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A CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ MASTERY OF PAST TENSES AND THEIR ABILITY IN WRITING RECOUNT TEXT
A Study at Eight Grade Students of SMPN I Timpeh Academic Year 2014/2015
Anis Mubasiroh
English Departement, SKIPT PGRI SUMBAR, anismubasiroh@yahoo.com Hevriani Sevrika, M.Pd. 1)
Mayuasti, M.Pd. 2)
(Lecturers of STKIP PGRI SUMBAR) ABSTRAK
The purpose of research is to find out whether there is a significant correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text. This research was correlation study. Research population was eight grade students of SMPN 1 Timpeh academic year 2014/2015, it consist of 86 students that divided into three classes (VIII1, VIII2, and VIII3). In selecting sample, the researcher used systematic sampling technique. The researcher collected the data by using gap filling test and writing recount text test because in this research, the researcher study about correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text. After the researcher know that there is a correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text, the researcher analyzed how many level correlation between two variables with prove it. The researcher correlated result from students’ mastery of past tenses test with result from students’ ability in writing recount text. Based on the correlation result, the researcher concluded that there is a positive correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text. It proves that r-counted (0.890) was bigger than r- table (0.374). Thus, students’ mastery of past tenses will influence when the students write a recount text.
Key words: Past Tenses, Recount Text, Writing
I. INTRODUCTION
There are four skills in learning a language. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They need other component such as grammar to support them. Without grammar, those skills will not be perfect. For example in writing, if the student wants to write a text but she/he does not understand about grammar, so she/he will not produce a good text.
According to Nordquist (2013:1), good writing simply means writing that contains no mistakes, that is, no errors of grammar, punctuation, or spelling. The students should be carefully in using grammar. The grammar should be appropriately with the text that the students write; in order the students can reveal the ideas in the text.
Thus, grammar gives much contribution in writing text.
In addition, grammar mastery is very important to write a text. Without the correct usage of grammar, the written text will not be understood by the reader because in writing form the students do not have direct interaction with reader like the students usually do in speaking.
Teaching writing at Junior High School is a process for students to make the texts.
Based on Curriculum KTSP 2006, the basic competence of teaching writing at Junior High School is the students expect to make short essay in many kinds of text for instances are narrative text, procedure text, descriptive text, recount text, and other. In this research, the researcher only discussed one of them. It was recount text.
Lewis (2002:4) explains that recounts are often written in the past tense, with events presented in chronological order. It can be said that recount text is a text that is written in past tense form. It is because the events that are presented in the recount text are some events that happened in the past.
Then, the events that retell in recount text must be written by sequence composed story. Thus, if the students want to write a recount text, they must comprehend about simple past tense. It is used to mention the events and experiences that happened in the past.
However, teaching writing at Junior High School is not an easy work for the teacher. In fact, there were a lot of problems faced by the students. Based on the pre-
2 observation at students of SMP N 01 Timpeh, it was found that most of students had difficulties to write the recount text.
The researcher assumes that it has correlate with students’ mastery of grammar, especially past tenses.
Because of the problem, the researcher was interested in doing research about the correlation between eight grade students’
past tenses mastery and their ability in writing recount text. The purpose of the research was to find out whether there is a significant correlation between students’
mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text at eight grade students of SMPN 1 Timpeh academic year 2014/2015. After that, the researcher finds out how much significant correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text and the researcher also find out there is the students’ mastery of past tenses influence to their ability in writing recount text.
The researcher is intended to know the correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text. The expectation of this research can give some benefit as follows:
1. The result of this research can give information to the English teacher about the significant correlation between mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text.
2. The result of this research can give information to the students about the significant correlation between mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text.
II. DISCUSSION
Grammar is very important to be learned by the students because through study about grammar those students can understand why and how grammar works in a language to convey the students’ mean. Then, the students understand about why and how grammar, so they can apply in daily communication.
In teaching writing recount text, the students should comprehend about the past tenses that they are sentence forms use in recount text. Based on the curriculum KTSP 2006, the students are expected to mastery simple past tense and past
continuous tense in order they can write a recount text.
Simple Past tense is a tense that verb in this tense to mention or tell all action that happened in the past. According to Alexander (1990:127), past tense use to describe action which happened in the recent or distant past and to describe past habit. It means that past tense can be used by the students to mention all of the events or experiences that happened in the past. It is also used to retell the events or experiences that usually did in the past.
Thus, past tense can be combined in other form of tenses.
There are two form of simple past tense;
they are nominal sentence and verbal sentence. According to Azar (2003:25) the simple past forms of be are was and were. It means that the simple past tense uses was or were to mention nominal sentence. The students can add was or were in creating simple past tense. It depended on the subject that used in the sentence. I divided to three forms are statement, negative and question. The students can add was or were after subject and they can add was not or were not to make negative sentence. After that students should be exchange was or were to the beginning.
The simple past tense is formed by using the simple past form of the verb. The simple past tense has two forms of verb;
they are regular verbs and irregular verbs.
Alexander (1990:126-127) states regular verbs always end with a –d in the simple past. However the writer does not always pronounce the –d ending in the same way.
It mean that regular verbs in past tense form usually adding by –d ending but the students cannot pronounce –d ending in the same manner. It is depended on the last letter and last voice of verb in past tense.
Alexander added his statement that we usually add –ed to the base form of the verb: I play – I played, I open – I opened.
Beside that, According to Alexander (1990:26), there are irregular past forms that divided to three parts. First, some irregular verbs have the same form in all parts. It means that the students can use some irregular verbs without exchange verb form from present, past, and continuous
3 because the form is same. Second, some change one part only. The students can exchange the verbs that are second and third forms are same form. Third, some change two parts.
As the symbol of simple past tense, the students can add the time signal. Azar (2006:225) supports that there are some time words which divided into three parts;
yesterday, last, and ago. First, yesterday is used with morning, afternoon, and evening.
Second, last is used with night, with long periods of time, season, day, and week.
Last, ago follows specific lengths of time.
Beside simple past tense form, Past continuous tense is a tense to describe activity that happened in the past at particular time. It supported by Azar (2006:278), past progressive or past continuous tense is one of tenses that describes an activity in progress at a particular time in the past. It can be say, if the students will describe an activity that happened in the past and add the particular time because it happened in particular time so they can use past continuous tense form.
According to Azar (2006:278), the past progressive uses the past forms of BE: Was or Were + -Ing. It can be say that past continuous tense was formed using two components. The verb BE (in the past tense) and –ING form of a verb.
Recount is the text that retells events or experiences that happened in the past.
According to Keir (2009:9), recount is a type of texts that tells the reader what happened in an informative or entertaining way. It means that the students can write a recount text to retell their activities or experiences in the past time. The students can choose an informative or entertaining way to retell their story. It is depend on their choice.
In teaching writing recount text, the teacher usually explain about types of recount text. The type of recount text is important to be known by the students in writing recount text. Because by students comprehend in type of recount text will help the students in writing recount text. It is additional information to the students know if there are some types of recount text.
Tulley, Jao, and Petkovska (2012:1) mention that different kinds of recount:
personal recount, factual recount, and imaginative recount. Firstly, personal recount is a text that retell about individual such as; diary/journal, autobiography, biography, and memoir. Secondly, factual recount is a text that retell about true activities or events happened in the past such as; describing an event, newspaper article, travelogue, etc. Lastly, imaginative recount is a text that retell about someone’
short life historical.
The experts not only defined about definition and types of recount text but also defined about some characteristic of recount text. There are some characteristics of a recount text that the students must know. The experts stated some characteristic of a recount text usually related with language feature that used in recount text. Annandale (2013:118) states that texts used to recount usually include the following language feature:
a. Nouns and pronouns that refer to specific participants, e.g., My family, William Lyon Mackenzie King, she, we, they.
b. Simple past tense, e.g., went, swam, sailed.
c. Mainly action verbs, e.g., went, discovered, led.
d. Linking words to do with time or sequence, e.g., then, next, first, after that.
e. Adverbs to indicate time and place, e.g., across the Pacific Ocean, down the street, in 1867.
f. Reported and direct speech, e.g., The fire chief reported that the fire had been deliberately set; Dad said, “Here we go.”
Lewis (2002:4) explains that recounts usually consist of orientation, events and reorientation. In teaching writing recount text, the students should explain the orientation firstly. Orientation is a scene stetting of recount text that it is can call by opening. Secondly, events are some incidents that someone happened in the past. Lastly, reorientation is the last part of
4 recount. Reorientation is containing closing statement. It can be said the generic structure of recount text consists of three parts; they are orientation (opening), events (content), and reorientation (closing statement).
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The design of this research was correlation study between students’ mastery of past tenses and students’ ability in writing recount text. This research involved two variables, students’ mastery of past tenses and students’ ability in writing recount text indicated the degree correlation between those variables. This statement supported by Gay and Airasian (2000:321) states that the purpose of a correlation study is to determine relationships between variables or to use these relationships to make prediction. It means that research collected the data in order to determine significant correlation between two variables.
In addition, this research was done at eight grade students of SMPN 1 Timpeh. In this study, the researcher used systematic sampling as the suitable technique to select sample. Gay and Airasian (2000:131) explain that systematic sampling is sampling in which individuals are selected from a list by taking every Kth name. if K = 4, selection involves taking every 4th name.
The data of this research found from used two kinds of instruments; they were gap filling test and writing recount test.
After the researcher got the all the data, researcher continued with did analyzed for the data. There were two kinds of instrument that would be analyzed; gap filling test and writing recount text. First, the data analyzed by scoring the students’
gap filling test. And second was data analyzed of writing recount text. The two instruments were very important to analyze because the purpose of this research to find out the correlation between two ability.
IV. RESULT
As mentioned in chapter III, this research was a kind of correlation research.
To calculate the coefficient correlation, the
researcher used the person r-formula. The number of students that taken as sample were 30 students (N=30). The sum were
∑X=1458, ∑Y=1687.5, ∑X²=83364,
∑Y²=102681.25, and ∑XY=90780. The data indicator an index correlation (r). 0.890 in the degree of freedom (ɑ.05) for the eighth grade students of SMP N 1 Timpeh Academic year 2014/2015. For clearly, look at the diagram below:
Correlation between Students’
Mastery of Past Tenses and Their Ability in Writing Recount Text
Based on the coefficient correlation, the strength of the correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text at eight grade students of SMP N 1 Timpeh Academic year 2014/2015 was r counted 0.890 was bigger than r table 0.374 for degree significant ɑ.05. So, this was the reason to reject Ho and Hi was accepted.
It means that the research of hypothesis found that there was positive effect between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text was supported by the data. In other words, it could be said that the correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text had very high correlation.
V. CONCLUSION A. Conclusions
The researcher has done the research to find out the correlation between students’
mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text at eight grade student of SMP N 1 Timpeh Academic year 2014/2015. This research was correlation research. The researcher used two kids of instrument to collect the data, there were gap filling test and writing recount text test.
0 20 40 60 80 100
0 10 20 30 40
Student s' …
5 The gap filling test used to get score of students’ mastery of past tenses and writing recount text test used to get score of students’ ability in writing recount text.
Based in the finding on previous chapter, the researcher had conclusion.
There was positive correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text at eight grade students of SMP N 1 Timpeh Academic year 2014/2015. It proved that r- counted was 0.890, then the research found the value of coefficient r- counted 0.890 and r- table was 0.374.
In conclusion, there was positive correlation between students’ mastery of past tenses and their ability in writing recount text at eight grade students of SMP N 1 Timpeh Academic year 2014/2015. On the other word, the students who have high mastery of past tenses get high score in writing recount text and the students who have low mastery of past tenses get low score in writing recount text.
B. Suggestion
In this research, the researcher would like to give some suggestion based on the result of this research, as follow; first, the teacher work together with the students to improve the students’ mastery of past tenses which expected could improve their writing recount text. Second, the researcher hope that this research can be useful for the researcher that as a candidate of English teacher. The researcher hope can improve students’ awareness about the important students’ mastery of past tenses that it can influence their writing recount text. Finally, in this research the researcher only selected 30 students to follow the test as samples.
So, the researcher suggest to the next researcher to select more than 30 samples as the large scope.
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