AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH WRITING
OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ OF TIDAR UNIVERSITY
MAGELANG IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015
Submitted as the Final Assigment of Research Methodology
DISUSUN
Oleh :
Bondan Eri Christianto
NIM: 2013083008
PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS
PASCASARJANA UNIVERSITAS SARJANAWIYATA TAMANSISWA
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1
A. Background of the Study
1
B. Identification of the Problem
2
C. Limitation of the Problem
3
D. Formulation of the Problem
3
E. Objective of the Study
4
F. The Significance of the Study
4
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
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A. Literature Review
5
1. Errors
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a. Definitions of Error
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b. The Difference between Error and Mistake
5
c. Sources of Errors
6
d. The Types of Errors
7
e. The Cause of Errors
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f. Error Analysis
12
2. Writing
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a. Definition of Writing
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b. The Components of Writing
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c. The Characteristics of Good Writing
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d. The Writing Process
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B. Theoretical Framework
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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A. Type of the Research
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B. Data and Data Sources
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C. Sampling Technique
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D. Data Collection Technique
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E. Technique of Data Analysis
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F. Procedures of Data Analysis
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Writing is one of the basic skills that must be mastered by the L2 learners,
as by writing they are able to deliver their ideas more clearly. Writing skill is
critically important to school success for young people, and it is deemed by society
to the central importance as a basic. Writing is considered to be the most difficult
to master since it needs competence in expressing ideas including the content,
organization, style, grammar and mechanics. Writing is not a singular skill and it is
used to convey ideas and finally, writing endures over time. Writing clear
sentences requires the learners to learn the rules of English grammar and
mechanics such as the correct use of verbs and pronouns, as well as commas and
other marks of punctuation. There are various ways to organize the sentences in a
piece of writing. The grammatical theory of learning to write hypothesizes that
knowledge of structures and the rules of combining them will result in students
becoming writer.
Writing is a difficult skill in studying English. In the process of learning,
Indonesian students surely make errors. It is understandable since the rule of
Bahasa Indonesia and English is different. The students still have problems in
constructing sentences. Most of them sometimes use Indonesian pattern in writing
English sentences. They are still influenced by their mother tongue. They are still
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confused to differentiate between Indonesian and English pattern. To study
grammar needs a long time, because English is a foreign language.
Regardless the different systems between English and Indonesian,
students are expected to be able to use the rules of both languages correctly in
writing. Based on this statement, the researcher will conduct a research entitled,
“An Error Analysis of English Writing of English Department Students’ of Tidar
University in the Academic Year 2014/205”.
B. Identification of the Problem
English Department students still make errors in their writing, especially
the students who do not have enough knowledge of language to express what they
want to write. They find it difficult to make English writing that are correct and
acceptable. The main cause is that foreign language writing is linguistically
different in many ways from native language writing. Besides, writing skill also
cannot be acquired in a short time. It requires the students to understand the
content, organisational structure, vocabulary, language use and mechanics.
Because of that, they still make errors when they have to express or describe
something in English.
Errors play an important role in learning a foreign language. From the
errors that students make, one can determine their level of mastery of language
system and discover what they still have to learn. Foreign language teachers
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should realize errors made by the students. They should analyse the errors and
locate the source of these errors.
Based on the background above there are many problems that arise and
they can be identified as follows:
1. What are the common errors in English writing made by the English
Department students?
2. What kinds of errors do the students most probably make?
3. What are the factors that influence students’ errors in English writing?
4. What are the ways to minimize students’ errors?
C. Limitation of the Problem
Based on the identification of the problems, it is impossible to cover all
the problems in learning English as the second language. It is limited to a
comparison of students’ errors in English writing. The research subject are the
second, the fourth and the sixth semester students of the English Department of
Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Tidar University in the Academic Year
2014/2015.
D. Formulation of the Problem
To make this problem which will be investigated more specific, the
researcher states the problems as follows :
1. What kind of errors occur in English writing made by the students of English
Department of Tidar University.
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2. What are the possible causes of these errors.
E. Objective of the Study
The objectives of the research can be stated as follows :
1. To describe the common errors in English writing made by the students of
English Department of Tidar University.
2. To describe the possible causes of the common errors in English writing made
by the students of English Department of Tidar University.
F. The Significance of the Study
There are some expected advantages of the study for the lecturer and the
students :
1. It will hopefully make the lecturer knows the common errors made by the
students in English writing and discuss the problems with the lecturers to
provide better teaching and learning processes to avoid the repetition of the
errors.
2. It will hopefully make the students understand the common errors in Englishwriting. So they will have some solutions to overcome the difficulties.
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Literature Review
1. Errors
a. Definitions of Error
Errors are something done wrong or conditions of being wrong in
belief or conduct. (Hornby, 1986 : 290). A learner makes errors because
he/she has not internalized well the formation rules of the language being
learned. In other word, a learner makes error because of his/her imperfect
knowledge of the formation rules of the language being learned and
therefore the utterances or sentences produced are unacceptable.
The study of error dealing with the language teaching either L1
teaching or L2 teaching are very important. The errors made by the
students can be explained through the error analysis in detail. A study of
error can explain the background, the origins and the kinds of error. They
are used as a feedback for improving the language teaching. The main goal
of error study is to make the language teaching more effective and
efficient.
b. The Difference between Error and Mistake
According to Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error) :
“in linguistics, it is considered important to distinguish errors from mistakes.
Distinction is always made between errors and mistakes where the former is seen
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as resulting from learner's lack of proper grammatical knowledge and the latter as
being failed to utilize a known system correctly.”
Error is different from mistake in that it reflects “learner’s
competence”, while mistakes occur because of some other causes such as
“false start, fatigue, short memory or other physical and emotional
conditions”.
Errors can be used as a measurement to reveal the degree of
mastery of L2. Therefore, to reveal learner’s language mastery linguists
devise error analysis study (EA) which tries to reveal what systems a
learner has mastered and which are still in the process of learning.
c. Sources of Errors
The procedure of error analysis are used to identify error in L2
learners production data, the final step is to determine the source of the
errors. There are some sources :
1. Interlingual Error
It has been explained before that in learning a second or foreign
language, interference of L1 can create the errors in learning L2.
Possible interference can be predicted partly from the knowledge of
difference between L1 and L2 as revealed by contrastive analysis. Dulay
(1982 : 108) defines the interlingual errors as simply refer to the L2
errors that reflect native language. Richards (1974 : 173) says that
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interlanguage error is caused by learners’ inability to separate the two
languages.
2. Intralingual Error
Intralingual errors have nothing to do with the learners’ natural
languages background, but they are caused by problems inherent within
the target language. This type of error will be made by students with
varying natural language backgrounds. Soejono (1995 : 16) states that
one of the major contributions of error analysis is its recognition sources
of errors that extend beyond just the interlingual errors in learning a
target language.
So, the incorrect generalization of rules within the target language is
a major factor in second language learning. These errors show the inability
at a certain level in understanding English. Richards (1974 : 173) states that
intralingual error is found in English itself. The errors are caused by the
failure to learn the condition under which the rules are applied.
d. The Types of Errors
Dulay, Burt, and Krasher (1982:138) state that there are four
taxonomies that important to consider, those are : the linguistic category
taxonomy, the surface strategy taxonomy, the comparative taxonomy, and
the communicative effect taxonomy.
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1. Linguistic Category Taxonomy
According to linguistic category, errors are classified based on the
language component or particular linguist constituent who is affected by
the errors. Language components include phonology, syntax, semantic,
and discourse. Constituents include the elements that comprise each
language component. (Burt and Kiparsky, 1972).
2. Surface Strategy Taxonomy
The Surface Strategy Taxonomy shows the ways surface structure is
changed. There are four kinds of errors in this taxonomy, namely :
a. Omission
The first type, omission, is characterized by the absence of one or
more items that must appear in a well-formed phrase or sentence.
Example : I saw sun this morning.
It should be : I saw the sun this morning.
b. Addition
It is characterized by the presence of one or more items which must
not appear in a well-formed phrase or sentence, such an error usually
occurs in the later stages of second language acquisition when the
learner has already finished in acquiring some rules of the target
language.
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Example : A one hour.
It should be : One hour.
c. Misformation
It is characterized by the use of wrong form of elements in a phrase
or sentence. In omission errors, the items are not supplied at all,
while in misformation errors, the items supplied are incorrect.
Example : They can do the assignment correct.
It should be : They can do the assignment correctly.
d. Misordering
This last type is characterized by the incorrect placement of one or
more items in a phrase or sentence. Such error may occur for both
source language and target language.
Example : I don’t know where are the books.
It should be : I don’t know where the books are.
3. Comparative Taxonomy
The classificationof errors in this taxonomy is based on comparisons
between the structure of of the target errors and certain other types of
constructions. There are two categories:
a. Development Errors
Development errors (Richard, 1985 and Ellis, 1987 called first
development goofs) illustrate the learners attempting to build up
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hypothesis about the English language from his/her limited
experience in the classroom or text book.
Example : We not doing the task now.
It should be : We are not doing the task now.
b. Interlingual Errors
Interlingual errors (Richard, 1985 and Ellis, 1987 called interlingual
like goofs) are errors caused by the interference of the learners’
mother tongue toward second language that are learned by the
learners.
Example : I go to the market every day Monday.
It should be : I go to the market every Monday.
4. Communicative Effect Taxonomy
Based on communicative effect taxonomy, errors are classified into :
a. Global Errors
Global errors are errors that affect overall sentence organization and
cause misunderstanding.
The most systematic global errors includes:
(1) Wrong of major constituents
Example: English language use many people
It should be : Many people use English language
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(2) Missing or wrong sentence connector
Example : We are not eat, we hungry.
It should be : If we do not eat, we will be hungry.
b. Local Errors
Local errors are errors that affect single elements in a sentence
usually does not hinder communication significantly.
Example : Why like we each other?
It should be : Why do we like each other?
e. The Cause of Errors
According to Norrish (1983), there are some possible causes of
errors. He proposes the following items as the causes of errors:
1. Carelessness
Carelessness is closely related to the lack of motivation.
2. First language Interferences
If language is a set of habits, then when people try to learn new habits,
the old one will interference with the new ones. This is called “mother
tongue interference”. Brown (1987) states that principal barrier to L2
acquisition is the interference of the L1 system with the L2 system.
3. Translation
Word-by-word translation of idiomatic expression in the learners’ first
language can produce some errors.
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f. Error Analysis
The errors made by the students in learning second language are
considered as their important part of learning process because their errors
can be studied to know their weaknesses in learning the language. Besides
that, students can make effort to improve their language learning by
dimishing those errors. (Dulay, 1992 : 138).
The lecturers of second language should realize that students’ errors
need to be analyzed carefully for their possibility in getting some keys to
the understanding of the process of second language acquisition. By
analyzing the errors made by the students systematically, the insight of
how the language is learnt maybe gained.
Tarigan (1988 : 67) says that :
“kesalahan berbahasa mempengaruhi pencapaian tujuan pengajaran bahasa.
Bahkan ada pernyataan ekstrem mengenai kesalahan berbahasa itu yang berbunyi,
“Kesalahan berbahasa yang dibuat oleh siswa menunjukkan bahwa pengajaran
tidak berhasil. Oleh karena itu kesalahan berbahasa yang sering dilakukan siswa
harus dikurangi”. Hal itu baru dapat dicapai setelah kesalahan berbahasa dapat
dikaji secara mendalam, pengkajian itu disebut dengan istilah analisis kesalahan”.
Furthermore, Ellis in Tarigan (1988 : 68) says that error analysis is
work procedure which consists
of collecting samples, identifying the
errors in samples, describing the errors, classifying the errors based on the
errors sources and evaluating the errors level that can provide significant
insight into how the language is actually learned.
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It is interesting to analyze the errors in learning first (Indonesian) or
second language (English) because the students’ first language can
influence in learning the target language. Dulay (1982 : 138) says that error
analysis has yielded insight into the target language acquisition process.
Hence, the errors made by the students are the important data in in showing
their competence in practising the target language.
Tarigan (1988 : 301) states that the interference of the first language
or mother tongue becomes the most important error causation in practising
L2. Contrastive analysis between L1 and L2 is needed for the basic
preparation teaching material and test. It can be assumed that :
1. The major cause of errors in second language (English) learning is
interference coming from the Indonesian as the first language.
2. Learning difficulties are the differences between L1 and L2 patterns.
3. Greater differences cause more serious problems.
The first step in the process of analysis is the identification and
description of errors.
2. Writing
a. Definition of Writing
Writing is an important skill in language learning. For a learner,
writing is also an opportunity to convey something, to communicate ideas
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to people beyond their immediate vicinity, to learn something that they do
not know yet, and to reach other purposes.
According to Hornby (1955: 83), there area several definitions of
writing, they are:
1. a. The activity or occupation of writing, e.g. stories or article
b. Books, stories, articles
c. The literary style of such material
2. written works, e.g. books or essays
3. the general activity or skill of writing
4. written or printed words
5. the way in which person make letters when writing
Brown (2000) says that writing is the ability of decoding ideas of
feeling in written codes. There should be purposed to communicate with the
readers, to express ideas without pressure and to explore experience.
According to those explanation, it can be concluded that writing is
the ability of expressing ideas, and thought and feeling to the the other people
in written symbols to make them understand what are conveyed.
b. The Components of Writing
Jacobs (1981:58) states that there are five (5) significant components
of writing. They are :
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1. Content
There are at least two things which can be measured in connection with
content; the points that are presented and formal signals given the reader to
guide in understanding the topic fully.
2. Organization
The process of organizing the materials in writing involves coherence,
order of importance, general to specific, specific to general, chronological
order and special order patterns.
3. Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one of the language aspects dealing with the process of
writing. The process of writing is the process when the writer always thinks
about putting words into sentence and then sentences into paragraph and
with these we construct whole essay and story. We use special words,
phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that relate to each other. The result is a
strecth of language that we have composed writing. It is clear now that we
cannot write or express our ideas if we lack of vocabulary.
4. Language Use
For language use in writing, it involves correct usage and points of
grammar. Grammar is one of important components in writing. It governs
the utterances that we produce to be right and orderly. Therefore it has
great influence in the quality of writing.
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5. Mechanics
Mechanics of writing deals with capitalization, spelling and punctuation.
c. The Characteristics of Good Writing
Adhelestein and Pival (1980:42) stated that there are some
characteristics of good writing as follows:
1.
It reflects the writers’ ability to use appropriate voice. Eventhough all
good writings convey the sounds of talking else, the voice must also suit
purpose and audience of the occasion.
2.
It reflects the writers’ ability to organize the material into coherent whole
so that it moves logically.
3.
It reflects the writers’ ability to write the interest reader in the subject and
to demonstrate a thought and sounds understanding of it.
4.
It reflects the writers’ ability to spell and puncture accurately and to check
word meaning and grammatical relationship within the sentences.
d. The Writing Process
The most effective way to learn to write is to go at it as a process.
1.
Pre-Writing
It comes to stand for all preparations the writer makes before the
beginning to write or draft. This stage includes perceiving a subject,
determining a point of view toward that subject, defining the purpose and
the audience, gathering information, and choosing the best form.
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2.
Drafting
It helps the writer to put the words, sentences, and paragraphs on a paper.
It is intended to help the writer make a preliminary survey of the area the
subject of our our minds.
3.
Sharing
This is the most important thing to do. The writer needs somebody else to
read and give feedback to his work.
4.
Revising
Revising is the same thing as drafting. The writer looks at what is already
on the page and decides whether he needs to change into contents and
ordering.
5.
Editing
Editing is dealing with the surface errors like grammar, spelling,
punctuation. The writer must eliminate the surface errors and make sure
he uses appropriate verbs and correct sentences.
6.
Re-writing
Re-writing is the writing project that includes the revising and editing the
results.
7. Evaluation
Evaluation is checking to make sure about the writing that the writer has
reached the best writing.
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B. Theoretical Framework
In learning English, Indonesian learners have already acquired the
Indonesian language. Moreover, the language has been used for the media of
insruction in all levels of schools in Indonesia. So, Indonesian learners have been
accustomed to speak Indonesian in their daily life.
As already explained in the literature review, many errors show the
influence of mother tongue and other language possessed by the learners. The
researcher then concludes that the Indonesian learner’s English is also influenced
by the language that they have already acquired. Because of the differences
between certain system of the Indonesian language and certain system of the
English language, Indonesian learners will have difficulties in learning English.
Probably they tend to use certain structure of the English. In other words, they
tend to make negative transfer.
Writing is actually complex activities in the use of language since it is
concerned with the study of lexico-grammatical structure, communication and
cultural context of the source language and the target language. Because of that
reason, the researcher research concerns with the errors made by the students in
writing English.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Type of the Research
On this quantitative research, the researcher wants to know the errors
made by the students in writing English texts. The basic concern of this research
is to identify the errors, investigate and find out the possible problems that they
have faced and give some suggestions for the lecturer and the students.
B. Data and Data Sources
Research instrument is a mean by which something is performed or
affected, and is a device for precise measurement. The instrument used to collect
data in this research is a test about grammatical in translation.
According to Suharsimi (1998 : 128), a test is any of series of questions
or exercises to measure skill, knowledge, intelligence, capacity or attitude of an
individual or a group. A test can be in the form of true-false, multiple choice,
matching, completion or essay.
To collect the data, the researcher used a writing activities as the technique
of data collection. The students have to write an English texts. The texts consists
of 75-100 sentences. . The researcher uses the instrument for collecting data
because in that way the reseacher can analyze the errors in English writing easily.
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C. Sampling Technique
Research subject which becomes the whole population of the research is
usually called population. Suharsimi (1998 : 102) says that population is the
research subject. In addition, Sutrisno Hadi (1980 : 70) states that population is
the reality of sample which is going to be generalized.
The population of this research is the second, the fourth and the sixth
semester students of English Department of Tidar University in the Academic
Year 2014/2015. The researcher takes the students from those classes to make
comparison on the students ability in writing English and the errors which they
make in their writing.
D. Data Collection Technique
The data of this research are the errors analyses in English writing
perceived by the students of of English Department of Tidar University. The data
are collected by careful observation on the students’ works.
In collecting the data, the researcher uses a research instrument, that is the
writing activities. The instruction for the students should be made as clearly as
possible in order that the students fully understand the instruction. There are four
steps that are carried out by the researcher :
1. Preparing the research instrument.
2. The explanation for doing the activities.
3. Giving the activities in 90 minutes.
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4. Collecting the students’ works.
E. Technique of Data Analysis
The technique used in this research is descriptive analysis. Descriptive
analysis functions as a technique used to describe something in details. It means that
the data were analyzed and described in details to know the errors made by the
students in their writing English. In this research, the researcher tries to list, identify,
and describe them. It is descriptive since the errors will be identified and described in
the form of category, in this case the type of errors, and the causes of errors.
F. Procedures of Data Analysis
The main steps in analyzing the data are as follows:
1. Identifying of the errors
The researcher identified errors that are made by the students. In this case is
reading every the student‟s sentences carefully and marked each error.
2. Presenting the description of the errors
The errors are classified into categories. In classifying errors, the researcher
uses the linguistic category taxonomy and the surface strategy taxonomy. The
description of the data is presented including the examples of the errors taken
from the data as sample of each category of errors.
3. Interpreting the errors
The researcher interprets the errors based on the data of errors analysis from
each error.
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4. Finding the cause errors
The researcher found the causes of the errors based on the comparative category
taxonomy.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adhelstein, M.F and J.G Pival. 1980. The Writing Commitment. Second Edition. New
York: Hart Court Craze Jovanivich, Inc.
Arikunto, Suharsimi. 1998. Prosedur Penelitian : Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta
: Rineka Cipta.
Brown, H.D. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plains,
NY :Longman.
Ellis, R. 1985. Understanding Eighth Language Acquisition.Oxford : Oxford
University Press
Fitikides, T.J. 2002. Common Mistakes in English : Sixth Edition. New York:
Longman.
Jacobs, Holly L. 1981. Testing ESL Composition : A Practical Approach. London :
New Bury House Publisher.
Hadi, Sutrisno. 1980. Metodology Research. Yogyakarta : Gadjah Mada University
Press.
Hancock, Paul. 2001. Common Errors in English. Penguin Quick Guides. New York:
Longman.
Hornby, AS. 1955. Guide to Pattern and Usage in English. The English Language
Book Society. Oxford University Press.
Murphy, Raymond. 1985. English Grammar in Use. London : Cambridge University
Press.
Norrish, J. 1983. Language Learners and Their Errors. London : Macmillan Press.
Parera, J.D. 1994. Linguistik Edukasional. Jakarta : Penerbit Erlangga.
Richard, Jack C. 1974. Error Analysis: Perspective on Second Language Acquisition.
Essex: Longman.
Soejono. 1995. Metode Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris dari Masa ke Masa. Semarang :
IKIP Semarang Press.
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Tarigan, H.G. 1988. Pengajaran Kedwibahasaan. Bandung : CV Angkasa.
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