An Error Analysis of Students’ Descriptive Writing of the Eighth Grade Students of SMPN 91 East Jakarta In The 2018/2019 Academic Year

anah fatriyah; nita kaniadewi, m.pd; neti hartati, m.pd;

FITRI HANDAYANI SUSILO. NIM: 1401065051. An Error Analysis of
Students’ Descriptive Writing of the Eighth Grade Students of SMPN 91 East
Jakarta In The 2018/2019 Academic Year. A paper, Jakarta, The Study
Programme of English Education, The School of Teacher and Training and
Education, The University of Muhammadiyah Prof. DR. Hamka, Jakarta. 2019.
The objectives of the research was to find out the types and sources of
errors made by the students in their descriptive writings. The method used in this
research was a descriptive qualitative method. This research was held at SMPN 91
Jakarta. The participants of this study were 30 students at the eight grade.
In the first meeting, the writer asked the students to make a descriptive
writing based on the instruction that had been given in the writing task. After that,
the writer collected the students‟ writings to be analyzed by underlining the
students‟ errors. On the second meeting, the writer returned the students‟ writings.
The writer asked the students to correct their errors that had been underlined by
the writer. The writer analyzed the types of errors by using Azar‟s (1980)
classifications and the sources of error by Brown‟s (2000) theory.
The results of the research revealed that the highest proportion of the
types of errors on the students‟ writing were capitalization (16.27%), followed by
punctuation (13.45%), singular-plural (12.83%), spelling (12.20%), article
(9.85%), add a word (9.85%), word choice (7.19%), verb tense (6.25%), omit a
word (5.60%), meaning not clear (2.34%), word form (1.87%), word order
(1.72%), incomplete sentence (0.62%), while run-on sentence as the types of
error was not found. Moreover, the highest proportion of the sources of errors is
Intralingual transfer (81.08%) followed by Interlingual transfer (16.27%),
Communication Strategies (2.63%). While the Context of Learning as the
source of error was not found. The most common typical of error is capitalization
(16.27%). Therefore, in the remedial teaching, the teacher should explain to the
students of how to use the right capitalizations. To reduce that errors, the teachers
should ask students to practice more about the capitalization in writing. This
activity can be done by asking the students to write at least one paragraph every
day. The highest source of error was Intralingual transfer (81.08%). Therefore,
in the remedial teaching, the teacher should give more clear explanation of the
English language use and rules. This research informs the teachers and readers in
general about the types and source of errors and the best remedial teaching to
minimize students‟ grammatical errors