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.
13 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (New Jersey:
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.
15 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (New Jersey:
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
18 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (New Jersey:
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.
24 Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, (New Jersey:
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
30 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 224
31 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 224
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
33 H. Douglas Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, p. 226
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
No Problem area Item
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 %
Total 5 items 39.94 %
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
The Students’ Answer and Its Explanation
No Students’ answer Explanation
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
No Problem area Item
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 %
Total 5 items 37.3 %
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
The Students’ Answer and Its Explanation
No Students’ answer Explanation
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
No Problem area Item
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 %
Total 5 items 37.8 %
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
No Students’ answer 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
No Problem area Item
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 %
Total 6 items 35.5 %
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
The Students’ Answer and Its Explanation
No Students’ answer Explanation
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.
The sentence expresses future
time. To express willingness
“will” is used.
23 Why did you buy this paint?
I will paint my bedroom
tomorrow.
The sentence expresses future
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
No Problem area Item
number
Frequency of
error
Percentage of
error
6 Future Progressive 12 0 0 %
16 3 10 %
19 14 46.6 %
Total 3 items 28.3 %
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
No Students’ answer 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