THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE … · Ngawi, 16 Mei 1985 t06014000423 Pendidikan...

THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE

SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF MTS Al-MURSYIDIYYAH

IN USING ENGLISH TENSES

A “Skripsi”

Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training in a Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of S.Pd (Bachelor of Arts) in

English Language Education

By:

Rina Wulandari

106014000423

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLIH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA

2011

THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE SECONDGRADE STTJDENTS OF MTs AL.MURSYIDTVYAH IN USING ENGLISH

TENSES

A "Skripsi"

Presented to the Faculty of rarbiyah and reachers' Training in partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of s. Pd. @achelor of Arts) in English Language Education

RJNA WULANDARINIM: 106014000423

Approved by:

Advisor,

Drs. Nasrun Mahmud. M.Pd.^IIP. 150 041070

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATIONFACULTY OF T.ARBTYAH AND TEACHERS' TRAINING

SYARTF HIDAYATULLAH STATE TSLAMIC T]NIVERSTTYJAKARTA

201r

ENDORSEMENT SHEET

The examination committee of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training

certifies that the 'Skripsi' entitled "The Analysis of the Comrmon Errors Made by

the Second Grade Students of MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah in Using English Tenses",

written by Rina Wulandari, student's registration number: 106014000423 was

examined by the committee on December 23'd 2011 and was declared to have

fulfilled one of the requirements for the degree of S.Pd in English Language

Education at the Department of English Education.

I akarta, December 28th 201 1

Examination Committee

Chairman Drs. Syauki. M.Pd

NIP. 1964 I2t2 t99I 031002

Neneng Sunengsih. M.Pd

NrP. 1973 0625 t999 03200r

Secretary

Examiner I Drs.H.Sunardi Kartowisastro. Dipl.Ed ---..--- _ ^ z-. e_ t/.

NrP. 1944 0719 796510 2 00r

Examiner II Drs. Syauki. M.Pd

NIP. 1964 12121991 031002

Acknowledged by:

Dean of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training

Nurlena{ifa' i . Ph.D

NIP. 195910201986032 001

DEPARTEMEN AGAMAUIN JAKARTAFITKJI. lf. H. Juanda t'lo 95 Cioutat 15412 lrtuMia

FORM (FR)

No. Dokumen : FITK-FR-AKD-089

Tgl.Terbit : 1Maret2010No. Revisi: : 01Hal 1t1

SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI

Saya yang bertanda tan

Nama

TempaVTgl.Lahir

NIM

Jurusan / Prodi

Judul Skripsi

THE ANALYSIS

gan di bawah ini,

Rina Wulandari

Ngawi, 16 Mei 1985

t06014000423

Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

OF THE COMMOM ERRORS MADE BY THE SECOND

GRADE STT]DENTS OF MTS AL-MURSYIDIYYAII

IN USING ENGLISH TENSES

Dosen Pembimbing : Drs. Nasrun Mahmud. M.Pd.

dengan ini menyatakan bahwa skripsi yang saya buat benar-benar hasil karya sendiri dan

saya bertanggung jawab secara akademis atas apa yang saya tulis.

Jakarta, 03 Januan}Al?Mahasiswa Ybs.

Rina WulandariNIM. 106014000423

i

ABSTRACT

WULANDARI, RINA. 2011, The Analysis of the Common Errors Made by the

Second Grade students of MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah in Using English Tenses,

Skripsi, English Education Department, Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’

Training, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.

Key words: Error Analysis , English Tenses

This study is purposed to measure the errors made by students in using

English tenses, tested for the second grade of MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah Pamulang

South Tangerang at odd semester academic year 2010/2011. Through this study, it

can be known which one of the tenses items is too easy, moderate, and difficult

for the students.

This study is included in quantitative research because the researcher

uses some numerical data which are analyzed statistically. Also, this study is

categorized as descriptive analysis because it is intended to describe the objective

condition about the errors made by the second grade of MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah

South Tangerang in using English tenses at odd semester academic year

2010/2011.

The findings of this study are that some students still have not understood

well the rule and the usage of those tenses even though they have just learnt.

Simple Present Tense as the basic tenses becomes the item with the highest

frequency of error that reaches up to 47.20%. Then Present Progressive Tense

with 39.94% frequency of error, Past Progressive Tense with 37.8% frequency of

error, Simple Past Tense with 37.3% frequency of error, Simple Future Tense

with 35.5% and the lowest frequency of error made by the second grade of MTs

Al-Mursyidiyyah is Future Progressive Tense with 28.3%. It can be concluded

that the students found difficulty in identifying tenses test.

The result of this item analysis research can give the information about

which material of tenses or problem the English teachers should focus more in the

classroom in order to make the students ready for study English tenses in their

learning proccess.

ii

ABSTRAK

WULANDARI, RINA. 2011, The Analysis of the Common Errors Made by the

Second Grade students of MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah in Using English Tenses,

Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan

Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Kata kunci: Menganalisa Kesalahan, Tensis.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur kesalahan siswa kelas dua MTs

Al-Mursyidiyyah Pamulang Tangerang Selatan dalam penggunaan tenses pada

semester ganjil tahun ajaran 2010/2011. Dengan penelitian ini, dapat diketahui

tenses mana saja yang terlalu mudah, sedang dan sulit.

Penelitian ini termasuk dalam penelitian kuantitatif karena peneliti

menggunakan beberapa data numerik yang dianalisis secara statistik. Penelitian

ini juga dikategorikan sebagai analisis deskriptif karena penelitian ini

menggambarkan kondisi objektif mengenai tingkat kesalahan siswa kelas dua

MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah Pamulang Tangerang Selatan dalam penggunaan tensis

pada semester ganjil tahun ajaran 2010/2011.

Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa sebagian siswa masih belum faham

tentang cara dan penggunaan tensis meskipun siswa baru belajar tentang tensis

tersebut. Tingkat kesalahan tertinggi pada Simple Present Tense mencapai

47.20%, kemudian Present Progressive Tense dengan prosentase 39.94 %, Simple

Past Tense memiliki tingkat prosentase kesalahan sebesar 37.3 %, Simple Future

Tense dengan prosentase sebesar 35.5 %, dan tingkat kesalahan terendah pada

Future Progressive Tense dengan prosentase kesalahan sebesar 28.3%. Bisa

disimpulkan bahwa siswa masih menemukan kesulitan dalam mengidentifikasikan

dan menggunakan tensis bahasa Inggris.

Hasil dari penelitian analisa kesulitan siswa ini dapat memberikan

informasi mengenai materi tensis atau masalah mana saja yang perlu mendapat

perhatian lebih dari guru bahasa inggris dalam kegiatan belajar mengajar untuk

mempersiapkan siswa dalam mempelajari tensis selama proses belajar

berlangsung.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Praise and gratitude be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Who has given the

Mercy and Blessing to the writer, so that this “Skripsi” can be finished

completely. Peace and Salution to our prophet Muhammad SAW.

On this occasion, the writer would like to express her greatest appreciation,

honor, gratitude and love to her beloved mother, father, brother and also to her

sister, who given her many inspiration. She thanks to papa for his prayer,

guidance, patience, and encouragement to motivate the writer to finish her study.

The writer would like to express her highest appreciation and gratitude to all

lecturers of English Education Department, for teaching the precious knowledge,

sharing the values of life and giving the unforgettable study experiences.

The writer also would like to express her gratitude to Mr. Drs. Nasrun

Mahmud, M.Pd. as the writer’s advisor who had kindly spent his time to give his

valuable advice, guidance, corrections, and suggestions in composing this

“Skripsi.”

The writer dedicates many thank the Headmaster and the English teachers of

“MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah Pamulang, who had given the permission to the writer to

do the research there.

Her gratitude also goes to Mr. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd. the Head of English

Education Department, Ms. Neneng Sunengsih, S.Pd. the Secretary of English

Education Department. Also, her thanks is given to the staffs of English Education

Department, who always gives excellent service and contribution to the writer.

Her gratitude also to Ms. Dra. Nurlena Rifa’i, Ph.D. the acting dean at

Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training State Islamic University Syarif

Hidayatullah.

The writer would like to express her thanks and love to all his beloved friends

for sharing their knowledge, support, and time in accomplishing this “Skripsi” and

for the wonderful friendship while studying together.

Finally, the writer realizes that this “Skripsi” is still far from being perfect.

Constructive criticism and suggestion would be welcomed to make it better.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................ i

ABSTRAK........................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................. iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................... v

LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................. viii

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION.......................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study........................................... 1

B. Limitation of the Study.............................................. 2

C. Statement of the Problem........................................... 3

D. Method of the Study............................................... 3

E. Organization of the Study........................................... 3

CHAPTER II : THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK............................... 5

A. Grammar..................................................................... 5

1. Definition of Grammar........................................ 5

2. Types of Grammar............................................... 5

B. Tenses......................................................................... 6

1. Definition of Tenses............................................. 6

2. Kinds and Uses Tenses........................................ 7

a. Present Tense.................................................. 7

1) Simple Present Tense................................. 7

2) Present Progressive Tense......................... 8

3) Present Perfect Tense ................................ 8

4) Present Perfect Progressive Tense............. 9

b. Past Tense....................................................... 9

1) Simple Past Tense...................................... 9

2) Past Progressive Tense.............................. 10

3) Past Perfect Tense.......................................10

4) Past Perfect Progressive Tense...................10

c. Future Tense....................................................11

vi

1) Simple Future Tense................................ 11

2) Future Progressive Tense......................... 11

3) Future Perfect Tensr............................... 11

4) Future Perfect Progressive Tense............ 12

C. Error Analysis............................................................. 12

1. Definition of Error analysis.................................... 12

2. Source of Error....................................................... 13

a. Interlingual Transfer......................................... 13

b. Intralingual Transfer......................................... 13

c. Context of Learning.......................................... 14

d. Communication Strategies................................ 14

3. Steps in Error Analysis........................................... 14

a. Error Detection.................................................. 14

b. Locating Error................................................... 14

c. Describing Error................................................ 15

d. Classifying Error............................................... 15

e. Counting Error.................................................. 15

4. Grammatical Areas of Error................................... 15

a. Verb Tense........................................................ 16

1) Present Tense Form................................... 16

2) The Past Tense Form................................. 17

3) The Future Tense Form............................. 18

b. Personal Pronoun.............................................. 18

1) Nominative and Objective Case Pronouns.19

2) Possessive Case Pronouns........................ 20

c. Sentence Pattern................................................ 20

1) Simple Sentence......................................... 21

2) Compound Sentence.................................. 21

3) Complex Sentence..................................... 21

5. Differences between Error and Mistake................ 21

vii

CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS... 23

A. Research Methodology.............................................. 23

1. Purpose of Research............................................. 23

2. Time and Location................................................ 23

3. Population and Sample.......................................... 23

4. Instrument of Research.......................................... 24

5. Technique of Data Analysis............................... 24

B. Research Findings...................................................... 24

1. Data Description.................................................... 24

2. Data Analysis......................................................... 26

3. Data Interpretation................................................. 35

CHAPTER IV : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION......................... 37

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................. 39

APPENDICES..................................................................................................... 40

viii

LIST OF TABLES

1. Table 2.1 (The Four Forms of Tenses) ..............................…....... 7

2. Table 2.2 (The Difference between Nominative, Objective and Possessive

pronoun) ………….............................................……………..... 19

3. Table 3.1 (The Tenses problem area and the number of items and

errors)..................................................................................... 24

4. Table 3.2 (The Frequency of error of Simple Present) ………….... 26

5. Table 3.3 (The Students’ Answer and its Explanation) ……….... 26

6. Table 3.4 (The Frequency of Error of Present Progressive)………. 27

7. Table 3.5 (The Students’ Answer and its Explanation) ……….... 28

8. Table 3.6 (The Frequency of Error of Simple Past) ………………. 29

9. Table 3.7 (The Students’ Answer and its Explanation) …………. 29

10. Table 3.8 (The Frequency of Error of Past Progressive)…………. 30

11. Table 3.8 (The Students’ Answer and Explanation) ……………. 31

12. Table 3.9 (The Frequency of Error of Simple Future) ……………. 32

13. Table 3.10 (The Students’ Answer and its Explanation) …………. 33

14. Table 3.11 (The Frequency of Error of Future Progressive ) ……. 34

15. Table 3.12 (The Students’ answer and Explanation) …………….. 34

16. Table 3.13 (The Sequence of Tenses Problem area based on its Highest

Frequency of Errors) …………………………………………….... 35

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English is a compulsory subject in Indonesia. It is not an easy step that can

be programmed in a short time. The language learners have to understand it and

then they need to know the grammatical rule of the language.

Grammar is one of the language aspects, which is taught to every language

learners. It is a basic knowledge in understanding the language. Penny Ur said in

A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory that “Grammar is a set of

rules that define how words (parts of words) are combined of changed to form

acceptable units of meaning within a language.”1 Meanwhile, Robert Pooley

defines grammar as “an observation of the forms and arrangements of English

words as they are employed singly and in combination to convey meaning in

discourse.”2

There are many aspects discussed in English grammar, one of them is tense.

Tense is grammatical category which involves changing the form of th verb to

reflect the location of time event. With tense, students can know when the time

action occurs, whether it occurs in the present, past or future time.

1 Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory, (Cambridge:

Cambridge University, 1996), p. 87.

2 Robert C. Pooley, Teaching English Grammar, (New York: Appleton Century Crofts

INC, 1957), p. 104.

2

Although some students have learned grammar from the elementary school

or even kindergarten, they still find difficulty to distinguish the usage of each

function. As a result it will trigger them to produce many errors in their learning,

especially in learning tenses.

Here are the examples of differences between the two languages in using

tenses.

Indonesian : Saya pergi ke sekolah setiap hari.

Dia pergi ke sekolah kemarin.

Dia akan pergi ke sekolah besok.

English : I go to school everyday.

He went to school yesterday.

He will go to school tomorrow.

In the Indonesian language, verb doesn’t change eventhough the subject and

adverb are changed, but in English the verb will change based on the changing of

subject and adverb.

Many students commonly make mistakes in their learning but their mistakes

are logically acceptable. John Norrish says “it’s natural for the students as a

human being to make error, even many native speakers produce many mistakes in

speaking and they would be unaware of the way they speak unless they heard

recording of themselves.”3

The teacher should be aware of those errors and do something to avoid them

by doing some correction. One strategy to prevent the students from making the

same errors is by analyzing the learner’s error itself. Going from the background

of the study above, the writer intends to analyze the error on the students’ tenses.

B. Limitation of the Problem

In this “Skripsi”, the writer limits her study on analyzing the error on

students’ tenses specifically on the usage of six tenses that the second grade

students of MTs. Al-Mursyidiyyah have studied namely: Simple Present, Simple

3 John Norrish, Language Learners and Their Errors (New York: Macmillan Press Ltd,

1983), p. 43-44.

3

Past, Simple Future, Present Progressive, Past Progressive, and Future

Progressive. The reason why she focuses on these aspects, because she saw that

most students in MTs. Al-Mursyidiyyah Pondok Benda Pamulang made many

errors in using English Tenses based on this aspect.

C. Statement of the Problem

The statement of the problem on this “skripsi” is “ what types of errors

commonly made by the students in using tenses.”

D. Method of The Study

This study uses descriptive analysis method. At first, the writer focused on

the problem such as the errors in using the form and the usage of six tenses;

Simple Present, Simple Past, Simple Future, Present Progressive, Past

Progressive, and Future Progressive. Then, she collected the data by giving the

second year students of MTs. Al-Mursyididyyah an essay test about the tense

mentioned above. Then, she analyzed them by classifying their errors. Finally, she

interpreted the data about how many errors which students made, the commonest

error which students made and the reasons why they made those errors.

E. Organization of Study

This “skripsi” is devided into four chapters, and the description is as

follows; Chapter One is an introduction, which consists of Background of The

Study, Limitation of The Problem, Statement of The Problem, Method of The

Study and Organization of The Study.

Chapter Two is theoretical Framework, which is devided into three

subchapters; Grammar, Tenses and Error Analysis. At The first subchapter, she

discussed about Definition of Grammar and Types of Grammar. At the second

subchapter, she discussed about Definiton of Tenses, Kinds of Tenses and Uses of

Tenses. The last subchapter contains The Definition of Error, The Source of Error,

Step in Error Analysis, Grammatical Areas of Error and The Differences between

Mistake and Error.

4

Chapter Three is Research Methodology and Research Findings, which

consists of Purpose of the Research, Place and Time of Research, Population and

Sample, Instrument of the Research, Technique of Data Collection, Technique of

Data Analysis, Data Description, Data Analysis, Data Interpretation.

Chapter Four is Conclusion. In this chapter, the writer tried to describe some

conclusions that related to the problems. The writer also enclosed Appendices and

Bibliography.

5

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. GRAMMAR

1. Definition of Grammar

According to James R. Hurford in Grammar a Student’s Guide, “Grammar

of language is a conventional system of rules for making and putting together the

expression (e.g. sentences and phrases) that belong to the language.”4 Grammar

includes two aspects: the arrangement of words and the internal structure of

words.5

It can be concluded that grammar is the study of rules that defines the way

the language manipulates and combines words.

2. Types of Grammar

Kathryn Riley and Frank Parker in English Grammar: Prescriptive,

Descriptive, Generative, Performance satated four types of grammar; Prescriptive

grammar is primarily interested in constructing rules of usage for the prestige

variety of a language, descriptive grammar is primarily interested in describing

the basic sentence patterns of all varieties of a language, generative grammar is

primarily interested in discovering those principles of sentence formation that are

4 James R. Hurford, Grammar a Student’s Guide, (Cambridge: Cambridge University,

1994), p. 87

5 Graham Lock, Fuctional English Grammar, (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1996),

p.4

6

part of the human biological endowment. Performance grammar is primarily

interested in the effects of context and real-time limitations on language use.6

From the explanations above, the writer agrees with Kathryn Riley and

frank Parker that there are four types of grammar; prescriptive grammar,

descriptive grammar, generative grammar and performance grammar.

B. TENSES

1. Definition of Tenses

One of the important things in learning grammar is tenses. In Oxford

dvanced Learner’s Dictionary it has been mentioned that “Tenses is any of form

of a verb that may be used to indicate the time of the action or state expressed by

the verb.”7 According to Longman Dictionary of American English, Tense is “one

of the forms of a verb that shows activities or states in the past, now or in the

future.”8

Michael Swan wrote that tense “the verb-forms which show differences in

time are called tenses. Tenses are formed either by changing the verb (e.g. know;

work, worked) or by adding auxiliary verb (e.g. will know; had worked).”9

Meanwhile, Otto Jesperson states “Tenses is the linguaistic expression of time-

relations, so far as these are indicated in verb forms.”10

Other and more detailed,

A.S. Hornby says that “ Tense stands for a verb form or series of verb form used

6 Kathryn Riley and Frank Parker, English Grammar: Prescriptive, Descriptive,

Generative, Performance (Boston: A Pearson Education Company, 1998), p.3.

7 A. S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (New York: Oxford University

Press, 1995), p. 1231

8 Longman Dictionary of American English, second edition (New York: pearson

education, 2002), p. 830.

9 Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, (Oxford: ELBS/Oxford University Press,

1980), p. 500.

10 Otto Jesperson, Essential of English Grammar, (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd,

1933), p. 230.

7

to express a time relation; tense may indicate whether an action, activity, or state

is past, present, or future.”11

From the statements that have been mentioned above, it can be conclude

that tense is related to the verb, which denotes and indicates the time of the action

or activity; whether an action, activity, or state is past, present or future.

2. Kinds and Uses of Tenses

According to Betty Scrampfer Azar in her book “Understanding and Using

English Grammar” tenses divided into : past, present and future. Each of tenses

has four forms as shown at the table below:12

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

Simple Present Tense

Present Progressive Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Progressive

Tense

Simple Past Tense

Past Progressive Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Progressive

Tense

Simple Future Tense

Future Progressive

Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect

Progressive Tense

a. Present Tense

1) Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present Tense says that something was true in the past, is true in

the present, and will be true in the future (general statements of the fact). It also

used to express habitual or everyday activity.13

The simple present is used with a

non-action verb to indicate something that is happening right now.

11

A.S. Hornby, Guide to Pattern and Usage in English (New York: Oxford University

Press, 1975), p. 78.

12 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (New Jersey:

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989), p. 6-7.


Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989), p. 11

8

For example:

She seems happy.

This tastes good.

It is expresses:14

a) An action that is repeated habitually (for example: often, sometimes, everyday,

once a week); “He reads the news paper every morning”.

b) A general truth that is repeated periodically; “The moon light in the night.”

c) A condition that is not repeated but is always true; “Sesyl loves chocolate.”

2) Present Progressive Tense

The present progressive expresses an activity that is in progress at the

moment of speaking. It began in the recent past, is continuing at present, and will

probably end at some point in the future.15

For example: Didot and Ina are talking on the phone.

Often the activity is of a general nature: something generally in progress this

week, this month, this year.

For example: Ina is writing another poem this year.

3) Present Perfect Tense

The Present Perfect is used to indicate an action that happened at an

indefinite time in the past. It also indicates an action that happened more than

once in the past. It also indicates an action that began in the past and still

occurring in the present.16

Example: I have already seen that movie.

We have had four tests so far this semester.

I have been here since seven o’clock.

14

Pamela Hartmann, et al, Tense Situations, (California: IPS Publishers, Inc., 1984), p. 6.


Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989), p. 11.

16 Michael A. Pyle and Mary Munoz, TOEFL Preparation Guide (USA: Cliffs Notes,

1995), p. 61-62.

9

I have known him for many years.

One use of the present perfect is to express an activity happening now.

Something in the sentence or context tells us when the action began. The action

may be continuous or periodic.

For example:

Radit and Jany have been happily married since their wedding day 50 years ago.

(continuously)

He has milked the cows all his life without missing a day. (periodic)

Often the Present Perfect uses the words for or since. For tells the length of

the action, and since indicates the point in time when the action began.

For example:

Radit has been married to the same woman for 50 years.

She has lived on the same farm since she was born.17

4) Present Perfect Progressive Tense

This tense is used to indicate the duration of an activity that began in the

past and continues to the present.

For example:

I have been sitting here since seven o’clock.

I have been thinking about the best choice in my life.

When the tense is used without any specific mention of time, it expresses a

general activity in progress recently, lately.18

b. Past Tense

1) Simple Past Tense

The past tense uses to talk about event or action that happened in the past. A

chronological series of event that occurred in the past is commonly expressed in

17

Pamela Hartmann, et al, Tense Situations, (California: IPS Publishers, Inc., 1984), p. 15


Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989), p. 36.

10

the past tense. Many times the past tense is accompanied by a specific time

reference, such as six months ago, las December, in 1960, etc.19

For example:

The tree fell to the ground.

The kids dressed up as ghosts last Halloween.

We run inside and took off out wet boots. Then we stood by the fire to get warm.

2) Past Progressive Tense

The past progressive tense uses to talk about activities in progress at a

specific past time in the past. The past progressive focuses on the activity at a

specific time in the middle of the activity.20

For example:

Zaenal was watching TV at seven o’oclock last night.

3) Past Perfect Tense

Past perfect tense expresses an action completed in the past prior to some

other past event or time.21

For example:

She had already left before I could offer her a ride.

She had left before we got there.

4) Past Perfect Progressive Tense

The past perfect progressive is used for the duration of a single action before

another action in the past. It was stopped or interrupted by the second action.

For example:

He had been doing a good job for us untill he went over to “the other side.” (He

stopped doing a good job for us)

19

Susan M. Reinhart, Testing Your English Grammar, (Michigan: The University of

Michigan Press, 1985) p. 18. 20

Barbara Robinson, Focus, (New York: St. Martin Press, 1995) p. 119-120. 21

Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen Freeman, The Grammar Book, (Heinle &

Heinle Publishers, 1999) p. 116.

11

It can also indicate the repetition of an action before another time in the past.

For example:

He took their offer because we hadn’t been paying him so well. (each week).22

c. Future Tense

1) Simple Future Tense

The simple future tense is used when the event is conceptualized as a whole.

One difference in its core meaning is that events in the future time cannot be

factually knowable in the same way as those in the past or present can. Simple

future applies an action to take place at some definite future time, example : Andy

will take the bar exam next month. It also applies a future habitual action or state:

After October, Josh will take the train to Chicago everyday.23

2) Future Progressive Tense

The future progressive expresses an activity that will be in progress at a time

in the future.

For example:

Right now I am sitting in library. At this same time tomorrow, I will be sitting in

library.24

3) Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect is used to indicate an event that will occur in the future

before another future time or event.

For example:

I will have left the office before the boss arrives.

We will have cleaned the house by the time the guests arrive.

22

Pamela Hartmann, et al, Tense Situations, (California: IPS Publishers, Inc., 1984), p.81.

23 Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen Freeman, The Grammar Book, (Heinle &

Heinle Publishers, 1999) p. 114-115.


Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989), p.51

12

The second example means that we plan to finish the house cleaning before a

certain time (the arrival of the guests).

Notice that by the time, by, before, and when are commonly used in

sentences containing the future and the past.25

4) Future Perfect Progressive Tense

The future perfect progressive emphasizes the (long) duration of an action

or a habitual action before another time in the future. The length of time is usually

given in the sentence. It often use for or since with the future perfect progressive.

For example:

By the time you receive this, we will have been living here for three years.

The future perfect progressive may begin at any time before the other future

action; it may even begin in the past.

For example:

I will have been dreaming about hot fudge sundaes for three years.26

C. ERROR ANALYSIS

1. Definition of Error Analysis

Human learning is fundamentally a process that involves the making

mistakes. Mistakes, misjudgments, miscalculations, and erroneous assumptions

form an important aspect of learning virtually any skill or acquiring information.

James noted from Corder’s opininon that: “A learner’s error... are significant in

[that] they provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or

acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is employing in the discovery

of the language.”27

Besides, the definition of Error analysis is the process of

25

Susan M. Reinhart, Testing Your English Grammar, (Michigan: The University of

Michigan Press, 1985) p. 20

26 Pamela Hartmann, et al, Tense Situations, (California: IPS Publishers, Inc., 1984),

p.139

27 H. Duoglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York:

Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2000), p.217

13

determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessful

language.28

2. Sources of Error

Brown noted that there are four stages of the source of error. They are

interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning, and communication

stategies.29

a. Interlingual Transfer

Interlingual transfer is a significant source of error for all learners. The

beginning stages of learning a second language are especially vulnerable to

interlingual transfer from the native language or interference.30

Interlingual

transfer can be called mother tongue interference. It has a great deal in learning

target into the target language directly. It is common error that students translate

the L1 into L2.

b. Intralingual Transfer

One the major contributions of learner language research have been its

recognition of sources of error that extend beyond interlingual errors in learning a

second language. It is now clear thaqt intralingual transfer (within the target

language itself) is a major factor in second language learning. Besides,

overgeneralization is also the source of error. It can be called the negative

intralingual transfer.31

Researchers have found that the early stages of learning are characterized by

a predominance of interference (Interlingual transfer), but once learners have

begun to acquire parts of the new system, more and more intralingual transfer-

generalization within the target language-is manisfested. As learners progress in

28

Carl James, Errors in Language Learning and Use, (New York: wesley Longman Inc.,

1998), p.1

29 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 221



14

the second language, their previous experiences and their existing subsumers

begin to include structures within the target language itself.32

c. Context of Learning

A third major source of error is context of learning. “Context” refers to the

classroom with its teacher and its material in the case of school learning or the

social situation in the of untutored second language learning. In a classroom

context, the teacher or textbook can lead the learner to make faulty hypothesis

about the language, what Richards (1971) called “false concepts” and Stenson

(1974) termed “ Induced errors”. Most students often make errors because of

misleading explanation from the teacher, faulty presentation of a structure or word

in a textbook, or even because of a pattern that was rotely memorized in a drill but

improperly contextualized.33

d. Communication Strategies

Communication strategies were defined and related to learning styles.

Learners obviously use production strategies in order to enhance getting their

messages across, but at times these techniques can themselves become a source of

error.

3. Steps in Error Analysis34

a. Error Detection

In this step, the writer or the analyst detected or located the errors. She/he should

consider whether it is an error or a mistake.

b. Locating Error

Error location is not always so straightforward. Not all errors are easily

localizable in this way. Some are diffused throughout the sentence or larger unit

of text that contain global errors.

32

H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 224


34 Carl James, Errors in Language Learning and Use, p. 90-100

15

c. Describing Error

The system used for description of learner’s errors must be one having two

essential characteristics. First, the system must be well-developed and highly

elaborated because many errors made by beginners are remarkably complex.

d. Classifying Error

Classifying errors not only entries on grammatical category but also lexical

category. In this step, the analyst classifies whether the errors belong to subject

and verb agreement, tenses, and etc.

e. Counting Error

In this part, the analyst counts the errors made by learners. That’s why the

previous step is classifying error. It can ease the analyst to count the data and

analyze it.

4. Grammatical Areas of Error

There are some grammatical areas of error. It consists of four items which

will be discussed further in this sub-chapter. These errors are caused by the lack

of knowledge on using the Standard English. These grammatical areas of error

were mostly made by the students.

Usage is the way to use Standard English. The major features of Standard

English stay the same regardless of where native speakers live in their country. It

is called as Standard English because it is standardize-used and understood

everywhere. Within Standard English, we use two major varieties depending on

the occasion:

We use formal English when we get up in front of a group. We use it for any

serious writing; a letter to a goverment office, a letter to the editor of a newspaper,

a report.

16

We used relaxed, informal English when we talk in a small group. Informal

English is conventional English. But we also use it in a chatty, personal letter.35

The most basic difference in usage is the difference between standard and

nonstandard English. Standard English is the English used in school, offices, and

the media. It is the English spoken by announcers, interviewers, or reporters on

television program. Meanwhile, Nonstandard English is used by many Americans

at work, in their neighborhoods, or at home. The following table will draw about

the Standard English.

a. Verb Tense

Tense is different from the time. Tenses are the forms of a verb that show

when the action or condition expressed by the verb that show when the action or

condition expressed. People characteristically think of time in terms of present,

past and future. More complex aspects of time relationships, such as ongoing or

completed actions or conditions, are expressed through progressive, perfect, and

perfect progressive forms.

Present tenses give the idea about the habitual actions. Then, progressive

tenses give the idea that an action is in progress during particular time. The tenses

say that an action begins before, is in progress, and continuous after another time

or action. Moreover, the perfect tenses all give the idea that one thing happens

before another time or event. Then, the perfect progressive tenses give the idea

that one event is in progress immediately before, up to, until another time or

event. The tenses are used to express the duration of the first event.36

1) Present Tense Form

The simple present indicates actions or conditions occuring at the time of

speaking or writing. As well as those occuring habitually and those considered to

35

Hans P. Guth, American English Today, (New York: McGraw Hill, Inc, 1980), p.246-

248

36 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (Englewood

Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, inc., 1989), p. 2-5

17

be general truths or scientific facts. In addition, with appropriate expressions of

time, the simple present can be used to indicate a scheduled event in the future.

The examples of the use of the simple present tense are;

“ I have breakfast every day at 08.00 a.m.”

“ He now lives in San Diego.”37

The Present Progressive indicates actions or conditions that are ongoing or

continuous in the present. The examples of the present progressive are as follows;

“ The children are playing in the backyard this afternoon.”

“ He is sleeping right now.”

The Present Perfect indicates actions or conditions begun in the past and

either completed at some unspecified time in the past and continuing in the

present. The examples of this tense are as follows;

“ My father has told me many stories of his childhood.”

“ I have already eaten.”

The Present Perfect Progressive indicates that an ongoing actions or

condition begun in the past is very likely to continue into present. The examples

of this tense are as follows;

“ I have been studying for two hours.”

“ Since I have been taking vitamins regularly, I have had no colds.”

2) The Past Tense Form

The Simple Past indicates actions or conditions that occured at a specific

time and do not extend into the present. The examples of this tense are as follows;

“ It snowed yesterday.”

“ I watched the television last night.”

The Past Progressive indicates continuing actions or conditions in the past,

often with specific limits. The following examples will show the use of this tense;

“He was sleeping when i arrived.”

“My brother was playing football when I came home.”

37

Andrea Lunsford & Robert Connors, The ST. Martin’s Handbook, (New York: ST

Martin’s Press), p. 198-199.

18

The Past Perfect indicates actions or conditions that were completed by a

specific time in the past or before some other past action or condition occured.

The examples about this tense are as follows;

“I had already eaten when they arrived home.”

“I had already gone when they called me.”

The Past Perfect Progressive indicates continuous actions or conditions in

the past that began before a specific time in the past or before some other past

action or condition began. The following examples will show the use of this tense

such as;

“ I had been studying for two hours before my friend came.”

“When they returned to Venice, the Polos had been travelling for almost twenty-

five hours.”

3) The Future Tense Form

The Simple Future indicates actions or conditions that have yet to begin.

The examples of this tense are as follows;

“The exhibition will come to Washington in September.”

“I shall graduate the year after next.”

The Future Progressive indicates continuing actions or conditions in the

future. The examples of this tense are as follows;

“The loans will be coming due in the next two years.”

“He will be sleeping when we arrive.”

b. Personal Pronoun

Pronoun is a word used in a place of a noun or noun phrase.38

Nouns and

pronouns used as subjects are said to be in the nominative case. Nouns and

pronouns used as objects are in the objective case. Nouns and pronouns used to

show the possession are in the possessive case. Possessive maybe used as

adjectives before nouns or, in a different form, they subtitute for a noun in any

38

A S Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, (Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1995), p. 928.

19

noun position in the sentence. Nouns do not change from when they change

function or position in the sentence, but most personal pronouns (and a few other

pronouns) do.39

The following table shows the difference between Nominative, objective

and possessive pronoun.

Nominative Objective Possessive

Subject Object Adjective Pronoun

Singular

I

You

He

She

It

Me

You

Him

Her

It

My

Your

His

Her

Its

Mine

Yours

His

Hers

-

Plural

We

You

They

Us

You

Them

Our

Your

Their

Ours

Yours

Theirs

1) Nominative and Objective Case Pronouns

The following examples will show the difference between the nominative

and objective pronouns.

I will see you in the library.

Wait for me there!

The pronouns I,he,she,we and they become me,him,her,us, and them when

they are used as objects. The pronoun you and it, however, do not change form

when they change position in the sentence as mentioned in the following

examples;

The bookstore opens early in the morning.

It closes at 4.00 p.m.

39

George E. Wishon & Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English, p. 31

20

2) Possessive Case Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are most often used as adjectives. The adjectival

possessives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. Except for its, possessive

pronouns may also be used in noun position. In these positions, all of them except

his will have another form. The following examples will show the difference

between the possessive pronouns and possessive adjective;

Bruce’s sister expected them for dinner.

His sister expected them.

The bookstore was near Rita’s dormitory.

Those pronouns are used to be adjectives. The next examples will describe

the pronouns which are used to be nouns;

Their book sold a million copie.

Theirs sold a million copies.

Rita finished her paper before lunch.

She finished hers before lunch.

c. Sentence Pattern

Sentence is a group of words performing at least one subject and one

predicate. Besides, a sentence is a grammatically complete group of words that

expresses a thought. To be grammatically complete, a group of words must

contain two major structural components (a subject and a predicate). The subject

identifies what the sentence is about, and the predicate asserts or asks something

about the subject, or it tells the subject to do something.40

The examples of the

sentence pattern are;

Jane is a brilliant scientist.

He ran away from home.

Moreover, there are four sentence types. They are simple sentence,

compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound-complex sentence.

40

Andrea Lunsford & Robert Connors, the St. Martin’s Handbook, p. 138.

21

1) Simple Sentence

Simple sentence is the sentence that consists of a single independent clause.

Independent clause can be simple sentences even if they have a compound subject

or a compound predicated. The examples of the simple sentence are;

The manager and her secretary went out for lunch.

He lives in New York.

2) Compound Sentence

Compound sentences contain at least two independent clauses joined by a

coordinating conjunction. The following is the example of compound sentence;

The weather was very bad, so all classes were canceled.

3) Complex Sentence

Complex sentence contains one or more dependant (or subordinate) clauses.

A dependant clause contains a full subject and predicate beginning with a word

that attaches the clause to an independent clause (called the main clause). Here is

the example of the complex sentence;

All classes were canceled because the weather was bad.41

In general, these grammatical areas error are mostly made by the students

using tenses. They made errors because they were still interfered by their mother

tongue interference.

5. Differences between Error and Mistake

Error and mistake is different. Error is unintentionally deviantand is not

self-corrigible by its author. Then, errors are the result of the failure of

performance. Besides, errors cannot be self corrected until the relevant (to that

error) input (implicit or explicit) has been provided and converted into intake by

41

Marcella Frank, Modern English, Exercise for Non-native Speakers, (New Jersey:

Prentice Hall, Inc, 1972), p. 1.

22

the learner. In other words, errors require further relevant learning to take place

before they can be self-corrected.42

Meanwhile, mistake is either intentionally deviant or self-corrigible. Then,

mistake is a problematic criterion tonapply in practice. Moreover, mistake can

only be corrected by their agent if their deviance is pointed out to him or her. If a

simple indication that there is some deviance is a sufficient prompt for self-

correction, then we have a first-order mistake.

Moreover, an error cannot be self corrected, according to James (1998: 83),

while mistakes can be self-corrected if the deviation is pointed out to the speaker.

Then, error reveals a portion of the learner’s competence in the target language.

Meanwhile, mistake refers to a performance error that is either a random guess or

a “slip”.43

42

Carl James, Error in Language Learning and Use, (London: Longman, 1998), p. 78-83.

43 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 217-218.

23

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS

A. Research Methodology

1. Purpose of Research

The purpose of the research in this paper is to find out the tenses

errors and their causes made by the second grade students of MTs Al-

Mursyidiyyah Pondok Benda Pamulang, in their tenses test.

2. Time and Location

This writing is accomplished by using a field research. This field

research held at MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah, Pondok Benda Pamulang,

Tangerang Selatan, on May 2011, conducted by using the written test

made by the teacher from some sources, consisting of 30 multiple choice

questions about tenses.

3. Population and Sample

At MTs Al-Mursyidiyyah, the total population of the second year

students, academic year 2010-2011 is 80 students. They are divided into

two classes. The sample for this research is 30 students (that were) taken

randomly from those two classes in order to get representative data.

24

4. Instrument of Research

In this research the writer gave a multiple-choice test to get the data.

She made 30 questions which were focused on six tenses. From this test,

she hopes that she can find which types of tenses that most students fail

on it.

5. Technique of Data Analysis

In this research the writer uses quantitative descriptive technique

(percentage), which is described in the table of percentage. In this

percentage the writer uses formula:

P = F/N X 100%

P = Percentage

F = Frequency of errors occurrence

N = Number of observed sample

B. Research Finding

1. Data Description

The writer gave students a multiple choice test that consists of 30

questions focusing on ; Simple Present, Present Progressive, Simple Past,

Past Progressive, Simple Future, and Future Progressive.

Each of tenses problem area has several items. The following tables

will show the number of items and errors of each problem area.

Table 3.1

Tenses Problem Area and the Number of Items and Errors

No Tenses problem area Number of items Number of

errors

1 Simple Present 1 10

7 17

17 18

25

24 25

25 12

29 9

2 Present Progressive 5 26

6 8

11 8

21 10

27 8

3 Simple Past 2 18

8 11

13 3

26 11

30 13

4 Past Progressive 3 13

10 13

15 11

18 10

20 9

5 Simple Future 4 4

9 16

14 7

22 15

23 16

28 6

6 Future Progressive 12 0

16 3

19 14

26

2. Data Analysis

In this part, the data was analiyzed and the description is as follows:

Table 3.2

Frequency of Error of Simple Present

No Problem area Item

number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

1 Simple Present 1 10 33.3 %

7 17 56.6 %

17 18 60 %

24 25 63.3 %

25 12 40 %

29 9 30 %

Total 6 items 47.20 %

In the Simple Present Tense there were 10 students (33.3 %) who

made error in the item number 1, 17 students (55.6 %) made error in the

item number 7, 18 students (60 %) made error in the item number 17, 25

students (63.3%) made error in the item number 24, 12 students (40 %)

made error in the item number 25 and 9 students (30 %) made error in the

item number 29. On the average, the percentage of error in this tense is

47.20 %. The highest frequency of error of students on the table above

takes place number 24 with 63.3 %.

Table 3.3

The Students’ Answer and Its Explanation

No Students’ answer Explanation

1 The sun rise in the east. The sentence shows general

statements of fact. The verb

should be added by “s” since the

subject is singular.

7 Every Sunday we didn’t go Negative form of simple present

27

swimming tense is “don’t or doesn’t”.

17 Every night the watchman

turns on all the lights and walk

around the building every half

an hour.

The subject of the sentence is

watchman (singular). So that the

verb should be added by “s”.

24 The chef arranges the menu

and served drinks to the table

in the bar.

Since the subject of the sentence

is singular, the verb should be

arranges and “serves”.

25 Do your brother go to school

everyday?

In interrogative form of Simple

Present “do” used for plural

subject while “does” used for

singular subject.

29 She go to school by car

everyday.

The subject of this sentence is

singular form, so that the verb

should be “goes”.

From those students’ answer above it can be seen that some students

have not been able yet to analyzed the rule of Simple Present in (positive,

negative and interrogative) pattern. It is signed by the absence of an item

“s” that must appear in the sentence “omitting grammatical morphemes”

as mentioned above (e.g. The sun rise in the east, She go to school by car

everyday). Besides that, the students are still confused to identify the

sentences since the writer uses the long dialog or complex sentence

(number 24 and 25).

Table 3.4

Frequency of Error of Present Progressive


number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

2 Present Progressive 5 26 86.6 %

6 8 26.6 %

28

11 8 26.6 %

21 10 33.3 %

27 8 26.6 %


From the table above it is shown that the highest frequency of error

comes from number 5 with 26 students (86.6 %), 8 students (26.6 %)

made error in the item number 6 and 11, 10 students (33.3 %) made error

in the item number 21, and 8 students (26.6 %) made error in the item

number 27. On the average, the percentage of error in this tense is

39.94%.

Table 3.5



5 Does your father going to

school now ?

In interrogative form of Present

Progressive “is, am, and are” are

used. The sentence should be is

your father ...

6 Watch out! That man drives

on the wrong side of the road.

The sentence shows an activity

that is in progress at the moment

of speaking. So that, “Verb-ing”

should be used.

11 Be quite! The baby was

sleeping now.

The verb should be “is sleeping”

since it shows an activity that is

in progress at the moment of

speaking.

21 She teaches English in my

class now.

The sentence shows an action in

progress. The verb should be “is

teaching”.

27 What is Santi read? The sentence should be “what is

29

Santi reading?”

Mother-tongue interference gives much influence to the students

answer. It can be seen that some students are still confused in changing

the verb based on adverb of each sentence. Besides that, the different

grammar of the first language bears faulty grammar pattern.

Table 3.6

Frequency of Error of Simple Past


number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

3 Simple Past 2 18 60 %

8 11 36.6 %

13 3 10 %

26 11 36.6 %

30 13 43.3 %


Those items are about simple Past Tense. There were 18 students (60

%) who made error in the item number 2, and it’s the highest frequency

of error. 11 students (36.6 %) made error in the items number 8 and 26, 3

students (10 %) made error in the item number 13, and 13 students (43.3

%) made error in the item number 30. On the average, the percentage of

error in this tense is 37.3 %.

Table 3.7



2 Does he drive to school

yesterday?

In interrogative sentence of

Simple Past “did” should be

used.

30

8 My uncle don’t want to meet

me a week ago.

The sentence shows a situation

began and ended at a particular

timein the past. The negative

form of Simple Past is “didn’t”.

13 When was you born?

I was born in 1989.

In nominal sentence of Simple

Past “was” used for singular

subject while “were” used for

plural subject.

26 What did you usually do when

you were in London? I used to

walked down the road in the

afternoon.

The verb “used to” should be

followed by base form of verb.

“Used to” shows the past form.

30 My friend and I loved to play

in a small field near our

houses and we were riding

oue bicycle together.

The sentence shows a situation

began and ended at a particular

time in the past. The sentence

should be use “V-2”.

Some studentshave not understood yet to distinguish the usage of

“does and did” “was and were” in the sentence. It can be seen from the

students’ answer above that some students used “does” in making

interrogative sentence although the sentence belongs to past sentence.

Some students used “don’t” in negative sentence although the sentence

belongs to past sentence. In general, those errors happened because of

interlingual error.

Table 3.8

Frequency of Error of Past Progressive


number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

4 Past Progressive 3 13 43.3 %

10 13 43.3 %

31

15 11 36.6 %

18 10 33.3 %

20 9 30 %


The table above shows the frequency of error of Past Progressive

Tense. The highest frequency of error of students goes to number 3 and

10 with 13 students (43.3 %), 11 students (36.6 %) nade error in the item

number 15, 10 students (33.3%) made error in the item number 18, and 9

students (30%) made error in the item number 20. On the average, the

percentage of error in this tense is 37.8 %.

Table 3.9

The Students’ Answer and Explanation


3 They are studying when the

headmaster came.

The sentence shows two actioans.

One action began earlier and was

in progress when the other action

occured. The sentence should be

“were studying”.

10 When I got home you are

studying English with your

friends.

The verb of second sentence

should be “were studying”

because the second action was in

progress.

15 When I arrived at the station

Mary is waiting for me.

The second sentence should be

“Mary was waiting for me”.

18 The teacher came into the

classroom unusually early and

one of the boys, who smoked a

cigarette, had no time to put it

The second sentence should be

“who was smoking a cigarette”...

because it was in progress when

the other action occured.

32

out. So, he threw it into the

desk and hoped for the best.

20 The students are practicing in

the workshop when a group of

students from another

province came to do

comparative study.

The verb of first sentence should

be “were practicing”. Because it

was in progress when the other

action occured.

From the students’ answer above it can be seen that some students still

have not been able yet to distinguish the usage of “are studying and were

studying” in the sentence. Those errors happen because of

overgeneralization that produce incorrect pattern when the students

applied the tense rule in the sentence.

Table 3.10

Frequency of Error of Simple Future


number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

5 Simple Future 4 4 13.3 %

9 16 53.3 %

14 7 23.3 %

22 15 50 %

23 16 53.3 %

28 6 20 %


Based on the table above, there were 4 students (13.3 %) who made

error in the item number 4, 16 students (53.3 %) made error in the items

number 9 and 23, and it’s the highest error made by the student. 7

students (23.3 %) made error in the item number 14, 15 students (50 %)

made error in the item number 22, and 6 students (20%) made error in the

33

item number 28. On the average, the percentage of error in this tense is

35.5 %.

Table 3.11



4 My supervisor promises that I

get a raise next year.

The sentence expresses the future

time. So that the verb should be

“will get”.

9 The school will announced the

result of the final examination

next week.

The sentence expresses future

time since its adverb is “next

week”. So that verb should be

will + base form.

14 The manager came early

yesterday but he comes late

tomorrow morning.

“Tomorrow morning” shows that

the sentence indicates future

time. So that will + base form

should be used.

22 This letter is in English, can

you help me?

Sure. I am going to translate it

for you.


time. To express willingness

“will” is used.

23 Why did you buy this paint?

I will paint my bedroom

tomorrow.


time. To express “a prior plan”

be going to is used.

28 It will be a long weekend next

week, what is your plan?

We have a barbeque.

“Be going to” is used since the

sentence expresses a prior plan.

From the students’ answer above it can be seen that some students still

have not been able yet to distinguish the usage of “will and be going to”

in the sentence. It happens because of the mother-tongue interference.

34

Table 3.12

Frequency of Error of Future Progressive


number

Frequency of

error

Percentage of

error

6 Future Progressive 12 0 0 %

16 3 10 %

19 14 46.6 %


The table above shows the frequency of error of Future Progressive.

From the table it can be seen that nobody made error in the item number

12, 3 students (10 %) made error in the item number 16, while 14

students (46.6 %) made error in the item number 19, and it is the highest

error made by the students. On the average, the percentage of error in this

tense is 28.3 %.

Table 3.13

The Students’ Answer and Explanation


12 Right now I am studying

English. Yesterday at this

time, I was studying English.

Tomorrow at this time, I will

study English.

The third sentence expresses an

activity that will be in progress at

a time in the future. So that the

verb should be “will be

studying”.

16 Right now I am attending

class. Yesterday at this time, I

was attending class.

Tomorrow at this time, I will

attend class.

The verb of the third sentence

should be “will be attending”.

19 I will begin to study at seven.

You will come at eight. I will

The sentence should be “I will be

studying”.

35

study when you come.

From the table above, it can be seen that some students are still not

able to distinguish the sentence in past, present or future pattern. Besides

that, the long sentences made them confused to identify sentence

correctly. And the carelessness has inherited the faulty on the students’

answer.

3. Data Interpretation

After analyzing the frequency of error in each item, the following

table describes the sequence of tenses problem area based on its high

frequency of errors.

Table 3.14

The Sequence of Tenses Problem Area Based on Its Highest Frequency

of Errors

No Tenses problem area Frequency of error

1 Simple Present 47.20 %

2 Present Progressive 39.94 %

3 Past Progressive 37.8 %

4 Simple Past 37.3 %

5 Simple Future 35.5 %

6 Future Progressive 28.3 %

The table above shows that the highest frequency of error goes to

Simple Present with 47.20 %. This proves that this tense becomes the

most difficult grammatical area for the second students of MTs Al-

Mursyidiyyah aven though they have been studying tenses since they

were the first grade. Some students are still confused in forming verb

based on the subject for the affirmative sentence. In negative sentences

they are still confused in using don’t and doesn’t as well as in

36

interrogative pattern. Besides, they have not understood yet the kinds of

tenses in complex sentence or long dialog.

In Present Progressive, 39.94 % of students made errors. In this tense

some students are still confused in forming this tense in the positive,

negative or interrogative form. In forming question form some students

are still confused in using “does or do”.

37.8 % of students made errors in Past Progressive. In this tense some

students are still confused to distinguish the two actions that occured at

the same time but one action began earlier and was progress when the

other action occurred.

In Simple Past, 37.3 % of students made errors. As mentioned above

the difficulty is around how to distinguish the auxiliary do, does, and did

in the sentences.

In Simple Future, 35.5 % of students do errors. Some students have

not been able yet to distinguish the usage of be going to and will in the

sentence.

And the lowest frequency of errors made by the students is Future

Progressive with 28.3 % frequency of errors, in this tense the students are

expected to compare among present, past and future sentences.

From the results above the writer can say that, in general, some

students are still confused to identify the tenses rule and usage both in the

simple and complex sentences. It proves that the English learning at MTs

Al-Mursyidiyyah must be improved again to be the best.

Besides the material, there are many factors why the students made

error. It may come from the method of teaching, because how well the

students understand the material, it depends on the method of teaching

that teacher used.

37

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

Based on the data analysis and discussion in the previous chapters,

the writer concludes that some students still have not understood well the

rule and the usage of those tenses eventhough they have just learnt. Simple

Present Tense as the basic tenses becomes the item with the highest

frequency of error that reaches up to 47.20%. Then Present Progressive

Tense with 39.94% frequency of error, Past Progressive Tense with 37.8%

frequency error, Simple Past Tense with 37.3% frequency of error, Simple

Future Tense with 35.5% and the lowest frequency of error made by the

second grade of MTs. Al-Mursyidiyyah is Future Progressive Tense with

28.3%. Generally, it can be concluded that the students still find difficulty

in identifying tenses.

B. Suggestion

Based on the conclusion above, the writer would like to give some

suggestion concerning with English learning process especially in learning

tenses as follows:

38

1. The teacher ought to give a series exercise done both in classroom and

for home assignment, whose aim is to cause the learner absorb the

structure thoroughly.

2. The teacher should have various and fun method and technique, which

are interesting for the student. It can be role-playing, games and

etc.because fun atmosphere will make learners comfortable in learning

tenses, and finally the learners can grasp the tenses easily.

3. In teaching Simple Present the teacher ought to explain about daily

habit and routine activity. To give more understanding about this tense

the teacher gets the students to write their daily activity schedule.

4. In teaching Present Progressive the teacher should demonstrate the

action-in-progress in order to give more understanding that Present

Progressive is used to indicated an activity that is in progress at the

moment of speaking.

5. In teaching Simple Past the teacher should explain the verb forms –base

form and past form- because past form is used in this tense. To make

the students more undestanding about this tense the teacher has the

students retell or write the past story.

6. In teaching Past Progressive the teacher should presents the two actions

in order to explain which one an activity began earlier and was in

progress when the other action occurred.

7. In teaching Simple Future the teacher has the students write their

planned future in order to make them more understanding about this

tense.

8. In teaching Future Progressive the teacher should present the two

sentences in order to explain an activity that will be in progress at a

time in the future.

39

BIBLIOGHRAPHY

Allen and Campbell. Teaching English as a Second Language, New Delhi:

McGraw-Hill 1979.

Ashworth, Mary. Beyond Methodology: Second Language Teaching and the

Community, Cambride University Press, 1992.

Azar, Betty Schemper. Understanding and Using English Grammar, New York:

Prentice-Hall Inc, 1989.

Brown, Gillian and George Yule. Discourse Analysis, Cambride University Press,

1983.

Brown, H. Douglas. Principle of Language Learning and Teaching, Fourth

Edition, New York: Prentice Hall Regents, 2000.

Chalker, Sylvia and Edmund Weiner. The Oxford Dictionary of English

Grammar, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Dullay, Heidi, Marina Burt and Stephen Krasen. Language Two, New York:

Oxford University Press, 1982.

Ellis, Rod. Understanding Second Language Acquisition, New York: Oxford

University Press.

Frank, Marcella. Modern English: A Practical References Guide, New Jersey:

Prentice Hall, 1972

Gass, Susan M and Larry Selinker. Second Language Acquisition an Introductory

Course, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc: London, 2001.

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English language Teaching, New York:

Longman, 1983.

Heaton, J.B. Writing English Language Test: Longman Handbook for Language

Teacher, New York: Longman, 1975.

Philips, Deborah. Longman Introductory Course for the TOEFL Test, New York:

Pearson Education, 1952.

Richards, J.C. and Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language

Teaching, London: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Richards, J.C. Error Analysis Perspective on Second Language Acquisition,

Regional English Language centre: Singapore, 1973.

40

APPENDIcES

41

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

Name : __________________

Choose the correct Answer by crossing ( x ) A,B,C,D from the following question !

1. The sun _____ in the east.

A. rise B. rises C. rose D. risen

2. _____ he drive to school yesterday?

A. Do B. Does C. Did D. Is

3. They_____ English when the headmaster came.

A. were studying C. are studying

B. was studying D. study

4. My supervisor promises that I _____ a raise next year.

A. will get B. should get C. get D. gotten

5. _____ your father going to school now?

A. Does B. Do C. Did D. Is

6. Watch out! That man _____ on the wrong side of the road.

A. drive B. drove C. drives D. is driving

7. Every Sunday we _____ go swimming.

A. didn’t B. don’t C. doesn’t D. aren’t

8. My uncle _____ want to meet me a week ago.

A. do B. didn’t C. doesn’t D. aren’t

9. The school ____ the result of the final examination next week.

A. was announce C. will announced

B. will announce D. announced

10. When I got your home you _____ English with your friends.

A. study C. are studying

B. was studying D. were studying

11. Be quite ! The baby _____ now.

A. sleeps C. is sleeping

B. was sleeping D. were sleeping

42

12. Right now I am studying English. Yesterday at this time, I was studying English.

Tomorrow at this time, I _____ English.

A. will study C. will be studing

B. was studying D. is studying

13. Susan : When _____ you born?

John : I _____ born in 1989.

A. were - was C. was - were

B. were - were D. was - was

14. The manager came early yesterday but he _____ late tomorrow morning.

A. will come C. had come

B. comes D. came

15. When I arrived at the station Mary _____ for me.

A. waits C. was waiting

B. is waiting D. waited

16. Right now I am attending class. Yesterday at this time, I was attending class.

Tomorrow at this time, I _____ class.

A. will attend C. will be attending

B. was attending D. is opening

17. Every night the watchman turns on all the lights and _____ around the building every

half an hour.

A. walks C. walking

B. is walking D. to walk

18. The teacher came into the classroom unusually early and one of the boys, who _____

a cigarette, had no time to put it out. So, he threw it into the desk and hoped for the

best.

A. is smoking C. smoked

B. was smoking D. has smoked

19. I will begin to study at seven. You will come at eight. I _____ when you come.

A. will study C. will be studying

B. will be study D. was studying

20. The students _____ in the workshop when a group of students from another province

came to do comparative study.

A. practice C. have practiced

B. are practicing D. were practicing

43

21. Leni : What is the teacher doing?

Byan : She _____ English in my class now.

A. was teaching C. were teaching

B. is teaching D. teaches

22. Ali : This letter is in English, and I don’t speak a word of English. Will you help

me?

Andre : Yes, I _____

A. will. C. have.

B. am going to. D. would.

23. Asep : Why did you buy this paint?

Ali : I _____ paint my bedroom tomorrow.

A. will C. would

B. am going to D. should

24. Ary : What does a chef do exactly?

Manager : He supervises the preparation and servies of the food from the kitchen to

the dining room, and arranges the menu and _____

A. carry away the dirty dishes to the pantry.

B. taking care of cleanliness of the kitchen.

C. served drinks to the table in the bar.

D. tastes the food for correct seasoning.

25. Ali : _____ your brother go to school everyday.

Yani : Yes.

A. Is B. Did C. Does D. Do

26. Rani : Rafi, what did you usually do when you were in London?

Rafi : _____

A. I use to play tennis with my father.

B. I usually drink tea for breakfast.

C. I used to walk down the road in the afternoon.

D. I sometimes go to the movies with some friends.

27. Ali : _____ ?

Yani : She is reading an English magazine.

A. What does Santi read?

B. What is Santi read?

C. What did Santi reading?

D. What is Santi reads?

28. Duta : It will be a long weekend next week, what’s your plan?

Echa : _____ there will be a family outing sponsored by the office.

44

A. We have gone by a tourist bus.

B. We are going to go to Anyer.

C. We stayed in a cottage.

D. We have a barbeque.

29. Ali : How does she go to school ?

Yani : She _____ to school by car everyday.

A. go

B. is going

C. went

D. goes

30. Psychologist : What can you say about your childhood?

Client : I’ll always remember my sweet time when i was still young. My

friend and I loved to play in a small field near out houses and _____

our bicycle together.

A. we will ride

B. we’re riding

C. we used to ride

D. we will use to ride

45

ANSWER KEY

NO CORRECT

ANSWER

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

B

C

A

A

D

D

B

B

B

D

C

C

A

A

C

C

A

B

C

D

B

A

B

D

C

C

B

B

D

C

No : IstimewaLamp. :1(satu)berkasHal : Pensaiuan Judul Skripsi

Kepada Yth,Ketua Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa InggrisFakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan KeguruanUIN Syarif Hidayatullah JakartaDi Tempat

As salamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Salam sejahtera seiring doa saya sampaikan, semoga Bapak senantiasa berada dalamlindungan Allah SWT, serta sukses selalu dalam aktifitas sehari-hari.

Sehubungan akan berakhirnya masa studi Program Strata Satu (S1) yang sedang sayatempuh, maka saya yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini:

NamaNIM

SemesterJurusan

Rina Wulandarit060r4000423XIPendidikan Bahasa Inggris

Bermaksud mengajukan judul skripsi sebagaimana terteraberikut ini:

THE ANALYSE OF THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE SECOND GRADE

STADENTS OF MTs AL-MURSYIDIWAH IN USING ENGLISH TENSES

Dan sebagai bahan pertimbangan, saya lampirkan:1. Abstraksi2. Outline3. Daftar pustaka sementara

Demikian surat ini saya buat dengan harapan dapat diterima. Atas perhatian Bapak

saya ucapkan terima kasih.Wcts sqlamualqikum Wn Wb.

pot^ ?u*btu^bi,1Menyetujui, [}ta f\ram. f4a1,,'a,.), h{lF'wl uk"

Wulandari

Jakarta, 4 Juli 2011Pemohon,

RinaNIP:150041070 NrM. 106014000423

KEMENTERIAN AGAMAUIN JAKARTAFITKJl. lr. H. Juanda I'lo 95 Cioutat 1 5412 lndonesia

FORM (FR)

No. Dokumen : FITK-FR-AKD-081Tgl. Terbit : 1 Maret 2010No. Revisi: : 02Hal 1t1

SURAT BIMBINGAN SKRIPSI

Nomor : Un.0 1/F. I A(M .0L3 l .{..cL812011Lamp. : -Hal : Bimbingan Skripsi

KepadaYth.

Drs. Nasrun Mahmud. M.Pd.

Pembimbing SkripsiFakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan KeguruanUIN Syarif HidayatullahJakarta.

Jakarta, 4 Juli 2011

As s al amu' al aikum wr.w b.Dengan ini diharapkan kesediaan Saudara'untuk menjadi pembimbing I/II

(materi/teknis) penulisan skipsi mahasiswa:

NamaNIMJurusanSemesterJudul Skripsi

Rina Wulandari106014000423Pendidikan Bahasa InggnsXI

THE ANALT,SI^S O,F THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE SECOND GRADE

S?:UDENTS OF MTs AL-MURSYIDIYYAH IN ASING ENGLISH TENSES

Judul tersebut telah disetujui oleh Jurusan yang bersangkutan padatanggal 30 Juni 2011,abstakst/outline teflampir. Saudara dapat melakukan perubahao redaksional pada judultersebut. Apabila perubahan substansial dianggap perlu, mohon pembimbing menghubungiJurusan terlebih dahulu.

Bimbingan skripsi ini diharapkan selesai. dalam waktu 6 (enam) bula4 dan dapatdiperpanjang selama 6 (enam) bulan berikutnya tanpa surat perpanjangan.

Atas perhatian dan kerja sama Saudara, kami ucapkan terima kasih.

Was s alamu' alaikum wr.w b.

ikan Bahasa Inggris

, M.Pd

Tembusan:1. Dekan FITK2. Mahasiswa ybs.

wrz r99l03 | 002

KEMENTERIAN AGAMAUIN JAKARTAFITKJl. lr. H. Juanda No 95 Ciputat 15412 lndon5ia

,&l l r l - l

IL i l I UFORM (FR)

No, Dokumen : FITK-FR-AKD-082Tgl. Terbit : 16 Mei 2011No. Revisi: -. 02Hal 1t1

SURAT PERMOHONAN IZIN PENELITIAN

Nomor : Un.01 lF .1 lKM.01 .31. . . . . . . .1201 1Lamp. : Outline/ProposalHal : Permohonan lzin Penelitian

Kepada Yth.

Kepala SekolahMTs. AL - MURSYIDIYYAHdiTempat

Assal am u' al aiku m wr. wb.Dengan hormat kami sampaikan bahwa,

Jakar ta, 16 Mei 2011

Syatrki, M.Pdtp64t2t2 t99t03 1 002

NamaNIMJurusanSemesterTahun AkademikJudul Skripsi

: Rina Wulandari: 106014000423: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris:Vl l l /Delapan:201012011:

Drs.NIP.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON ERRORS MADE BY THE SECOND GRADE

STUDENTS OF MTs AL-MURSWDIYYAH IN USING ENGLISH TENSES

adalah benar mahasiswa/i Fakultas llmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan UIN Jakarta yangsedang menyusun skripsi, dan akan mengadakan penelitian (riset) diinstansi/sekolah/madrasah yang Saudara pimpin.

Untuk itu kami mohon Saudara dapat mengizinkan mahasiswa tersebutmelaksanakan penelitian dimaksud.

Atas perhatian dan kerja sama Saudara, kami ucapkan terima kasih.

Wassal am u' al aiku m wr.wb.

a.n. DekaKaju4 didikan Bahasa Inggris

Tembusan:1. Dekan FITK2. Pembantu Dekan Bidang Akademik3. Mahasiswa yang bersangkutan

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