THE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN USING SIMPLE PAST TENSE Ricka Ardiani 1 Dede Pertamana 2 [email protected] [email protected] ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES AND TEACHERS‟ TRAINING SILIWANGI UNIVERSITY (Jl. Siliwangi 24 Tasikmalaya)

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kesalahan-kesalahan siswa dalam menggunakan kalimat simple past tense. Metode penelitian ini adalah deskriptif kualitatif dengan responden siswa kelas XI IPA 2, SMAN 3 Tasikmalaya sebanyak 33 siswa dengan teknik pengambilan responden menggunakan cluster random Sampling Technique. Instrumen penelitian yang digunakan berupa tes dan wawancara. Tes berupa perintah merubah kalimat dari berbagai macam tenses ke bentuk kalimat simple past tense. Adapun butir isi wawancara berupa pertanyaan alasan siswa memilih jawaban tertentu dalam tes. Penulis menganalisis jenis dan penyebab kesalahannya dengan pemberian kode serta kategorisasi, kemudian menghitung jumlah kesalahan berdasarkan jenisnya menggunakan rumus persentase. Berdasarkan analisis data, diperoleh persentase kesalahan tertinggi yaitu misformation (50%), kemudian addition (26,9 %), omission (35,6%) dan persentase terendah adalah misordering (9,5%). Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa pemahaman siswa terhadap simple past tense masih rendah, khususnya dalam menggunakan kata kerja (beraturan dan tidak bertaturan) dan pemilihan kata kerja bantu. Kata Kunci: Kesalahan siswa, penyebab kesalahan siswa, simple past tense The writer 1 The supervisor 2

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to know the students‟ errors in using simple past tense. The method of this research is descriptive qualitative and the respondents are 33 students of SMAN 3 Tasikmalaya, the class of XI IPA 2 by using cluster random sampling technique. The research instuments are test and interview. Test consists of the command to change sentence from another tenses into simple past tense. The interview consists of the question about the students‟ reason in choosing the particular answers. The writer analyses the types and causes of errors by using coding and categorization. Then, the writer calculates

the types of errors by using percentase formula. Based on analyses of the data, the highest percentage is misformation (50%), the second is addition (26.9%), the third is (13.6 %) and the lowest is misordering (9.5 %). It means, the students‟ knowledge about simple past tense is still low, especially in using verb (regular and irregular) and auxiliaries. Key words: students‟ errors, types of errors, causes of errors, simple past tense INTRODUCTION Grammar is one of the abilities that should be mastered by learner to use English both written or spoken correctly. Without the correct grammar rules, the communication may suffer. According to Harmer, Jeremy (1989:12), “If grammar rules are too carelessly violated, communication may suffer, although creating a good grammar rule is extremely difficult.” It means that to make the meaningful communication in English, mastery of grammar rules is needed. Tense is the part of grammar. It has the function as a time indicator. According to Knapp, Peter and Megan Watskin (2005:67), “Tense refers to the capacity of verbs to express time.” It means, tense is used as time indicator. In the form of simple past tense, there is a verb. It has function to refer the name of action that is done by subject. Mas‟ud, Fu‟ad (1986:114) states, “Verb adalah kata yang menunjukan nama perbuatan yang dilakukan oleh subyek, namun mungkin juga menunjukan keadaan.” It means that verb is the word which refers to the name of action that is done by subject, and refers to the situation. Verb is separated into regular and irregular form. According to Murphy, Raymond (1994:274), “If a verb is regular, the past simple and past participle end in –ed... when the past simple/ past participle do not end in –ed (for example, I saw/ I have been seen), the verb is irregular.” In the process of learning grammar, errors can exist. According to Ellis, Rod (1994:51), “An error can be defined as deviation from the norms of the target language.” It means, error done by learner in learning target language. It has relation with the previous research done by Rahmah, Melynda Robayani (2012), she has done the research about students‟ errors in using simple past tense in one of the junior high schools in Majalengka. Rahmah, Melynda Robayani (2012:26) concludes, “Many errors are found in using to be in sentence, like in affirmative sentence, negative sentence and interrogative sentence. They are still confused to use to be in the sentence, especially in making simple past tense.” In this research, the writer will conduct the research about analysing errors in using simple past tense in one of the senior high schools. As the experience in PLP, the writer found many students‟ errors in using tenses. Because in this research the writer will take the different level and respondents from the previous study, the writer wants to know whether the respondents in this research will have errors in making to be sentences or not. Therefore, the writer will analyse the errors in using simple past tense in forming affirmative, negative, interrogative and question word sentences (including to be and verb). This research will take place at the eleventh grade of SMAN 3 Tasikmalaya.

LITERARY STUDIES A. Description of Error 1. Error Errors are deviations done by learner in applying linguistics, such as the errors in applying English grammar. According to Ellis, Rod (1994:51), “An error can be defined as deviation from the norms of the target language.” It means that error done by learner in learning target language. In the process of learning target language, error cannot be self-corrected because it needs input of further relevant related to its error. James, Carl (1998:83) states, “Error cannot be selfcorrected until further relevant (to that error) input (implicit or explicit) has been provided and converted into intake by the learner.” Therefore error is the deviation forms or unwanted forms that exist in the process of learning target language and cannot be self-corrected until further relevant input related to the error that has been provided and converted into intake by learner. 2. Categories of Error After discussing the definition of error, the writer will categorize the errors. According to Elis, Rod (1994:56), there are 4 categories of error, they are “Omissions, additions, misformations, and misorderings.” The followings are the explanation about the categories of error: 1) Omissions The loss of an item that should exist in well-formed. For example: *Why he late yesterday? This sentence is lack of auxiliary „was‟. The correct form is why was he late yesterday? 2) Additions The addition means existing an item that should not appear in well-formed. For example: *She didn‟t watched Television last morning. The adding simple past verb of “watched” is wrong, because in the pattern of negative simple past tense, an auxiliary „didn‟t‟ is followed by base verb, the correct verb for that sentence is „watch‟. 3) Misformations This error occurs when foreign language learners use the wrong form of the morpheme or structure. For example: *My mother eated fried rice last night. The form of “eated” is wrong because the past tense verb of “eat” is “ate”, it appears because the learner confused to decide “verb” in irregular verb. 4) Misorderings The misorderings error appears when foreign language learner does not put a morpheme or group of morpheme correctly. For example: *what you are doing? That sentence is wrong because the subject of “you” is placed after question word “What”. The correct sentence is What are you doing?

It means, global errors tend to the false comprehending message, and local errors tend to the fault on segment of a sentence by guessing. It can be concluded that there are 5 categories of error, they are: omission, addition, misformation, misordering and blends. 3. Causes of Error There are four causes of error in language learning. According to Richard, Jack C. (1973:174) the causes of error are, “Overgeneralization, ignorance of rule restriction, incomplete application of rules and false concept hypothesized.” The followings are the explanation about those causes of error: 1) Over-generalization This error is caused by foreign language learners‟ experience of other structure in the target language and they bring it into new structure. For example: *She can flies. It can be predicted that the learner uses the pattern of simple present tense because he adds “es” in the verb form “fly”, but it is incorrect because after the modal „can‟ must be followed by simple verb without “s/es”. 2) Ignorance of rule restriction This error is caused by the learners that do not apply the rule of context. For example: *Fery was dranked a cup of coffee last morning. It is proven because the learners do not apply the rule about the use of verb and auxiliary. 3) Incomplete application of rules This error appears because the learners apply the rules incompletely. Thus, they produce unacceptable form. For example: *She beautiful last year. It does not apply the sentence element of simple past tense incompletely. 4) False concept hypothesized This error is caused by faulty comprehension of distinction in the target language. For example: *Does she read novel last night? The auxiliary “does” should be changed into “did” in the pattern of simple past tense. This error is caused by learners‟ faulty comprehension about simple past tense. Based on the explanation previously, the writer concluded that over-generalization, ignorance of rule restriction, incomplete application of rules and false concept hypothesized are the causes of error. 4. Error Analysis The errors can be observed and analysed, it is called error analysis. James, Carl (1998:1) says, “Error analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessful language.” Therefore, the errors refer as unsuccessful

language, and it can be analysed. To conduct the error analysis, there are several procedures. According to Corder, S. P. as quoted by Ellis, Rod (1994:48) as follows, 1) Collection of a sample of learner language 2) Identification of errors 3) Description of errors 4) Explanation of errors 5) Evaluation of errors. The writer concludes that error analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of unsuccessful language as the experimental technique that has function to tell us something about the psycholinguistic processes of language learning. B. Description of Tense 1. Tense The role of tense in English is very important, it can be used to show the time. According to Knapp, Peter and Megan Watskin (2005:67), “Tense refers to the capacity of verbs to express time.” It means, the tense is used as time indicator. It also can be differentiated into three stages, they are past, present and future. Mas‟ud, Fu‟ad (1986:26) states, “Tense yang berhubungan dengan waktu dalam bahasa Inggris hanya ada tiga macam: present tense (waktu sekarang/saat ini), past tense (waktu lampau), future tense (waktu yang akan datang).” It means that tense that related to time in English has three kinds: present tense, past tense, future tense. It can be concluded that tense is the form of verb that shows the time. It can be differentiated into three stages, they are past, present and future. C. Description of Simple Past Tense 1. Simple Past Tense The simple past tense is one of the tenses that will be discussed in this research. According to Azar, Betty Schrampfer (1993:24), “ The simple past indicates that an activity or situation began and ended at particular time in the past.” So that, simple past tense refers to the past activity or situation. Besides, Murphy, Raymond (1989:21) states, “We use the simple past to talk about actions or situations in the past.” From the description, the writer concludes that simple past tense indicates an action/situation began and ended in the past. 2. The Uses of Simple Past Tense Simple past tense indicates an action/situation in the past. It has several functions, according to Thomson, A.J. and A.V. Martinet (1986:162), as follows:

a) It is used for actions completed in the past at the definite time. I met him yesterday. b) The simple past is used for an action whose time is not given but which occupied a period of time now terminated or occured at a moment in a period of time now terminated. He worked in that bank for four years. (But he does not work there now). c) The simple past tense is also used for a past habit. He always carried an umbrella. d) The simple past tense is used in conditional sentence, type 2. If I had a map I would lend it to you. (But I haven‟t a map). If I were you I‟d plant some trees round the house. (but I am not you). Based on the explanation previously, the writer concludes that the uses of simple past tense are to express the activity that happened in the past, such as “I met him yesterday.” Beside, it can be used to express an activity that occured at a moment in period time now terminated, such as “He worked in that Bank for four years.” And it also refers to the habitual action that is done in the past such as “He always carried an umbrella.” RESEARCH PROCEDURE A. Method of the Research The method that is used by the writer in this research is descriptive qualitative method to describe a situation by analysing the existing data. According to Best, John W. (2006:118), A descriptive study describes and interprets what is. It is concerned with conditions or relationships that exist, opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are evident, or trends that are developing. It is primarily concerned with the present, although it often considers past events and influences as they relate to current conditions. So the writer uses a descriptive qualitative method to describe relationship that exist by analysing the data, that is the students‟ errors in using simple past tense. B. Data and Sources of Data To conduct the research, the writer needs the data. According Fraenkel, Jack R. And Norman E. Wallen (1932:112), “The term data refers to the kinds of information researcher obtain on the subjects of their research. Demographic information, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, an so on, is one kind of data.” The data will be obtained from the

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result of the test and interview related to the students‟ simple past tense mastery. Sources of the data in this research are the students at the eleventh grade of senior high school. Sources of data were selected by using cluster random sampling technique, because every student has an equal chance of being selected into a respondent, so the writer takes thirty three students of class XI IPA 2 as respondents from nine classes. Steps of the Research The steps of research that is conducted by the writer are: a. Formulating of the problem and sources of data b. Making research instrument c. Giving test to the non respondents d. Examining the validity and reability of instrument; e. Giving test to the respondents f. Collecting data g. Identifying and analysing the errors are done by respondents h. Doing interview to the respondents i. Analysing the result j. Making result of the research Techniques of Collecting Data To get the data of research, the writer uses two steps, they are test and interview. According Heaton, J.B. (1988:5), “Test may be constructed primarily as devices to reinforce learning and motivate the students or primarily as means of assessing the students‟ performance in the language.” Therefore, the writer uses the test to assess the respondents‟ performance related to errors in using simple past tense. A test given is objective test, the writer gives test to respondents consisting of 26 numbers related to the grammatical of simple past tense. The respondents will be demanded to change the tense in the sentences of the test into simple past tense. Fraenkel, Jack R and Norman E. Wallen (1932:455) state, “Interviewing (i.e., the careful asking of relevant question) is an important way for a researcher to check the accuracy of-to verify of refute-the impressions he or she has gained through observation.” Thus, the interview is used to get in depth information particularly about the factors causing the students‟ errors in simple past tense. Research Instruments In this research, the writer is the research instrument. According to Maxwell, Joseph A. (1996:66), “In qualitative studies, the researcher is the instrument of the research and the research relationship is the means by which the research gets done.” While to get the data about the students‟ errors and causes of errors, the researcher uses the test and the questionnaire. Techniques of Analysing Data Related to this research, the writer describes the procedures of error analysis, as follows, a. Identification of errors

To identify errors, the writer will compare the sentences that are produced by learners with what to be the normal or correct in the target language. b. Description of errors In this step, the writer will describe the focus of analysing. They are the pattern of simple past tense consist of errors in making the sentence of affirmative, negative, interrogative and question word. After that, the writer analyses based on classifications of error based on the theory of Carl, James (1998:106), as follows: 1) Omission 2) Addition 3) Misformation 4) Misordering c. Explanation of errors This step focusing on the source of errors. According to Ellis, Rod (1994:57), “Explanation is concerned with establishing the source of the error, i.e. accounting for why it was made. This stage is the most important for SLA research as it involves an attempt to establish the processes responsible for L2 acquisition.” The writer will analyse the data based on the factor of causing of error based on the theory of Richard, Jack C. (1973:174), as follows: 1) Over-generalization 2) Ignorance of rule restrictions 3) Incomplete application of rules 4) False concepts hypothesized d. Calculation the percentage The last steps, the writer calculates the percentage of errors using the formula, according to Ali, Mohamad (1982:184), % =

100

Notes: % : Precentage of students‟ errors in using simple past tense n : Number of students‟ errors N : Total number of students‟ errors To make the data easy to analyse, the writer makes some codes as coding. According to Fraenkel, Jack R. And Norman E. Wallen (1932:488), “In doing a content analysis, a researcher can code either or both the manifest and the latent content of communication.” G. Place and Time of the Research The research is conducted at SMAN 3 Tasikmalaya in February, 27th March, 6th 2014. DISCUSSION

Based on the result of this research, it shows that the students‟ ability in using simple past tense is low because there are a lot of errors. The error are in using verb (regular verb/irregular verb), auxiliary „did‟, „did not‟, „was‟,„were‟ „was not‟, „were not‟, in forming verbal sentence, nominal sentence, interrogative sentence, Q-W sentence, positive sentence and negative sentence. For example in answering item number 1, there is the use of wrong form *doesn‟t, *wasn‟t, it should be √didn‟t. According to Dulay, Burth and Krashen as quoted by Ellis, Rod (1994:56), “Misformation is the use of the wrong form of morpheme and structure.” In this case, the students‟ errors of misformation accurs in using verb, auxiliary or verb. There are the factors causing error of misformation. First, Overgeneralization (OG), the students put the rule in learning another subject/ form. According to Richard, Jack C. (1974:174), “Over-generalization covers instances where the learner creates a deviant structure on the basis of his experience of other structures in the target language.” Some of students put *doesn‟t because the subject is a woman. Second, false concept hypothesized (FC), the students do error in using form. It is proven by the students‟ answer on interview, R3 answered “karena untuk.. untuk bentuk past tense dari had been yaitu was feel.” R8 answered “verb dua” they make errors in hypothizing the form. A lot of students do errors in adding “s. According to Dulay, Burth and Krashen as quoted by Ellis, Rod (1994:56), “Addition is presence of an item that must be not appear in a well-formed utterances.” They do not understand the question because they put the answer on the sentence. The factor causing errors of addition (Ad) is the ignorance of rule restriction (IR). According to Richard, Jack C. (19974:174), “Ignorance of rule restrictions of existing structures that is the application of rules to context where the learners do not apply. The students do not understand about the request of question. Another factor is Overgeneralization (OG), the students put the experience in learning another subject. According to Dulay, Burth and Krashen as quoted by Ellis, Rod (1994:56), “Misordering is the incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes in an utterance. The students put the subject after predicate/verb. The correct form is √did she come late to the school last Monday? The factor causing errors of misordering (Mo) is false concept hypothesized (FC). According to Richard, Jack C. (1974:174), “False concept hypothesized is a class of developmental errors which derive from faulty comprehension of distinction in the target language.” Some of students do not know why they put those sentence like that, it can be predicted, they do not know the rule of simple past tense. The students‟ errors of omission (Om) occurs because the students do not put the morpheme or form completely. According to Dulay, Burth and Krashen as quoted by Ellis, Rod (1994:56), “Omission is the absence of an item that must be appear in a well-formed utterance.” The students do not put auxiliary in the sentence. The factors causing errors of omission is incomplete application rule (IA). According to Richard, Jack C. (1974:174), “Incomplete application rules is the occurrence of structures whose deviance represents the degree of development of the rules required to produce acceptable utterance.” in the interview some students do not know the lack of the sentence, another students consider their error sentences are complete.

The description proves that understanding English grammar especially in using simple past tense is not easy. The students‟ understanding in using simple past tense is still low, it is proven by the lack of students‟ knowledge and the students‟ mastery about the rules of how to use verbs (regular and irregular verbs) and auxiliary. CONCLUSION Based on the result of data analyses, the writer concludes that there are the students‟ errors in using simple past tense done by the students at eleventh grade of SMAN 3 Tasikmalaya. The highest error is misformation (50%) a lot of students do not know the form of verb (regular/irregular), some of them still used past verb in the sentence of negative, interrogative and question word. Beside that, they do not know the difference of auxiliary between verbal sentence and nominal sentence, they used “to be (was/were and “was not/were not)” in the verbal sentence, and “to do did/didn‟t)” in the nominal sentence. The second error is addition (26.9%) some of students added “s” on the verbs because the subject of the sentence is “third singular person (he/ she), they used the rule of simple present tense. The third error is omission (13.6%) some of students answer the question incompletely. The lowest percentage of misordering errors (9.5%). It shows that most of the students have known how to put the morpheme or word in the simple past tense sentence. Those errors indicate that that the students‟ understanding about simple past tense is low. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ali, Mohamad. (1982). Penelitian Kependidikan Prosedur dan Strategi. Bandung: Angkasa. Azar, Betty Schrampfer. (1993). Understanding and Using English Grammar: Second Edition, Edisi Inggris-Indonesia. Jakarta Barat: Binarupa Aksara. Best, John W. (2006). Research in Education: Tenth Edition. New Delhi: Prentince Corder, S. P. (1981). Error Analysis and Interlanguage. London: Oxford University Press. Dodigovic, Marina. (2005). Artificial Intelligence in Second Language Acquisition: Raising Error Awareness. UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Ellis, Rod. (1994). The study of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press. Ellis, Rod. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press. Fraenkel, Jack R. And Norman E. Wallen (1932). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. Sixth Ed.San Fransisco:Metu Library. Harmer, Jeremy. (1989). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Cambridge UK: Longman. Heaton, J. B. (1998). Writing English Language Tests. London and New York: Longman. James, Carl. (1998). Error in Language Learning and Use. London: Longman.

Knapp, Petter and Megan Watskin. (2005). Genre, Text, Grammar, Technology for Teaching and Assessing Writing. Australia: A UNSW Press book. Mas‟ud, Fu‟ad. (1986). Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide. Yogyakarta: BPFE. Maxwell, Joseph A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design. USA: SAGE Publications. Murphy, Raymond. (1994). English Grammar in Use: Second Edition. UK: Cambridge University Press. Rahmah, Melynda Robayani. (2012). The Analysis of Students’ Errors in Translating from Indonesia into English. Tasikmalaya: Unpublished. Richard, Jack. C. (1973). Error Analysis, Perspectives on Second Language Acqusition. London: Longman. Thomson, A.J. and A.V. Martinet. (1986). A practical English Grammar. New York: Oxford University Press.