what errors are committed by students in writing english...

Proceedings of International Conference on Language, Literary and Cultural Studies (ICON LATERALS) 2016

Widyaloka Auditorium, Universitas Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang, 29 October 2016

278

DOI:10.217716/ub.icon_laterals.2016.001.1.18

What Errors are Committed by Students in Writing English Paragraphs?

Faiza Hawa

Universitas PGRI Semarang

Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

[email protected]

Rahmawati Sukmaningrum

Universitas PGRI Semarang


[email protected]

Oscar Yustino Carascalao

SMA Krista Mitra Semarang


[email protected]

ABSTRACT

It is inevitable for students in making error when they write paragraphs in their second

language. The study attempts to analyze errors in the paragraphs written by second

semester students of English Department of University of PGRI Semarang. The data

of this study are 35 paragraphs randomly taken from second semester students who

enroll writing 2. Written test is used as the instrument of the research. The analysis of

the paragraphs is derived from Corder’s (1967) cited in Sawalmeh Murad (2013)

method on error analysis. This method has three steps (1) collection of the sample

errors, (2) identification of errors, (3) and description of errors. All the errors

committed by the students are put into categorizations. This study reveals that the

second semester students have committed several errors in their paragraphs. Those are

verbs tense, subject verb agreement, fragment and capitalization, spelling, word order,

use of pronoun, preposition, and article. Several recommendations are put in the

highlight to reduce further problems regarding writing English paragraphs.

KEYWORDS: Writing, Error Analysis, English Paragraph

Learning English needs more practice. It has four skills to master. Those skills

include listening, speaking, listening and writing. In writing, students learn to produce

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connected and well-ordered sentences in a systematic ways. To produce meaningful

and well-ordered sentences is not an easy job for students. It needs hard efforts and a

lot of practices to produce good sentences since we do not acquire this skill naturally.

However, students cope many obstacles when they are trying to write sentences or

even paragraphs. Therefore, written production is one of the most difficult tasks for

ESL/EFL learners (Harris and Cunningham 1994 cited in Maher 2014).

In academic study, students need to learn writing in order to take notes, write

essays and compositions, and answering written questions. For that reason, students

need further understanding and more practices in writing. Meyers (2005:2) stated that

writing is a way to produce language you do naturally when you speak. Writing is

speaking to other on paper or on a computer screen. Writing is also an action – a

process of discovering and organizing ideas then putting them on a paper, reshaping

and last revising them into good arrangements. In addition, writing requires a high

level of language control, problem-solving form, generating ideas, planning, goal

setting, monitoring and assessing what has been produced (Murcia and Olshtain,

2000). It is in line as what stated by Harmer. He said that writing is often time-bound

in the way conversation is. When writing, students frequently have more time to think

than they do in oral activities. They can go through what they know in their minds, and

even consult dictionaries, grammar book, or other reference material to help them

(2004:31). It can be summed up that writing needs hard work, many practices and

plenty of time to not only generate ideas, but also arrange the ideas into readable and

meaningful sentences. Therefore, making errors in writing English is not something

surprising and it is inevitable for the students to commit since writing is a complex

process.



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Error analysis is a proper tool for revealing students’ mistakes in composing

sentences in English. Doing error analysis on students’ writing means the lecturers

provide themselves some information related to the students’ errors. This helps the

lecturer or teacher in three ways: first to correct students’ error, second to improve

their teaching, and third to focus on those areas which need reinforcement (Alhaysoni,

2012 cited in Alwameh Murad, 2013).

This study meant to identify the types of errors made by the second semester

students of University of PGRI Semarang in Writing paragraphs and frequency of

committing those types of error.

The present study sought to answer questions posed below:

1. What are the most common types of error committed by second semester students

of English Department of University of PGRI Semarang in their paragraphs?

2. How frequent is writing errors occurred on students’ paragraphs?

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Writing

Writing is a way to communicate in written form. Since writing is a complex

process, it takes plenty of time to practice. Langan states that writing is not a natural

talent, but a skill that must often be trained (2008: 13). It is a skill involving

knowledge, concepts, and writing rules, and also for composing ideas into written form

based on its rules to make it comprehended for readers. A good writing is resulted from

plenty of thinking, practicing, evaluating, then revising. It is on the same highlight as

uttered by Byrne, 1996 cited in Maher Fadi, 2014. He said that the way of ordering

sentences should include some conscious mental effort such as making notes, drafting,

and revising.



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The process of thinking in writing is a process of creating and composing ideas

into comprehended writing based on writing rules. Good writing must include a

sufficient knowledge of grammatical rules, lexical items, and logical connections

(Maher Fadi, 2014).

English teacher or lecturer can use writing as a students’ learning reflection. It

means that if the students able to produce good writing, it can be said that the learning

is successful. It is a tool used either as a evidence of successful learning or as a means

of learning (Richard, 1990 cited in Cholipah 2014). In other words, writing is a

feedback for learning achievement.

Error analysis

In fact, learners do make errors, and these errors can be observed, analyzed,

classified. This statement is in line with Ellis’ opinion. He said that error analysis is

used as a tool to investigate how learners acquire a second language (2008:62). Brown

(2000: 218) also stated that error analysis is a surge of study of learners’ errors. Here,

error analysis is useful to keep us focuses on specific language.

In analyzing the errors, there are steps that must be done by the researcher.

Ellis (1997:16-19) explains that there are four steps of error analysis. They are:

a. Identifying Errors

In identifying errors we have to compare sentences the learners produce with

what seem to be the normal or ‘correct’ sentences in target language which correspond

with them.

b. Describing Error

After errors have been identified, they can be described and classified into

types. There are several ways of doing this. One way is to classify errors into

grammatical categories. Another way might be to try to identify general ways, such as



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‘omission’, “misinformation” and ‘misordering’. Classifying errors can help us to

diagnose learners’ learning problems at any stage of their development.

c. Explaining Errors

The identification and description of errors are preliminaries to the much more

interesting task of trying to explain why they occur.

d. Error Evaluation

Where the purpose of the error analysis is to help learners, there is a need to

evaluate errors. Some errors can be considered more serious than others because they

are more likely to interfere with the intelligibility of what someone says.

RESEARCH METHOD

Subject of the Study

This qualitative study took 35 students as the subjects of the study. The subjects

were selected from the second semester students of English Department of University

of PGRI Semarang who enrolled writing 2. The second semester students are divided

into 5 classes; they are class A, B, C, D and E. Purposive cluster sampling were applied

to take the subject. It is used for specific purpose to generate a more efficient

probability sample in term of monetary and/or time resources (Charles, Yu: 2007: 79-

80 cited in Cholipah: 2014: 54).

Instrument

The instrument used to collect the data in this study is written test. The students

were assigned to write a paragraph in which the topic is not determined by the lecturer.

The paragraphs the students wrote demanded four requirements of a good paragraph.

The lecturer distributed the test sheet to the students. When they finished their writing,

the lecturer collected the paper and began to analyze by marking the errors occurred

on students’ paragraphs.



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Data Analysis

The analysis of the paragraphs will be derived from Corder’s (1967) cited in

Sawalmeh Murad (2013) method on error analysis. This method has three steps (1)

collection of the sample errors, (2) identification of errors, (3) and description of errors.

To find out the frequency of the common errors in the paragraphs, the writers

calculated the total errors found in the paragraphs. The data will be analyzed using

Chanquoi error classification (2001). Those include: first, spelling errors. This

category deals with the errors related to the orthography errors. Second, grammatical

errors. This category discusses the errors related to the gender and number, agreement

of nouns, verb and adjectives, and subject-verb agreement. The third is punctuation

errors. This category deals with the punctuation and capitalization errors.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this section, the writers present the results of the study. The results are

presented in accordance with the research problems posed earlier in this study. First,

what are the most common types of error committed by second semester students of

English Department of University of PGRI Semarang in their paragraphs? Second,

How frequent is writing errors occurred on students’ paragraphs?

Tabel 1.

Writing errors committed by second semester students

No Types of Error Percentage

1 Verb tense 28.2 %

2 Word order 8.21%

3 Subject 21.74%

4 Pronoun 4.8%

5 Spelling 8.7%

6 Capitalization 9.6%

7 Preposition 4.3%

8 Article 3.8%

9 Fragment 10.62%



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As presented in table 1, the second semester students of English department of

University of PGRI Semarang have committed several errors in their paragraph

writing. Those errors covering error in verb tense, word order, subject, pronoun,

spelling, capitalization, preposition, article, and fragment. The most common error in

writing paragraph are dominated by error of verb tense, subject, and fragment. Below

is the presentation of nine types of errors committed by second semester students in

writing paragraph.

1) Verb tense

Verb tense error occurs when wrong verb tense is used. Incorrect verb tense

can cause confusion—readers may not understand when events happened.

Error classification Error identification Error Correction

Verb tense Homeschooling is an

alternative solution for

parents who wants to

implement more educational

focused on children

Homeschooling is an

alternative solution for

parents who want to

implement more

educational focused on

children

2) Word order

Word order error is wrong arrangement of words in a phrase, clause, or sentence. In

many languages, including English, word order plays an important part in determining

meanings expressed in other languages by inflections.


Word order

- There are four pictures on

my wall room.

-I have many small balls of

colorful.

-There are four pictures on my

wall room.

- I have many small balls of

colorful.

3) Subject-verb agreement

The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must

be plural. Problems occur in the present tense because one must add an -s or -es at the

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/important

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/determine

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/meaning

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/inflection



285

end of the verb when the subjects or the entity performing the action is a singular third

person: he, she, it, or words for which these pronouns could substitute.


Subject verb

agreement

- Karimunjawa have a diverse

ecosystem.

- However, he is not arrogant

although he become a best

selling artist

- Karimunjawa has a

diverse ecosystem.

- However, he is not

arrogant although he

becomes a best selling

artist

4) Pronoun

A pronoun is used in place of a noun or nouns.


Pronoun - In addition, it’s geometrical

frame is very different from

that of technical control.

- In addition, its

geometrical frame is

very different from that

of technical control.

5) Spelling

Spelling is the act or process of writing words by using the letters

conventionally accepted for their formation.


Spelling - I have a familly.

-Secendly, myself picture is

next to my family’s picture.

- I have a family.

- Secondly, myself picture

is next to my family’s

picture.

6) Capitalization

Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the

remaining letters in lowercase.

Error

classification

Error identification Error Correction

Capitalization - he issued the government

regulation is valid

-family gathering right would

really be fun for the family

members.

-He issued the government

regulation is valid

- Family gathering right

would really be fun for the

family members.



286

-pemalang city has a

interesting place that is

Widuri water park.

- Pemalang city has a

interesting place that is

Widuri water park.

7) Preposition

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun

and other words in a sentence. It links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in

a sentence.


Preposition - It can make me

interested to stay every

time.

- I can enjoy and listen a

music or watch the movie.

- It can make me

interested in stay every

time.

- I can enjoy and listen to

a music or watch the

movie

8) Article

An article is a word that is used with a noun to indicate the type of reference

being made by the noun.

Error

classification


Article - That is a architect attempt

to build a modern office.

-Lawang sewu is a located

on the east side Tugu Muda

Semarang.

-Homeschooling is an

alternative education

method that is carried out

at home with parents as

teacher.

- That is an architect attempt

to build a modern office.

- Lawang sewu is located on

the east side Tugu Muda

Semarang.

- Homeschooling is an

alternative education method

that is carried out at home

with parents as the teacher.

9) Fragment

A sentence fragment is similar to a phrase or a dependent clause. It is not a

sentence, or more precisely, not a finished sentence. A fragment expresses an

incomplete thought; a fragment cannot function nor stand alone as a simple sentence.



287

Error

classification


Fragment - The beautiful and smart

princess from central Java.

-Because men and women

are equal.

-And on vacation the end of

the years.

-The second market

Sukowati.

-A very enjoyable holiday

for me.

- She is a beautiful and smart

princess from central Java.

- It is because men and

women are equal.

- We are on vacation at the

end of the years.

- The second market is

Sukowati

- It is a very enjoyable

holiday for me.

The findings of this study indicate that most of the students experience error in

writing paragraphs. The results show that the students experience nine types of

common error when they write paragraphs. Those nine errors cover the error in verb

tense, word order, subject-verb agreement, pronoun, spelling, capitalization,

preposition, article and fragment. The most common errors are dominated by verb

tense (28.2%), subject-verb agreement (21.74%), and fragment (10.62%). The errors

are occurred due to the lack of students’ competence in English. This is in accordance

as what stated by Abdellatif (2007). He claims that the reason of committing writing

errors among non-native speakers of English is the lack of knowledge of second or

foreign language structure.

As mentioned in the earlier definition, error is something unavoidable for

students. It is something natural for students to commit error in writing English since

writing is not naturally given skill. Error itself cannot be separated from learning

process especially language acquisition because many experts believe that error

becomes an evidence which gives good contribution to second language acquisition

(Khasanah, Uswatun, 2016: 27).



288

CONCLUSION

This study intended to investigate the types of error committed by the second

semester students in writing paragraphs and the frequency of their occurrences. The

results of this study reveals that the students commonly commit error in grammatical

when they write paragraphs. The most common errors are dominated by verb tense,

subject-verb agreement, and fragment. The errors are occurred due to the lack of

students’ competence in English. After finding the result, it is better for writing

lecturers to teach the basic grammar before teaching the method of writing a good

paragraph. Moreover, students who enroll writing 2 should be improved their

knowledge on verb tense, subject-verb agreement and fragment.

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Khasanah Uswatun, 2016. An Error Analysis of Simple Present tense Used in Written

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what errors are committed by students in writing english...

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