Tenth Graders’ Grammatical Errors in Writing Self-Introduction Paragraphs: A Case Study in SMA Negeri 6 Malang

ABSTRACT Sari, Linggar. 2016. Tenth Graders’ Grammatical Errors in Writing SelfIntroduction Paragraphs: A Case Study in SMA Negeri 6 Malang. Undergraduate Thesis, English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisors: (I) Dr. Utari Praba Astuti, M. A., (II) Prof. Dr. Nur Mukminatien, M. Pd. Keywords: grammatical errors, errors, self-introduction paragraph Writing self-introduction paragraphs is the first basic competence that should be mastered by the tenth graders in the first semester. According to the English syllabus of Curriculum 2013, the students will not be able to learn the next competence if they cannot write a good self-introduction paragraph. Moreover, the students have learned self-introduction paragraphs in the first year of junior high school. Based on that fact, ideally the tenth graders have got adequate exposure on the expressions used in self-introduction paragraphs. It was assumed that all tenth graders were able to write self-introduction paragraph using correct expressions. However, they remained having difficulties and committed some errors in their self-introduction paragraphs. Based on the issue above, this research was conducted to identify the most frequent grammatical error and some possible factors that affected tenth graders of language class at SMA Negeri 6 Malang in committing errors. The research design used was a case study. The data collection was done by collecting sample of students’ writings and interview to six students as the respondents to identify possible factors which affected the students in committing errors. The result of students’ grammatical errors were analyzed and classified by using Dulay’s Surface Strategy Taxonomy. There were 117 grammatical errors found in the students’ writings. There were omission, addition, misformation, and misordering errors. The most frequent grammatical error was misformation errors which occurred 53 times (45.30%), followed by omission errors which occurred 50 times (42.74%). The third was addition errors which occurred 13 times from the total errors (11.11% frequency of occurrence). The last was one misordering error which only occurred in a single sentence made by the students (0.85% frequency of occurrence). The possible factors which affected students in committing errors were obtained from both students’ writings and the interview. There were four possible factors: interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning, and communication strategies. The interference from the first language and the inability to differentiate patterns within the target language occurred because the students still lacked of practice. The factor from context of learning happened since the materials in using plural forms had not been explained by the teacher. In terms of communication strategies, the students committed more errors because they tried to mention their hobbies and the things they liked in more detailed way. Based on the result of the study, it can be concluded that the students needed adequate practices to internalize the use of grammatical patterns and minimize the influence of the first language. The English teachers are suggested to ii improve the teaching of grammatical patterns during the process of teaching and learning. The teachers need to ensure that all of the materials are clearly covered and explained to all of the students. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Table Normal; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}