AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN USING PREPOSITION
‘IN, ON, AT’ AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PEMBANGUNAN
BAGAN BATU ROKAN HILIR
BY
DIAN SARI ZAHARA MUNTHE
SIN. 11513203573
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTAN SYARIF KASIM RIAU
PEKANBARU
AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN USING PREPOSITION
‘IN, ON, AT’ AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PEMBANGUNAN
BAGAN BATU ROKAN HILIR
A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Bachelor Degree of English Education
(S. Pd.)
By
DIAN SARI ZAHARA MUNTHE
SIN. 11513203573
ENGLISH EDUCATUIN DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTAN SYARIF KASIM RIAU
PEKANBARU
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
By the name of Allah Almighty, the Lord of the world, who has been giving the writer His guidance, mercy, blessing, and health to complete this academic requirement. Shalawat and salam are forever for a noble character, the prophet Muhammad SAW., who has brought the human beings from the darkness to the lightness and from the bad character to the good one.
This thesis is intended to complete a partial requirement for the award of Undergraduate degree in English Education Department of Education and Teacher Training Faculty of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.
In this occasion, the writer would like to express the great thanks to:
1. Prof. Dr. H. Akhmad Mujahidin, S. Ag., M. Ag., the Rector of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau, Dr. Drs. H. Suryan A. Jarmah MA., as Vice Rector I, Drs. H. Promadi, MA., Ph.D., as Vice Rector III and all staff. Thank you for kindness and encouragement.
2. Dr. H. Muhammad Syaifuddin, S. Ag., M. Ag., the Dean of Education and Teacher Training Faculty of State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau., Dr. Drs. Alimuddin, M. Ag., as Vice Dean I, Dr. Dra. Rohani, M. Pd., as Vice Dean II, Dr. Drs. Nursalim, M. Pd., as Vice Dean III and all staff. Thank you for kindness and encouragement.
3. Drs. Samsi, M. H. Sc., as the Head of English Education Department and Cut Raudhatul Miski, M. Pd., as the secretary of English Education Department, thanks for their guidance and help given to the writer to complete this thesis. 4. Dra. Hj. Yusrida, M. Pd., the writer’s supervisor who has given guidance,
motivation and advice to the writer for completing this thesis.
5. Zelly Putriani, M. Pd., the writer’s academic supervisors who have given suggestion, motivation, advice and guidance for finishing this thesis.
6. Harum Natasha, M. Pd., Robi Kurniawan, M. Pd., the writer’s PA who have give much of motivations and advices to the writer.
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7. Nuardi M, Pd., the writer’s lecture who has give motivation, advice, spirit and guidance to the writer.
8. All lecturers of English Education Department who have given their knowledge, information, and insight both through formal classroom meeting and through informal occasional one.
9. Drs. Samino, S. Pd., as the Headmaster of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu and Mr. Hafidzon, M. Pd., as English Teacher who given time and place to the writer conducted this research. Also for all teachers and all staffs instilling the data for the research.
10. The researcher’s beloved parents, the heroes of her life, Alm. Ruslan Munthe and Safariah. They give the writer more than they have. Thank you so much Mom, Dad. Please keep becoming my inspiration.
11. My beloved Sister, Dewi Sartika Munthe, who always supports and guides my life in.
12. My beloved brother, Hasan Azhari Munthe, who indirectly makes me motivated by his academic endeavors and career.
13. My sister in law Yuke rini, all of my nephews Surya Darma, Riski Firmansyah and Affan Zaidan, my best partner Bagus Pribady who always give me support every time.
14. My best friends in college : Putri Mahesarani, Rohana, Nursyafiera, Elsa Elvionita, Fadilla Sari and all of the members in D class of EED 2015.
15. My craziest friends who always understands me till now: Putri Hawana, Icha SCR, Dessy DJ.
16. My DHA gang when Junior High School: (D)ian, (H)ilda Novia, (A)nnisa Zahara.
17. My uncle Ali Dahlan and my cousin Beb Rani who have been giving me strength and support since the first time I got into the university.
18. My beloved PPL team at MAN 1 Pekanbaru and KKN team in Dumai, Lubuk Gaung village.
19. My best inspirational people: My Parents, Mam Zelly Putriani, Mr.Nuardi, Mr.Samsi, Mam Harum Natasha, Mr. Syafi’i, who have encouraged me to
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keep my dream alive, to be an optimistic person, and reminded me of self-improvement.
20. Everyone who have helped and supported me, it cannot be written one by one. Thanks, all.
Finally, the writer really realizes that are many weaknesses in the thesis. Therefore, constructive critiques and suggestion are needed in order to improve this thesis.
Pekanbaru, November 2019 The Writer
Dian Sari Zahara Munthe NIM. 11513203573
vi ABSTRACT
Dian Sari Zahara Munthe, (2019) : An Analysis of Students’ Errors in Using Preposition ‘in, on, at’ at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir
This research was aimed at obtain the proportion (frequency and the percentage) of types of students’ errors in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ on their writing descriptive text production. In addition, the researcher also wanted to investigate the most common errors that the students commit in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ on their writing descriptive text production. Therefore, the objective of this research was to investigate the types of students’ errors in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ at the seventh grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu and to find out the students’ most common errors in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu. Then, the subject of this research was the seventh grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu, meanwhile the object of this research was the students’ errors in using preposition in, on, at. This research was descriptive quantitative research. The researcher used simple random sampling. There were 30 samples from 200 respondents. To collect the data, the researcher used writing test to find out the types of students’ errors in using preposition in, on, at and to find out the most common errors in using preposition in, on at. Based on data analysis, the researcher found the total amounts of errors made by students were 213 errors. In which 13,15% errors in omission, 32,39% errors in insertion, 54,46% errors in selection of incorrect. Then, the most common errors made by the students was selection of incorrect with 54,46%
vii ABSTRAK
Dian Sari Zahara Munthe, (2019) : Menganalisa Kesalahan-kesalahan Siswa dalam Menggunakan Preposisi ‘di’ di SMP Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh proporsi (frekuensi dan persentase) dari jenis kesalahan-kesalahan siswa dalam menggunakan preposisi ‘di’ pada penulisan teks deskriptif siswa. Selain itu, peneliti juga ingin menyelidiki kesalahan paling dominan yang dilakukan oleh siswa dalam menggunakan preposisi ‘di’ pada penulisan teks deskriptif siswa. Oleh karena itu, tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk menyelidiki jenis-jenis kesalahan siswa dalam menggunakan preposisi 'di' di kelas tujuh SMP Pembangunan Bagan Batu dan untuk menemukan kesalahan siswa yang paling dominan dalam menggunakan preposisi 'di’ di SMP Pembangunan Bagan Batu. Kemudian, subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas VII SMP Pembangunan Bagan Batu, sedangkan objek penelitian ini adalah kesalahan siswa dalam menggunakan preposisi di. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif. Peneliti menggunakan simple random sampling. Ada 30 sampel dari 200 responden. Untuk mengumpulkan data, peneliti menggunakan tes menulis untuk mengetahui jenis kesalahan siswa dalam menggunakan preposisi ‘di’ dan untuk menemukan kesalahan paling dominan dalam menggunakan preposisi di. Berdasarkan analisis data, peneliti menemukan jumlah kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh siswa adalah 213 kesalahan. Di mana 13,15% kesalahan dalam omission, 32,39% kesalahan dalam insertion dan 54,46% kesalahan dalam selection of incorrect. Kemudian, jenis kesalahan yang paling dominan dilakukan oleh siswa adalah kesalahan selection of incorrect dengan total 54,46%.
ix LIST OF CONTENT SUPERVISOR APPROVAL ... i EXAMINER APPROVAL ... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT... iii ABSTRACT ... vi LIST OF CONTENTS ... ix LIST OF TABLES ... xi
LIST OF CHARTS ... xii
LIST OF APPENDICES... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem ... 1
B. Problem of the Research ... 4
1. Identifications of the Problem ... 4
2. Limitation of the Problem ... 4
3. Formulation of the Problem ... 5
C. Objective and Significance of the Research ... 5
D. Definition of the Term ... 6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Framework ... 7
1. Error ... 7
a. Types of Error ... 7
b. Errors in Using Preposition ... 14
c. Assesment of Error in Using Preposition .... 16
B. Relevant Research ... 18
C. Operational Concept ... 23
CHAPTER III METHOD OF THE RESEARCH A. Research Design ... 24
B. Time and Location of the Research ... 24
1. Time of the Research ... 24
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C. Subject and Object of the Research ... 25
1. Subject of the Research ... 25
2. Subject of the Research ... 25
D. Population and Sample of the Research ... 25
E. Data Collection Technique ... 26
F. Data Analysis Technique ... 26
CHAPTER IV DATA PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS A. Data Presentation ... 28
B. Data Analysis ... 44
CHAPTER V CONCLUTATION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 69
B. Suggestion ... 69 REFERENCES
APPENDICES
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LIST OF TABLE
Table II.1 Preposition of Place ... 16 Table II.2 Preposition of Time ... 17 Table II.3. The Indicators Type of Error in Using Preposition, in, on, at 18 Table III.1 Total of Population ... 25 Table III.2 Total of Sample ... 26 Table IV.I Recapitulation of Students’ errors ... 29 Table IV.2 The Recapitulation of Students’ Errors in Omission of
Preposition in, on, at ... 44 Table IV.3 The Recapitulation of Students’ Errors in Insertion of Preposition
in, on, at... 45 Table IV.4 The Recapitulation of Students’ Errors in Selection of Incorrect
of Preposition in, on, at ... 45 Table IV.5 Percentage of Students’ Errors in Using Preposition in, on, at ... 67
xii
LIST OF CHART
xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : Instrument of Students’ Errors in Using Preposition in, on, at Appendix 2 : Students’ Error Score Assessed By a Rater
Appendix 3 : Syllabus
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem
In the current era of globalization, almost everyone is required to master English, because it can be a link between one country and others and it is used by most of people in many parts, especially in education, technology, medical and others. According to Reddy (2016), English has become an official language in several countries in the world, and some other countries make it a second language or a foreign language. One of countries that make English as a foreign language to be studied is Indonesia.
In Indonesia, English is taught at all levels of education. It is learnt in Elementary School up to University. The goal is to master the four skills in English (speaking, listening, reading and writing). As Sadiku (2015) states that the people who can master the four English skills, automatically they can make them superior than others. From the four skills mentioned, writing seems to play its own role to students‟ success. Writing is very commonly used in the world of education and in the side of employment, many important things that cannot be conveyed spoken, but must be done through writing, for example proposals, reports, applications, memoes and others. It is the reason why writing is important for students' success, it also explains if students cannot write well it means they cannot express or convey their knowledge to important people. However, skill alone is not yet enough to master the language because many language components adhered to it like grammar,
spelling, punctuation. Following the most aforementioned components, mostly students find grammar is more difficult than others. As Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratman (2011 p.71) state that many students are unable to use the grammar properly, even though they actually know the rules contained in grammar, but they are not capable enough to apply and use the grammar itself in the use of their language. In another side, being able to write grammatically is crucial. Without a correct grammar, the writing will not be understood clearly.
At Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir, English is taught by having a guide to 2013 curriculum where the passing grade is 70. By this curriculum, grammar lessons are provided in 8 different parts for the seventh grade students. Those eight are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, interjection and preposition. The subject is taught twice a week with the duration 90 minutes for each meeting. Based on the researcher‟s interview on the 2nd of January 2019 with the English teacher at the seventh grade, the teacher explained some of students were not able to use the preposition in, on, at correctly, some of students were still lack of preposition in, on, at mastery. The students sometimes inverted in using the preposition in, on, at. The students could not distinguish when to use the correct preposition in, on, at. The problems is evidenced when the teacher gave assignments to students, some students did not know the function of the preposition, the sentence that should be filled with „in‟ is even filled with „at‟ or „on‟, the sentence that should be filled with „on‟, instead filled with „in‟ or „at‟, then the
sentence that should be filled with „at‟, instead filled with „in‟ or „on‟. For instance, “I live ... Sutomo Street”. If students did not review further, the three prepositions „in, on, at‟ can be placed in the sentence, even though the sentence is correct if it is filled using preposition “on”. Thus, the researcher concluded based on the interview that some students still had problems in understanding grammar especially in the use of the preposition in, on, at.
The student‟s got difficulties to reflect from students‟ Minimum Criteria Achievement. In reference to Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir lesson plan, the score of MCA of this school is 70. Based on the MCA of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir, there was 32 students (16%) got 90-100 in score, 40 students (20%) got 80-89 in score, 78 students (39%) got 70-79 score and 50 students (25%) in <70 in score.
Particularly at the seventh grade students of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir, the researcher found that students have problem in their comprehension when they are read announcement text. Those problems are following:
1. Some of students were not able to use preposition in, on, at appropriatly by using the correct grammar.
2. Some of students were still confuse in using preposition in, on, at. 3. Some of students still misplaced in using preposition in, on, at.
4. Students could not distinguish when to use the correct preposition in, on, at.
Based on the above explanation to the needs of preposition and not making errors in preposition in, on, at, the researcher is interested in conducting a study entitled “AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS‟ ERRORS IN USING PREPOSITION „IN, ON, AT‟ AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PEMBANGUNAN BAGAN BATU ROKAN HILIR”.
B. Problem
1. Identification of the Problem
Based on the problems that are stated above, the researcher tried to identify some problems as follow:
a. Why did not some of students know how to chose appropriate preposition in, on, at correctly in sentences?
b. Why did not some of students know deeply the concept of preposition in, on, at?
c. Why did not some of students‟ misplace in using preposition in, on, at in sentence?
d. Why did not some of studets lack of preposition in, on, at mastery 2. Limitation of the Problem
After identified the problem stated above, thus the researcher needed to limit and focused the problem to achieve the goal of the research, the limitation of the research problem was students‟ errors in using preposition in, on, at. The researcher studied those preposition errors specifically on their writing text production.
3. Formulation of the Problem
Based on the limitation of the problem mentioned, the researcher formulated the research question as the following: „‟What are the types of students‟ errors in using preposition „in, on, at‟ at the seventh grade students of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir?‟‟
C. Objective and Significance of the Research 1. Objective of the Research
To identify the types of students‟ errors in using preposition „in, on, at‟ at the seventh grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir.
2. Significance of the Research
Hopefully, this study is useful and valuable for English teachers, the students and the researcher herself. For English teachers, this research will help them to find solutions in solving problems experienced by students, especially in making preposition errors in, on, at and it can be the evaluation for English teachers to find out the appropriate strategy or technique in teaching preposition in, on, at. In other word, it can be as a consideration in the learning and teaching process so that teachers can determine the right steps in order to prevent and overcome the students‟ errors in using preposition in, on, at. For the students, due to research involving them it has function for developing and improving their ability to use prepositions in, on, at correctly. This research also can be as additional insight and experience for students in learning preposition in,
on, at. It also can encourage the students to study harder and be more active in the learning process to avoid the prepositions errors in the future. For the researcher, this research can enhance her knowledge in learning how to conduct a research especially in case of students‟ errors in using preposition in, on, at. It also has positive impacts and provides knowledge about how to analyze students‟ errors especially on the use of preposition in, on, at. This research can be used as study material to expand knowledge and increase professionalism about scientific research in the future.
D. Definition of the Terms
There are so many terms involved in this research. Thus, to avoid miss understanding toward the term used, the following terms are necessarily defined as follows:
1. Students‟ errors is breaking the role, due to lack of competence such as knowledge of the language, which may or may not be conscious. Students will make error if they are in the condition of having incorrect or false knowledge. In ths research, students‟ errors made by the students at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir.
2. Preposition is a small word that never changes shape and it is placed before a noun or pronoun to define its relationship with another word in a sentence. Preposition is the grammatical particles and belongs to adposition type and it can be a connection between some of sentences. In this research, the prepositions that will be used by the students are „in, on, at‟.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Framework 1. Error
a. Types of Error
Both oral and written language skills can be developed through language learning itself. It is inevitable in the language learning process students often make erros. According to Davis & Pearse (2002), error is an evidence of the failure of the learning process and the part that cannot be avoided in the learning process. It is supported by Erdogan (2005) argues that making errors in learning English has become something that students cannot be shunned anymore.
Similarly, according to Brown (1994), an error is a deviation from the target language which reflects the learner‟s inter language competence. Errors are also the flawed side of learner speech or writing. It means that learners cannot learn language without systematically committing errors first. They will not be able to correct the errors by themselves quickly. They need guidance to correct the errors.
Meanwhile, Ellis (1999) argues that error is a violation of the rules in the target laguange. Error is also something that students did repeatedly eventhough they have learned it and they cannot change the error itself at the same time.
Furthermore, Harmer (1987) states that error is the part that is often detected because it always appears in the language learning process, the error can be observed in two aspects of student performance, namely errors in speaking or errors in their writing.
Porte (1993) states that error is something that happens continuously and repeatedly in the learning process until they are able to reach the target language correctly. The errors made by those students can be identified and classified to find the right feedback and correction.
From definition above, the researcher concluded that error is something that happen naturally in learning the language. Error cannot be avoided, but the presence of an error will give a negative impact on student learning outcomes. So, error is a destroyer of existing regulations, due to lack of knowledge of the language, which may or may not be concious.
Ciesielkiewicz & Marquez (2015) say that analyze the types and nature of errors carried out by students is a good way to be able to measure the extent to which learning objectives have been achieved. In analyzing the students‟ errors, some experts make some classification types of errors.
There are four categories classified by Dulay (1982, p. 139-198): Linguistic Errors, Surface Strategy errors, Comparative Errors, Communicative Errors.
1) Linguistic Errors
Linguistic errors are those relating to the three main subsystems of language: Phonology (i.e. pronunciation), Morphology and Syntax (i.e. grammar), Semantics and Lexicon (i.e. meaning and vocabulary), and Discourse, (i.e. style).
2) Surface Strategy Errors
These errors may be described as linguistic errors, but for certain surface devices employed by the learners. The errors are: Omission of items, Addition of items, Double Markings, Regularization and Misformations.
a) Omission errors
These errors occur when an element of the sentence that should be present ed is omitted or by the absence of an item that must appear in a well-formed utterance, and it often occurs in form of morphems. There are two types of morphems, lexical morphemes and grammatical morphemes. Lexical morphems are consist of referential meaning of the sentence such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb in the sentences. However, the grammatical morphems, include noun and verb inflections, plays a minor role in conveying the meaning of the sentence.
b) Addition errors
These are the opposite of omission errors. It is a phenomenon in which certain aspect of language rules is added into a correct order (correct sentence). In order words, some elements are presented in which it should not be presented. c) Misformation errors
These are characterized by the use of wrong from of the morphem or structure. In other words, the error of using one grammatical form in the place of another grammatical form or the learner supplies something, altough it is incorrect.
d) Misordering errors
These errors occur when a sentence which its order is incorrect. The sentence can be right in presented elements, but wrongly sequenced.
Meanwhile, Al-Bayati (2013, p.49-51) classifies that the errors into 3 types of errors. The types of errors are omission, substitution and addition.
1) Errors of Substitution
The data analysis has revealed instances of the substitution of prepositions which seemed to be caused by both, the students‟ mother tongue interference and the influence of the target language itself as in:
Substituting (at) and (in), as in the following illustrative examples:
a) He was hunting at the morning.
b) She had a bad dream and woke up at the night. c) In the first, Mrs. Morel loves her husband. d) In night, Mr. .Morel quarreled with his wife. 2) Errors of Addition
The analysis of the data has shown that the majority of the students' errors in the use of prepositions due to inter or intralingua reasons, were errors of substitution. Yet, when prepositions are used where they are not needed, they represent 'addition of preposition'. The data analysis has revealed instances of the addition of prepositions, as in (66-87), which seemed to be caused by either students' L1 or L2 itself. Here some illustrative examples: a) We must recognize on Luther‟s speech.
b) They shall die in one day.
c) Waiting for Go dot reflects to a religious theme. d) He asked from him to study.
e) The authority which dominated upon England. 3) Errors of Omission
The analysis has not only revealed instances of the addition of prepositions but also the omission of prepositions which may be attributed to the same causes. Here are some illustrative examples:
a) To deal with the hero requires knowledge ^ his experiences.He stayed ^ 84 days without getting any fish.
b) He says ^ himself.
c) In the beginning ^ the third month…' d) He talks ^ him in the morning.
Furthermore, there are two types of errors classified by Jain (in Richard 1973, pp. 189-215): Asystematic errors and unsystematic errors.
1) Asystematic Errors
Asystematic errors are the errors which are stem from generalizations which have not acquired the status of rules, but continue to stay as hyphotehesis.
2) Unsystematic Errors
Unsystematic errors occur when students produce the errors from the slips of the tongue, or the students‟ also produce errors when they write. It is caused purely by psychological conditions, such as intense excitement, psychological factors suh as tiredness which change moment to moment and from situation to situation.
Next, according to Jha (1991, p. 51-52), there are three types of errors in relation to the use of preposition as in the study”
1) Omission of Preposition – learners fail to use a preposition in a sentence where it is obligatory. As the examples are:
b) My class started ___ 10 to 4 o‟clock c) I was waiting ___ the bus
d) I explained ___ my teacher why I was late e) I came ___ my lodge
2) Insertion of Preposition – learners add on preposition in a sentence where it is not needed. As the examples are:
a) I reached to the Campus b) I saw to my teacher
c) I read the books since to 4 o‟clock d) He has describe about the incident e) My teacher entered into the class
3) Selections of Incorrect Preposition- learners use the wrong preposition in a sentence. As the examples are:
a) I came here in the 15th of July b) I came in Campus at 10 o‟clock
c) My father prevented me to go to the film d) He has done it from a systematic manner
From all the types of errors mentioned above, the researcher decided to use the first types of errors by Jain (in Richards 1973) to analyze the students‟ errors in using preposition „in, on, at‟ on their writing descriptive production because these types is more suitable with the material of her research about preposition in, on, at, it also makes the researcher easier to analyze the students errors in using
preposition in, on, at. Because unsystematic is still too broad to be studied by researchers, therefore researchers need to make the types of errors more detailed in order to facilitate the researcher in classifying the errors into each type of errors.
Then, the researcher refers to a journal by Jha (1991) that is relevant to her research, where the journal also used the category types of errors from Jain in Richard (1973), namely the unsystematic type of error. Finally, the classification types of errors made by students in using prepositions in, on, at is divided into three types: Omission (OM), Insertion (IN), Selection of Incorrect (SI).
b. Errors in Using Preposition
There are many variations in the preposition that make students
confuse to use them, preposition also have variety of meanings relate to the different contexts that give a lot of pressure and uncertainty to the students. Furthermore, English prepositon is not similar to Indonesian preposition, it has tendency to errors. However, making errors is not good in writing as it leads the reader to misunderstanding or confusion.
Akhtar, et al. (2017) state that it is not surprising that error in prepositions is usually done by students in speech and writing. Lorinz & Gordon (2012) say that errors occur are caused by the preposition due to its large number and its polysemous nature, meaning that the preposition has a lot of meaning, the meaning of many of which means
depending on the intent in the sentence. For example, the preposition “at” that shows about place “We will meet again tomorrow at school”. The preposition “at” has a relationship between “we will meet again tomorrow” and “school”, if there is no preposition “at” in the sentence, the sentence cannot be understood and accepted logically. The next is preposition in shows place “My mother puts all of the fruits in the red basket carefully”. The preposition in has a relationship between two sentences, the first sentence is “my mother puts all of the fruits” and “the red basket carefully”, both of sentences be meaningful because of preposition “in” is in the sentence. The last is preposition “on” shows place “I found the money on the table two hours ago”, preposition on has a relationship between the two sentences “I found the money” and “table two hours ago”, so that both of the sentences can be put together and have meaning. Wijaya & Ong (2018) state that prepositions are not only used to express the relationship between two entities for example: my father is at the garden, but the preposition can also be used to express time, for example: my sister and I will go to Bali in March. I follow English course on Monday afternoon, My father works at 7 o‟clock.
From the explanation above, the researcher concluded that preposition in, on, at devided into two functions, they are:
1) Preposition in, on, at to show place 2) Preposition in, on, at to show time
c. Assesment of Error in Using Preposition
Preposition is a word that shows the relationship between an object and other words in a sentence, it is supported by Murshidi (2014) says that words in a sentence will have clear relations due to prepositions. Preposition is the smallest part of a sentence, but it has a very important role in interpreting and understanding the sentence.
Loke, et al. (2013) also state that one word will be able to connect with other words and have a meaning and can be understood because of the preposition.
In conclusion, preposition is a word that can connect one word with another that never change the shape. And preposition is placed before noun to define its relationshipwith another word in a sentence.
According to Idaryani (2015, pp. 38-39), prepositions in, on, at can be divided into two categories, the first is preposition of place and preposition of time.
Table II. 1 Preposition of Place Preposition Place Nature
In Place having some boundary (physical or virtual boundary) Examples. In hall In school In building In a box In a car In library In garden In America In room In cupboard
Preposition Place Nature On Surface of something Examples. On a table On blackboard On a page On the wall On the roof On a map At Specific place Examples. At the entrance At the bottom of glass At front of the chair At bus stop
At the edge of the roof
Table II. 2. Preposition of Time Preposition Time Nature
In 1. Month or Year e.g. in January, in 1985
2. Particular time of day or month or year
e.g. in morning, in evening, in first week of January, in summer, in winter
3. Century or specific time in the past
e.g. in 2 1st century, in stone age, in past, in future, in present
On 1. Day
e.g. on Monday 2. Date
e.g. on 5th of May, on the 9th of March 3. Particular Day
e.g. on Independence Day, on my birthday At 1. Time of clock
e.g. at 5 o’clock, at 7:30 PM 2. Short and precise time
e.g. at noon, at sunset, at lunch time, at bed time, at the moment, at the same time
From the explanation above, the researcher combined the three types of error indicator from Jha (1991) and two kinds of preposition
in, on, at indicator from Idaryani (2015) would be five indicators. The three types error from Jha (1991) as follow:
1) Omission of preposition 2) Insrtion of preposition
3) Selection of incorrrect of preposition
The two kinds of preposition in, on, at from Idaryani (2015): 1) Preposition in, on, at to show place
2) Preposition in, on, at to show time
In conclusion, those five indicators above were as the measurement tools in this research to investigate the research problem about what the types of errors made by the seventh grade students in using preposition in, on, at are. The five indicators types of errors in using preposition in, on, at as follow:
Table II.3.
The Indicators Type of Error in Using Preposition, in, on, at
Variable Indicators
Types of error in Using Preposition 1. Omission 2. Insertion
3. Selection of Incorrect 4. Preposition in, on, at
to show time
5. Preposition in, on, at to show place
B. Relevant Research
In this study, the researcher took some of relevant researches from several researchers who have done the study before, where all of those relevant reseaches are related to this research. The first is relevant research
from Mujiati (2016). She finds that using preposition of time is more difficult than using preposition of place or location for the students of JHS NU KramatwatuSerangBanten. The students were confused in using preposition because they did not know the function of some prepositions, so when a preposition is required, they were confused which preposition to use. Most of them have very similar use (in the morning, on Monday, at night). After analyzing the data, the writer would like to say that many students have problems with preposition. They are still confused to use a correct preposition in the right place in their writing or in a sentence.
Next, Sugiyatno (2015) finds that many students still gave the incorrect answer and made the errors. There is no one who answered 100% correctly. There are only 1 student get percentage of correct answer about 85-92%. 12 students get percentage of correct answer about 75-84%. 21 students get percentage of correct answer about 60-74%. 16 students get percentage of correct answer below 60%. Almost a half sample get 60- 74% correct answer, they included very weak grade and below average achievement. Based on the data analysis and interview result in chapter IV, that causes of errors that made by the eight year students of SMPN 3 Salatiga of using preposition of time in, on and at, they are: Over-generalization, False concept hypothesized, and carelessness.
Furthermore, Giatik (2016) finds that there were 3 types of students‟ errors in writing descriptive text. The error types made by the students are omission, insertion, and selection. From 248 sentences, she got 215 sentences
containing errors on preposition. Based on the categories that had been made, the errors were found as 67 errors of omission, 25 errors of insertion and 123 errors of misordering. The frequency of each type of error was: misordering error was the most frequent error type occuring on students‟ descriptive text. The percentage was 52.7%. Then it was followed by omission error achieving 31.1%. The most infrequent type was insertion error. The frequency 11.7%.
Then, Etisa (2017) finds that there are students made errors in the use of prepositions, especially the preposition of place and time in, on, at. Differences in source language and target language make students feel difficult. The cause of students to made errors because of lack of knowledge about the use and function of prepositions. Therefore students made the same errors because of the lack of understanding that students get in school. From result of the test, there are 66 students of all respondents shows that total of student‟s errors in using prepositions place and time reaching 910 errors and the average percentage of errors made by students about 55,01%. The result for each errors shows the average percentage of errors in using prepositions of place and time in is 298 (49,15%) errors, while the average percentage of errors in using prepositions of place and time on is 299 (56,62%) errors, and prepositions of place and time at is 313 (59,28%) errors. In addition, out of total 25 questions, there are 22 cases of errors caused by interlingual 12 errors. Furthermore, 19 cases of errors caused by intralingual error. These results indicated that there was low comprehension of students in understanding the types and functions of preposition of place and time.
Next, Lembayung (2018) finds that the results of this research indicated that there are student errors in the use of prepositions, especially the preposition of place and time in, on, at. Differences in source language and target language make students feel difficult. The cause of students to made errors because of lack of knowledge about the use and function of prepositions. Therefore students made the same errors because of the lack of understanding that students get in school. From result of the test, there are 66 students of all respondents shows that total of student‟s errors in using prepositions place and time reaching 910 errors and the average percentage of errors made by students about 55,01%. The result for each errors shows the average percentage of errors in using prepositions of place and time in is 298 (49,15%) errors, while the average percentage of errors in using prepositions of place and time on is 299 (56,62%) errors, and prepositions of place and time at is 313 (59,28%) errors. In addition, out of total 25 questions, there are 22 cases of errors caused by interlingual 12 errors. Furthermore, 19 cases of errors caused by intralingual error. These results indicated that there was low comprehension of students in understanding the types and functions of preposition.
Effendi (2018) finds that learning preposition of place is important because they act as vital markers to the structure of sentence in indicating the specific location, position, and place. Putting the preposition word incorrectly would change the certain meaning of its content. This study is aimed to analyze the types of errors made by the eighth grade students at SMPN 3 Batu in using preposition of place and to know how the teacher coped with the
errors made by the students. In this study, the researcher used qualitative research design. The data was presented in form of descriptive analysis to describe the types of errors and the way how the teacher helped the students to cope with the errors. The subjects of this study were the eighth grade students of class H which consisted of thirty students and the English teacher. The data was gained through test, interview, and open-ended questionnaire. The steps of data analysis were preparing and organizing the data, exploring and coding, representing and reporting findings, interpreting the findings, and drawing conclusion. The results of this study have shown that there were many students who still found difficulties in using preposition and committed errors. The total frequency of errors in short answer test were 351 and 62 errors in sentences making test. The types of errors were omission errors as much as two errors, addition errors were thirteen errors, misformation errors were 43 errors, and misordering errors were four errors. Moreover, the way how the teacher helped their students to cope with the error were using jigsaw as a learning model and giving enrichment task along with individual explanation.
The last is Sari (2018) The conclusion is students still have difficulties of preposition in English writing especially in preposition place. In the other words, they are still confused to use preposition especially in descriptive test writing. The researcher focuses on kinds of error that were made by the first grade students of MTs Negeri Tanjungpinang of using preposition in English writing from 30 partisipants did the test, there were 6 students‟ made omission errors , 21 students‟ made addition errors, 4 students made selection errors and students made 3 misordering errors
C. Operational Concept
Operational concept is the main element in this research. It is really helpful to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation in scientific research, because a concept will operate the abstract in this research plans. This research consists of one variable. The variable focuses on types of students‟ errors in using preposition in, on, at. The indicators are operationally conceptualized as follows:
1. Omission of preposition in, on, at 2. Insrtion of preposition in, on, at
3. Selection of incorrrect of preposition in, on, at 4. Preposition in, on, at to show place
24 CHAPTER III
METHOD OF THE RESEARCH
A. Design of the Research
This research was descriptive qualitative study. Fraenkel, et. al (2012, p.15) argues that this research describes the problem completely and accurately, it also describes a given state of affairs as fully and carefully as possible. Besides, Nassaji (2015, p.129) argues that the purpose of descriptive research is to describe its characteristics and phenomenon. This study is a case study design. According to Gay, et. al (2012, p.444), case study research is a qualitative research approach in which researcher focus on a unit of study known as a bounded system.
Moreover, the researcher applied quantitative research to count the frequent of each type of error made by the students. This research has one variable, it was analysis of students’ errors in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ at the seventh grade in Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir.
B. Time and Location of the Research 1. Time of the Research
This research was conducted in May 2019. 2. Location of the Research
This research was conducted at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu. It is located on Kihajar Dewantara Street Bagan Batu, Rokan Hilir.
C. Subject and Object of the Research 1. Subject of the Research
The subject of this research was the seventh grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu in 2018/2019 academic year.
2. Object of the Research
The object of this research were students’ errors in using preposition in, on, at.
D. Population and the Sample of the Research
The population of this research was the seventh grade of junior high school Pembangunan Bagan Batu. The total of population was 200 students which consist of 5 classes and each class consists of 40 students.
Table III. 1
The Total Population at the 7th Grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu
No. Class Total of students
1. Class VII A 40 2. Class VII B 40 3. Class VII C 40 4. Class VII D 40 5. Class VII E 40 TOTAL 200
According to Arikunto (2006, p. 134), if the population is homogenous enough, for the population which is less than 100, the sample is taken 50%, but if the population is more than 100, the sample is taken at least 15-25 % of it. In this research, the researcher took 15% of population for the sample.
Table III. 2
The Total Sample at the 7th Grade of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu
No. Class Population Sample
1. Class VII A 40 6 2. Class VII B 40 6 3. Class VII C 40 6 4. Class VII D 40 6 5. Class VII E 40 6 TOTAL 200 30
E. Data Collection Technique
Due to the unavailability of documentation regarding on students’ descriptive text writing, So, in this research the data was collected through a test. The test was writing descriptive text by using preposition ‘in, on, at’. Before the students did the test, the researcher gave a brief explanation to reminded the students about the rules in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ that they had studied before, and to made sure that the students did not confuse and made errors in writing the descriptive text by using preposition ‘in, on, at’. The students were given about 45-60 minutes to wrote a descriptive text by using preposition ‘in, on, at’. After the students did the test, the researcher analyzed students’ errors based on the concept of unsystematic errors from Jain in Richard (1973) by developing the three types of errors by Jha (1991) (omission, insertion, selection of incorrect).
F. Data Analysis Technique
In this reserach, the researcher identified students’ errors based on the
three types of errors by Jha (1991) (omission, insertion, selection of incorrect) and two kinds of preposition in, on, at indicator from Idaryani (2015) in students’ errors in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ on descriptive text writing by underlining the errors and giving mark omission (OM), insertion (IN), selection of incorret (SI).
Hence, to analyze students’ errors in using preposition in, on, at, Corder in Ellis (1999) suggests that the following steps in error analysis research:
1. Collecting the data of the sample. 2. Identifying of errors.
3. Describing the errors 4. Explaining the errors 5. Evaluating the errors
In order to calculated each percentage of students’ errors types in using preposition in, on, at the researcher used the following formula by Sudjono (2009, 43):
P= X 100% Note:
P : The total precentage of errors F : The total number of students’ errors N : The total number students’ subject
69 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
This research was conducted to collect information about types of errors in using preposition in, on, at and to find out the most common errors of students in using preposition ‘in, on, at’ at the seventh grade students of Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu. Based on the data in previous chapters, it was found that the students made errors in all the types of errors based on the concept of unsystematic errors by Jain in Richard (1973) and it is developed into three types of errors by Jha (1991): omission, insertion and selection of incorrect and two kinds of preposition in, on, at indicator from Idaryani (2015) with total errors were 213 errors. The most common error was selection of incorrect with total 116 errors or 54,46%, the second was insertion with total 69 errors or 32,39%, the third was omission with total 28 errors or 13,15%.
B. Suggestion
After the researcher carried out this research, the researcher then offers some recomendation and suggestion to students, teachers and other researchers.
1. This research gives opportunities for further researchers, because the researcher in this research only categorized the errors into the types of
errors, while this study does not examine the factors that make errors occur.
2. This research also give opportunity to the future researchers to review further about this research with the function and usefulness of different prepositions, in other word the future researchers can take other examples of preposition to find out how the errors are, what types of the errors are, what the common errors is or what factors that influence the students’ errors in the use of those prepositions.
3. Teachers should help the students to resolve the students’ errors in using preposition in, on, at.
4. Teachers should be more active and creative in teaching, more techniques and media in teaching students will make them more attractive in learning process.
5. Students should be more active in studying preposition in, on, at
6. Students should pay more attention when the teacher explain in front of the class so there is no material missed.
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CURRICULUM VITAE
Dian Sari Zahara Munthe was born on may, 09th 1997 in Bagan Batu, Rokan Hilir, Riau, Indonesia. She is the third daughter from Alm. Mr. Ruslan Munthe and Mrs. Safariah. She has one sister, her name is Dewi Sartika and she has one brother, his name is Hasan Azhari Munthe. The researcher had finished her study at Elementary School Pembangunan Bagan Batu, in 2009. Then, she continued her study at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu. After that, in 2012 she continued her study at Vocational High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu and finished in 2015. After finished her study in Vocational High School, in 2015 she continued her study at Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau (UIN SUSKA RIAU) majoring in English Education, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training. She conducted the research in May 2019 by the thesis entitled “An Analysis of Students‟ Errors in Using Preposition „in, on, at‟ at Junior High School Pembangunan Bagan Batu Rokan Hilir”. Finally, the researcher followed the Munaqasah Examination in November 5th 2019. The researcher could finish her study about 4.5 years with predicat sangat memuaskan (GPA: 3.55) and appropriate to get Undergraduate Degree (S.Pd).
