3~/--/;aG/iAN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABIllTY TO USE

PERSONAL PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITING

(A Case Study at the First Grade Students ojS1vfP Al-Zahra Indonesia. Pamulang)

"A Skripsi"

Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training

In a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of S.Pd (Bachelor ofArts) in English Language Education

II 1111 ....

IIIUniversitas Islam !'leQeri

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA

By

Insan Damba Putra PratamaN~:107014000711

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS' TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

'011

AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY

TO USE PERSONAL PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITING

A Case Study in the First Grade Students of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia Pamulang)

A "Skripsi"

Presented to the Faculty ofTarbiyah and Teachers' Training

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Bachelor's Degree

By

Iusau Damba Putra PratamaNIM: 107014000711

Approved by

The Advisor

\

Ill_1'/>",

~wt4 : ._-~!:."::~I2&'fil. ,:.~._...r~.~.~ .!'l"@.I,,<Ild , •••••••••••••~•.-;:..D-k(..=.f(.-6nJiCl."'11i1uwl.i • <;>. -.- _~._ -

Prof. D . Hadjid Harnawidagda, M. Pd.

T NIP: 150011 332

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS' TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

ENDORSEMENT BY THE EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

The "Skripsi" entitled "AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY

TO USE PERSONAL PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITING" (A Case Study at

the First Grade Students of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang), written by:

Insall Damba PlItra Pratama, student's registration number: 107014000711 was

examined in the examination session of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers

Training,. SyarifHidayatullah State Islamic University on February 7th, 2012. The

"Skripsi" has been accepted and declared to have fulfilled one of the requirements

for the degree of S, Pd. (Bachelor of Arts) in English Language Education in the

department ofEnglish Education.

Jakarta, February 2012

SECRETARY: Neneng Sunengsih, M. Pd.NIP. 19730625 199903 2

EXAMINERS: 1. Drs. Sunardi Kartowisastro, Dipl.EdNIP. 19440719 1965102001

2. Nida Husna, M.Pd., M.A.TESOLNIP. 19720705 2003122002

CHAIRMAN

EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

Drs. Syauki, M.Pd.NIP. 19641212 199103 1

Acknowledged by:Dean ofTarbiya and Teachers' Training Faculty

NlIrlena Rifa'i, M.A, Ph. DNIP. 195910201986032001

KEMENTERIAN AGAMA No. Dokumen FITK-FR-AKD-068-" .. '\

:IJ UINJAKARTA FORM (FR) Tgl. Terbil 1 Maret 2010

FITK No. Revis;: 01J/. fr. H. Juanda No 95 Ciputat 15412/ndonesia Hal 1/1

• CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY:.

Name

Place, Date of Birth

NIM

Department

Address

Advisor

: 1nsan Damba Putra PrataJi'ia

: Jakarta, January 20th, 1988.

: 107014000711.

: English Education Department.

: JI. Damai IV Bl/51, Cipete Utara, Kebayoran Bam, Jakarta

Selatan 12150.

: Prof Dr. Hadjid Hamawidagda, M. Pd.

I hereby declare that this "Skripsi" (Research Paper) entitled "AN ERROR

ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY TO USE PERSONAL PRONOUN

FORMS IN WRITING (A Case Study at the First Grade Students of SMP AI­

Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang)" is my own work that, to the best of my knowledge

and belief, this study contains no material previously published or written by another

person or material which to a substansial extent has been accepted for the award of

any other degree or diploma ofa university or other institutes ofhigher learning.

Jakarta, February 2012

~f?t'~ ~~: Gl, ~D .~

ABSTRACT

PRATAMA, INSAN DAMBA PUTRA. 2011, Anl~rror Analysis 011 Stlldellls'

Ability to Use Personal Pronoun Forms in Writing (A Case Study at the First

Grade (?f S'MP AI-Zahra Indonesia), Skripsi, English Education Department,

Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers' Training, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic

University Jakarta.

Key words: An Error Analysis, Personal Pronoun, Word Selection

The objectives of this research are to identify and to describe the personal

pronoun errors and to know the most frequent personal pronoun error made by

the first grade students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang.

The sample of the research is 26 students of the first grade of SMP Al­

Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang. In analyzing the data, the writer used descriptive

analysis method. The instrument of the research is sentence completion test that

consists of 20 items.

The findings of the study stated that the most frequent type of error made by

the first grade students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia is in the possessive pronoun

(51.54%), the second is subjective pronoun (20.77%), the third is possessive

adjective (14.61%), and the last is objective pronoun (10.77%). Most of the errors

could be categorized as miss-selection that is caused by the mother tongue

interference/interlingllaltransjer.

ABSTRAK

PRATAMA, INSAN DAMBA PUTRA. 2011, An Error Analysis 0/1 Students'

Ability to Use Personal Pronoun Forms in Writing (A Case Study at the First

Grade of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia), Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,

Fakultas Tarbiyah dan IImu Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif

Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Key words: Error Analysis, Personal Pronoun, Word Selection

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi dan mendeskripsikan

kesalahan-kesalahan pada penggunaan personal pronoun dan untuk mengetahui

frekuensi kesalahan yang paling sering dibuat oleh siswa kelas 1 SMP Al-Zahra

Indonesia dalam menggunakan personal pronoun.

Sampel pada penelitian ini adalah 26 orang siswa kelas 1 SMP AI-Zahra

Indonesia, Pamulang. Dalam menganalisa data, penulis menggunakan metode

dekriptif anal isis. Instrumen yang dipergunakan pada penelitian ini adalah

sentence completion test yang terdiri dari 20 butir soal.

Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa frekuensi kesalahan yang

paling sering dilakukan oleh siswa kelas 1 SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia adalah dalam

penggunaan possessive pronoun (51.54%), kedua adalah subjective pronoun

(10.77%), ketiga adalah possessive adjective (14.61%), dan yang terakhir adalah

objective pronoun (10.77%). Mayoritas kesalahan-kesalahan tersebut terrnasuk

dalam kategori miss-selection yang disebabkan oleh pengaruh bahasa ibu

siswalinterlingualtransfer.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praises be to Allah

for the blessing given to the writer, so, he can finally complete this work. Peace

and Blessing be upon the lovely prophet Muhammad SAW, the family and

followers.

On thi s occasion, the writer would like to express his greatest honor to:

1. His parents, Nunung Ratningsih and Dun Muslihat, who always give the

writer support and motivation.

2. Prof. Dr. Hadjid Harnawidagda, M. Pd as the writer's advisor, for his time,

kindness, guidance and patience in correcting and helping the writer in

finishing this "Skripsi".

3. All lectures of English Education Department, for their knowledge,

motivation, and patient during his study at DIN Jakarta.

4. Drs. Syauki, M. Pd as The Head of Department ofEnglish Education.

5. H. Ghufron, M. Pd, The Principal of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang,

and all of the teachers and students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia,

Pamulang, for giving permission and helping the writer to do this research.

6. All of his friends from academic year of 2007 of English Education

Department for sharing their knowledge, time, and kindness.

May Allah bless them all, Amiell.

Jakarta, December 2011

The Writer

TABLE OF CONTENT

ENDORSEMENT BY THE EXAMINATION COMMITTEE. 11

ABSTRACT... . ... .. !ll

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.. v

TABLE OF CONTENTS. VI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background ofthe Study .

B. Formulations of the Problem .

C. Limitation of the Problem .

D. The Objectives of the Study.

E. The Significance of the Study .

F. Research paper Organization .

.. I

. 4

. 4

. 4

. 5

. 5

CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Personal Pronoun ... . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 6

I. The Definition of Personal Pronoun 6

2. The Forms of Personal Pronoun... .. 7

3. The Personal Pronoun Problems... .. . 16

B. Error Analysis 18

I. The Definition ofError 19

2. The Stages of Error Analysis...... .. 20

3. The Benefits ofError Analysis 24

C. Writing 26

I. The Definition of Writing... .. .. 26

2. The Types ofWriting ... . 27

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Research Objectives

B. Time and Location ...

C. Technique of Sample Taking ...

.......... 30

. 30

. 30

D. Research Instrument ...

E. Technique of Data Analysis ..

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH HNDINGS

A. Data Description.

B. Data Analysis.

C. Data Interpretation .

. .... 31

. 31

. 32

. .. 35

. 40

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion .

B. Suggestions ..

. 42

. 42

BIBLIOGRAPHY... . . 44

APPENDICES . 47

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English is taught as a foreign language in Indonesia. It is taught from

Elementary school to University level. According to the content standard of

education issued by the Ministry of Education, the objective of English teaching

in junior high school is to develop communicative competence in spoken and

written English which involves listening, reading, speaking, and writing. l

Considering to the objective above, Writing is one of the skills which

should be mastered by the students. Writing skill is a specific ability which helps

writers put their thoughts into words in a textual form. In writing, students are

demanded to master the vocabulary, structures, spelling, and other language

components needed to create the meaningful sentences.

However, to write well is al,,:,~ys difficult for the students. Some students

are not able to avoid making errors in writing, especially grammatical error.

According to Corder, those errors create several feedbacks, especially for the

I Badan Standar Nasion,,1 Pendidikan (BSNP). Standar lsi lIatuk ,<,'atual1 Pendidikan

3

translate literally into English without paying attention to the rules of the Eilglish

grammar. They use the pronoun "she" for the masculine gender. It happens

because they still do not know about the use of personal pronoun in English and

have difficulty in distinguishing between masculine and feminine gender because

in Bahasa Indonesia, there is no gender classification. In Bahasa, the pronoun

"dia" can be used for masculine or feminine, but in English, the pronoun "he"

must be used for the masculine gender. So, the right sentence should be "He is my

brother ".

The second example is the error on the use of personal pronoun as an

object of the verb, as in this sentence:

Suzanne '.I' bag is velY heavy. 1have to help she to cany it.

The sentence is wrong because the pronoun "she" is used as the object of

the verb. In this case, the students still do not know about the use of pronoun as an

object. In English, the pronoun "1, he, she, we, and they" is used only on the

subjective case. And for the objective case, the pronoun "me, him, her, liS, and

them" is used. So the correct sentence is: "Suzanne's bag is velY hem>y. 1 have to

help her to carry it. "

The third example is the error on the use of personal pronoun as an

adjective (possessive adjective/possessive determiner). For example:

They are riding them bikes.

The sentence is wrong because the students use "them" for the possessive

adjective. The pronoun "them" is only used as the object of the verb. And for the

adjective form, "my, your, his, her, its, and their" is used. So the correct sentence

should be: "Thy are riding their bikes ".

Another example is the error on the use of pronoun to indicate the

ownership (possessive pronoun). For example:

My pencil is hroken Can 1harrow your?

4

The sentence is wrong because the students use "your" for the possessive

pronoun. The personal pronoun "your" is only used for the possessive adjective.

For this sentence, students should use the personal pronoun "yours". So the

correct sentence should be: "My pellcil is hroken. Call J horrow yours?"

Based on those reasons above, the writer would like to discuss "AN

ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY TO USE PERSONAL

PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITING" (A Case Stully at the First Grade Studeflts

ofSMP Al-Zahra Ifldoflesia Pal/lultmg).

B. Formulations of the Problem

Based on the background of the study above, the writer proposes the

problems as follow:

1. Are the personal pronoun errors commonly made by the first grade

students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia?

2. What kind of personal pronoun errors are commonly made by students?

3. What are the causes of students' error in using personal pronoun?

C. Limitation of the Problem

In this research, the writer limits his research on the first grade students of

SMP AL-Zahra Indonesia and the writer focuses on Personal Pronoun Cases

Errors.

D. The Objectives of the Study

1. To classify the kind of personal pronoun errors and to know the most

~ frequent personal pronoun errors made by the first grade students of SMP

Al-Zahra Indonesia.

2. To describe the causes of students' error in using personal pronoun.

3. To find some various strategies for teaching personal pronoun.

5

E. The Significance of the Study

The writer hopes this research can be useful for the teachers, and that

teachers give more attention to the personal pronouns material in teaching

English

F. Research Paper Organization

The discussion of this "Skripsi" will be focused on the most frequent type

of personal pronoun error produced by the first grade students of SMP AI-Zahra

Indonesia, Pamulang. This "Skripsi" consists of five chapters. Chapter one is the

introduction to the content of the "Skripsi", providing general description of faced

problems, objectives and significances of the study, and the organization of

writing.

Chapter two describes the theoretical frameworks; the definition of

personal pronoun, the forms and the functions of personal pronoun, the personal

pronoun problems, the error analysis, the definition of error, the stage of error

analysis, the benefit of error analysis, definition of writing, and the types of

writing.

Chapter three is about the methodology of the research; it deals with the

objectives of the research, the place and time of research, the technique of sample

taking, the instrument of the research, the technique of data collecting, and the

technique of data analysis.

Chapter four is the research findings; it includes the description of the

data, the data analysis, and the data interpretation.

Chapter five is the conclusion and suggestion.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Personal Pronoun

1. The Definition of Personal Pronoun

There are many definitions related to the personal pronoun. To have a

clear understanding about personal pronoun, here, the writer will start from

the definition of pronoun first.

DeCapua gave a simple definition about personal pronoun. She

claimed that the most common definition of pronoun is a word that replaces

noun. l

In Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, pronoun is defined as a

word that is used in place of a noun or a noun phrase2 Moreover, personal

pronoun is defined as a word such as '1', 'you' and 'they' which refers to a

I Andrea DeCapua, Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native andNon-Xati,'e. (New York: Springer Scienees+Business Media, 2008), p. 67.

2 "Pronoun," in Cambridge Dictionary Online, from

7

person in speech or in writing. 3 This definition is similar to the definition in

Longman Advanced Dictionary, "A word such as '1', 'you', or 'they which is

used instead of a noun or noun phrase.,,4

Another definition is given by Warriner, he stated that a pronoun is a

word functioning as a substitution of one or more than one nouns It may

stand for a person, place, thing, or idea. Furthermore, he said that some

pronouns in English that have different forms to show person are called

personal pronouns. 6

From the definitions above, it can be concluded that a pronoun is a

word which is used as replacement for noun or noun phrase. A pronoun may

stand for a person, place, thing, or idea. Moreover, personal pronoun is some

pronouns such as 'I', 'you', or 'they' which has different forms that serve as a

substitute for noun or noun phrase.

2. The Forms of Personal Pronoun

Leech and Svartvik claimed that the personal pronoun forms could be

classified based on:

a. person : 1st, 2nd

, 3'd person

b. number : singular, plural

c. gender : masculine, feminine, non-personal

d. case : subjective, objective, genitive. 7

The similar classification is also given by Frank. She also classified the

form of personal pronoun into: person (first, second, third person), case

:. "Personal PronouRn in Cambridge Dictionary Online. fromhllp:/fdiclionarv.cambridge.org(dictionarylbrilishfpersonal-pronoun, July 9, 2011 .

.j "Personal pronoun," in Longman Advanced Dictionary, (Harlow, Essex: PearsonEducation Limited, 2004). 3"' edition, p. 1225.

5 John E. Warriner, Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, (New York:Harcollrt Brace Jovanovic, Inc., 1982), p.6.

" Warriner, Warriner's English Grammar... , p.8.

Geoffrey Leech & Jan Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar of English, (New York:

8

(subjective, objective, and possessive), for number (singular, plural), and

gender (masculine, feminine and neuter)8

Table 2.1

The .Forms of Personal Pronoun

Personal Pronoun Cases

... Possessives" Person Gender..0 Subjective Objectivea::l Possessive PossessiveZ Case Case

Adjective Pronoun

1st male/female I Me My Mine

2nd male/female You You Your Yours

...'" Male He Him His His5b::l

i:i3 3'd Female She Her Her Hers

Neuter It It Its Its

1st male/female We Us Gur Gurs

'" 2110 male/female You You Your Yours...::l

;:;:;3'd male/female/neuter They Them Their Theirs

8 Marcella Frank, Alodern English, A Practical Reftrence Guide, (New Jersey: PrenticeHaIL 1972), p. 29.

9

In more detail, the forms of personal pronoun are provided on the

explanation below:

a. The Forms of Personal Pronoun Based on the Person:

1) The First Person

This is a pronoun which stands for the person speaking. It IS

divided into two forms: singular and plural. 9

a) The First Person Singular

The first person singular pronouns are: '1' and 'me '. The

pronoun '1' and 'me' are said to be in first person because they

stand for the person speaking.

Examples:

J wash my car twice a week.

She takes me a cup of tea every morning.

b) the First Persoll Plural

The first person singular pronouns are: 'we' and 'us', The

pronoun 'we' and 'liS' are said to be in the first person because they

stand for the person speaking,

Examples:

We write the notes everyday.

She gives liS the test once a month.

2) The Second Person

This is a pronoun which stands for the person that is spoken to, It is

also divided into two forms: singular and plural. 10

9 Frank, Modern English .. , p,2l.

10 Frank..A1odern Eludish ... D.21.

10

a) The Second Person Singular

The second person singular pronoun is: 'you '. The pronoun

'you' is said to be in the second person because it stands for the

person spoken to.

Examples:

You are my favorite teacher.

I saw you in the yard yesterday.

b) The Second Person Plural

The second person singular pronoun is: 'you '. The pronoun

'you' could be classified into the second person plural because it

stands for the person spoken to consisting of more than one person.

Example:

All ofyou should use the uniform.

3) The Third Person

This is a pronoun which stands for the person or thing that is being

spoken of. It could be divided into singular and plural form. 11

a) The Third Person Singular

The third person singular pronouns are: 'she', 'he', and 'it '.

The pronoun of this type distinguishes genders namely "masculine,

feminine, and neuter gender"

Example:

It is my guitar.

10 Frank. .\/odern English ... . p.21.

11

b) The Third Person Plural

The third person plural refers to the person! thing which are

spoken or written about consisting of more than one person. The

third person plural does not distinguish genders. The third person

plural has two forms: 'they' and 'lhem '.

Example:

They are my parents.

b. The Forms of Personal Pronoun Based on Gender:

English personal pronoun indicating gender is classified into three

forms. 12 They are:

1) The Masculine Gender

The third person singular pronoun of masculine gender has two

forms. They are: 'he' and 'him'.

Examples:

He stole my car last week.

1 kicked him yesterday.

2) The Feminine GenGer

The third person singular pronoun of feminine gender has two

forms. They are: 'she' and 'her'.

Examples:

She goes to school by bus everyday.

1 saw her in the library two days ago.

11 Leech,A Communicative Grammar oIEnglish ... , p.240.

12

3) The NeuterlNon-Personal Gender

The third person singular pronoun of neuter gender has one form.

That is: 'it'.

Example:

I like the car, it is very nice.

c. The Forms of Personal Pronoun Indicating Case

Marcella classifies the cases of personal pronoun into three forms:

subjective, objective, and possessive. 13Furthermore, she divided the possessive

pronoun into two forms, possessive adjective and possessive pronoun.

The other linguists proposed the similar classification but in different

names. While Marcella gave the term "possessive" for the personal pronoun

forms that indicate the possession, Leech andSvartvik gave the term

"genitive". So, they classify the form of personal pronoun based on the case

into: subjective, objective and genitive. 14

In other book, Hansen and McDaniel also classify the form ofpersonal

pronoun into three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive. ls All of the

three cases take names from the relationships ofthat pronoun to other words in

sentence.

13 Frank, Modern English... , p.29.

14 Leech, A Communicative Grammar ofEnglish... , p.240.

13

The three cases of personal pronoun are explained below:

I) SubjectivelNominative Case

A subjective personal pronoun is the pronoun that is used as the

subject in the sentence. 16 The subjective personal pronouns are "I, you,

she, he, it, we, you, they."

Example:

1 went to Bali last week. (The personal pronoun 'I'

jimctions as the subject ofthe sel1fence)

You are my best friend. (The personal pronoun

'You' }imctions as the subject ofthe sentence)

He came home with his brother. (The personal

pronoun 'He' }imctions as the subject of the

sentence)

She was the smartest girl JI1 town. (The personal

pronoun 'She' }imctions as the subject of the

sentence)

They returned to their homeland. (The personal

pronoun 'They' functions as the suNect of the

sentence)

We will send you a message. (The personal pronoun

'We '/imctions as the subject C!fthe sentence)

It is very beautiful. (The personal pronoun 'It'

functions as the subject ofthe sentence)

16 DeCaoull. Grammar for Teachers n fig

14

2) Objective Case

An objective personal pronoun is the pronoun that is used as the

object of a verb or preposition 17 The objective personal pronouns are:

"me. yOll. her. him. il. us. YOll. and Ihem."

Example:

Danny has talked to Julia and asked her to marry

him. (The objeclive personal pronoun "her" is the

object of the verb "asked" and Ihe o~iective

personal pronoun "him" is Ihe o~iect of the verb

"nlarry ")

After using the pen, Bob put il on the table. (The

pronoun "il" is the object of Ihe verb "put"')

I will send you a message. (In Ihis sentence, Ihe

pronoun ''you'' is the object ofthe verb "send")

The teacher will explain liS about the lesson. (Here

Ihe objective personal pronoun "liS" is the object of

the verb "explain'')

Give the book to me. (Here the objeclive personal

pronoun "me" is the objeci ofthe preposition "to. •')

Jack was surprised to meet her at the party. (Here

the objective personal pronoun "her" is the object of

the verb "meet'')

3) Possessive Case

The possessIve cases is divided into two, the first is possessive

adjective/determiner (my, your. his. her. its. our, Iheir) and the second is

possessive pronoun (mine, yours, hers. his. "ils. ours." and theirs). 18

17 ..... _r" __

15

a) I'm~I'essi\'e Adjectives'l'ossessive Determiner

A possessive adjective (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) is

used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase.

I can't finish my test because I don't know

the answers. (In this sentence, the

possessive acijective "my" modifies the

noun "test")

What IS your phone number? (The

possessive acijective "your" is used to

modify the noun phrase "phone number")

The cat chased its ball down the stairs and

into the backyard. (In this sentence, the

possessive acijective "its" modifies "ball")

b} Possessive Pronoun

A possessive pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting

as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular object

or person. The possessive personal pronouns are "mine, yours,

hers, his, "its, ours, " and theirs. "

Example:

The red bike is mine. (In this sentence, the

possessive pronoun "mine" jimctions as a

subject complement)

This is yours. (/n this sentence, the

possessive pronoun "yours" functions as a

.11lbject complement)

16

My pen and his are on the table. (In this

example, the possessive pro/lOwl "his" acts

as the su~iect ojthe semence)

Iheirs will be arrived tomorrow. (In this

sentence, the possessive pronoun "theirs" is

the suNect ojthe sentence)

Ours is the black one on the comer. (In this

semence, the possessive pronollll "ours"

junctions as the subject oj the sentence). 19

3. The Personal Prononn Problems

There are several problems commonly made by the students in using

personal pronoun.

John Langan in English Skills provides four types of pronoun problems

which are classified by the case of personal pronoun20 The problems are

stated below:

a. Subject Pronoun Problems

Example 1:

1) You and me went to campus last week.

2) Her and me share our books with each other.

The sentences above shows that students have problem in using

subject personal pronoun in compound subject. The correct sentences

are:

19 "English Grm111l1ar: Possessive Adjective,n in HnglishLanguageGuide.com. fromhttp://www.cnglishlanguagcguidc.com/cngIish/grallll11ar/posscs sivc~adjcclive.asp, July 12, 20 II.

20 John Langan, English Skills. (New York: The McGraw-Hili Companies, Inc., 2001).•~ .1 Q'21 (0':::

17

I) You and I went to campus last week.

2) She and I share our books with each other.

I) It was me who called you a minute ago.

2) It was him who stole your car yesterday.

The sentences above may sound normal in daily conversation.

However, in formal writing, the grammatically correct forms are

emphasized. In this case, the subject pronoun should be used after the

verb be. Therefore, the correct sentences are:

I) It was J who called you a minute ago.

2) It was he who stole your car yesterday.

Example 3:

J) You are more beautiful than her.

2) Mark' sister is as clever as him.

The sentences above show that students have problem in using

pronoun after than or as. In this case, the subject pronoun should be

used after than or as. To avoid this problem, teachers could ask

students to add the "missing" verb at the end of the sentence as

exemplified below:

I) You are more beautiful than she (is).

2) Marks' sister is as clever as he (is).

b. Object Pronoun Problems

Students are sometimes uncertain about which pronoun should

be used when two objects follow the verb.

18

Example:

1) I talked with his brother and he last week. (incorrect)

2) I talked with his brother and him last week. (correct)

c. Possessive Pronoun Problems

Students are sometimes does not understand about how to use

possessive pronouns correctly.

Example I:

1) This pen is her. (incorrect)

2) This pen is hers. (correct)

Example 2:

1) That is yours book. (incorrect)

2) That is your book. (correct).

B. Error Analysis

In language teaching, errors are weakness side of learners either in

speaking or writing. However, making errors in learning is human being and

very natural, so errors do not need to be seen as signs of failure 21 For many

linguists, learners' errors are very valuable. Errors are viewed as a natural and

important part of learning process because through the errors teachers can get

information about learning process?2 It is studied and its result could become

it feedback to find a better way in language teaching. Related to this, a deep

study of learners' errors called error analysis. 23 In the study of error analysis,

2\ Erdogan, ('ontrihufinn ojError Ann~vsis... . p. 261.

" H. Douglas Brown, Principle ~rLanguage [>earning and Teaching, Faurth Edition(New York: Pearson EdnC<1tion, 2000), p.2l?

19

the errors made by the learners are identified, classified, and explained. Then,

the result of the analysis could be useful as a feedback for the teacher to know

the progress of the students, so that they could determine what strategy should

be used and which material should be focused on. This study was established

and popularized by Stephen Pit Corder and colleagues in 1960'S24

1. The Definition of Error

In the error analysis, experts distinguish error from mistake. James in

Brown stated that errors cannot be self-corrected, while mistakes can be self­

corrected.25

According to Hubbard, there is a difference between error and mistake.

He claimed that mistake refers to the students' performance, while error refers

to the students' competence. 26 When a student makes mistakes, it means

she/he is unable to perform what she or he knows. On the other hand, when a

student makes an error, it means she/he does not know about the material. It is

because they are still in learning process.

Furthermore, to distinguish between an error and mistake, Ellis suggests

two ways. The first is to check the consistency of learner's performance27 If

he/she sometimes uses the correct form and sometimes the wrong one, it is a

mistake. However, if he always uses it incorrectly, it is then an error. The

second way is to ask learner to try to correct his own deviant utterance. 28

Where he is unable to make a self correction, it is error, where he is

successful, it is mistake.

24 Erdogan, Contribution ofl,rror Ana(vsis , p. 262.

2; Brown, Principle ofLanguage Learning , p. 217.

26 Pctcr Hubbard ct. al., A Training Course for n'Ff., (Ncw York: Oxford UnivcrsityPrcss, 1983) p. 133.

17 Rod Ellis, &cond Language Acquisition, (Oxford: Oxford Univcrsity Prcss, 1997),p. 17,

?R _... _

20

2, The Stages of Error Analysis

Corder identified a model of error analysis which included three stages:

recognition of errors, description of errors, and classification of errors29 This

model is very simple because to apply this model, teachers just need to find

out the errors made by the students, then, classified them into categories based

on the causes oferrors,

Another procedure of error analysis is given by Namiko Sakoda. She

claimed that the procedure of error analysis has six stages: registration of the

data, identification of errors, description of errors, explanation and diagnosis

of errors, evaluation of the errors, and the last is a plan for prevention and

feedback30 This model is more complex and detail rather than the model that

is given by Corder because the classification of errors is not only based on the

causes of errors, but also based on the language substances (phonology,

graphology, spelling, and pronunciation), Furthermore, the model also plans

the strategy for the teacher to avoid the same errors happen again in the future,

Ellis provided a more clear explanation about the stages in the process

of error analysis, Those are: identifying errors, describing errors, and

I . . 31exp awwg errors.

a, The Identification of Errors

The first stage in error analysis is to identify the errors, To identify

the errors, the sentences made by the students are located and compared

. h h 32WIt t e correct sentences.

""Stages of Error Analysis" in Teaching S(yles Online Weh, from!lIlp:l/www.tcachingstvlcsonlinc.com/stagcs of error analysis.hlm!. July 6,2011.

30 Namiko Sakoda, "Error Analysis Within Newspaper Reparting Wrillen hy JapaneseSecondary School S~udents ", in J1;:"lM~j1fA!!f'lil!'9'i:f,lj~I", 27(3), December 2004, p. 43.

31 Ellis, Second Language Acquisition", p. 15-18.

21

b. The Description of Errors

The next stage in error analysis is to describe the errors. In this

process, the errors that are found in students' sentences are described

and classified into types 3} Related to this, a number of different

categories for describing errors have been identified. Corder classified

the errors into four categories: omission of some required element~

addition of some unnecessary or incorrect element; selection of an

incorrect element; and misordering of the elements34

A similar description is given by Ellis. He categorized the errors

into: omission, addition, miss-selection, and miss-ordering35

1) Omission

Example:

She work in the library. (incorrect)

She works in the library. (correct)

2) Addition:

Example:

You must to go to school now! (incorrect)

You must go to school now! (correct)

3) Miss-selection:

Example:

She is youngest than my sister. (incorrect)

She is younger than my sister. (correct)

4) Miss-ordering:

Example:

Where is my key car? (incorrect)

Where is my car key? (correct)

"Ellis. Second f,anguage Acquisition .... p. IR.

)·1 Erdogan, Contribution ofError Ana(vsis .. , p. 263-264.

22

c. The Explanation of Errors

The last stage in analyzing students' error is to explain the errors.

In this process, the sources of error are tried to analyze and discovered.

When the term 'sources of errors' is being discussed, there are

two other different terms which have similar meaning. These terms are

'types of error', and 'causes of error' 36

Brown classifies sources of error into;

1) lnterlingllal transfer

lnterlingllal transfer is the negative influence of the mother

tongue of the learner. 37

2) Intralingual transfer

It is the incorrect generalization of rules In the target

language. 38

3) Context oflearning

"The example for this source of error is the classroom with

its teacher and its materials in the case of school learning or the

social situation in the case of untutored second language

learning."39 In a classroom context, the teacher or the textbook

could cause the learner to make wrong generalization about the

language.

3G Sunardi Hasyim, 11Error Analysis in the Teaching of English, II Jurnal Jurusan .)~astra

Inggris. Uni\'. Kristen Petra vol. 4, no. 1 (June 2002), p. 45.

" Brown, Principles ofLanguage Learning p.224.

'" Brown, Principles ofLanguage Learning p.225.

23

4) Communication strategies

Communicative Strategies are related to learning styles.

"Learners obviously use production strategies in order to enhance

getting their messages across, but at times these techniques can

themselves become a source of error.,,40

Meanwhile, Norrish classifies causes of error into three types,

that is: carelessness, first language interference, and translation 41 The

three types of causes oferror will be discussed briefly below:

I) Carelessness

Carelessness is related to students' motivation. In this case,

their lack of motivation is not always the students' fault. The

material or the teacher's style may cause the students get bored42

2) First Language

Language is a habit. "When someone tries to learn new

habits (target language) the old ones (first language) will

influence the new ones.,,43 This cause of error is called first

language interference.

3) Translation

Translation is one of the causes of error. Many students

translate his first language into the target language word by word

without paying attention to the rule. 44 This is probably the most

common cause oferror.

'" Brown. Principles ofl,onguoge l.eaming ... , p.223-226.

" Hasyim. Error Anaivsis in The Teaching ofEnglish, p. 47.

" Hasyim. lerror AnaZvsis in The Teaching ofEnglish, p.47.

1.1 Hasyim. Frror Anaivsis in The Teaching ofEnglish, p. 47.

24

A different classification of the source of error is also given by

Hubbard. He claims that the cause of errors could be classified into:

I) Mother tongue interference

Many learners have difficulties in learning target language

because the different grammar and sound system of the first

language leads to wrong pronunciation, faulty grammar patterns,

and wrong choice of vocabulary ofa target language. 45

2) Overgeneralization

"The mentalist theory claims that errors could not be

avoided because they reflect various stages in the language

development of the learner." 46 It means the process of producing

new language data in learners' mind can lead to error because

when the data are incomplete, the wrong patterns may be

produced.

3) Errors are encouraged by teaching material or method

The teaching material can also contribute to the student

errors. To avoid the error, the material must be well chosen,

graded and presented carefully47

3. The Benefits of Error Analysis

Error analysis gives several benefits for language teaching. Erdogan

divided the benefits of error analysis into two sections: benefit for the teachers

and benefit for the syllabus designers48

." Hubbard et. aI., A Training Course .. , p. 140.

'" Hubbard ct. al.,.1 Training Course p. 141.

47 Hubbard ct. 01., A Training Course p. 142.•11': _ •

25

a. Benefit for the teachers

Errors tell the teachers about the students' progress. "Errors also

becomes feedback for the teacher reflecting how effective he is in his

teaching style and what changes he has to make to get higher performance

from his students. ,,49 Furthermore, errors show the teacher the

points/material that needs further attention.

b. Benefit for syllabus designers

For the syllabus designers, errors are significant data for syllabus

designers as they show what items are important to be included or which

items needs to be recycled in the syllabus. 50 In this way, error analysis is

useful in determining the material that is suitable for the students51

In addition, Hasyim stated that through the error analysis, teachers

can determine which material that they should focused on, teachers can

also make a self-evaluation about their teaching style, and finally they can

improve their techniques in teaching by planning a better strategy: 52

From those explanations above, it can be conclude that error

analysis has several benefits for the language teaching process, especially

for the teachers and syllabus designers. Analyzing learners' errors could

become a good way for teachers to find suitable strategies for teaching.

For the syllabus designers, learners' errors could become a feedback to

determine which materials should be included in the syllabus.

49 Erdogan. Contribution ofError Ano(vsis.. , p. 266.

50 Erdogan, Contribution ofError Ana(vsis. . , p. 267.

" BcHy Wallace RobineH and Jacqueline Schachler, Second r,anguage Learning:Cuntrostive Ana(vsis, Error Analvsis, and Related Aspects, (Michigan: University of MichiganPress, 1986), p.255.

26

C. Writing

I. The Definition of Writing

Writing is one of the four skills In English language. As Donald Hall

said, "Writing is a skill, like an athletic skill, which comes more naturally to

some people than to others, but which improves with practices to everyone.,,53

It means, writing is a specific ability that could be trained by practices.

According to Widdowson, "Writing is the act of making up correct

sentences and transmitting them through the visual medium as marks on

paper.,,54 This definition means that the accuracy on grammatical form in

making a sentence in writing is emphasized.

While Coulmas defined writing system as "a set of visible or tactile

signs that is used to represent units of language in a systematic way, with the

purpose of recording messages, which can be retrieved by everyone who

knows the language." 55 It means, writing could be in textual form (books,

journals, newspapers, etc.) or in tactile form (braille).

In addition, from the aspect of process, writing could be seen as an

activity which includes: discovering a point, developing solid support for the

point, organizing the supporting material and writing out in a first draft, and., 56

revIsing.

In The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages, writing

defined as "a system of marks used to represent an utterance in such a way

53 Donald Hall, Writing Well. Second Edition (Boston: Little Brown and Company,1973), p.18.

" H.G. Widdowson, Teaching Language as Communication, (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1978), p.62.

55 Florian Coulmas, r-Vriling Systems, .·In Introductiun 10 The Linguistic Ana~JJsis: (NewYork, Cambridge University Press, 2003), p.l.

~(, ... ..

27

that it can be recovered more or less exactly without the intervention of the

utterer. ,,57

From the definitions above, it can be concluded that writing is a skill of

representing language in visual or tactile form which includes several steps:

discovering a point, developing solid support for the point, organizing the

supporting material and writing out in a 'first draft, and revising. Writing

systems use sets of symbols to represent the sounds of speech.

2. The Types of Writing

According to Hall in Writing Well, Writing could be categorized into 8

types: eXposition, argument and persuasion, description, narrative,

autobiography, writing fiction, writing about writing, and writing research. 58

a. Exposition

Exposition is writing with a referential atm. "It does not argue,

although exposition can form part of an argument. It does not tell a story,

although it might explain something essential to telling a story. ,,59

Expository writing must be clear, short, and strongW Encyclopedia entries

are the example of expository. So, in expository writing, the writer

explains something and carries information about something in clear,

short, and strong way.

b. Argument and Persuasion

"In writing an argument, writer IS dealing with debatable

material. ,,61 Through this type of writing, writer will use exposition,

narrative, and description, but he/she also has an argument to defend, and

57 "What is Writing" in Omniglot, The online enc.vclopedia ofwriting systems andlanguages. from hltp:l/mrw.omniglot.com/wrilingldcfinilion. hllll. July 6. 20 II.

ss Hall, Writing Well p.223-269.

59 Hall, Writing Well p.223.

60 Hall, Writing Well . . , p.224.

28

he/she will try to argue and persuade by means of clear thinking,

reasonableness, and taking account of the opposition62 It means, the main

purpose is to give an opinion and try to influence the readers with the

writer's idea.

c. Description

Through this type of writing, writers try to describe something in

detail. "Description may occur in other forms of writing, such as

exposition, narration, and argument,,63

d. Narrative

"Narrative must have enough detail, so that the reader knows what

is happening. However, it must not have too much detail that could make

the reader get confused. The detail must be appropriate; it must have the

right quality, as well as the right quantity.,,64 In sort, narrative is telling a

story. While in more detail, it is any development in sentence, paragraph,

or paper by chronological order65.

e. Autobiography

Through autobiography, the writer tells about his/her life. "Our

own life is the greatest source of writing. ,,66 However, to write it is not

easy, the problem is getting the source and bringing the experiences back,

so that the reader can understand our writing67

f Writing Fiction

Writing fiction is writing with imagination. "Description, narrative,

and dialogue are ingredients of fiction, but the most important ingredient is

62 Hall. Writing I'Vell. . , p.228-229.

63 Hall, Writing Well . . , p.242-243.

61 Hall, Writing Well .. , p.245.

65 Hall, Writing Well . . , p.245.

66 Hall, Writing Well . . , p.248.

PERPUST;,KAAN UT/\11,11/\SYAHID i\

29

the formal imagination."('~ It means the quality of fiction writing depends

on the writer's imagination.

g. Writing About Writing

In this type of writing, writers write to investigate something about

writing; it may analyze the argument of essay, or the parag~aph structure,

or the use of narrative and description in a text69

h. Writing Research

Through this type of writing, writers make a report about his/her

observation. "In writing a research paper, the most important decision is

choosing a manageable topic, and a topic neither too large nor too small to"70be handled in the assigned number of pages.

68 Hall. Writing Well .. , p.250.

69 Hat!, Writing Well .. , p.252.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Research Objectives

The objectives of this research are to identify and to describe the

personal pronoun errors and to know the most frequent personal pronoun

error made by the first grade students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia, Pamulang.

B. Time and Location

The research is took places at SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia on 23'd_2S'h

May 20 I L It is located on JI. Villa Dago Boulevard, Pamulang, Tangerang

Selatan, Banten.

C. Technique of Sample Taking

The number of population consists of two classes, There are fifty

students of the first grade of the academic year 2010/2011, it is divided into

class A and B. In this research, the writer took sample only one classes (26

students from class 13), it is about 52% from the population. The writer takes

sample only one class because of the limited time that is given by the schooL

Therefore, the method of sample taking in this "Skripsi" could be classified as

p/Ilposil'c samplc,

31

D. Research Instrument

In this study, the writer tried to find the data about the errors of the use

of English personal pronouns. The main instrument in this research is a

sentence completion test that consists of 20 items. The test paper is presented

in the appendix.

E. Technique of Data Analysis

The data is acquired through collecting the error items found in

students' test and describing them into several categories based on the kind of

personal pronoun cases:

I. Subjective Pronoun

2. Objective Pronoun

3. Possessive Adjective

4. Possessive Pronoun

By using these categories, the writer classifies the errors and explains the

problem.

From the data, the writer tries to verify the frequency of the errors in

the students' test descriptively. Therefore, for data analysis procedure the

writer uses descriptive analysis technique. The frequency distribution will be

described in the table percentage and the formula is as below:

P = FIN X 100%1

P = Percentage

F = Frequency of wrong answer

N = Number of sample

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS

A. Data Description

The first stage in processing the data for error analysis is identifying

the errors. In this process, the item numbers containing error are marked, then,

compared with the correct sentences. Here, to mark the area, the wrong

personal pronouns are italicized.

Table 4.1

The Error Items

PersonalNumber

Correct Sentence Students' Error SentencesPronounItems

Type

1 He is my brolller. • 51,e is my brother.

S Alice and I are very thin. • Alice and I are very thin. They are-- § We are top models. lop models.

g8 9 11 is a wonderful day today. • It's is a wonderful day today.p..<l)

.~ 13 Her classmates aren't from • Her classmates aren't from Japan,U<l)

Japan, they are from China, them are from China.B;:l --V>

17 You and I mnst go now. • You and me must go now. Weare

We are latc! laic!r' - --.- -----

20 Jack and his family have • Jack and his family have been here

been here since two weeks since two weeks ago. This house is

ago. This house is theirs. them.

e Jack and his family have been here

since two weeks ago. This house is

they.

34

35

B. Data Analysis

From the data collected, the writer breaks down the error types into

four categories based on personal pronoun cases: subjective pronoun,

objective pronoun, possessive adjective, possessive pronoun. The identified

errors are presented in the table based on their category and supplemented

with hhe explanation of errors. Then, the percentage of each type of errors is

calculated:

a. Sr:b.l\~ctive Pronoun

Table 4.2

Frequency (>f ,Students' Error in Subjective Pronoun

Freq.No. Type of Source of of Percent<lgeStudents' Error Selll~ences

Items Error Error Error

I • She is my brother. Afiss- !nteriingual 2 7.69%

selection transfer

5 • Alice and I are very thin. The)" ,Hiss- lnterlingua/ 3 11.54%

are top models. selectiontransfer

9 • It's is a wonderful day today. Addition Intralingual 4 15.39%

transfer13 • Her classmatesaren't from Afiss- Il1terlingual 2 7.69%

Japan, them are from China. selectiontransfer

"17 • You and me must go now. We 1\118S- Interlingual 16 61.54%

are late! selectiontransfer

Total 27 20.77%

•

The highest frequency of eJrror in subject pronoun is at the item

number 17 with 61.54%, followed by the item number 9 with 15.39%,

number 5 with 11.54%, and number 1 and 13 with the same

percentage, 7.69%. The test item fo r the number 17 is below:

,-----------------117. You and ... must go n_o_"_N_. J

36

The correct personal pronoun for this sentence is "1". So, the sentence

should be: "Yoll and I must go now". However, the data shows that

most students (61.54%) choose the wrong answer; they choose the

personal pronoun "me ". This problem is caused by the mother tongue

interferences/first language interferences (inter/ingual transfer). In this

case, students still do not know about the use of personal pronoun in

English and have difficulty in distinguishing between subjective and

objective pronoun because in Bahasa Indonesia, the pronoun "saya"

can be used in the subjective or objective case, but in English, the

pronoun "/" should be used in the subjective case. This error could be

categorized as miss-selection

For the item number 9, there are four students (15.39%) who

choose the wrong answer. The test item for the number 9 is below:

I9. ... is a wonderful day today.

The correct personal pronoun for this test item is "it ". However, there

are four students who make error. Here, they used double auxiliaries

(It's is a wonde/jul day today). This error is classified into an addition

because the students add an unnecessary element into the sentence.

The source of error for this case could be categorized as an

overgeneralization/simplification. Students might have heard or learnt

about "the abbreviation of it's" before, but they still do not know

about how to use it appropriately. So, they simply put "it's" before the

auxiliary verb "is" without paying attention to the rules.

37

b. Objective Pronoun

Table 4.3

Frequency of Students' Error in Objective Pronoun

}freq.

No. Type of Source of of PercentageStudents' Error SentencesItems Error Error Error

2 • They will send I a message Miss- lnterlingual 5 19.23%

immediately. selection transfer

6 • Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my Miss- lnterlingual

best friends. I love they vety selectiontransfer 1 3.85%

much.

10 • My watch has lost. I have to find Miss- lnterlingual 1 3.85%

my. selectiontransfer

14 • Suzanne's bag is vety heavy. I Miss- lnterlingual 1 3.85%

have to help she to carty it. selectiontransfer

18 • Our teacher is telling we about ~Miss- lnterlingual

his e'''I)erience. selectiontransfer

6 23.07%

• Our teacher is telling our about J.\1iss- lnterlingual

his e'''I)erience. selectiontransfer

Total 14 10.77%

The highest frequency of error in objective pronoun is at number

18 with 23.07%, followed by the item number 2 with 19.23%, and

number 6, 10, 14 with same percentage, 3.85%. The test item for the

number 18 is below:

2. Our teacher is telling ... about his experience.

In this item number, most students choose the right personal pronoun

(us), but some of them make errors: five students choose the personal

pronoun 'we' and one student choose 'ollr'. This problem also could

be categorized as "miss-selection". It is caused by the mother tongue

interferences/first language interferences (interlingual transfer).

38

Students have problem to differentiate among subjective pronoun,

objective pronoun, and possessive adjective. It happens because in

Bahasa Indonesia, the pronoun "kami" could be used for the

subjective case, objective case, or possessive adjective.

c. Possessive Adjective

Table 4.4

Frequency of Students' Error in Possessive Adjective

Freq.

No. TY\le of Source of of ]lerccntageStudents' Error Sentences

Items Error Error Error

3 • They are riding theirs own l\Jiss- Interlingua/ 9 34.61%

bikes. selection transfer

7 None - - 0 0%

11 • This is not your book, butthis is Miss- Interlingua/ 3 11.54%mine. selection

transfer

15 • 1found him notes yesterday. Miss- Interlingua/ 5 19.23%selection

transfer

19 • Mrs. Nina is ours English Miss- Interlingua/

teacher. selectiontransfer

2 7.69%

• Mrs. Nina is we English teacher. lUiss- Inferlingua/

selectiontransfer

Total 19 14.61%

In this section, the highest frequency of error is at number 3

(34.61%), followed by the number 15 with 19.23%, number 11 with

11.54%, and number 9 with 7.69%. The test item for the number 3 is

below:

I3. They are riding ... own bikes.

The correct personal pronoun for this number is "their". However,

there are nine students choose the wrong answer. They choose the

39

personal pronoun "theirs". It happens because they could not

differentiate between possessive pronoun and possessive adjective.

This type of error is categorized as miss-selection that is caused by the

mother tongue interference (interlingual transfer).

d. Possessive Pronoun

Table 4.5

Frequency of Students' Error in Possessive Pronoun

Freq.

No. Type of Source of or PercentageStudents' Error SentencesItems Error Error Error

4 • This is Andrew's phone. l1lis Miss- Interiinguat 18 69.23%

phone is him. selection transfer

8 • My pencil is broken. Can I Miss- Interiingual 7 26.92%

borrow your? selectiontransfer

12 • She has a black stick. This black Miss- Interiingual 22 84.61%

stick is her. selectiontransfer

• That is your pencil, and this is Miss- Interiingual16 selection transfer 5 19.23%

my.

• Jack and his family have been Miss- Interiingual

here since two weeks ago. This selectiontransfer

20 house is them. 15 50%

• Jack and his family have been lvJiss-Interlingual

here since two weeks ago. TIus selection transfer

house is they.

Total 67 51.54%

Number 12 has taken the highest frequency of error that made by

the students with 84.61%, followed by the number 4 with 69.23%,

number 20 with 50%, number 8 with 26.92%, and number 16 with

19.23%. The test item for the number 12 is below:

In

40

For this item, the correct personal pronoun is "hers". However,

69.23% students choose the wrong personal pronoun (her). This error

could be classified into miss-selection because they use "her" for the

possessive pronoun. In the other point of view, this error also could be

classified into ommision because the students remove the suffix "-s".

In this case, the source of error could be classified as interlingual

transfer.

C. Data Interpretation

After classifying the errors based on the personal pronouns area, the

writer gets the distribution of personal pronoun area which is based on high

frequency of errors, as in the following table. It can be seen which one of the

personal pronoun that is the highest frequency of error and the lower

frequency.

Table 4.6

The Distribution of Personal Pronoun Area

Based on the Frequency of Errors

No. Type of Personal Frequency Percentage

Pronoun of Error of Error

1 Possessive Pronoun 67 51.54%

2 Subjective Pronoun 27 20.77%

3 Possessive Adjective 19 14.61%

4 Objective Pronoun 14 10.77%--

Table 7 shows that most students make error in possessive pronoun, with

51.54% (67 students). Based on this fact, the teacher should pay more

attention to this type of personal pronoun. The second level is subjective

41

pronoun with 20.77%, the third is possessive adjective with 14.6]%, and the

last is objective pronoun with 10.77%.

After analyzing the errors, the writer takes conclusion that most of the

errors are caused by the mother tongue interference. This is the most basic

factor. The grammar of English is different that ofIndonesian; for example, in

Bahasa Indonesia, "saya, dia, kami, kamu, and mereka" are used in any

position in sentences and do not change, but in English, the pronoun "I, he,

she, we, and they" become "me, him, her, us, and them" when they are used

as object. The pronouns "yoll and it ", however, do not change form when they

change position in the sentence. The difference, such as in the example above,

often makes student confused to use the appropriate pronoun, especially in

writing.

Besides, the errors could also cause by the method of teaching, because

how well the students understand the material depends on the method of

teaching that teacher uses. The last possible factor is the students themselves.

Their lack of motivation can lead to·the errors. Related to this factor, the lack

of students' motivation has a close relationship with the students' boredom

(Chapter II). In this case, teachers should find some various strategies to avoid

the problem of students' boredom.

The data also has verified the consistency of the student's answer as

one of the important characteristics that distinguish between error and mistake

(Chapter II). For example, when a student had made an error in an item

number that consist of possessive pronoun, then, he/she tends to repeat the

same errors in the other item numbers. In this case, because it happens

consistently, the wrong pattern that was made by the student could be

categorized as an error, not a mistake.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

After finding out the result and analyzing it, the writer comes to the

conclusion that some students have not understood about the form and the

function of personal pronouns; the most frequent type of error is in the

possessive pronoun (51.54%), the second is subjective pronoun (20.77%),

and the third is possessive adjective (14.61%), and the last is objective

pronoun (10.77%). Most of the errors could be categorized as "miss­

selection" that is caused by the mother tongue interference/interlingual

transfer.

B. Suggestions

Some suggestions are needed by the English teachers in order to

prevent the students of making the same error and hopefully in using the

pronoun. The suggestions are given below:

I) The mother tongue interference/interlinglla/ transfer is become the

major cause of errors. Related to this, the writer suggests the teachers

43

to familiarize the students with the personal pronoun forms. This way

could help students to avoid the word-by-word translation that is often

used when they make a personal pronoun sentence.

2) The teachers should use various strategies for teaching English,

especially for teaching the material of personal pronoun so that the

students will clearly understand more and not get borea.

3) To make students become more familiar with the forms of personal

pronoun, teachers should give more exercise related to the personal

pronoun materials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan (BSNP). Standar lsi Untuk Satuan PendidikanDasar dan Menengah. Jakarta: BSNP, 2006.

Brown, Douglas H. Principle ofLanguage Learning and Teaching, Fourth loaition.New York: Pearson Education, 2000.

Coulmas, Florian. Writing Systems, An Introduction to The Linguistic Analysis. NewYork, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

DeCapua, Andrea. Grammarjor Teachers: A Guide to American English jar Nativeand Non-Native. New York: Springer Sciences+Business Media, 2008.

Ellis, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Frank, Marcella. Modern English, A Practical Rejerence Guide. New Jersey: PrenticeHall, 1972.

Hall, Donald. Writing Well, Second Edition. Boston: Little Brown and Company,1973.

Hansen, Barbara & McDaniel, Rebecca. Simplified Sentence Skills. Illinois: NTCPublishing Group, 1998.

Hubbard et. al.. A Training Coursefor TEFL. New York: Oxford University Press,1983.

Richards, Jack C. & Rodgers, Theodore S. New York: Cambridge University Press,1992.

Langan, John. English Skills. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2001.

Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. New York: A Communicative Grammar ofEnglish.Pearson Education Limited, 2002.

Robinett, Bett)' Wallace and Schachter, Jacqueline. Second Language Learning:Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis, and RelatedAspects. Michigan:University of Michigan Press, 1986.

Tim Penyusun, Pedoman Penulisan Skripsi, Jakarta: Fakultas lImu Tarbiyah danKeguruan DIN Syarif Hidayatullah, 2007.

4S

Warriner, John E. Warriner's English Grammar and Composition Third Course. NewYork: Harcourt Brace Jovanovic, Inc., 1982.

Widdowson, H.G. Teaching Language as Communication. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1978.

Wishon, George E. Let's Write l<-nglish (Revised Edition). New York: LittonEducational Publishing International, 1980.

Jom'Dals:

Hasyim, Sunardi. "Error analysis in the teaching ofEnglish," Jurnal Jurusan SastraInggris, Univ. Kristen Petra vol. 4, nO.l (June 2002).

Erdogan, Vacide. "Contribution of error analysis to foreign language teaching."Mersin University Joul11al ojThe Faculty ojEducatioJ1, vol. 1, (December2005).

Sakoda, Namiko. "Error analysis within newspaper reporting written by Japanesesecondary school students", I%!fHif/Jf;t~liJfPtiiJjjt, 27(3), (December2004).

Websites:

"Common Pronoun Problems," in Lynchburg College Web. Retrieved: July 12,2011from littp!I",'w\\f.lynyDblU,g,eQu/x2390x1TI

"English Grammar: Possessive Adjective," in l<-i1glishLanguageGuide.com.Retrieved: July 12,2011 fromh!.tp:f/w\vw.englishlanguageguide.com/english/grammar/possessive­adjective.asQ

"Frequency Distribution Tables", in PSYCH 200: ElementGlY Statistics in Psychology,Retrieved July 9, 20 II fromhttps:ijcourses.worldca mpus.psu .edu!welcome(Psych200/less02 02.html

"Pr'€lnouns and Pronoun Errors," in Grossmont College Web. Retrieved: July 11,2011fromhttQ:f/www.grossmon!.edu/karl.sherlockfEnglish098/PronounsAndPronounE1Tors.html

-_······1'..... _- - -~, .~.~ ~ , ..... "' . . ,-". " .""

"Stages ofError Analysis" in Teaching Styles Online Web. Retrieved July 6, 2011from http://www.teachinggylesonline.cQ!.11/stageLoferroranalysis.html

"What is Writing" in Omniglot, The online encyclopedia qj"writing ,ystems andlanguages. Retrieved July 6, 2011 fromhttV:l1ww\v. omniulo t com/writi nuldeft nition. html

46

APPENDIX 1

THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

Name

Class : VII

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personal

pronoun!

1. ...... is my brother.

2. They will send a message immediately.

3. They are riding own bikes.

4. This is Andrew's phone. This phone is .......

5. Alice and I are very thin are top models.

6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love ...... very much.

7....... doctor is from Germany.

8. My pencil is broken. Can I borrow ......?

9. .. .... is a wonderful day today.

10. My watch has lost. I have to find .......

11. This is not ...... book but this is mine.

12. She has a black stick. This black stick is .

13. Her classmates aren't from Japan are from China.

14. Suzanne's bag is very heavy. I have to help ...... to carry it.

15. I found ...... notes yesterday.

16. That is your pencil and this is .

17. You and ...... must go now. We are late!

18. Our teacher is telling ...... about his experience.

19. Ms. Nina is ...... English teacher.

20.Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago. This

house is .

APPENDIX 2

1. He

2. Me/him/her/us/them

3. Their

4. His

5. We

6. Them

7. My/his/her/our/their

8. Yours

9. It

10. It

11. Your/his/her/their

12. Hers

13. They

14. Her

15. His/her/my/your/their

16. Mine

17. I

18. Us

19. Our/my/their/her/his

20. Theirs

KEY ANSWERS

Class : VII ..b.

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personalpronoun!(she I he I it I they I weIll you I her I him I it I them I us I me I you I her Ihis I its I their lour I my I your I hers I his I its I theirs lours I mine I yours)

1. \,\{'.... is my brother.

2. They will send .'l1::':-a message immediately.

Th 'd' \c'0e-i '( b'k3. ey are n mg ...... own I es.

4. This is Andrew's phone. This phone is~5. Alice and I are very thin. \:;J.~. are top models.

~",,,\f'I"6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love ...... very much.

~I7.....\. doctor is from Germany.

8 M '1' b k C I b '-(O\)'-;S. y penCi IS ro en. an orrow .......

9. .\1-... is a wonderful day today.

10. My watch has lost. I have to find \'±:...11. This is not j0::book but this is mine.

12. She has a black stick. This black sticki~13. Her classmates aren't from Japan.~e from China.

\0"'-'\14. suzann~s very heavy. Ihave to help ...... to carry it.

15. Ifoun~tes yesterday.

16. That is your pencil and this is .~!';'L<.

17. You and ..\ ... must go now. We are late!

18. Our teacher is telli@bout his experience.

19. Ms. Nina is o.J.'!. English teacher.

20. Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago. This house is .:\ 'r>,t \ r S'

Name: £/t//17Class : VII 78

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personalpronoun!(she ('her+t/)bey1~/I/you/.Ber/ him /it/~ / us/~ou / her /his / its / their / our / my/ yoor / hers /4ir5/ its / theiFS7 ours / mine /~

hg· b h1. ...... IS my rot er.

2. They will send ~? a message immediately.

3.• They are ridin~nbikes.

4. This is Andrew's phone. This phone iS~. :.-:i5. Alice and Iare very thin.~.~re top models.

~f.~ih6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love ...... very much.

7. !!::.Jdoctor is from Germany.~8~2tpencil is broken. Can Iborro~~. is a wonderful day today. .

·t10. My watch has lost. Ihave to find 1.. ....11. This is nof}q.~ ~OOk but this ismine~12. She has a black stick. This black sti~~.13. Her classmates aren't from Japan....... are from China.

14. suzanne~sb is very heavy. I have to help hf.':?to carry it.l (tri

15· Ifound ... n yesterday. t L" • f'v ~

16. That is your pencil and this is ...... fNll

17. You and.l. ... must go now. We are late!

18. Our teach£il~~t1::~about his experience.

19· Ms. Nina i [) (j Ir: glish teacher. ( A .20. Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago. This house is .r.. .. 0 I

Name: B,wY\lI\Class: VII~

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personalpronoun!(she I he I it I they I weIll you I her I him I it I them I us I me I you I her Ihis I its I their lour I my I your I hers I his I its I theirs lours I mine I yours)

1. .J:/:e. is my brother.

2. They will send~ message immediately.

3. They are riding fhhirown bikes.

4. This is Andrew's phone.?-phone is .f&)5. Alice and I are very thin~are top models.

6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love .fhf:JllJery much.

7. !'?]f.. doctor is from Germany.

8. My pencil is broken. Can I borrow .'jC!H6"t9. ..1.... is a wonderful day today.

10. My watch has lost. I have to find .J&..11. This is not .Y.<N.lbook but this is mine.

12. She has a black stick. This black stick is<;J;i2)

13. Her classmates aren't from Japan. fh?¥ are from China.

14. Suzanne's bag is very heavy. Ihave to help ..b~ to carry it.

15. Ifound .111:): notes yesterday.

16. That is your pencil and this is .M\~

17. You and .. T-.oo must go now. We are late!

18. Our teacher is telling .M.5. about his experience.

19. Ms. Nina is .r!-!I English teacher.

20. Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago. This house is {h~ I J

Name:\---1'j(12G(, (:::U(/i(C\ klnO\('c

Class: VII~

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personalpronoun!(she I he I it I they I weIll you I her I him I it I them I us I me I you I her Ihis I its I their lour I my I your I hers I his I its I theirs lours I mine I yours)

l@iS my brother.

2. They will send .0message immediately.

3. They are riding-tk:.(own bikes.

4. This is Andrew's phone. This phone is~5. Alice and I are very thiGare top models.

6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love U'.<!;very much.

7. !':~:1. doctor is from Germany.

8. My pencil is broken. Can I borrow ~~C:,:r?S

I '9. ...1.. is a wonderful day today.

10. My watch has lost. I have to find ..(t ..

11. This is notJ:?~:.( book but this is mine.

12. She has a black stick. This black stick~,I [ /"

13. Her classmates aren't from Japan.'..:;.! are from China.

14. Suzanne's bag is very heavy. I have to help~carry it.

15. Ifound hl.S. notes yesterday.

16. That is ~'( R.Sil and this is L.': ..

17. You an 1....-.. ust go now. We are late!

18. Our teacher is telling .:! .c.. about his experience.

19. Ms. Nina is .';. \J~(English teacher.I ,r

20. Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago. This house is J. :.'.' \\ j

Name: lG-,a'~o-0 -£:; \rf<')ClL,Class : VII \l:>

Complete the following sentences by using the correct personalpronoun!(she I he I it I they I weill you I her I him I it I them I us I me I you I her Ihis I its I their lour I my I your I hers I his I its I theirs lours I mine I yours)

1. .h~. is my brother.

2. They willsen~message immediately.

Th 'd' ,W\.Q.J( b'k3. ey are n mg ;..... own I es.

4. This is Andrew's phone. This phone is ..~5. Alice and I are very thin.~ are top models. (, '.

~.\j"a1 # "

6. Nadine, Lea, and Mark are my best friend. I love very much.

7. ~O~;~;iS from Germany.:}OU n;

8. My pencil is broken. Can I borrow ......?

9. \r.. is a wonderful day today.

10. My watch has lost. I have to find .:tt.0\ol}l

11. This is notv.'.... b~Ok bU~ this is m~ne ..~ R12. She has a black stICk. ThIs black stICk IS ....."':..":'.--

~,13. Her classmates aren't from Japan....... are from China.

14. Suzanne's bag is very heavy. I have to help~0;. to carry it.

f \r\\( d15. I ound ...... .),otes yester ay." ./.\ l . -~

16. That isYO~and this is\.: ...': ."

17. You and,~t go now. We are late!

18. Our teacher is telling .~S. about his experience., °U\-

19, Ms. Nina is ..:0;;..' English teacher.

20. Jack and his family have been here since two weeks ago, This house is ..,)11.9 \, \ Co..

THE PROFILE OF TilE SCIIOOL

SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia

JI. Villa Dago Boulevard, Pamulang, Tangerang Selatan, Banten.

bJIP..J/w\'{w. al-zahraindonesia. sch. id

FOUllder

Director

Head of Education Dept.

Principal

Vice Principal

English Teacher

: H. Adi Sunaryo

: Hj. Ratna Nilasari

: Drs. Heru Suparman

: Ghufron, M. Pd. I

: Yakub, S. Ag.

: Kurniasari, S. Pd.

Mission:

I) Organizing the education that produces graduates who are creative,

independent, faithful, intelligent; intellectually, emotionally, and

spiritually.

2) Providing a fun learning process (Learning is Fun).

3) Building a creative, active, and communicative learning situation for the

students.

4) Constantly improving the quality of human resources and Curriculum.

S) Constantly improving the facilities and infrastructures.

6) Making extra-curricular activities as a means of distributing students'

talents.

Motto: LeamillR is FUll

General Program:

I) Moral education, to develop moral values at the early age with the support

of the climate and culture oflslamic School.

2) AI-Qur'an lessons.

3) Introduce and familiarize two languages; Bahasa Indonesia and English

(bilingual)

4) Supporting lessons, a mental arithmetic (abacus), so that the child has

advantages in terms of numeracy, concentration, memory, creativity,

confidence, creativity and logical thinking.

5) Computer as a medium of learning to broaden students' knowledge

Extracurricular Activities:

I) Scout

2) Soccer

3) Basketball

4) Badminton

5) Volley

6) Table Tennis

7) Band

8) AI-Qur'an

o : Istimewa Jakarta, 20 Apri I 201 1

al : Pengajuan Judul Skripsi

ampiran : 1 (satu) berkas

:epada Yth,

Cetua Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

11TK U1N Jakarta

)i

Tempat

Assalamu'alaikum Wr. Wb.

Saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:

Nama

NIM

Jurusan

Fakultas

: Insan Damba Putra Pratama

: 107014000711

: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

: Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan

Bermaksud untuk mengajukan judul skripsi sebagai salah satu syarat untuk menyelesaikan

program S-I (strata I) DIN SyarifBidayatullah Jakarta. Adapunjudul yang diajukan adalah:

"AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY TO USE PERSONAL PRONOUN

FORMS IN WRITING"

(A Case Study at the First Grade of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia)

Bersama ini saya lampirkan satu berkas proposal yang terdiri dari:

1. Abstract

2. Outline

3. Temporary references

Demikian surat pengajuan ini disampaikan. Atas pertimbangannya, saya sampaikan terima kas:h.

Wassalamu'alaikum Wr. Wb.

Menyetujui, )j} ~ II Pemohon,

IOr<. N~<rlln Mahmud. i\1. I'd.) (lnsan Damba I'utra 1'.)

KEMENTERIAN AGAMAUIN JAKARTAFITK

FORM (FR)

No.Ookumen FITK-FR-AKO-081 iT91. Terbil 1 Marel 2010 -J

f-;--;~~:Ic-R_e_V_is_i: __'__°:;C1,1c;-1-----iSURAT BIMBINGAN SKRIPSI i

110r : Un.01/F.I/Krv1.0J.J/~F.iP.J)2011np.

: I3imbingan Skripsi

Kepada Yth.

Prof. Dr. Hadjid Harnawidagda, M. Pd.Pembimbing SkripsiFakultas IImu Tarbiyah dan KeguruanUIN Syarif HidayatullahJakarta.

AssalaJllu ·alaikllJllwr.wb_

Jakana. 25 April2011

Dengan ini diharapkan kesediaan Saudara untuk menjadi pembimbing Ifll(materi/teknis) penulisan skripsi mahasiswa:

Nama

NIM

Jurusan

Semester

: Insan Damba Putra Pratama

: 107014000711

: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

: VIII

Judul Skripsi

"AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' A13ILITY TO USE PERSONAL

PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITI;\G"

(A Case Study at the First Grade ofSilll' AI-Zahra Indonesia)

Judultersebuttelah disetujui oleh Jurusan yang bersangklltan pada tanggal 25 April 20 II •abstraksiloli/line terlampir. Saudara dapat melakllkan perubahan redaksional pada judllltersebut. Apabila perubahan substansial dianggap perlu, mahan pembimbing menghubungiJurusan terlebih dahulu.

Bimbingan skripsi ini diharapkan selesai dalam waktll 6 (enam) bulan, dan dapatdiperpanjang selama 6 (enam) bulan berikutnya tanpa surat perpanjangan_

Atas perhatian dan kerja sama Saudara, kami ucapkan terima kasih.

WassalaJllll 'alaikllJll wr.wb.

fembusan:

; -"'- .. i~i\kan Bahasa Inggris

~ \' 'I '- ~ ...." ........ ,../ .--

KEM ENTERIAN AGAMA- ----.------- No Dokt;;;;;;;:;----FITK-FR:AKD-082 i.~~_. -_.------- .. 1

.,.,~;" ~II~KJAKARTA FORM (FR) ~~L ;:~~~~-:---~-1Marel 201=J0 --J

J~fi-_/ JII' H J",od'~~~~~";d~'~MOHON~N IZIN PEN~~ITIAN _:_1_/1 -=Nomor: Un.01/F.lIKM.01.3/.~~9/2011 Jakarta. 26 April 201 iLamp. : Outline/ProposalHal : Permohonan Izin Peneliti;::n

Kepada Yth,Ghufron Maftuhin. M.Pd.Kepala Sekolah SMP Ai-Zahra'indonesiaDi tempat

Assalamu'alaikum wr,wb,

Dengan hormat kami sampaikan bahwa,

Nama

NIM

Jurusan

Semester

Tahun Akademik

: Insan Dqmba Putra Pratama

: 107014000711

: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

: VIII

: 2010/2011

Judul Skripsi

"AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS' ABILITY TO USE PERSONAL

PRONOUN FORMS IN WRITING"

(A Study Case at the First Grade of SMP AI-Zahra Indonesia)

adalah benar mahasiswa/i Fakultas IImu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan UIN Jakarta yangsedang menyusun skrip'si, ,dan. akan mengadakan penelitian (rise!) diinstansi/sekolah/madrasah yang Saudara pimpin,

Untuk itu kami mohon Saudara dapat mengizinkan mahasiswa tersebutmelaksanakan penelitian dimaksud,

Atas perhatian dan kerja sama Saudara, kami ucapkan terima kasih,

Wassa/amu'alaikum wr. wb,

Tembusan:1, Dekan FITK2. Pembantu Dekan Bidang Akademik3. Mahasiswa yang bersangkutan

an.D.eka~. Kajur )f,.1,did. i;,kan Bahasa Inggris

, lIi(! .Drs.S~~""":-,Pd­

1,Nip,Jtr' 1212 199103 1002

SMP AL-ZAHRA INDONESIA

lin. Vila Dago Boulevard Blok G Vila Dago, Pamulang, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15416

SURAT KETERANGAN PENELITIAN

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini Kepala Sekolah SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia menerangkan

bahwa:

Nama : Insan Damba Putra Pratama

~ : 107014000711

Program Studi : Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

Fakultas : llmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, UIN SyarifHidayatullah Jakarta

Telah rnelakukan kegiatan penelitian untuk skripsi yang berjudul "An Error Analysis on

Students' Ability to Use Personal Pronoun in Writing (A Case Study in the First Grade

Students of SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia)" pada tanggal 23 - 25 Mei 2011 di SMP Al-Zahra

Indonesia.

Dernikian surat ini dibuat untuk dipergunakan sebagaimana mestinya.

Pamulang, 14 Desernber 2011,

SMP Al-Zahra Indonesia