well.

A. Theoretical Description

1. Teaching Practice

Hearing those two words for the students who are supposed to be teachers would probably result stressful feeling. For some of them, practicing teaching is one difficult thing to do even though theories about teaching are carried on before. The word teaching, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, has several meanings:

 To give systematic information to a person, (about a subject or skill).  To practise this professionally.

 To enable a person to do something by instruction and training (to swim; to dance).

 To be an advocate for a moral principle (my parents taught me

forgiveness).

 To communicate, instruct in a moral principle.

 To induce a person by example or punishment to do or not to do a thing (that will teach you to sit still; that will teach you not to laugh).

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Teaching practice really needs a lot of preparations, mainly about the fundamental theories. Indeed, it also needs the readiness from the practice students. In short, professionalism is one entity that becomes important consideration for lecturers, teachers, and practice students (Spencer, 2011).

Spencer (2011) also states that professionalism is closely related to the roles of the practice students in the classroom, since they should give good examples to their students. In other hand, Sirajuddin Ahmad –a professor- in his article states that “They should teach by example and act as role models instead of giving sermons”. That is why, as teachers they have the responsibilities to:

a. Expose the organization of the learning experience and its principle. b. Give appropriate information, description and explanation.

c. Provide space for the students to ask questions and to discuss about it, so that students can discover the learning experience.

(Kyriacou, 2009)

Related to the research, teaching practice can be specified here as Microteaching. Microteaching is a subject in which students of English Language Education Study Program can practice their teaching ability. In the technique concept of microteaching by Stones and Morris (1977), it is stated that microteaching is a situated teaching activity which is simplified but “allows of a

greater degree of control than that normally found in classroom teaching and enable provision to be made for feedback to student teachers”. Allen and Wang (n.

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suggestion from the feedback at the same moment. In addition, Stones and Morris agree that this technique is even more efficient than practicing teaching in a complete class which becomes the basic of teacher training practice.

Allen and Ryan (1969) in their book entitled Microteaching propose five things related to microteaching. One of them is that microteaching is teaching in a factual situation, even though there is constructed circumstance where the teacher and pupils acted as it is a practice assembly. In addition, one of the component skills in Microteaching, as proposed by Allen and Ryan, is the completeness of communication although they do not give more detailed explanation on it.

2. Grammar Mastery

In this section, the researcher wants to discuss the definition of grammar mastery and its implication to the teaching process.

a. The Definition of Grammar Mastery

Grammar mastery, according to Purpura, can be defined based on the “accuracy, meaningfulness, appropriateness, acceptability or naturalness” (2004).

As we can see that to be able to use English language well, we should think about how accurate, meaningful, appropriate, acceptable and natural it is.

b. The Implication to the Teaching Process

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teachers they are supposed to use good and correct English. Moreover, using good English in front of the students can bring about positive thing: students learn from the trusted source. Kyriacou (2009) states that “the way pupils learn through teacher exposition is by listening, thinking and responding to what the teacher has to say”. Additionally, Norris (1983) affirms that the use of accurate grammar is important to avoid misperception from the listeners –in this case, students- in absorbing the message. The expectation from having sufficient knowledge about grammar is that teachers can let the students imitate them.

3. Prepositions

This part discusses two different parts about prepositions, which are the nature of prepositions and the use of prepositions. The first part of the discussion presents the understanding and a complete list of prepositions. Meanwhile, the second part provides the ways in using prepositions in sentences.

a. The Definition of Prepositions

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Figure 2.1. List of common prepositions according to Brown

Nevertheless, according to Josef Essberger (2009), there are 150 prepositions consisting of one-word prepositions and complex prepositions. In addition, Essberger states that the number of complex prepositions could increase at any time.

Sometimes prepositions come in the form of combination with other words (complex prepositions), such as: instead of, according to, based on, because of and so on. Even though it seem are not like pure prepositions, they function just like normal prepositions. Moreover, there are some words which have more than one function in parts of speech. For example, the word „outside‟ can be noun, as

in He put the bench on the outside of the house; adjective, as in Don’t worry about the outside disturbances; and also preposition, as in Harry is waiting outside the office.

above behind for since

about below from to

across beneath in toward

after beside inside through

against between into under

along beyond like until

among by near up

around down of upon

at during off with

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b. The Use of Prepositions

Usually, a preposition exposes the associations of “direction, location, and

time” but sometimes it shows other relationships (Brown, 2002). As it is obvious that prepositions do have meaning, however, they always need a set of word to be able to function in a sentence. The set of words is more familiar to mention as a prepositional phrase (Brown, 2002). Nevertheless, EFL learners have to be careful to create a combination of prepositions and noun phrase. To make this clear, the researcher provides some simple examples using a noun phrase “the room”.

- inside the room - outside the room - near the room - since the room*

It is shown that the prepositional phrase since the room does not make any clear meaning. The phrase will be meaningful only if we add more information, like to be since the room is too dark, but it shows that that the word since functions as conjunction and not preposition.

Based on the area of relationship, prepositions are divided into several parts, namely: prepositions of time, prepositions of place/direction, prepositions of manner, prepositions of state, prepositions of quantity, and prepositions of purpose (Murray and Rockowitz, 1999). Some examples of the prepositions for each area are listed below.

1) Prepositions of time:

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2) Prepositions of place/direction:

around, at, down, from, in, inside, of, on, through, to, up 3) Prepositions of manner:

by, in, like, on, with 4) Prepositions of state:

at, by, in, on, as

5) Prepositions of quantity/measure: around, by, for

6) Prepositions of purpose: for, to

4. Common Errors in English

Errors, as defined by Norrish (1983), are „failure‟ and „positive aids to learning‟. As a failure, errors happen and become the students‟ responsibility

which they can avoid actually. On the other hand, as positive aids to learning, errors take part in the language learning as something that is essential.

Norrish (1983) also proposes that there are several things which possibly become the causes of language learners making errors. He categorizes these possible causes into popular ideas, other current theories, and foreign & second language learning.

a. Popular Ideas

1) Carelessness

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external influences. However, this term should not be perceived as an external source of the errors production (Norrish, 1983: 21).

2) Interference of first language

„Formation of habit‟ becomes one thing which is connected to language

learning. In language learning, “if language is essentially a set of habits, then

when we try to learn new habits the old ones will interfere with the new ones” (Norrish, 1983: 22).

3) Translation

People maybe will identify this term similar to the „first language

interference‟. But, this term is quite distinctive. The difference lies on the process

of the errors making; „interference‟ comes from the learners‟ unconsciousness in

producing errors, while translation is something else that is used in a more technical reason (Norrish, 1983: 26-27).

Norrish says that errors which as a result of word-by-word translation tend to arise when language learners focus more on the „message‟ (thing to express) rather than the language to use. In case of using English prepositions, Indonesians tend to say Similar with mine in expressing Sama dengan milikku. The phrase Similar to mine (proper English preposition use) would probably sound unusual or strange since it would be translated Sama terhadap milikku in Bahasa.

b. Other Current Theories

1) Contrastive analysis

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mother tongue and the linguistic system of the target language side-by-side, so that „areas of difficulty‟ can be foreseen, and so can the errors. „Interference‟

(stated above) has correlation with this theory. However, this theory has a shortcoming. Some „areas of difficulty‟ did not always happen to be errors, while

some areas in which difficulty is not found unpredictably produced errors.

2) General order of difficulty

This term is originally founded by Richards and Sampson (1974), and known as „universal hierarchy of difficulty‟. Richards and Sampson give example

that both native speakers and non-native speakers face the same difficulty in differentiating English pairs /v/ - /ð/ and /f/ - /θ/. Norrish (1983) sees this point as a fact that order difficulty becomes the foundation for both native speakers and non-native speakers.

3) Overgeneralization

Norrish concludes some theories (from H. V. George and J. C. Richards) as „overgeneralization‟. He states that errors can emerge from native speakers‟

(learning their own language) and foreign learners‟ tendency to apply their

knowledge about the language to a new situation in which the same rules should not be applied there. For example:

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Richards declares these kinds of deviant structure as the combination of a structure with the other structure in the language so that it violates the „standard version‟.

4) Incomplete application of rules

This term is more or less similar to „overgeneralization‟. Norrish implies

that language learners keep producing errors or deviant structure because he/she believes that by only using certain rules, he/she is still understandable in communication.

5) Material-induced errors

Norrish suggests that „false concept‟ and „ignorance of rule restriction‟ as

types of errors which are possibly arisen by the teaching materials. False concept errors can be depicted like when an English teacher uses picture series with description in present continuous tense. This kind of context would appear not natural, compared to the use of present continuous tense of a football commentary in television. In this case, the learners may have hoodwinked the anticipated manner from the teacher.

Meanwhile, error as a result of ignorance of rule restriction is maybe harder to avoid since this type of errors has something to do with „false analogies‟. For example, a learner would always add preposition „about‟ after the word

„discuss‟ (as in We discuss about the issue of global warming) because he/she links this preposition with the word „discussion‟ (as in a discussion about global

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6) Error as a part of language creativity

Norrish (1983) states that “learners need to create new utterances, but with

limited experience of the target language, they make mistakes”. This lack of

experience is possibly because the learners have no enough examples of the target language so that they tend to guess while clues are limited.

However, there are two types of creativity in language use as proposed by Norrish (1983). The first one is the learners‟ capability in making use of certain

structures of the language that they know to form new thing or to express something that is unfamiliar for them. The second one is the learners‟ capability in

transforming language, which is other than their mother tongue, into arts. Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian, is an example of non-native English novelist.

c. Foreign and Second Language Learning

A lot of English speakers, especially whose mother tongue is not English, make mistakes in using English. They make mistakes on the use of verb (concord or subject-verb agreements), adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and also prepositions. Batko (2004) says that preposition is one of the English parts of speech, which is rather confusing in the use of it.

1) Foreign language errors

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language. Norrish points out that because the learner has the acquaintance with the target language usually just in the classroom, the errors produced must be a consequence of what happens there. However, in this modernization era, the source of the influence can be also from other media like Websites with English text of TV shows in English. This may happen since foreign learner may not only learn inside the classroom but also outside it.

2) Second language errors

Quite different from what may influence the learner‟s errors production in

foreign language learning, the influence to the second language learner comes from the varieties of the target language itself (Norrish, 1983). English, for example, has the standard varieties like British, American, or Australian. Norrish states that the influence, however, does not come from the variety of a language that is used inside the classroom but from what is used outside the classroom (which perhaps is very different from the variety used inside the classroom).

B. Theoretical Framework

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definition by Norrish, „carelessness‟, might be more common to our sense as teachers or teacher candidates to be the most often reason for students to make mistakes. But there are also other possible reasons which may lead them to keep making mistakes.

Related to this case, the researcher decided to focus on the inappropriate use of preposition because preposition is one part of English which is commonly used, inappropriately. The use of preposition in English discourse, both spoken and written, is quite frequently. There are a lot of preposition in English, along with its complement. This gives result that is incomprehension on the use of those prepositions with the correct complement.

Microteaching students, as stated above, were supposed to have sufficient ability in mastering grammar of English. It is based on the fact that Microteaching students must had been passed 5 (five) Structure course. It is not questionable that grammar mastery is one important thing teacher candidates must have. For students of Microteaching course, grammar mastery is important in order to keep away from misleading their student by using the wrong prepositions and/or its complement. As we know, students in a classroom tend to imitate their teacher(s) or what they see and believe.

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21

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology which the researcher applied in his research. The explanation of the methodology will consist of several sections, i.e. the methods of the research, research setting, and the participants of the research. In addition those things, instrument and data gathering technique and the data analysis technique will also be discussed in this chapter as well as the procedure of the research.

A. Research Method

In conducting this research, the researcher used two different types of method, namely qualitative research –in this case, content analysis– and survey research. Two methods were applied in order to get the optimum and appropriate data that needed in the process of the research. Content analysis was used to get the error-prepositions used by the participants during the teaching practice. Meanwhile, survey was conducted with the purpose of getting deeper information about the reasons of why error-prepositions still emerged in the association with participants‟ knowledge.

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while the material can be “public records, textbook, letters, films, tapes, diaries, themes, reports, and so on” (2002, p. 457). Fraenkel and Wallen explain that content analysis “is a technique that enables researchers to study human behavior in an indirect way, through an analysis of their communications” (2008, p. 472).

Survey, as stated by Fraenkel and Wallen, is a research method focused to find out “opinions of a large group of people about a particular topic or issue”

(2008, p. 390). Similar to content analysis, survey is not part of quantitative research so that treatment does not present here. Opinions or arguments are the main consideration in drawing conclusion about specific issue.

By having those two different types of research technique, the researcher hoped that there would be accurate, appropriate, and adequate data for the research to answer the questions of research problem.

B. Research Setting

In getting the first data, because the researcher did the research by analyzing a number of document (in this case, video files), the place of the research is defined as virtual setting. Moreover, the researcher could do the research everywhere, as long as there are sufficient supports (electricity, desk, and so on), but not many external disturbances. The research was conducted from August 2012 until approximately in the middle of October 2012.

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C. Research Participant and Research Document

The research participants of this research were the students of the English Language Education Study Program (ELESP) year 2009 who had taken and passed the Microteaching Course in semester six. The researcher decided to involve them in the research because he was in the same year with them, with the consideration that it would be easier to contact the participants.

The sampling in choosing the participant was by having random sampling. The researcher asked the laboratory assistants to randomly pick several videos; one or two copies from each class. However, the researcher finally only chose 8 of the copied files since some of the videos are quite difficult to be observed due to the noise of the „students‟. Besides, it was done so in order to quicken the research

time since the researcher also had side job during the research.

Since the teacher-student in each video were about to be involved in the research and there were a number of video files to be observed, therefore, the participants of this research were the teacher-students. Meanwhile, the video files became the documents of this research.

D. Instrument and Data Gathering Technique

The instruments used in the research were participants‟ teaching practice

recordings, notes, multimedia devices (to play the recordings, questionnaires, and test.

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and/or mistakes in using prepositions, and giving test on their understanding in using prepositions.

1. Video Analysis

For the first one, the researcher analyzed a number of videos containing the process of teaching practice which had been done by the participants in Microteaching classes. The researcher focused on the audio by listening to the spoken words and made the transcription of each of the videos. If there were errors and/or mistakes in using preposition during the teaching practice, the researcher then notified errors and/or mistakes.

2. Questionnaires

Wallace points out that “in questionnaires, the questions are usually set out in a very systematic way, and very often the questionnaire is answered by reading questions, and then ticking responses, or writing in short answer” (2010, p. 124).

The researcher distributed a questionnaire to the participants with some questions to answer the second research problem. The questions were mostly close-ended questions so that the researcher could obtain the data needed and not to be out of topic.

3. Test

A test, as stated by Brown (2004), “is a method of measuring a person‟s

ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” In this research, the

researcher wanted to know how far the respondents‟ knowledge in using

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to compare it with their performance in teaching practice. Specifically, the researcher conducted an achievement test.

E. Data Analysis Technique

There were several steps which had been done in analyzing the data, both the documents and the result of the interview for the research. The steps began when the researcher collected all the notified errors and mistakes in using prepositions from all participants‟ videos of their teaching practice. The researcher calculated the number of the errors produced, and then categorized them based on Fitikides‟ categorization of common prepositions errors in English. The next step

was that the researcher discovered the correct form of the use of prepositions by consulting several sources like lecturers, friends, and websites. It was aimed to make sure or find the other possibilities of the use of the prepositions.

Table 3.5.1. Examples of the Use of Prepositions

Participants’ use Correct form

…when you are inthe road… …when you are onthe road…

…atten minutes you will… …inten minutes you will…

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F. Research Procedure

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27

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter discusses the findings in the use of prepositions in the respondents‟ teaching practice. The results of the analytical research would be

exposed in detail. This chapter is going to answer the questions of the research problems that have been stated in the beginning of this thesis. It consists of two sections, namely: a) Errors and/or mistakes produced by the respondents and b) Causes in making errors and/or mistakes

A. Errors and/or Mistakes Produced by the Respondents

The data presented in this part was obtained by analyzing several videos of the respondents‟ teaching practice. The analysis was administered to particular

students of the English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University batch 2009 who were taking a Microteaching course. The aims of this analysis are to find out the errors produced by the respondents, to categorize the errors produced, and to know the percentage of the errors. Corrections on the errors produced will also be presented in this section.

1. Errors and/or Mistakes from Each Respondent

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Table 4.1.1. Errors and/or Mistakes Produced by the Respondents.

No. Speaker Expressions

1, 2.

Respondent 1

Bernadet, ya. Come in front (a), Bernadet, come in front (b).

3. Please come in front, Jose.

4. Okay, please gather to your group, with your group. **

Well, after the...after watch this video, what do you think, aaa where does it takes place?

9. … when we interact with others and aaa it seems like it's formal, it's better for us to use 'may' instead 'can'. 10.

Respondent 4

Before go further, what you, what did you learnt for the last minu...last meeting with Mr. Wilda?

11. Now, let me check, do you still understand about this topic?

12. And let me check about your understanding toward this listening.

13. Only a short dialogue and you have to submit it on the next meeting.

Before we... (unclear utterance) okay, for today, we wu..we are going to have funny activity, a lot of...act... funny activity.

16.

Like we have learnt the previous meeting we learnt about how to operate...electric fan, and then what else?

17. Can you give me example aa some transition words..words?

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No. Speaker Expressions

19.

Respondent 6

So, in this case we need to colorful papers, paint and blablabla...

20. I think from our activity today, you proof that you have already mastered about the procedure text. 21. And I feel no worry for ask to move to our activity,

but the time is fly. 22.

Respondent 7

For example, you may take a look your handout. 23. And now, please join with the other group, 24,

25.

Please come in front (a), and tell your friends. Come in front (b).

26. Aa..now the second, Hayu, please come in front. 27.

Respondent 8

So what did you learn last week? Hallo class? Listening announcement.

28. Commemorate for...yes you're right.

29. … so how about play some game?

30, 31, 32.

But please, on thirty second (a), please read it and try to memorize it, because later on I will ask one of the representative (b) of your group to write in front, in the whiteboard (c).

33. You can come in front, if you like. 34. „The‟ or without „the‟?

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It is shown that there is only one respondent who made only one error; two respondents uttered two errors/misktakes; one respondent uttered four errors/mistakes; two respondents uttered five errors/mistakes; one respondent uttered seven errors/mistakes; and one respondent uttered thirteen errors/mistakes. Meanwhile, there is one respondent who actually realizes that she made a mistake by saying …please gather to your group…, and then made correction to the mistake immediately by saying …with your group…. Totally, there are 39 improper uses of prepositions produced by all (eight) respondents in this research.

The table above also presents other findings. It is clear that the utterance Come in front has become „popular‟ compared to the other utterances. Contextually, the speakers are asking the student to come forward. This expression semantically sounds okay, but in fact it is rather ungrammatical. The researcher actually found eleven utterances like that, but there is one utterance which rather distinct because it is followed by additional information that makes it proper (… come in front of the class).

Other finding is that some respondents seemed tend to use the similar method: direct translation from their mother language. As shown in the utterance … you can join to another group. This expression sounds like a result of direct translation from Bahasa Indonesia „bergabung ke‟. Even so, „bergabung dengan‟

(English: join with) is actually more commonly used by most Indonesians. Or the addition of preposition „about‟ in a sentence like in Next time we will aaa discuss

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Some interesting findings are also encountered in the analysis result. The first is as seen in the sentence Okay, now, it’s time for discuss. The speaker perhaps wants to imply „waktunya untuk membahas‟ (English: it‟s time to

discuss). But if the preposition „for‟ is to be chosen, the sentence should be better it’s time for discussing/discussion. However, the use of gerund there does not really show the best solution; but additional information after the gerund (it’s time for discussing the answer) does. The second is as seen in the sentence And I feel no worry for ask to move to our activity, but the time is fly. The preposition „for‟ there is supposed to be followed by a gerund. However, the sentence would still sound strange unless „you‟ is inserted after the gerund (And I feel no worry for asking [you] to move to our activity, but the time is flying). And then, the utterance Commemorate for … yes you’re right is also interesting. In this case, the students actually answered „National Education Day‟. If the teacher-student really wanted the same answer, preposition „for‟ would not be needed. It is okay to use

preposition „for‟ in other case i.e. Commemorate for him. Lastly, it is seen in the

utterance … I will ask one of the representative of your group … . It will be okay if the teacher-student needed the groups to provide more than one representatives. Nevertheless, the speaker does not mean to have more than one representatives of a group (as seen in the video).

2. The Category

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the errors and/or mistakes produced. There are four categories which were found in the analysis of the videos.

The table shows that there are four categories, which are: Unnecessary preposition, Omission of preposition, Using the wrong preposition, and Misuse of infinitive. The category „Misuse of infinitive‟ is actually not a pure error category

which directly deals with preposition. However, based on the data achieved in this research, this category still has a relationship with preposition. For instance, in the sentence ‘…after watch this video…’there is a preposition „after‟ which should be followed by gerund. That sentence clearly shows that the word „watch‟ is an infinitive verb.

Table 4.1.2. Error and/or Mistakes Categories

No. Speaker Expressions Categories

1, 2.

Respondent 1

Bernadet, ya. Come in front (a), Bernadet come in front (b).

a. Using the wrong preposition b. Using the wrong preposition

3. Please come in front, Jose. Using the wrong preposition

4. Okay, please gather to your group, with

your group. ** Using the wrong preposition

5. Crispy Fish come in front. Using the wrong preposition

6.

Respondent 2

… you can join to another group … Unnecessary preposition 7. Next time we will aaa discuss about it in

the next class, okay? Unnecessary preposition 8.

Respondent 3

Well, after the...after watch this video, what do you think, aaa where does it takes place?

Misuse of infinitive

9.

… when we interact with others and aaa it seems like it's formal, it's better for us to use 'may' instead 'can'.

Omission of preposition

10. Respondent 4

Before go further, what you, what did you learnt for the last minu...last meeting with Mr. Wilda?

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11.

Respondent 4

Now, let me check, do you still

understand about this topic? Unnecessary preposition 12. And let me check about your

understanding toward this listening. Unnecessary preposition 13. Only a short dialogue and you have to

submit it on the next meeting. Using the wrong preposition 14. Respondent

5 Okay, now, it's time for discuss. ** Misuse of infinitive

15.

Respondent 6

Unnecessary preposition

16.

Omission of preposition

17. Can you give me example aa some

transition words..words? Omission of preposition 18. Last meeting we have learnt listening and

speaking. Omission of preposition

19. So in this case we need to colorful papers,

paint and blablabla... Unnecessary preposition 20.

I think from our activity today, you proof that you have already mastered about the procedure text.

Unnecessary preposition

21. And I feel no worry for ask to move to our

activity, but the time is fly. Using the wrong preposition 22.

Respondent 7

For example, you may take a look your

handout. Omission of preposition

23. And now, please join with the other

group, Unnecessary preposition

24, 25.

Please come in front (a), and tell your friends. Come in front (b).

a. Using the wrong preposition b. Using the wrong preposition 26. Aa..now the second, Hayu, please come in

front. Using the wrong preposition

27.

Respondent 8

So what did you learn last week? Hallo

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a. Using the wrong preposition b. Unnecessary preposition c. Using the wrong preposition 33. You can come in front, if you like. Using the wrong preposition 34. „The‟ or without „the‟? Omission of preposition 35.

I will give you this prize, so please group one and group two come in front to (unclear utterance).

Using the wrong preposition

36. Okay, I think group three, please come in

front. Using the wrong preposition

37. So all you watched the play performance? Omission of preposition 38. … try to focus to, to the worksheet and … Using the wrong preposition 39. Nana, focus to your worksheet. Using the wrong preposition

The table shows that there are four categories, which are: Unnecessary preposition, Omission of preposition, Using the wrong preposition, and Misuse of the infinitive. The category „Misuse of the infinitive‟ is actually not a pure error

category which directly deals with preposition. However, based on the data achieved in this research, this category has a relationship with preposition. For instance, in the sentence ‘…after watch this video…’ there is a preposition „after‟ which should be followed by gerund. That sentence clearly shows that the word „watch‟ is an infinitive verb.

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and the category “prepositions often confused (confusing prepositions)” does not

take part in the result of this research.

3. The Percentage of the Errors and/or Mistakes

From the data collected by the researcher, it can be found that errors and/or mistakes which deal with prepositions do exist during the respondents‟ teaching practice. The results in the previous tables show that the errors and/or mistakes made are quite distinctive from each of the respondents. The researcher calculated the number of the error and compared them. Table 4.1.3 gives depiction of the percentage of the errors and/or mistakes produced.

Table 4.1.3. The Percentage of Occurrence of the Errors and/or Mistakes

Error category ∑ of occurrence Percentage

Unnecessary preposition 10 25.64

Using the wrong

preposition 17 43.58

Omission of preposition 8 20.52

Misuse of the infinitive 4 10.26

Total 39 100 %

From the table above, it is obvious that the use of the wrong preposition presents the highest occurrence. Totally, the respondents made 17 (seventeen) errors (43.58%) by applying the improper prepositions. In the second place, the category „Unnecessary preposition‟ contributes 25.64% in occurrence with total

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preposition. And lastly, the respondent produced errors and/or mistakes which deal with the use of infinitive, resulting 4 (four) times or 10.26% of occurrence.

4. Correct Forms

The researcher also provides the correction of the errors and mistakes produced by the respondents. The researcher referred to several sources in giving the correct forms. The references were mainly from some certain Websites which provides service in searching for example(s) of the use of prepositions in particular sentences. There were two Websites that the researcher used during the research: British National Corpus by Oxford University (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/) and IntelliText Corpus Queries by Leeds University (http://smlc09.leeds.ac.uk/itweb/htdocs/Query.html#). In addition to those two websites, the researcher also used other sources like book, dictionaries, lecturers and friends. The researcher used more than one reference to really ensure he made the accurate corrections towards the errors.

Table 4.1.4. The Correct Forms

No. Expressions Correct forms

1, 2.

Bernadet, ya. Come in front (a), Bernadet come

in front (b). Come to the front OR Come over here.

3. Please come in front, Jose. Come to the front OR Come over here.

4. Okay, please gather to your group, with your

group. ** Please gather with your group.

5. Crispy Fish come in front. Come to the front OR Come over here. 6. you can join to another group You can join another group

7. Next time we will aaa discuss about it in the next class, okay?

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8. Well, after the...after watch this video, what do

you think, aaa where does it takes place? After watching this video… 9.

when we interact with others and aaa it seems like it's formal, it's better for us to use 'may' instead 'can'.

To use „may‟ instead of „can‟.

10. Before go further, what you, what did you learnt

for the last minu...last meeting with Mr. Wilda? Before going further, … 11. Now, let me check, do you still understand about

this topic? Do you still understand this topic?

12. And let me check about your understanding toward this listening.

And let me check your understanding toward this listening.

13. Only a short dialogue and you have to submit it on the next meeting.

Only a short dialogue and you have to submit it next in the next meeting. 14. Okay, now, it's time for discuss. Okay, now, it‟s time for discussing OR

discussion. 15.

… today, we are going to have funny activity, …

16.

Like we have learnt in the previous meeting ….

17. Can you give me example aa some transition words..words?

Can you give me example of some transition words?

18. Last meeting we have learnt listening and speaking.

In the last meeting, we have learnt listening and speaking.

19. So, in this case we need to colorful papers, paint and blablabla...

So, in this case we need colorful papers, paint and blablabla…

20.

I think from our activity today, you proof that you have already mastered about the procedure text.

… you have already mastered the procedure text.

21. And I feel no worry for ask to move to our activity, but the time is fly.

And I feel no worry for asking (you) to move to our activity, but the time flies. 22. For example, you may take a look your handout. For example, you may take a look at

your handout.

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24, 25.

Please come in front (a), and tell your friends.

Come in front (b). Come to the front OR Come over here. 26. Aa..now the second, Hayu, please come in front. Come to the front OR Come over here. 27. So what did you learn last week? Hallo class?

Listening announcement.

So what did you learn last week? Hallo class? Listening to announcement. 28. Commemorate for...yes you're right. Commemorate… yes you‟re right. 29. … so how about play some game? … so how about playing some games? 30,

31, 32.

a. … in thirty second …

b. … one representative of your group …

c. … on the whiteboard.

33. You can come in front, if you like. Come to the front OR Come over here. 34. „The‟ or without „the‟? With „the‟ or without „the‟?

35.

I will give you this prize, so please group one and group two come in front to (unclear utterance).

Come to the front OR Come over here.

36. Okay, I think group three, please come in front. Come to the front OR Come over here. 37. So all you watched the play performance? So all of you watch the play

performance?

38. … try to focus to, to the worksheet and … … try to focus on the worksheet and ... 39. Nana, focus to your worksheet. Nana, focus on your worksheet.

B. Causes in Making Errors and/or Mistakes

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The researcher did a further investigation on the causes which led the respondents produced improper uses of the English prepositions during their teaching practice (in Microteaching course). Questionnaire and test were prepared in order to find the deeper information to be compared to the previous findings. From the results gathered from the questionnaire, the researcher wanted to know the respondents‟ surface understanding about English prepositions, the problems that the respondents encountered, the causes of the improper uses of prepositions, and what the respondents think of the most confusing preposition. Table 4.2.1 below presented the respondents‟ opinions on the issue of the use of English prepositions.

Table 4.2.1. The Result of the Questionnaire

Question Statement ∑ of occurrence

% (percentage)

1. What are

Prepositions?

Prepositions are words that link a

sentence to other sentence. 0 0

Prepositions are words that show association between noun/pronoun and other word in a sentence.

4 50

Prepositions are words/phrases that

connect one idea to other idea. 0 0

Prepositions are words that link

words, phrases, and clauses. 4 50

Prepositions are words which show

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Question Statement ∑ of

There are less than 10 English

prepositions. 3 37.5

There are more than 10 and less

than 20 English prepositions. 2 25

than 60 English prepositions. 1 12.5

than 100 English prepositions. 1 12.5

There are more than 100 English

3. Problems

encountered

in teaching

practice.

I added a preposition in a sentence

that doesn‟t need preposition. 5 62.5

I used the wrong prepositions. 6 75

I didn‟t use a preposition when there should be a preposition in that sentence.

4 50

The word after a preposition was

not in the form of gerund. 1 12.5

I was confused to use the proper

tongue prepositions to English. 3 37.5 I did not know what preposition(s)

to use. 5 62.5

I forgot what preposition(s) to use. 8 100

I imitated other people. 3 37.5

I didn‟t care about what

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Question Statement ∑ of occurrence

% (percentage)

5. Confusing

prepositions.

Prepositions of time 1 12.5

Prepositions of place 3 37.5

Prepositions of manner 1 12.5

Prepositions of quantity 3 37.5

Prepositions of state 4 50

Prepositions of purpose 0 0

From the table above, it is obvious that only half (50 %) of the total respondents answer correctly on the question number 1 (one) which asks for the definition of prepositions. Meanwhile, the other four respondents were misled to define prepositions as the words that link words, phrases, and clauses (a definition of conjunction). It is not a surprising result that only four out of eight respondents defined prepositions accurately because there are a number of words which functions both as prepositions and as conjunctions (Essberger, 2009).