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AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN USING
ADJECTIVES ORDER
JOURNAL
KASMIYATI NPM: 10040349
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
COLLEGE OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION (STKIP) PGRI WEST SUMATERA
PADANG
2015
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AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN USING ADJECTIVE ORDER
Kasmiyati, M. Khairi Ikhsan, M.Pd, Yulmiati, M. Pd
English Education Program, STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, Jl. Gunung Pangilun Padang [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kemampuan siswa dalam menggunakan aturan mengurutkan beberapa kata sifat (adjectives order) dalam sebuah kalimat. Jenis penelitian ini adalah descriptive research yang menjelaskan bagaimana aturan-aturan penyusunan kata sifat yang diurutkan sesuai aturannya mulai dari dua kata sifat, tiga kata sifat, empat kata sifat, lima kata sifat, dan enam kata sifat. Instruments atau alat pada penelitian ini adalah sebuah tes berupa “Daily Test About Adjective Order” dalam melengkapi kalimat rumpang. Jumlah tes yang diberikan sebanyak 20 soal, terdiri dari 4 soal untuk 2 adjective order, 4 soal untuk 3 adjective order, 4 soal untuk 4 adjective order, 4 soal untuk 5 adjective order, dan 4 soal untuk 6 adjective order. Soal tersebut diujukan pada 34 siswa kelas sepuluh sebagai sampel pada penelitian ini di SMKN 6 Padang sumatera barat dalam waktu 90 menit. Dari hasil analisis data test tersebut ditemukan bahwa siswa kelas sepuluh tahun ajaran 2014/2015 memiliki kemampuan yang menengah dalam menggunakan aturan-aturan mengurutkan kata sifat (adjective order) dalam melengkapi kalimat. Data analisis menunjukkan bahwa 4 siswa memiliki persentase 12% dengan kemampuan tinggi, 14 siswa memiliki persentase 59%
dengan kemampuan menengah, 6 siswa memiliki persentase 18% dengan kemampuan sangat rendah, dan 21 siswa memiliki persentse 62% dengan kemampuan tinggi. Persentase tersebut dapat diinterpretasikan bahwa lebih dari setengah dari sampel tidak mampu menyelesaikan soal-soal tes dengan kualifikasi yang menengah (medium) untuk penggunaan aturan mengurutkan kata sifat (adjective order)
The purpose of this research is to analyzed of students’ ability in using adjective order in a sentence.
The type of this tresearch is descriptive research that explain how the rule of adjective order by the right rule. Its begin of two adjectives, three adjectives, four adjectives, five adjectives, and six adjectives. The instruments of this research is a test like “Daily test about adjective order” in completed the blank sentences. There were 20 items test, it consists four item test for two adjective order, four item test for three adjective order, four item test for four adjective order, four item test for five adjective order, and four item test for six adjective order. The participants of this research were 34 students of the tenth grade of SMKN 6 Padang. From analyzing the data it was found that the tenth grade students academic year 2014/2015 have medium ability in using adjective order in completed sentences. The data analysis show that 4 students got percentage 12% with very high ability, 14 students got percentage 59% with medium ability, 6 students got percentage 18% with very low ability, and 21 students got percentage 62% with high ability. Thos percentage can be interpreted that more than half of the sample were not able to finish the test by medium qualification for use the rules of adjective order.
Keywords: Adjective; Adjective Order; Rule Of Adjective
3 | P a g e INTRODUCTION
The demands of employment toward the excellent service and the customers’
comfort recently are also demanding education field attempts to make the students’ ability becomes well, especially in English communication. It is caused by English is an internationality recognize language primarily in careers or job fields. The excellent service prefers a good and comfortable communication. It intends that students have to learn English ideally by recognizing the rules and also the application. Thus, it is necessary for the teachers to consider about teach and recognize to the students about the English rules ideally in order to get a good application.
One of the educational field which focuses on development English communication in supporting excellent service in employment field is vocational high school.
As known that vocational high school is a formal educational system which prepares the students already to face employment field as the graduators. Furthermore, this school also prepares the students to master English for employment communication. This school learns the English rules ideally like the primarily of the English learning. In short, the rules is learnt and recognized to the students in order to make the students can apply English during communication well.
On the other hand, dealing to the vocational high school materials in curriculum KTSP (2006), the students of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera as a vocational high school learn some English subject materials related to recognize of the types of text and several written business communications which are used in each program. For example: dealing with the tenth grade English syllabus, students learn some text such as descriptive, recount and report text. Besides, students also learn some kinds of business letter and language expression which focus on each program of the school, such as hospitality program learn some written business communication like handling reservation and serving room.
Based on the researcher observation during teaching practice at SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera learn to write business letter
and factory report which focus on professional employers during conduct communication in employment field. Writing business letter and the factory report also involve certain writing skill practices which need to consider about describing the goods of the factory as the product. Therefore, the writing process will focus on providing the real condition of employment goods or product market conditions while the students learn at the classroom. The practices help students understanding the rules of each English business writing rule before start to apply the rules in conducting the practice writing a real employment communication. Thus, the students should teach and recognize about write and compile good sentences related to the employment needs.
The vocational high school writing materials are also related to compile good sentence by considering each part of speech which are used in the sentence in describing business conditions. Based on the English writing rules which recognizes about all words in English have been classified in eight parts of speech. As revealed by O'Dwyer (2006: 28) who states that part of speech is the smallest word or core unit of a word that can stand alone to produce meaning in lexical such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.
Part of speech is also part of language learning which includes the word, meaning, and how the elements are combined so that the words have a lexical meaning which in the word learning includes the grammatical unit.
In this study, the researcher identifies one kind of part of speech toward the placement in sentences, the word is adjectives.
The researcher identifies adjectives because this word class is almost does not recognized well by the students during learning English.
Furthermore, adjectives almost occur while vocational high school students conduct employment writing business letter and factory report practice in learning process. It is the reason that the students have to know the adjectives use to describe some important things in the factory in writing skill, for example in describing kinds of goods, complaining the broken goods and describing time or place for factory activities.
4 | P a g e The explanation above is clearly
stated in standard competence of KTSP (2006) in based competence number 1.2 which states the students should be able to order some things, people, characteristic, time, days, months, and years in daily life in spoken and written form. The based competence also include in the first indicators which states the noun and words are described should relate to clear characterize in the color, shape, origin, size, material, number and the quality. The purpose of the based competence in the curriculum is also clearly stated that the students should be able to order some adjective in the right place in writing sentences based on as number, opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material and purpose.
Furthermore, the students should master the adjectives order in writing first, before they come to the conversation.
In brief explanation, the vocational high school students have to understand about the rule of adjective order before they start to conduct employment conversation practice in written business communication materials. In this case, the researcher identifies the adjectives order in writing skill related to compile sentences. It is aimed to avoid the students’ hesitance when they have to describe a noun into detail in some sequence of adjectives. For example the students write an green China beautiful carpet, students feel the sound is good when they are ordering the adjective. Actually, based on the rule of adjective order, it should be an beautiful green China carpet. The ordering rule is begun by quality, color, origin and noun.
In short, based on the phenomenon which shows the importance of adjectives order material in vocational high school, the researcher identifies that the vocational high school students have to comprehend about the use of adjectives order in written business skill before they conduct written business communication practice, especially in conducting employment business writing practice during teaching learning process. It means that, students have to write the adjectives order in some sentences before they write business letter and factory report.
Therefore, based on the based competence in curriculum, the researcher interests to conduct a research dealing with the students’ ability in ordering adjectives made by tenth grade
students of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera, before they learn to write business letters and factory report.
RESEARCH METHOD
The researcher implemented descriptive research because the researcher wanted to describe the use of adjectives order by the tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang. According to Koul (2009:104) descriptive research were designed to obtain pertinent and information concerning the current status of phenomena and whenever possible to draw valid general conclusions from the facts discovered. Besides, the researcher analyzed the data of this research by using quantitative method because the data would collect in test score form. It was supported by Bursztyn (2007:181) who state that quantitative research method can take variety guises, including the most basic descriptive design. It can be said that descriptive research tries to find a proper and sufficient explanations of all the activities, objects, processes and people by using some numerical data analyze.
The Population was the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the researcher would like the result of the study to be generalized. Gay, Mills and Airasian (2012:129) point out that the performance of larger group in quantitative study was known as population. It means that population was the larger group of the research planning when the researcher conducts the research. Population of this research was the tenth grade of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatra.
The tenth grade of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatra.
Therefore there were twelve classes of tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang that consisted of 338 students. The researcher uses simple random sampling based on Gay, Mills and Airasian (2012:132) who also state that the desired sample size was 10% of the population, although this range would change with the size of the participant. The researcher would select the participants 10% of the 338 students. The participants that research were 34 students of tenth grade of SMKN 6 Padang.
Instrument was a tool for collecting the data. It was used by the researcher as a tool to get the data. There were some instruments
5 | P a g e that can be used in this research which
explained by Koul (2009: 106) who states that the descriptive type of research was useful in the development of data gathering instruments and tools like tests, checklists, schedules, questionnaires and rating scales. It also provides the background ideas and data from which many more refined or controlled studies of casual relations were made.
In this research, the researcher was going to choose test as instrument because test would assess the fact about students’
understanding of the adjectives order. It was also supported by Clay and Root (2001:52) who defines one purpose of a test was to asses how well students were achieving the stated goals and course objectives by conducting some kinds of test such as multiple choice, fill in the blank, arranging word into sentence and making sentences.
Based on the expert’s explanation, the researcher chose a kind of test arranging words, the order of adjectives exactly. The form of this test would make some sentences related to the pattern of adjectives order. The test would develop by 20 items, because based on the teachers’ daily examination document of SMKN 6 Padang, there were 20 item test develop for each material testing to the students every month after the material had explained to the students. Thus, the researcher also develops of the test in adjectives order from two until six ordering of adjectives.
Then, the students should arrange the adjectives based on the pattern of the adjectives order. Each classification of item test in two until six ordering of adjective can be seen in blueprint of the item test of this study.
Arranging words test was the instrument that would be distributed as the questions sheet to the students in order to get the data. The process of collecting the data through the test would be done by following these steps:
1. The first, the researcher distributed the questions sheet to the tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera in the classroom. It was aimed to get the students’ understanding about the adjectives order.
2. The second, the researcher explained about the direction in completing the test by modeling how to do the test with examples
before students write the test in the answer sheet.
3. The third, after the students completed to answer the test, the researcher collected the students’ answer sheet.
4. Then, the researcher would analyze the data that have gotten from the test.
5. The researcher would find out the each student’s understanding in using adjectives order in sentences.
Figure 2. Formula of Students’ ability percentage
Note: p = Percentage of student’ ability f = Frequency of student’ correct answer n = Total score for all items
Based on the result of the formula, the researcher then would find the students’
understanding in using adjectives order in sentences. For example, when a students get 17 correct items from 20 items, so the students get f=17. Then, n=20 for all the item scoring.
Thus, 17 was divided 20 was 0,85. Then, 0,85 was multiplied 100% and as the result the student get 85% percentage of his/her ability in ordering the adjectives in sentences.
Besides, the researcher also describes each student’s understanding percentage toward adjectives order based on the score of their answers. The result of the formula would help the researcher in finding percentage of each students understanding on adjectives order in sentences. The percentage was used in order to know the mean score of the students’ answer.
The percentage was classified based on score classification that formulated by Arikunto (2006:245)
Table 2: Classification Score
Percentage Classification 81% P 100% Very High
61% P 80% High
41% P 60% Medium
21% P 40% Low
0% P 20% Very Low
% 100 n x
p f
6 | P a g e FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This study was conducted to analyzed students’ ability in ordering adjectives in sentences at the tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera in 2014/2015 Academic year. The tenth grade students of the school consisted of six programs and twelve classes as detailed in the previous chapter. The data of this research was collected by giving complete the uncompleted sentence related to the adjective order test. The test gave to 34 students as the research sample which was chosen by using random sampling.
The students should work 20 items test which consisted by 4 each item of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ordering of adjectives which would complete the sentences.
The test was held by the researcher on August, 29th 2015 at 10.00 am until 11.30 am in room 31 of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatra.
The researcher gave explanation about the rules to order the adjectives with some examples. Then, the researcher explained the direction to fill the test sheet. Next, the researcher instructed students to work the task carefully. The students started to complete the sentences in the test sheet by using the adjectives which were provided in the uncompleted sentences. The students had to consider the adjectives order rules to fill the blank with the right form of the adjectives available in 90 minutes time. Next, the researcher collected the students’ work at 11.30 am. Last, the researcher also took some pictures while the data collection process runs at the class as physical evidence of the research.
The test about adjectives order was done to get the data about the students’ ability to order some adjectives in completing sentences. There were four classifications of adjectives order which were considered in two ordering of adjectives, three ordering of adjectives, four ordering of adjectives and five ordering of adjectives. Thus, the students should consider the adjective word class to ordering some of the adjectives in appropriate placement at the uncompleted sentences. The ordering of the adjectives should be start from number, opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material purpose and ended by a noun which was explained.
As the result of analysis data which was conducted by the researcher after the researcher collected the test, the researcher got findings about the students’ ability in ordering adjective to complete sentences. The researcher found that 4 students got very high scoring, 1 student got high scoring, 22 students got medium scoring and 7 students got low scoring. The students’ scoring was got by the researcher referred to the Arikunto (2006:245) the expert who stated about the students’ score classification.
From the analyzing of the data above, the researcher concludes the findings that:
a. The tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang West Sumatera in Academic year 2014/2015 made incorrect ordering of 4, 5, and 6 adjectives to describe a noun in sentences. The general percentage can be seen in the table below.
Table 10: Students’ Scoring Ability in ordering 4,5, and 6 adjectives
Percentage Students ability score 4 Adj. 5 Adj 6 Adj.
55,52% 37,5% 56,75% 49,92%
Medium Medium Low Medium
The table above clearly states that the ordering 4, 5, and 6 adjectives involved in the difficult part to be considered by the students in completing sentences related to adjectives order. The students were categorized into medium ability because the students got average 55,52% which was score in range 41% P 60% for 4 adjectives order. Then, the students were categorized into low ability because the students got average 37,5% which was score in range 21% P 40% for 5 adjectives order. Last, the students were categorized into medium ability because the students got average 56,75% which was score in range 41% P 60% for 4 adjectives order. Thus, the students’ ability in ordering 4, 5, and 6 adjectives in completing the sentences was categorized in Low ability or about 49,92%, because the incorrect ordering average score stated in range 21% P 40%
for 34 students. It indicated that most of students difficult to order the adjectives which used to describe a noun in the sentences.
7 | P a g e b. The tenth grade students of SMKN 6
Padang West Sumatera in Academic year 2014/2015 had medium ability in ordering 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 adjectives to describe a noun to complete sentences. The general percentage of students’ ability in ordering adjectives can be seen in the table below.
Table 11: Students’ Scoring Ability in ordering 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 adjectives
Percentage Students
ability score 2
Adj.
3 Adj.
4 Adj.
5 Adj.
6 Adj.
73,5
% 75, 75
%
55,52
%
37,5
%
56,7 5%
59,80 % Medium Hig
h Hig h
Medi um
Lo w
Me diu m
In generally, students stated in medium range ability of adjectives order, because from all the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 ordering of adjectives in 20 uncompleted sentences, the students stated the average score in 59,80%
which categorized into medium ability of adjective order with range 41% P 60%.
As the result, the average indicated that the students’ ability in ordering adjectives were in medium classification range.
CONCLUSION
Based on the finding of this research, it can be concluded that the tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang had medium ability in ordering some adjectives in completing uncompleted sentences. In this research, the researcher found that adjectives order is ordered two till three adjectives well by the tenth grade students. There are fives classification of adjectives which should be ordered by the students in completing the item test like two adjectives, three adjectives, four adjectives, five adjectives, and six adjectives.
The sample of this research was the tenth grade students of SMKN 6 Padang in 2014/2015 academic year. Researcher chose this population because they were the subject of adjectives order material. The students should try to master this skill while the class runs or the outside of the class. Thus, students should memorize the rules in ordering the adjectives well to complete the test related to the material. This research was conducted by
using descriptive research because, there searcher wants to analyze the students’ ability in applying the material.
Moreover, the researcher used 20 item tests to complete uncompleted sentences.
The items are divided into two order of adjectives, three order of adjectives, four order of adjectives, five order of adjectives and six order of adjectives. It is aimed to find the students’ ability in each categorize of the adjectives order. Then, based on the item test answers, the researcher found that the tenth grade students had high ability in ordering two, three and four adjectives order, but they had low ability in ordering more than four adjectives order. There found difference frequently in the using more than four adjective in students’ score toward the students test answer. Generally, students had medium ability in ordering some adjectives to describe a noun in sentences. It is caused by the students are ordered two to four adjectives well, but they failed in ordering more than four adjectives. As the result, the average score shows that the students had medium ability for all adjectives order.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In this research, the writer would like to express her deepst gratitude to first advisors M. Khairi Ikhsan, M. Pd, and secopnd advisors Yulmiati, M. Pd who gave their valuable time, guidance, suggestion, support, and comment during the process to finishing this thesis.
REFERENCES
Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2009. Dasar – dasarEvaluasiKependidikan. Jakarta:
BumiAksara
Bursztyn, Alberto, M. 2007. The Praeger Handbook of Special Education.
Westport: Preager Publisher.
Clay, Ben and Root, Esperanza. 2001. Is This A Trick Question? A Short Guide to Writing Effective Test Questions.Kansas State Department of Education.
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W. 2012. Educational Research:
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