AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS ABILITY IN CONSTRUCTING COMPLEX SENTENCE: A CASE STUDY AT FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM OF UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 ARTICLE SubmittedasaPartialFulfillmentof therequirementsforsarjanapendidikan(s.pd)degreeinenglisheducationprogramfacultyo fteachertraining andeducationuniversity of Mataram By: ANDRE ARTARI NIM : E1D 112 007 ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM LANGUAGE AND ART DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM 2016
AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS ABILITY IN CONSTRUCTING COMPLEX SENTENCE: A CASE STUDY AT FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM OF UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 Andre Artari, Drs. H. Sribagus, MA, Ni Wayan Mira S., S.Pd., MA ABSTRACT This study was aimed to analyze the students ability in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun), to explain about the students difficulties in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun), and to find out the factors that may cause the students difficuties in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun) in complex sentences. The subjects were students at IV A and IV B of afternoon class and consisting of 42 students. To obtain and analyze the data, the researcher used random sampling technique and descriptive quantitative method. The findings showed that: 1) The fourth semester students of English education program of University of Mataram were fairly good in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun) in complex sentences. It can be proved by the mean score was 61. There were 25 or 59.52% of students who got score 56 they were categorized as pass and there were 17 or 40.48% of students who got score 56 they were categorized as fail. 2) The sources of the problems were related to students difficulties in distinguishing relative marker or subordinating conjunctions in complex sentences. 3) The factors were caused by material, students and material and students. Key words:students ability, writing skill, grammar, complex sentence, dependent clause. ABSTRAK Penelitianinibertujuanuntukmenganalisiskemampuanmahasiswadalammembuat kalimat complex dependent clause(adjectival, adverbial and noun), menjelaskan tentang kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh mahasiswa dalam membuat kalimat complex dependent clause(adjectival, adverbial and noun), dan mencari tahu faktor-factor yang menyebabkan mahasiswa sukar dalam membuat kalimat complex dependent clause(adjectival, adverbial and noun). Sample dari penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa semester IV kelas A dan B bahasa Inggris sore dan terdapat 42 mahasiswa. Untuk memperoleh dan menganalisis data, peneliti menggunakan random sampling teknik dan metode deskriptive quantitative. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan: 1) Kemampuan mahasiswa bahasa Inggris semester IV dalam membuat kalimat complex dependent clause(adjectival, adverbial and noun) dapat dikategorikan cukup baik hal itu berdasarkan nilai rata-rata mahasiswa yaitu 61. Terdapat 25 mahasiswaatau59.52%mendapatnilai 56 dikategorikantuntasdan 17 mahasiswaatau 3
40.48% mendapatnilai 56 dikategorikantidaktuntas. 2)Kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh mahasiswa adalah membedakan kata hubung dan penggunakan kata hubung yang tepat untung induk kalimat dan anak kalimat. 3) faktor yang mempengaruhi mahasiswa sukar membuat kalimat complex adalah materi, siswa dan materi dan siswa. I. INTRODUCTION In teaching and learning the language, there are four skills that need to be mastered, namely: listening speaking, reading and writing. Those skills are closely related to learning a language. Tarigan (1996:2) stated that mainly, teaching and learning a language is learning how to be skillful in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Moreover, Widdowson (1978:2) explained that teaching and learning language involves the ability to compose correct sentences. However, in writing skill most students have difficulties when they have to construct sentences. It is because English has different structures from their mother tongue. Considering that, writing skill may be the most complicated skill among other skills. In order to be a successful writer, someone has to have capabilities in language structure, vocabulary and graphology. Bolton (1995) stated that the aspect of writing includes language precision such as selected word, morphology, syntax and orthography. Udin, a lecturer of writing class at English education program of university of Mataram said that there were many problems during teaching and learning in the classroom. The first was that the students were not able to construct sentence for instance complex sentence. He said that the students found it difficult to distinguish between independent and dependent clause. The second was the students were not able to use the subordinating conjunction. The third, the students were not able to construct the dependent clause as the first clause. The fourth, the students found it difficult to remember the formula of complex sentence.besides, students had limited vocabulary and the knowledge about English language. Furthermore, Udin explained that constructing complex sentences was one of the most challenging areas in writing practice for students in the fourth semester. He said that to construct complex sentence, students needed more knowledge and vocabulary to support their understanding. Based on Udin s Experience, the researcher assumes that the students had difficulties in producing sentences especially complex sentences. Based on the phenomena above, the researcher is interested in analyzing the students ability in constructing complex sentence at fourth semester students of English education program of University of Mataram in academic year 2015/2016. 4
II. LITERATURE REVIEW a. The Nature of Teaching English Teaching and learning English are closely related to language skills, those are listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, from those skills writing skill may be the most complicated skill. Most people tend to have the same opinion that writing is the most difficult skill among the other skills. Writing requires more basic skill than other skills such as listening, speaking ad reading. Furthermore, they consider that the ability in writing is a talent. Everyone can write effectively if he/she has good knowledge of grammar and organization. Oshima (1991:13) stated that good writing in English requires good grammar and good organization. Moreover Larsen-Freeman (1997:89) explained the aspects of learning writing English consist of utterance vocabulary, grammars, and comprehension. b. ThePlace and the Role of Grammar Harmer (1991) stated our aim in teaching grammar should ensure that students are communicatively efficient with grammar. Moreover, teaching grammar has central role in teaching language because grammar is system of words in sentences and utterances. c. Teaching Grammar Zheng (2009:184) defines grammar as the essential point in teaching and learning language. If English language learners lack grammar, they fail to useboth English language accurately to compose a correct sentence, and fail to speak English accurately. Moreover, teaching grammar also a home work for English language teacher to find the best method to construct good writing in order to help students to master and understand the rule. d. Writing English Sentences In constructing correct sentence structure the students ought to understand how units in sentences are combined grammatically. In constructing English sentence structure, at least it must consistof subject and verb.hornby (1995) stated that usually a sentence contains a subject and a verb. e. The Types of Sentence There are many kinds of sentences. Razzak and Al-Hasan (2007:7) classified the sentences into four traditional categories: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound-complex sentence. f. Complex sentence Complex sentence is a kind of sentence which builds of two different clauses, they are independent clause and dependent clause, Bossone (1977:57). A complex 5
sentence is a sentence which consists of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses: Independent clauseindependent clause is the main clause of a complex sentence. In other words, independent clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb, expresses a complete thought, and could stand alone as a sentence (Bossone, 1977) while dependent clause or subordinate clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb. Dependent clause does notexpress a complete thought, and cannotstand alone as a sentence. In other words, dependent clause exists just to support independent clause in complex sentence. Moreover, dependent clause usually modifies the adverb, adjective and noun. III. RESEARCH METHODS Method of the Study This study used descriptive quantitative method. Quantitative method is used to determine the students ability, the students difficulties and to find out the factors that may cause the students difficulties in constructing complex sentences. Population and sample The population in this research wasthe fourth semester students of English Education program of University of Mataram in academic year 2015/2016. There were 175 students in 7 classes (each class consisted of 20-25 students). Based on Arikunto (2006:107) stated that If the population is less than a hundred, it is better to take all of the population as the sample of the research. However, if the number of population is more than a hundred, it is suggested to take 10%-15% or 20%-25% or more. Based on the statement above, the researcher took 25% of the number of population as the sample. The number of population was 175 so that the researcher got 44 students as the sample or two classes IV(A&B) afternoon and took by random sampling technique. Research Instruments In collecting the data, the researcher used both research instruments written test and questionnaires. There were 22 items in written test ant there were 15 items in the questionnaires. Data Analysis In brief, method of analyzing the data in this research follows these steps: 1. Collecting the data 2. Scoring students answers 3. Findings the percentage of students answersand 4. Analyzing the data IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings The students ability to construct complex sentences dependent clause. 6
No Interval deviation Number of students Category 1 80-100 6 students (14.28 %) A 2 72-79 9 students (21.42%) B+ 3 65-71 7 students (16.66%) B 4 60-64 2 students (4.76%) C+ 5 56-59 1student (2.38%) C 6 46-55 7 students (16.66%) D+ 7 0-45 10 students (23.81%) D The students difficulties in constructing complex sentence dependent clause. Type of dependent Test Questionnaire clause Number of Percentage Number of Percentage students (%) students (%) Adjectival clause (who, whom, whose, etc) Adverbial clause (before, after, since, whenever, etc) Noun clause (what, where, that, etc) 9 students 25.17% 20 students 47.61% 17 students 40.47% 33 students 78.57% 16 students 38.10% 26 students 61.90% The percentage of the factors of students difficulties related to construct Complex Sentences Dependent clause. No Factor related to Number of students Percentage (%) 1 Material 29 students 69.04% 2 Students 37 students 88.09% 7
3 Material and Students 3 students 7.14% Discussion The students ability to construct complex sentences dependent clause. Based onpedomanpenyelenggaraanpendidikan FKIP UniversitasMataram 2015, to know to what extent are the students able to construct complex sentence dependent clause in writing English sentences, the researcher used 7 categories (see table students ability above). If the students got score 56, they were categorized as pass but if the students got score 56, they were categorized as fail. There were 25 students or 59.52% who got score 56 (pass) and there were 17 students or 40.48% who got score 56 (fail). Besides, students mean score was 61. It can be said that the fourth semester students of English education program were fairly good in constructing complex sentence dependent clause in writing English sentences. The students difficulties in constructing complex sentence dependent clause. Based on table students difficulties above, the incorrect answers made by students which related to constructingdependent clause adjectival clause (who, whom, whose, etc), adverbial clause (before, after, since, whenever, etc) and noun clause (what, where, that, etc) were different. It was found that based on the test result, the students difficulties in each type were less than 50%. There were 9 or 25.75% of students who had difficulties in constructing dependent adjectival clause (who, whom, whose, etc). There were 17 or 40.47% of students who had difficulties in constructing dependent adverbial clause (before, after, since, whenever, etc). The last, there were 16 or 38.10% of students who had difficulties in constructing dependent noun clause (what, where, that, etc). However, in the questionnaires results there were more than 50% of students who had difficulties in constructing dependent clauses.it was found that there were 33 or 78.57% of students who had difficulties in constructing dependent adverbial clause (before, after, since, whenever, etc) and 26 or 61.90% of students in constructing dependent noun clause (what, where, that, etc). Based on phenomena above, it can be said that the students had difficulties in constructing dependent clause related to adjectival clause, adverbial clause and noun clause. Some of the students were able to answer the questions. While some of them were not. It happened because they did not know the use of subordinating conjunctions or relative marker of each type of dependent clause. 8
The factors contributing to the students difficulties From the table of the factors contributing to the students difficultiesabove, it can be seen that there were three things which caused the students difficulties in constructing dependent clause, those were: Material, Students and Students and Material. Based on students answers in questionnaires (see table students difficulties), it was rather difficultto constructdependent clause(adjectival, adverbial and noun) by the fourth semester students of English education program of University of Mataram. The problems caused by the types of dependent clause were rather complicated. It made the students confused in determining a clause which had the same subordinating conjunction or relative marker such as that and which whether it belonged to adjectival, adverbial or noun clause. There were so many subordinating conjunctions or relative markers so that they were confused to use the suitable one which was related to the sentence that they wished to construct. The students had also the difficulties to differentiate the relative markers (whom, whose, that). V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion The fourth semester students of English education program of University of Mataram were categorized as fairly good in constructing complex sentence dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun). This can be proved by the mean score of the students was 61. Based on PedomanPenyelenggaraanPendidikan FKIP UniversitasMataram 2015 stated that if the students got score 56 they were categorized as pass but if they got score 56 they were categorized as fail. There were 25 or 59.52% of studentswho got score 56 they were categorized as passbut there were 17 or 40.48% of students who got score 56 they were categorized as fail. It means that the most of the students were capable to reach score 56.00. However, the fourth students also had several difficulties in constructing complex sentence dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun). This can be proved by the questionnaires result. The source of problems were related to the students who had difficulties in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun) especially to identify the use of subordinating conjunction or relative marker in a complex sentence. They were also lack of practice and the knowledge in writing English complex sentences. Besides, there were some factors that may contributing to the students difficulties in constructing dependent clause (adjectival, adverbial and noun) such as material, students and students and material. Suggestion 9
To maintain the students ability in constructing complex sentence dependent clause the researcher would like to offer some suggestions for teachers, students and next researchers as follows: To the teachers: Writing lecturers must try hard to teach students sentences especially in constructing complex sentence dependent clause by using the suitable method or like teaching some education media. After giving complex sentence dependent clause lesson to the students, the lecturer must provide more exercises in written or oral form. To the students: Students should consider that writing English sentences such as complex sentence is important to be mastered in order to prove their leaning in the higher level of English especially writing.students should be more active in the class by listening to the lecturer and try to make other sentences based on lecturer s example in written and oral form. To the next researchers: Next researchers are expected to analyze the other part of complex sentence such as independent clause because in this study the researcher only focused on students ability in constructing dependent clauses (adjectival, adverbial and noun). 10
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