AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE STUDENTS’ WRITING OF PERSONAL RECOUNT TEXT SPECIFICALLY IN USING SIMPLE PAST TENSE AT THE TENTH GRADE OF SMK NEGERI 1 GUNUNGSITOLI BARAT

Abstract

Errors cannot be avoided and are parts of students’ language learning process including in using simple past tense in writing personal recount text, which can be scientifically identified and described through error analysis. The purposes of the research were to analyze and describe those dominant types of errors and their sources. The research was conducted to the 29 tenth grade students of SMK Negeri 1 Gunungsitoli Barat by using descriptive qualitative method. Throughout the documentary and interview analysis,  it could be seen that the most errors made by the students were Misformation (56%), while students errors were mostly affected by Intralingual Transfer (68%). To sum up, even though the students could make simple past tense sentences mostly in good sequences, they were still considered unable to write personal recount text well grammatically since it showed that the students did errors mainly in forming and using verb 2 (regular/irregular verbs) and “to be” because of their limited knowledge about English language system. The result of Error Analysis in the research should be as a reflection for teachers to implement more effective teaching to develop students’ knowledge, particularly in understanding the forms and usages of verb 1, 2, and 3, proper uses of “to be”, as well as phrase ordering to help them reduce the errors.