AN ANALYSIS OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN WRITINGRECOUNT TEXT BASED ON SURFACE STRATEGYTAXONOMY AT THE FIRST YEAR OF SMA YP UNILABANDAR LAMPUNG

In composing a good writing, we should notice some aspects. Grammar is important aspect that should be mastered in order to make a well-structured writing. In learning process, the students still made errors and mistakes, so it is important to analyze their errors and diagnose the difficulty of the study in the classroom. In reference to that matter there seems to be need to analyze what are the frequencies of the students’ grammatical errors that is the objective of this research are to identify the frequencies of occurances of the students’ grammatical errors based on surface strategy taxonomy that is found in their recount text. This research applied descriptive qualitative method, where the researcher gathered the data from the students recount text writing. The data gained were further based on the surface strategy taxonomy in order to draw the conclusion. Having analyzed the data, it was found that the first grade students of first semester at SMA YP UNILA Bandar Lampung, committed four types of errors based on surface strategy taxonomy. The highest frequency of errors based on surface strategy taxonomy is misformation 81 items of errors or 46.7%. The highest students’ errors frequency of each error type is misformation of verb which is 43 errors or 53%, the second is omission of verb which is 14 errors or 20.6%, then the third is addition of preposition which is 10 errors or 59%, and the last is misordering of phrase which is 9 errors or 100%. Most of the students’ of class X.2 of SMA YP UNILA Bandar Lampung committed all types errors of surface strategy taxonomy. It means that although the students have been taught English 4 hours a week, they still have problem with English grammar. In other words, they still commit many errors in terms of English grammar. Therefore, English teacher should not ignore the errors committed by the students. The teacher can give remedial teaching for the students to improve students’ mastery in writing skill Writing is the most difficult skill for students even though they have learnt English for years. This can be caused by the differences between Indonesian and English grammar. In writing recount text, the students often commit errors in using tenses, especially past tense and also part of speech. In reference to that matter there seems to be need to analyze what are the frequencies of the students’ grammatical errors and what are the main resources that may cause the errors that is the objectives of this research are to identify the frequencies of occurances of the students’ grammatical errors based on surface strategy taxonomy and developmental category that are found in their recount text and to find out the possible sources of the errors. This research was conducted at the first grade of SMA N 13 Bandar Lampung, at second semester, during 2011/2012 school year. This research applied descriptive qualitative method, where the researcher gathered the data from the students recount text writing and interview. The data gained were further based on the surface strategy taxonomy and developmental category in order to draw the conclusion. Having analyzed the data, it is found that the first grade students of second semester at SMA Negeri 13 Bandar Lampung, committed four types of errors based on surface strategy taxonomy and developmental category, the highest frequency of error types based on surface strategy taxonomy is misformation error with 45.65% followed by ommision errors (26.23 %), addition errors (22.31%) and misordering errors (5.79%). While based on the developmental category are: pre-systematic stage (49.74%), systematic stage (28.62%) and post-systematic stage (21.63%). As for result, it can be found that the highest number of errors occurred in misformation errors. This might show that students have more serious problems in using tenses and part of speech and they have not comprehended the linguistic system used in the sentences. They might also be influenced by Indonesian grammar. And based on the developmental category the most frequent errors occurred in pre-systematic stage. This might due to the students’ lack of knowledge about grammar. The errors students’ produced were possibly caused by some factors, such as; insufficient vocabulary and grammar mastery, lack of knowledge of tenses and parts of speech, and lack of attention. In line with the result, it is suggested that the English teachers should not ignore the errors made by the students. The teachers can give remedial teaching for the students and provide some tasks or exercises which enable the students to practice using tenses and part of speech.