CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses some points including background of the research,

research problems, objective of the research, significance of the research, scopes

and limitation of the research, and definition of the key terms.

A. Background of The Research

People in the world communicate in two ways, in oral or spoken and written

communication. Oral or spoken communication is an activity of communicating

ideas, thought, and feeling by organ of speech, while English as written

communication is the activity of communicating ideas, thought and feeling by

writing, and the purpose of this communication is giving and getting information

to each other. Writing is a communication competence between the writer and the

readers. Here, the writer has to express her/his ideas with a good writing to reach a

goal of writing. The goal of writing here is having a clear and effective written

communication between the writer and the readers. To write well or to get a good

writing, the writer has to anticipate the reactions of the reader.

Writing is one of the English skills which have been the English teaching

objectives in the University especially for English Department Program. By

writing, the students can express their idea, thought, feeling, and giving the

information to the others. Therefore, the students are expected to have a writing

competence. In IAIN Tulungagung, writing is one of the main subjects for the

English Department students. It is considered as a prior skill to be mastered by the

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students. Naturally, the students got the Writing materials since the first until the

fourth semester. In the first semester, the students got a “Writing-1” lesson. Here,

the students might be able to make a good sentence. In the second semester, the

students are taught “Writing 2” by the lecturer. They learned about how to make a

good paragraph, and tried to know the kinds of the paragraph, such as Narrative,

Descriptive and Recount. In the third semester, “Writing-3” is taught to the

students, and it is about writing “Essay”. After completing this course, hopefully

the students have a good competence in the writing skills, especially in “Essays

Writing”.

Essay itself is a group of paragraphs about a specific subject. However, the

subject here is too complex to be developed in a few sentences. An essay typically

contains of five paragraphs, but many other types of essays are longer or shorter,

it is depending on the purpose. Generally, the third semester’s student in IAIN

Tulungagung learns the essays which contains of five paragraphs.

However, some people or students thought that writing in English is not an

easy job. In writing, the writer always concerns how to use the grammatical and

structure correctly, what the topic will be written, creating the ideas to get a good

writing, limited vocabulary, and etc. Those are the factors why the people or the

students might feel difficult when they write something. Actually, there are many

problems faced by the students when they write an essays writing. They have to

build an idea to create five paragraphs which is concerned in a specific topic. Of

course many errors might appear in their written work, such as their organization,

content of the writing, grammar, vocabulary rich, and teaching mechanics. In this
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research the researcher concerned in the teaching mechanic especially in the using

of “punctuation marks”.

Punctuation marks itself is a part of teaching mechanic. Sometimes,

punctuation has seen as a little thing, but actually it has a big effect which

influences a written work quality. According to Hansen, et al. (1998:109) stated as

follows:

Learning to use punctuation correctly will help you to communicate

effectively with your reader. When speaking, you use gestures, eye movement,
and voice intonation to tell the reaction to convey your ideas, but when writing,
you must rely on punctuation to tell the reader when to slow down, stop, or
emphasize. Correct punctuation increases your reader’s understanding of, and
interest in your writing.
So, it means that punctuation marks have an important role in writing in order

to make the reader understand about what we write. When we write, the thing that

helps us to express our idea is the punctuation marks. Punctuation marks help our

writing will be clearer and understandable.

The researcher here found that the using of punctuation marks gives a big

rule in the learners’ writing, because a good punctuation is essential in clear and

effective writing. It was correlated to Jeremy’s theory (2004:49) which states that

using punctuation correctly is one of the important skills in writing. According to

Bram (1995:92) states “Using correct punctuation is indispensible to careful

writing. Misused punctuation, for instance, a question mark (?) instead of a full

stop (.) at the end of a sentence may convey the different message, namely a

question, not a statement.” See at the following sentence:

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a. Elisabeth has two boyfriends? (question, surprised)

b. Elisabeth has two boyfriends. (statement)

The examples above have a different meaning. The first example shows a

question sentence by putting a question mark (?) in the end of the sentence. It

means that the sentence emphasize a question. The second example is a statement.

Contrary with the first sentence, it ends with a period (.). It means that the

sentence is an utterance or statement that is true a complete thought from the

writer. It proves that a punctuation mark has a semantic meaning to your writing.

From the opinions above, surely using right punctuation marks is necessary

to be done in writing. Using correct punctuation can determine the quality of your

writing. Correct punctuation marks makes your writing work more clear, and

expresses your real ideas by knowing when to slow down, stop, or emphasize. But

in contrast, when you don’t put the punctuation marks correctly, the reader will

have a difficulty to understand your writing. The example of error in using

punctuation mark is misinformation of comma. One of the function of the comma

is to separate two items in a sentence. If the sentence contains of two independent

clauses and join with a coordinating conjunction, we should put a comma before

the coordinating conjunction. But, if the sentence consists of two Independent

clauses without any conjunction, we should not to put a comma between them in a

sentence. Look at the example below,

I got up late this morning, I didn’t have a time for breakfast.

The sentence above includes in misinformation errors, because the use of

comma incorrectly. Actually, there are two independent clauses on the sentence.
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We all knew that an independent clause can stand alone to be a complete sentence.

It can’t join with the other independent clauses in a sentence, except there was a

coordinate conjunction. Meanwhile, in the sentence above, there is no coordinate

conjunction at all. So, it can’t be joined in a sentence. In this case, this

misinformation of comma in grammatically also called as “comma splice”. To

correct the sentence, we can add a period to end each complete sentence, or we

can add a coordinate conjunction by putting a comma before. We can correct the

sentence, as below,

I got up late this morning. I didn’t have a time for breakfast. Or,

I got up late this morning, so I didn’t have a time for breakfast

From the two examples above, it shows that punctuation marks also give a

big effect to our writing semantically and grammatically. The first example

emphasizes the effect of punctuation marks in semantically, and the second

sentence is an effect in grammatically. In this study, the researcher focuses of the

using of the punctuation marks in those two of functions. The researcher analyzes

the errors based on the surface strategy taxonomy by Dulay, et al, such as

omission, addition, misordering, and misinformation.

Based on the explanation above, it’s needed to use right punctuation in our

writing. People sometimes think that punctuation marks are little thing, but

actually it has a big effect to our writing. If we do an error in our writing, for

example misinformation of comma, it will give a confusing to your reader to it

means that you couldn’t reach the goal of your writing to make your writer

understand with what you have written. Using correct punctuation marks also
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needed to be done in essay writing, because essay writing consists of many

paragraphs and need a detailed correction. So, the researcher here tries to write the

thesis under the title “Errors Made by The Third Semester Students at IAIN

Tulungagung in Using Punctuation Marks in Writing Essay”. This thesis has the

purposes to find some errors made by students of using punctuation in writing

essays, and analyze the dominant errors made by the third semester students at

IAIN Tulungagung.

B. Statement of the Research Problems

According to the background of the study which has been discussed

earlier, the primary problems that the writer wants to investigate in this study

are:

1. What are the errors made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay?

2. What are the dominant errors made by the third semester students at

IAIN Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay?

C. Objectives of the Research

Consciously, the writer studies the problem in order to reach some purpose

determined. From the statement of problems above, the writer has some goals

as the follows:

1. To know what are the errors made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay

2. To know the dominant errors made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay

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D. Significance of the research

Referring to the research problems, the result of this study hopefully can give a

useful contribution for the:

1. English Students

The research findings are expected to support the students’ writing skill

by realizing their errors of using punctuation marks when they make essays

writing. The students can learn from their errors and know how to correct

it. It is expected that this research is able to stimulate and make a better

understanding in writing essays to result a good writing.

2. English Lecturer

As a feed back to the English Lecturer that this research can give the

information the process and the result of the writing essays among the

students in the third semester. At least, the lecturers know the students’

problem in writing essays, especially in using the punctuation marks.

3. The institution of State Islamic Institution of Tulungagung (IAIN)

This research is as the feed back to the institution for improving the

system of education and facilities about what the lecturer and the students’

need, especially the lecturer and the students of English education program.

4. The writer

The result of the study expected to help the writer enrich her

understanding about English skill especially in writing skill. The writer also

can discover the errors made by the students of using punctuation. It can be

an experience to the writer in conducting a research.

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E. Scope and Limitation of the Research

The scope in this study is the language used as communication in the

written form reflected from the students’ competence in essays writing. In

addition, essay writing here includes on chronological order, logical order,

caused-effect and comparison contrast. However, because the writer doesn’t

have enough time to check them all this study will only use on comparison

contrast essay type, and in this research would like to focus on the errors made

by students of using punctuation mark, and the dominant errors which is the

student made in using punctuation marks in writing essay.

F. Definition of Key Terms

Definitions of the key terms are necessary to be given in order to avoid

misunderstanding as the follows:

1. Error: a mistake

In this case, an error is mistake made by the students in using punctuation

in writing essays

2. Error analysis: analyze the learner’s error

In this case, the researcher analyzes the errors made by the students in

using punctuation in writing essays.

3. Essay writing: a group of paragraphs about one topic which has three main

parts, the introductory paragraph, the body paragraph, and the concluding

paragraph.

4. Punctuation marks: several marks in English that has functions to help the

reader when to stop, slow down, and emphasize.

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G. Organization of the Study

This thesis consists of five chapters, as the follow:

The opening chapter or Chapter I is an introduction. It consists of seven

subdivisions, such as: background of the study, statement of the problems,

purpose of the study, definition of the key terms, and organization of the study.

The second chapter or Chapter II is Review of Related Literature. It is

concerned with the following aspects, such as: the nature of error analysis, the

step of error analysis, the using of punctuation marks, the errors in using

punctuation mark, the theories of essay writing, and the review of preview related

studies.

The following chapter is Chapter III about Research Methodology. This

chapter consists of research design, population, sample and sampling, data

collection method and instruments, and data analysis.

The next chapter is Chapter IV about Research Finding. It consists of the

presents result and discussion. It includes the description of the research on data

analysis.

The last chapter is Chapter Five. It presents conclusion and suggestion. This

chapter presents the conclusion of the study and suggestion.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the nature of error analysis, the step of error analysis,

the role of punctuation marks, the using of punctuation marks, the errors in using

punctuation mark, the theories of essay writing, and the review of preview related

studies.

A. The Nature of Error Analysis

In learning process, human may have mistakes and errors, such as in

writing skills. Brown (2000:217) states that learning language is like the other

learning. It can’t be separated from making errors because they actually have

significance for both teacher and students. According to Dulay (1982: 139)

errors are those parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some

selected norm of mature language performance. It can be said that every

language have the norm of language performance. When the learners break that

norm, it can be said that they make an error.

Error can be analyzed, as Lado (1974:166) says that the fact that learners

do make errors that these errors can be observed, analyzed, and classified to

reveal something of the system operating within the learner, let to surge of

study of learners errors, called error analysis. So, error analysis is the process

of observing, analyzing, and classifying the learner’s errors. Errors that are

made by the students in learning language should be analyzed by the language

teacher. Brown (2000: 218) states that while errors indeed a system at work,

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the classroom language teacher will be preoccupied in noticing errors that the

correct utterances in the second language go unnoticed. He also states that

reducing the errors happened in language learning can increase language

proficiency, as the main goal of learning the second language. Thus, error

analysis can be defined the process of identifying the errors made by the

students in learning language to improve the student’s ability or proficiency of

second language learners.

B. The Steps in Error Analysis

According to Brown (2000:220) there are some steps analyzing the errors:

Identifying, Classifying, and Tabulating the errors .

1. Identifying errors

The researcher need to identify the errors of the sample collected. We

can identify what errors which the learners made. Here, the researcher

identifies what errors which the student made in using punctuation marks.

2. Classifying Errors

After the errors have been identified, the next step is classifying them

into their types. According to Dulay (1982:146), there are some types of

errors based on the surface taxonomy strategy.

Based on the surface taxonomy strategy, the classification of errors

emphasize of the ways the structure changed. Accordingly, they are

omission, addition, misinformation, and miss-ordering error types. As the

explanation below:
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1. Omission

This type of error is characterized by the absence of item that

actually needed in well-formed sentence. So in this type, an item or

more that should appear in a well-formed sentence is absence or

missed.

2. Addition

Addition errors are the errors that are characterized by the

presence of item that must not appear in a well-formed

utterance/sentence. In this type, we can conclude that addition is

the contrary from omission. In this type, the students put an item or

more that should not be put in well-form utterance/sentence.

3. Misformation

Misformation errors are the errors that are characterized by the

use of wrong form in morpheme or the structure. While in

omission errors the item is not supplied at all, in misinformation

the learners supply something, although it is incorrect.

4. Misordering

Misordering errors are characterized by the incorrect

placement of morpheme or a group of morpheme in a utterance or

structure.

From the explanation above, we can summarize that the types

of errors based on surface taxonomy strategy include omission (the

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absence of an item that must appear ), addition (the presence of an

item that must not appear), misformation (the use of the wrong

form of the morpheme or structure), and misordering (the incorrect

placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes).

In this research, the researcher concerns the types of errors

that can be classified based on the surface taxonomy strategy.

3. Tabulating Errors

Beside the two procedures above, this research counted the

frequency of occurrence of the error on the English complex sentences

made by the students. It is needed to figure to figure out the frequency

of the errors previously identified and classified. The errors can be

tabulated, and the number of errors is presented in the form of

percentage.

C. The Role of Punctuation Marks

Naturally, Based on Kirkman (2006:187), punctuation marks has two

roles. The first is grammatical, and the other is rhetorical or also can be called

as semantical.

1. Grammatical : They show where the boundaries are meant to be between

segments of larger statements, and how segments of text are meant to

relate to each other. So, it means that punctuation mark has a function in

grammatically, because it is a part of the sentence’s construction. It

supports the sentence based on the punctuation’s rule to avoid wrong

sentences, such as comma splice (the placement of comma to separate two

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independent clauses), sentence fragments (incomplete thoughts and ended

by a period), and fused sentences or also can be called as run-on sentences

( a sentence that consist of several ideas without putting punctuation marks

at all).

2. Semantical: They show the meaning of the sentence based on the

placement of punctuation marks. Different used punctuation marks will

create different meaning. The purpose of using punctuation marks here is

to make the sentence clear and build the reader’s understanding, so it

needs to emphasize the semantical function of punctuation marks. Look at

the following example.

Sentence 1: As mentioned, first student can graduate perfectly.

Sentence 2: As mentioned first, student can graduate perfectly.

Those two sentences have same typically words, but it has different

meaning caused by the placing of comma. The first sentence emphasize to

the first student which graduated perfectly, while in the second sentence

emphasize to the first mentioned that state the students can graduate

perfectly.

D. The Uses of Punctuation Marks

Punctuation marks are little things, but they are essentials in writing as

the nails to a carpenter. The meaning of punctuation here is to clarify the

meaning of a sentence, and it is necessary for having an effective

communication. “Learning to use punctuation correctly will help you

communicate effectively with your reader” (Hansen:1998;109). It means that

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if we use a correct punctuation, it will create the reader’s understanding and

interest in our writing. When we speak, we can use hand gestures, eye

movement, and voice intonation to convey our ideas, but when writing, we

must rely on punctuation to tell the reader when to slow down, stop, or

emphasize. So, we can conclude that punctuation is a little thing but it brings a

big impact to our writing. According to Bram (1995:92), states that using

correct punctuation is indispensable to careful writing. It means that

punctuation is necessary indeed to make our writing right and clear. Here, the

researcher focuses in to ten kinds of punctuation, there are; Comma (,), full

stop or period (.), question marks (?), exclamation mark (!), quotation

marks (“ ”), semi colon (;), colon (:), hyphen (-), apostrophe (’), and stroke

(/.). These punctuation marks have chosen, because they were often used by

the students in writing.

1. Comma (,)

According to Olson (2000:50), using comma to set off introductory

words, phrases, and clauses from the main part of a sentence. It means that

the keys for using the right comma started by understanding the placing of

comma in the words, phrases, and the clauses as the main parts of a

sentence.

a. Words

1. We can put the comma to separate a series of items from the same

category, such as the nouns. For the example :

We are looking forward to buying shirts, trousers, and skirts.

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From the example above, comma put after shirts, trousers and

skirts. It means that shirts, trousers and skirts are in the same category

as the nouns. So, we can put the comma after the noun as the example

above.

2. We can put the comma after the word as the transitional expression in a

sentence. Look at the example:

Surprised, I backed into a table.

From the example above, a comma put after the word surprised. It

shows a transitional expression, where the subject did a change after

expressing his surprisingly by stating I backed into a table.

b. Phrases

1. A comma can put after a phrase in a sentence. See at the example

below:

Hoping for the best, we checked our findings.

For the example above, there is a comma after the phrase hoping

for the best. As we know that the phrase is a group of words that

express the concept, and it is used as a unit within a sentence. From the

example above the phrase is categorized as a verb phrase, and we can

put the comma after it.

2. We can put the comma to separate a series of items from the same

category, such as the phrases in a sentence. For the example:

To live, to die, to win, and to lose seem to be inevitable for every

human being.
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For the example above, a comma put between a series of phrases to

live, to die, to win, and to lose. It deals with the theory above that state a

comma put to separate a series item in a same category, and here is the

verb phrase.

c. Clauses

According to Hansen, et al. (1998:109), there are the punctuation rules

for joining in the clauses.

1. IC, (coordinating conjunction) IC

According to Hansen (1998:110), two independent clauses can be

joined by a coordinating conjunction (or a connective). This is only

time you can put a comma, between two independent clauses:

IC, (coordinating conjunction) IC.

and so nor or

but yet for

example:

I have studied English for six years, yet I cannot speak English very well.

IC (,) CO IC

From the example above, a comma put between two independent

clause, before the coordinate conjunction “yet”.

2. DC, IC

According to Bram (1995:95) the comma is used after a

subordinate or dependent clause that precedes a super ordinate or

independent clause.
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DC, IC

Look for the example:

Working hours on each lesson, a teacher prepares for the class.

DC (,) IC

The examples above deals with the theory, that a comma put

after the dependent clause, then joining with the independent clause.

3. DC( begins with the conjunctive adverb), IC

According to Hansen (1998:141) we are going to emphasize

the punctuation (comma), between the dependent clause (DC) which

begins with the subordinating conjunction, and the independent

clause (IC).

DC (begins with the subordinating conjunction), IC.

Common Subordinating Conjunctions:

After Since

Although Though

As Unless

Because Until

Before When

If Where

Once While

Look at the example below:

When I am crossing the street, I am very careful.

DC (begins with conjunctive) (,) IC

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The example above shows that a comma put after a dependent clause

(begins with a conjunctive adverb), and the conjunctive adverb is when. a

conjunctive adverb can help a dependent clause to join with an independent

clause, with a comma addition.

A comma also can be added to non-defining phrases or clause or a

comment clause to a sentence. Look at the example above:

Dr. Soepomo, who used to be the English Department Chairman of Sanata

Dharma University, teaches at Brunei University now.

Or this one:

Their Uncle, a farmer, plants onions in Riau.

A comma also can separate items in dates and addresses. According to

Olson (2000:59), when year is specified in a date including the month and year,

surround it with commas. If only the month or the season is listed, commas are

no need:

Jody came to Fargo on June 1, 1997, right after she graduated from high

school.

From the example above, the data contains of date, month, and year. So,

we can separate them with put the commas. But, the contrary happens with the

example below:

Jody came to Fargo in June 1997 after graduating from high school.

The example above just shows the month and the year, so we don’t need a

comma between them. It is not significant time.

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In writing an address, if the name of a state is included to further identify a

city, set it with commas.

Gail has lived in Peoria, Illonia, since last year.

The example above includes a further identify a city, so we can put the

commas between them.

Gail has lived in Peoria since last year.

From the example above, there is no a comma. It happens because there

doesn’t a further identify city include, so it doesn’t need a comma.

The other functions of comma explained by Bram (1995: 95) that a comma

also used to introduce adverbs of frequency, place, and time at the beginning of

a sentence. Look at the following examples:

b. Sometimes, the students just waste their time gossiping.

c. In the kitchen, there are three stoves and two kettles.

d. On December the twenty-ninth 1989, he celebrated his twenty-fifth

birthday.

A comma also is normally required to separate a transitional expression in

a sentence, as in:

a. By the way, what do you think about his girlfriend?

b. Actually, it is your mistake.

c. Well, she is an attractive and understanding.

2. Full stop or period (.)

Bram (1995:93) showed the using of full stop or period (.) in the two

functions:
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e. This marks the end of a positive or negative statement, the end of a

complete thought, as in:

Their little son is learning to walk.

Or this one,

Poison can kill.

Those two sentences above are given a period (.) in the end of the

sentences, because those sentences were the complete thoughts.

A period also can be used at the end of sentence that asks an

indirect question, such as:

Hayden wanted to know how we know what to do.

A statement above is an indirect question, so it doesn’t need to put

a question mark, but you can put a period to end the sentence. If in the

direct question, the statement will be “How did you know what to

do?”.

b. It is often used to mark the end of initials or abbreviations; sometimes it

is optional, as in:

a. p.m. and a.m. (also P.M. and A.M.)

b. R.I.P

c. Mr. and Mrs.

3. Exclamation marks

The exclamation mark is useful to show strong emphasis, as in:

a. Mind your step!

b. How delicious the soup is!

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c. Go to hell!

4. Quotation marks (“ ”)

According to Olson (2000:76), Quotation marks pose a problem for

many writers, but a few simple rules can make them easy to use. Look at

the rules:

a. Using quotation marks in direct quotations.

We thought he said, “Turn right at the corner.”

The sentence above is a direct question. When we write a direct

question, we can use a quotation mark to quote the statement to our

writing.

b. Using quotation marks in dialogue

In using quotation marks in the dialogue, we need to know about

the term quotation and tag. The words quoted are called quotations,

and the words explaining who said quotations are called tags. Look at

the example:

“I’m really hungry. I want something to eat,” said Harry.

Nina answered, “I’m hungry, but I don’t have any cash. Do you have

some?”

From the example above, the bold utterances are namely tags. If

the tag follows a quotation, and the quotation is a sentence normally

ending with a period, use a coma instead. The period comes at the end

of the tag. But, any differences when the tags are a question or

exclamation point. Look at the example:

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“I'm really tired of driving. Do you want to find a hotel?” asked

Aaron.

“I’m really tired of driving. Let’s find a hotel!” exclaimed Aaron.

If the quotation is a sentence normally ending with a question mark

or an exclamation point, insert the question mark or exclamation point.

Place a period after the tag, but don’t use the comma.

c. Using quotation marks to set off the nicknames and words uses slang.

Look at the examples below:

Kristy was dubbed “speed demon” by her teammates.

From the statement above, speed demon are given a quotation

mark. It shows that the word speed demon is slang. Slang itself is the

utterance which is used in a certain community, and just them who

understand what the meaning of it.

d. Using quotation marks to set off titles of certain items, such as :

 Name of a short story or chapter of a book

 Name of TV program

 Title of poem

 Headline of an article or a report

 Title of song

5. Question marks (?)

According to Bram (1995:93) as its name suggest, this function

mainly to signal that a message or an utterance is in a direct question form.

Look at the following example:

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What do you think about the term ‘love at the first sight’?

Is pink your favorite color?

From the both examples above, they called as the direct utterances or

statements. We can put a question mark (?) in the end of a sentence to

emphasize that the utterances above are a direct question form.

Another function of question mark, although rarely, it can also be used

to be doubt, to show something we are unsure about, as in:

In December 1980 (?), John Lehnnon was dead.

From the statement above, the writer seems unsure with the information

contained. He is doubt with the time when John Lennon was dead, so he

put a question mark in the bracket (?) to show his doubtful. This rule is

rarely to be used, but this can be as the addition information if we found

the same issue like the example above.

6. Semi colon (;)

Firstly, a semicolon can be the bridge of the sentences which convey

closely connected, as in:

I admire Metallica very much; I like all of their songs.

Don’t be impolite; talk to her patiently!

From the examples above, both of them have closely connected. The

first example explains that the writer likes Metallica very much, so he states

I admire Metallica very much, and then he put a semicolon as the bridge

with the sentence I like all of their song. The two utterances have closely

connection, so the writer can put a semicolon after the first utterance. While
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in the second example, the same thing occurs. Don’t be impolite and talk to

her politely have closely connection. So, the writer can put the semicolon

between them.

Secondly, the semicolon can replace a comma if the comma is already

used in a list of items. Look at the following examples.

Swans can fly, swim, and dive; ducks can also swim and dive though they

cannot fly as well as swans do; but chickens are good at none of these

three skills.

There are three semicolons in the sentence above. The sentence

explains about the list of skill of swans, duck, and chickens. Because the

comma is already used in a list in items before, in the Swans can fly, swim,

and dive, it will be confusing if we put a comma again after that utterance,

so we can put a semicolon to bridge of the following utterances.

7. Colon (:)

According to Bram (1995:98), we use the colon to introduce a long list

or a series of things. The colon is often preceded by the phrase in the

following, as follows, or as in, to mention some examples. Here are the

examples of using the colon.

The members of Metallica are as follows: Lars Ulrich (drums), Jason

Newstead (bass), Kirk Hammet (lead guitar), and James Hetfield (vocal

and rhythm).

From the example above a colon put to explain a series of things, they

are the members of Metallica. The sign is the phrase as follows. A colon
 26

put after the phrase as follow, and then explains a series of the member of

Metallica.

Although rarely, the colon may function to join closely related

sentences. It can be substituted by a semicolon or a period. Look of the

following example:

Dian is fast reader: she reads 300 words per minute.

The sentence above is separated by a colon. It’s not a wrong thing,

because a colon can substitute a period or a semicolon. Although it’s rarely

to be used, but it’s an important thing to be knew. After knowing the

theory, we can’t blame someone’s written work if he/she does the same

issue like the example above.

8. Hyphen (-)

The function of hyphen is to connect words in order to create or form

new words or new phrases. Olson (2000:92), explained that there are some

rules of the using the hyphens, as follows:

a. Use a hyphen to join two words working together as one. For the

example,

Mark is a singer-dancer.

Pete Rose was a player-coach for the Cincinnati Reds.

The words in the bold are connected by hyphens. Actually, they

consist of two words. The first sentence, singer and dancer are two

words which can be connected by a hyphen. It shows that mark is a

 27

singer, and also a dancer. It can be simplified to the single word by

putting a hyphen. The same thing occurs in the second sentence.

b. Use a hyphen to join more than two words in to a single word. Look at

the example,

Lulu’s nine-year-old sister enjoys reading a comic.

The bold word is namely a single word. Actually, it is from three

words, but it can be a single word by putting hyphen between them. It

looks simpler.

c. Use a hyphen to join prefixes such as self, ex, all, great, post, pro,and

former.

Lee Iacocca is a self- made.

Bobby saw his ex-wife leaving the drug store.

Senior citizens remember the post-war years with great fondness.

The bold words are connected by hyphens. It deals with the theory

above that the prefix self, ex, and post are connected by hyphens.

d. Use a hyphen to join a capital letter to a word.

The carpenter used a T-square.

My brother wears a T-shirt.

Turn right at the first road after S-curve.

The bold words above are begun by a capital letter. We can put a

hyphen after the capital letter, like T-square, T-shirt, and S-curve.
 28

9. Apostrophe (’)

According to Hansen, et al. (1998:283), apostrophe can be used to mark

the possession. There are three major rules in using the apostrophe to form

the possessives.

a. Rule one: Singular nouns form the possessive by adding an apostrophe

and a S. For the example,

Maurice’s business is selling thousands of eggs each week.

A person’s diet should have some eggs in it.

The nouns Maurice and A person is all singular. In the first sentence,

the noun is Maurice, and the second sentence, it is A person. When the

noun is singular, we can add an ‘s to show the possession.

b. Rule two: Plural nouns ending in S form the possessive by adding an

apostrophe only. As the follows:

The enemies’ tactics were quickly observed.

We respect those teachers’ opinion on grades.

The words in bold type are all plural. In the first sentence, it is

enemies’, and the second sentence it is those teachers’. The word those

preceding the noun tell us it is plural. When the noun is plural, and

ends in s, add only an apostrophe to show the possession. We don’t

need to add ‘s as in the rule one.

c. Rule three: plural nouns not ending in S form the possessive by adding

an apostrophe and an S. Look at the following examples:

The men’s soccer team plays on Tuesday evening.

 29

Members of the women’s softball league practice on the same evening.

In these sentences, the words in the bold type are plural. Each of

these plural forms doesn’t end in an s. In the first sentence, it is the

team of the men, and the second sentence, it is the league of the

women. When a noun is plural and doesn’t end in s, create the

possessive by adding ‘s to the word.

According to Olson (2000:90) another function of apostrophe marks

is using them to show the omission. Look at the following examples:

Backy doesn’t work today.

The doctor couldn’t give me a prescription.

Who’s on the first?

The words in the bold type show the omission in using of

apostrophes. In the first sentence, it id doesn’t. Doesn’t from the word

does not, and then has an omission by adding an apostrophe. In the

second sentence, it is couldn’t from the word could not. And the third

sentence, it is who’s from the word who is. It all has the omission

caused of the adding of apostrophe.

10. Stroke (/)

According to Bram (1995:102) stroke (/) may be used to show

alternatives; it is often replaced by the word or. Look at the following:

To begin a formal letter, we may write Dear Sir/Madam if we do not

know who the receiver is.

 30

The lecturer wrote in his grammar book that the verb depend can be

followed by the preposition upon/on.

The words in the bold type show the alternatives or an option. In the

first sentence, we are able to choose one of the options Sir and Madam to

begin a formal letter. In the second sentence, we are able to choose the

preposition upon and on to follow the verb depend. When we write an

option or the alternative word, we can use the stroke mark (/) as the

examples above.

E. The Errors in Using Punctuation

There are some errors which the learners made in order to use the right

punctuation marks in their writing work. Firstly, the explanation is about the

omission because the omission is often made by the learners. The omission itself

is the absence of an item well-formed sentence. Here are the explanations about:

1. The Omission of Comma

There are many errors of comma usage found in the learners’ writing. Most

errors are omission of a comma before conjunction in compound sentences.

Look at the following example:

Eta wanted to order Italian food and Jenna wanted Japanese.

The sentence above is categorized as the error sentence. In this sentence,

there are two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. The first

Independent clause is Eta wanted to order Italian food, and the second one is

Jenna wanted Japanese. The conjunction above is and. If we see at the theory

above, if there are two independent clauses joined with a coordination

 31

conjunction, we should put a comma before the conjunction. Look at the correct

example below:

Eta wanted to order Italian food, and Jenna wanted Japanese.

IC (,) IC

The sentence above is a correct one, because a comma put before the

conjunction to separate the two independent clauses which joined with a

conjunction, and.

2. The Omission of Period.

Period generally put in the end of the sentence in a complete thought.

Omission of period means the absence of a period that must appear in a

sentence, as the example below:

We have not found out a solution

The absence of the period in the sentence above is categorized as an

error. The sentence above is a complete thought that must be ending with a

period (.). We can see the correct sentence in the sentence below.

We have not found out a solution.

The second example of omission of period can be seen as below:

My mother still cooks in the kitchen her healthy is weak today.

The sentence above called as ‘fused sentence’. There is no punctuation

mark at all, although it consists of two complete sentences. The two

independent clauses can be joined in a sentence without any conjunction. It

should be ended by a period, as the correction:

My mother still cooks in the kitchen. Her healthy is weak today.

 32

3. Omission of Question Mark

The question mark generally uses in the direct question. When the

sentence started by a question word (what, who, when, where, why, how),

the learners must put a question mark in the end of the sentence. The error

one describe in the following example:

Who is the boy.

The absence of a question mark is called the omission of question mark.

The sentence started by a question word, who. It should put a question mark

in the end of the sentence. We can correct the sentence, as follow:

Who is the boy?

4. Omission of Apostrophe

Based on the theory above, the apostrophe mark uses to show the

possessive of singular or plural words. When in a sentence contains a

possession, we use an apostrophe. Here, the learners are able to understand

whether the noun is plural or singular. Look at the following examples:

The boy bicycle has lost in the garden.

The sentence above actually shows a possession, and it means the

bicycle of the boy. It should put an apostrophe to emphasize the

possession. Here, the noun is the boy, and it’s singular. If the noun is

singular, we can add

‘s (apostrophe and s) in the end of noun. So, it must be as the follow:

The boy’s bicycle has lost in the garden.

 33

The next example is the omission of apostrophe in the plural noun, look

at the example below:

Many students winter coats were hung across the back of the classroom.

The sentence above is also an example an error caused by omission of

the apostrophe mark. The noun above is students, and it’s plural. From the

sentence above, the phrase many students winter coats means the winter

coats of many students. If the noun is plural, the possession showed by

adding the apostrophe (’) in the end of the sentence. We can repair the

sentence as the follow:

Many students’ winter coats were hung across the back of the classroom.

5. Omission of Quotation Mark

From the theory above, generally the quotation mark uses to set off a

direct thought or utterance within a sentence or paragraph. If there is no

quotation mark in a direct utterance of a sentence, we can state it as an

error caused by the omission of quotation mark. We can observe the

following example:

Tita said, I’m really thirsty, but there is no water here.

The sentence above is a direct sentence. As the theory above, Tita said is a

tag, and I’m really thirsty, but there is no water is a quotation. In a direct

sentence, we must put a quotation mark in the quotation thought. The

correct one as the sentence below:

Tita said, “I’m really thirsty, but there is no water here”.

Tag Quotation
 34

Secondly, in using the punctuation mark the learners often made the

addition error. The addition error itself is the presence of an item that must

not appear. So, it means that the explanation below will explain the

addition of punctuation marks that must not appear in a sentence.

1. Addition of Comma

The addition of comma occurs when the comma presences in a

sentence, but it must not appear. Observe the following example:

I am very careful, when I am crossing a busy street.

In the sentence above, a comma is unnecessary to be added. The

sentence above contains with a Independent Clause (I am very careful),

and a Dependent Clause begins with subordinating conjunction (when

I am crossing a busy street). We can see in the theory of using a

comma above that a comma can put when an Independent clause

follows a Dependent Clause begins with a subordinating conjunction.

In the example above, a Dependent Clause follows an Independent

clause, so it doesn’t need a comma between them. The correct sentence

is,

I am very careful when I am crossing a busy street. (without comma)

IC DC begins with a subordinating conj.

2. Addition of Period (.)

An addition of period means the presence of a period mark that

must not appear in a sentence. We can look at the following example:

A snake can kill. Because it has a poison.

 35

The sentence above is an error in addition of period. A period after

the independent clause a snake can kill is unnecessary, because it

followed by an independent clause begins with a subordinating

conjunction because it has a poison. It must be a sentence in a

complete thought, and the period put in the end of the sentence. We

can replace the period with the comma, and the correct one is,

A snake can kill, because it has a poison.

IC IC begins with because (.)

3. The addition of Question mark.

When the sentence starts with a question word (who, what, when,

where, why and how), we should put a question mark in the end of

sentence. The structure of a question sentence is the question word,

then followed by to be or verb, and ends in a question mark (?).

Contrary with the question sentence, the statement which started with a

question word, to be is placed in the end of the sentence. Besides, a

statement always ends in period mark (.). That’s the differences

between the statement and the question sentence. The addition of

question mark described in the following example:

How delicious the food it is?

The sentence above is an error caused by an addition of a question

mark. From the structure above, the sentence is a statement, not a

question sentence. It’s just a sentence which begins with a question

word. It supposes with to be put in the end of the sentence. So, it can
 36

be concluded that the sentence is a statement, not a question form. If

the sentence is a statement, it doesn’t need a question mark in the end

of a sentence. We can just put a period (.), or a exclamation mark (!) in

the end of the sentence.

4. The addition of Apostrophe

Addition of apostrophe means the presence of apostrophe in a

sentence. The theory above explains the using of apostrophe in the

singular and also plural sentence. We can see the errors in addition of

apostrophe below:

The doctors’s prescription was needed to the patients.

The addition of apostrophe above caused by the plural noun, and the

adding of ‘s (apostrophe and s). From the theory above, when the

plural noun end in s, we don’t need to put ‘s (apostrophe and s) in the

end. A plural noun which ends in s just need an apostrophe (’) to

emphasize the possession. We can correct the sentence above, as

follow:

The doctors’ prescription was needed to the patients.

5. The addition of Colon

The addition colon here means that the presence of colon mark (:)

in the sentence, that must not appear. The addition of colon can be seen

in the following:

I planted many flowers in my garden, there are: roses, jasmines, tulip,

and sunflowers.
 37

The sentence above is categorized as an error caused by an addition

of colon. The function of the colon above is to separate a list of things.

The function deals with the theory, but the phrases there are above

doesn’t suit to join with a colon. According to Bram (1995:99), a colon

can join with the phrases in the following, as follows, or as in. so, the

colon mark in the sentence above should not appear.

Thirdly, the learners also often made the misformation errors in

using punctuation marks. Here, the learners use the wrong from in

morpheme or the structure. The learners supply the punctuation marks

in their sentences, although it is incorrect.

1. Misformation of Comma (,)

Misformation of comma occurs when the students put the comma

in the sentence, but it is not appropriate to apply in a sentence. Look at

the following examples:

I live in the town, there must be an enjoying place.

My cat is cute, it can eat many carrots in a day.

Those sentences above are the examples of misformation of

comma. The uses of comma incorrectly to separate two independent

clauses in a sentence also can be called as ‘comma splice’. A comma

generally can put to separate two sentences, if there is a coordinating

conjunction, such as: and, so, yet, but, nor, or, and for. In the two

sentences, there are two independent clauses in each sentence. The

first sentence, the first independent clause is I live in the town, and
 38

then followed by there must be an enjoying place. The second

sentence, My cat is cute is the first independent clause, then followed

by it can eat many carrots in a day. In the two sentences, putting a

comma is not appropriate because there is no coordinating conjunction

there. It will be better if the learners replace it with a period, so the

sentences become clearer. Here are the corrections:

I live in the town. There must be an enjoying place.

My cat is cute. It can eat many carrots in a day.

2. Misformation of period (.)

This error occurs when the use of period is unnecessary in the

sentence. Look at the following example:

The new bridge is useful for the people. Especially for the people on

the town.

The sentence above is an example of misformation of period (.). the

sentence consists of an independent clause which is The new bridge is

useful for the people, and a dependent clause Especially for the people

on the town. Actually the dependent clause can’t stand alone to be a

sentence. The period itself uses if the sentence is in a complete

thought. So, the period above is unnecessary. We can correct this by

putting a coma, as in:

The new bridge is useful for the people, especially for the people on

the town.
 39

F. Theories of Essay Writing

Essay is a group of paragraphs that develops one central idea. An essay is a

group of paragraphs based on a topic which has three main parts, there are

introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion.

1. Part of Essay Writing

Writing an essay is no more difficult than writing a paragraph. Essay is

just longer because consists of five or more paragraphs. According to Allice

(1983) the part of Essay writing can be seen on the chart below:
 40

ESSAY
I. INTRODUCING

General Statement

Thesis Statement

BODY PARAGRAPH
II. topic sentence

A. Support
B. Support
PARAGRAPH C. Support
(concluding sentence)
Topic Sentence
III. topic sentence

A. Support
a. Support
B. Support
b. Support
C. Support
c. Support
(concluding sentence)

Concluding Sentence IV. topic sentence

A. Support
B. Support
C. Support
(concluding sentence)

V. CONCLUSION

Restatement or summary of
the main points: final
comments
 41

From the chart above, has been clearly visible that essay is just longer than

paragraph, with the structure; Introduction, Body Paragraph, and Conclusion.

The explanation of each structure discusses, as in:

a. Introduction.

An introduction usually consists of a paragraph, but it’s possible to

write an introduction in two or more paragraph. It introduces the topic to

be discussed and the central idea (the thesis statement) of the essay. The

introduction has two parts, as in:

1. General statements

It gives the reader background information about the topic of essay.

2. The thesis statement

It introduces the main idea of the essay. It states the specific topic

and lists the major sub topics that will be discussed in the body of

organization in the chronological order or order of importance.

f. Developmental paragraph

Developmental paragraph also can be called as the body of

paragraph. These paragraphs develop the various aspects of the topic

and the central idea. It can be said that development paragraph is a heart

of the essay, and it has the function to explain, illustrate, discuss, or

prove the thesis statement. The main points about the developmental of

paragraphs can be seen as the follow:

 42

1. Each developmental paragraph discusses one aspect of the main

topic.

2. The controlling idea in the development paragraphs should put in

each idea in the thesis statement.

3. The development paragraphs should have a coherence and unity.

g. Conclusion

This paragraph concludes the thought developed in the essay. It is

the closing word. Here, the learners are able to close their essay by

writing their conclusion words. It can be their opinion or the summary of

the essay they had written.

Moreover, according to Langan (1986:7), the good example of the

standard short essay you will write in college English, it is a composition

of slightly over five hundred words that consist of one paragraph

introduction a three paragraph body introduction. It means that a standard

short essay should contain of five hundreds words in a paragraph of

introduction and three paragraph of body introduction.

2. Types of Essay writing

In choosing what essays type is appropriate to use, students need to

fully understand the difference between each type. There are many kinds of

essay writings. According to Alice (1983:91), there are four kinds of essay.

Look at the following explanations:

a. Chronological Order is ordered by the time; it is used in almost all

academics field to describe historical events as well as to write

 43

biographies and autobiographies. This also can be used to write a

scientific writing. The emphasize thing in this type is the time order. We

can write many things by basing on the process, such as the process of

making cake, the process of the Independence Day of Indonesia, and etc.

b. Cause and Effect allows us to explain one point as the reason of

something or one point as the result or the consequence of another. We

can explain the reason of something to answer why question, and the

effect to answer what question. It often attracts the reader attention.

c. Comparison and Contrast in writing essays, we can compare or contrast

anything, such as period in the history, characters, kinds of equipment

or the qualifications of two things.

d. Organizing by Logical Division in writing essays, we can organize the

information by our logical division. The only rule is that your dividing

and subdividing system must be consistent. We can start by selecting

the topics and list them into many classes and subclass. Then, we can

choose a topic and arrange all of the information into an outline. Then,

develop the outline into a good essay.

G. Review of Previous Related Studies

In writing this thesis, the researcher read many studies that relate with

this research. The researcher found some references from the previous studies.

These references also can be used by the researcher to know how to conduct

an error analysis in using punctuation marks.

 44

Firstly, the researcher read about the thesis of Setiawan, a learner of State

Polytechnic of Surabaya. This thesis was made in 2011, under the title “The

Analysis of Punctuation Errors in the Free Writing of the Sixth Semester

Students of English Department of State Polytechnic of Surabaya”. In his

thesis, Setiawan concerns in the errors of punctuation mark, and the use of

punctuation marks in free-writing. Setiawan observes in 11 punctuation marks

which were used in free-writing; there are comma, period, apostrophe,

quotation, slash, colon, semicolon, question marks, parentheses, hyphen, and

ellipsis mark. The data taken from the random sampling technique, and choose

20 students from the sixth semester students. Here, the researcher finds some

differences between the researcher’s study and Setiawan’s study. The first

difference is the type of writing to be analyzed. If Setiawan chose the free-

writing, here the researcher analyzed the essay writing. The second difference

is the type of punctuation used. Setiawan chose 11 kinds of punctuation marks

(comma, period, apostrophe, quotation, slash, colon, semicolon, question

marks, parentheses, hyphen, and ellipsis mark) that used in the free-writing,

while the researcher chose seven punctuation marks (comma, full stop or

period, question marks, exclamation mark, semi colon, colon, and

apostrophe) to be analyzed in the essay writing. The last difference is

Setiawan used random sampling technique to collect the data, but here the

researcher chose a purposive sampling technique to get a suitable sample

which can provide the relevant information about the topic.

 45

The next preview study that related to this research is an article from

Nurhayati (2013), under the title “Error Analysis of Using Punctuation in

English Text”. This study conducted in the six semester students of English

Department Program. Nurhayati stated that there are two problems of her

study; how the students’ errors of using punctuation in English text are, and

what cause of error in using punctuation. In conduct her research, she used

quantitative method. Punctuation marks that are presented in her research are

comma, full stop/period, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, and exclamation

mark. As the preview statements, the researcher also finds some differences

with Nurhayanti's study. Firstly, Nurhayanti’s research was conducted in a

quantitative method, differ from the researcher’s study that used a descriptive

with quantitative data research that will be explained in the next chapter.

Secondly, Nurhayanti only analyzed the six kinds of punctuation marks; differ

from the researcher that analyzed seven kinds of punctuation marks as the

explanation above. The last difference is the problem statement. If

Nurhayanti’s study state how the students’ errors of using punctuation in

English text are, and what cause of error in using punctuation, the researcher

here states the problem what the punctuation errors in writing essay are, and

what the dominant errors. The last, the result of Nurhayati’s study showed that

the errors made by students in using punctuation marks were classified into

addition and omission. While in this research, the errors will be classified into

three types; there are omission, addition, and misinformation which will be

explained in the chapter four.

 46

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter presents research design, population, sampling and sample, data

collecting method, research instrument, data collecting procedures and data

analysis.

A. Research Design

The research design applied in this research is descriptive quantitative

method. Ary (1985:32) explains that descriptive research studies are designed

to obtain information concerning the status of phenomena. Descriptive research

is not generally directed toward hypothesis testing, the aim is to describe what

exist with respect to variables or condition in a situation. In descriptive study,

there is no control or treatments as in experimental study.

The researcher determines that the design is descriptive quantitative

method because it describes the data that is taken from the sample, and the

results of the data were tabulated in the form of percentage. This research

investigates analysis and categories errors in the use of punctuation marks in

writing essays made by the third semester students at IAIN Tulungagung.

There is no treatment given to the students. This research only describes what

the errors are and the dominant error in using punctuation marks in writing

essay made by the third semester students in IAIN Tulungagung based on the

surface strategy taxonomy proposed by Dulay et al. (1982)

46
 47

B. Population, Sampling, and Sample

1. Population

A population consists of an entire set of object, observation, or scores

that have something in common. It is the entire group the researcher

interested, which he or she wishes to describe or draw the conclusion about.

On the other hand, Arikunto (2006:13) states that “Population is the entire

research subject”. According to the explanation above, in this study the

researcher would take the population all of the third semester students of

English Department Program of IAIN Tulungagung, which consisted of five

classes.

2. Sampling and sample.

Sampling is the process of obtaining a sample. “The concept of the

sampling is taking a portion of the population, making observation of this

smaller group, and them generalizing the findings to the large population”.

(Ary, (2006:139). In this study, purposive sampling was chosen as the

technique of choosing sample. Here, the researcher chose all of the students

in A class, because this class known as class in a good writing work. The

researcher knew this class in a good writing work by comparing the writing

work of A class with the other classes. The recommendation of the lecturer

also supported the researcher to choose this class. The researcher would

investigate whether the students in good writing skill also concerned in the

use punctuation marks or not.

 48

Sample is a group of units selected from large group (population) to

represent it, because population is too large to study in its entry. As the

researcher chose a purposive sampling in A class, so the sample consisted of

27 essay writing works with the topic Type of Off-Campus Housing.

C. Data Collecting Method

The data collecting method and instrument are needed to obtain the data in

the research. The aim of data collecting in conducting scientific research is to

get the materials needed. The materials must relate to each other and to the

problem to be solved.

The method that is used to collect the data is documentation. The data itself

is the 27 writing works of A class with the topic Type of Off-Campus Housing.

By analyzing the data, the researcher wants to know the types of errors, and

what the dominant errors made by the students in using punctuation marks in

writing essay

D. Research Instrument

Research Instrument is a tool or facility that is used by the researcher to

collect the data in order the research can be easily collected and get netter,

complete, and systematic result. In this research, the instrument used is

documentation. Arikunto (2006:149) stated that “For several methods, the

name of the instrument is also same with the method itself”. This

documentation used to get information about the types of errors, and what the

dominant errors of using punctuation marks in writing essay made by the third
 49

semester students at IAIN Tulungagung are. The data are taken from the

students’ document. The students’ document here was their essay written work.

E. Data Collecting Procedures

In conducting research, we should not ignore the procedures of

collecting data. That are the steps used to collect until interpret the data. In

analyzing the data, one thing that we should not be forgotten is applying

procedures how the data will be collected until interpreted. There are some

procedures in collecting data until interpreting the data in this research.

Firstly, the researcher asked the permission to English Lecturer that taught

the third semester at IAIN Tulungagung. Here, the researcher asked the

data which is students’ essays writing work to be analyzed. Having the

permission, the researcher copied those data. After that, the researcher

analyzed the students’ essay writing works one by one. The researcher

focused on the use of punctuation mark. In analyzing the data, the

researcher determined what types of errors that occurred in the data. Then,

the researcher calculated them, and knew what the dominant errors that

occurred.

F. Data Analysis

Data analysis in this study refers to a systematical process to search and

arrange the data sources and other materials that have been collected to

enable the researcher to come up with finding. There were some steps in

applying the error analysis to analyze the data. The following steps are based
 50

on the procedures proposed by Brown (2000:220). The steps meant are

explained below:

1. Identification of Errors

The researcher need to identify the errors of the sample collected.

Here, the researcher identified what errors which the student made in using

punctuation marks.

2. Classification of Error

After the errors have been identified, the next step is classifying them

into their types. The classification of error was done based on surface

strategy taxonomy proposed by Dulay et.al (1982:154) which is classified

into omission, addition, misinformation, and misordering.

3. Tabulating the Errors

It is needed to figure out the frequency of the errors previously

identified and classified. The errors are then counted and tabulated, and the

number of errors is presented in form of percentage. The procedure is

expected to show the students’ problem in making any error of using

punctuation marks in writing essays. To find the percentage of frequency

in each type of errors, the formula used is as follows:

Note:

P = f x 100% P : symbol of percentage

N f : number of type of errors

N : the total number of errors

 51

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION

This chapter explains the result of data analysis which the procedures has

been reported in the previous chapter. This chapter is going to be divided in to two

parts, the description of research findings and discussion.

The description of research finding covers identification of error, classification of

error, and tabulation of error, while discussion is related to the findings gotten

from the result of data.

A. Research Findings

The findings consist of the description of data that coves identification,

classification, and tabulation of errors occurred in students’ essay writing

product.

a) Identification of Error

This research used the documentation as the data collecting method.

The documentation here was the third semester students’ essay written

work. Those essays generally consisted of five paragraphs. The type of

essay was determined by the lecturer. They made a comparison and

contrast between two issues, under the title “Type-Off Campus Housing”.

The data gotten was 27 essays written work with the various ideas and

content. The researcher here concerned to analyze the errors in using

punctuation marks. The researcher analyzed and identified the data to

find the errors in using punctuation marks in writing essay. Here, the

researcher found some kinds of punctuation marks made by the students,

52
 52

such as: comma, period, colon, apostrophe, exclamation mark, question

mark, and semicolon.

The researcher analyzes two functions of punctuation marks,

grammatical and semantical. The researcher found 219 errors made by

the students in using the punctuation marks in the function of

grammatically, and 48 errors in the function of semantically. The errors

occurred in various kinds of punctuation marks. There were seven kinds

of punctuation marks as the researcher mentioned above that occurred in

the students’ essay writing works.

b) Classification of error

After the errors have been identified, researcher classified based on

their type. In this research, the errors made by the students in using

punctuation marks in writing essays were classified based on the surface

strategy taxonomy propose by Dulay et al (1982). Based on the theory,

the errors were classified in to four types; omission, addition,

misformation, and misordering. This research followed that theory, and

found the errors in from the data including of omission, addition, and

misinformation. There was no misordering error, because the researcher

didn’t find it when analyzing the data. The researcher divided the

classification in two functions, grammatically and semantically.

 53

1. Grammatically

In the function of grammatically, there were 219 errors in the seven

kinds of punctuation marks made by the students. Those errors were

classified into three types: omission, addition, and misformation.

a Omission

Errors of omission were indicated by the absence of the item that

actually needed in well-formed sentence. So in this type, an item or

more that should appear in a well-formed sentence is absence or

missed. The explanation bellowed described the errors of omission

occurred in using punctuation marks. There were three types of

punctuation marks which were classified into errors of omission.

a) Comma

Omission of comma means the absences of comma that must

be appear in a sentence. These errors made the sentence become

unclear. Based on the data collected by the researcher, the

researcher found the omission error in using comma, as follow:

1) The students who live there also can be more independent

responsible and active in the large community.

The sentence above showed a series of items in the noun

category; independent, responsible, and active.

According to Bram (1995:92), a comma should put to

separate a series of items from the same category in a sentence.

So, we can revise the sentence, as follow:

 54

The students who live there also can be more independent,

responsible, and active in the large community.

2) Boarding house also prepares some facilities but it depends in

owner of boarding house.

The sentence above naturally consisted of two Independent

clauses. That are ‘boarding house also prepares some facilities’

and ‘it depends in owner of boarding house’.

According to Hansen, et al. (1998:109), the two independent

clauses can be joined in a sentence if there is a coordinating

conjunction. The coordinating conjunction of the sentence is

‘but’. The rule applied in writing is a comma should put in a

coordinating conjunction. Se, we can revise as:

Boarding house also prepares some facilities, but it depends

in owner of boarding house.

3) If you break the rules you will get punishment from the

dormitory manager.

The sentence above consisted of dependent clause followed

by the independent clause. The dependent clause is ‘If you break

the rules’, and the independent clause is ‘you will get

punishment from the dormitory manager’

According Bram (1995:93), a comma is used after a

subordinate or dependent clause that precedes a superordinate or

independent clause. The revised sentence, as follow:

 55

If you break the rules, you will get punishment from the

dormitory manager.

4) In this place you also have any activity related to religion.

In that sentence, adverb of place put in the beginning of a

sentence. According to Bram (1995:95), stated that we need a

comma as well to introduce adverbs of frequency, place, and

time at the beginning of a sentence. So, the revised sentence as

below:

In this place, you also have any activity related to religion.

b) Period

Omission of period means that a complete thought of a

sentence ended without a period. The absence of period in the end

of sentence made the sentence unclear because it will crush with

the following sentence. Based on the data collected by the

researcher, there were some examples of omission the period, as

follow:

1. Campus has been provided the dormitory usually, dormitory

provided by the Islamic state collage.

2. Beside that, you will get many vocabulary every day you can

get Arabic and English vocabulary.

3. Usually, the student must pray together, reading Yasin, and

reading Al-Qur’an after praying maghrib in cleaning schedule ,

 56

there is an activity which cleaning every room which do by

member of room every day.

The three examples above generally consisted of two

sentences. Each sentence was a complete thought which followed

by the following sentence that is complete thought too. Then, the

student here didn’t putting any punctuation mark at all. Those

sentences grammatically called as ‘fused sentence’. Here, a

period was needed to put in each end sentence for avoiding the

wrong structure in a sentence. Here are the revised sentences:

1. Campus has been provided the dormitory. Usually,

dormitory provided by the Islamic state collage.

2. Beside that, you will get many vocabularies every day. You

can get Arabic and English vocabulary.

3. Usually, the student must pray together, reading Yasin, and

reading Al-Qur’an after praying maghrib. In cleaning

schedule, there is an activity which cleaning every room.

c) Colon

A colon used to introduce a long list or a series of things. The

colon is often preceded by the phrase in the following, as follows,

as in, or as like, to mention three or more examples. Omission of

colon means that the absence of colon in a sentence which shows a

series of things which introduced by the mentioned phrase above,

as in:
 57

‘Living in dormitory has many rules that must be obeyed by some

students who live there, as like they can’t go over than 9 p.m.,

they may not wear pencil pants, and they may not invite a

boyfriend there.’

The sentence above determined by a phrase as like that

introduced a long series of things. Based on the theory, there

should put a colon after the phrase as like. We can revise the

sentence, as below:

‘Living in dormitory has many rules that must be obeyed by

some students who live there, as like: they can’t go over than

9p.m., they may not wear pencil pants, and they may not invite a

boyfriend there.’

b Addition

Errors of addition means that the errors that are characterized by

the presence of item that must not appear in a well-formed sentence.

Contrary with the omission, here the students put the punctuation

mark that should not put in a sentence. From the data analyzed by the

researcher, there were six kinds of punctuation marks that occurred in

errors of addition.

a) Comma

The addition of comma means that the presence of comma in

the sentence that must not appear. From the data gotten, there are

some examples, as in:

 58

1) When, we will go out from boarding house, we will do it up to us.

The sentence above consisted of a dependent clause begins

with adverb of time ‘When, we will go out from boarding house’,

and then followed by an independent clause ‘we will do it up to us’.

It’s true function of comma done by the student when he/she put a

comma before the independent clause, but it’s no needed to put a

comma after the word ‘when’. The word ‘when’ is a unit of

dependent clause, so it’s no needed to separate it with the following

words in that clause. The revised sentence is not putting a comma

after ‘when’, as in:

When we will go out from boarding house, we will do it up to us.

2) Although, dormitory and boarding house have some different, but

they also have same in other program.

In that sentence, there are two commas. A comma put before

the coordinating conjunction ‘but’, and the other put after the word

‘although’ in the beginning of the sentence. The comma after the

word ‘but’ is true, because it separates two clauses. However, the

comma after the word ‘although’ includes in error of addition. It

can be said error of addition because ‘although’ in the beginning

sentence is a unit with the other words of dependent clause

‘Although dormitory and boarding house have some different’. It

didn’t need to be separated by a comma. We can revise it, as

follow:
 59

Although dormitory and boarding house have some different,

but they also have same in other program.

b) Colon

The addition of colon means that the presence of colon that must

not appear in a sentence. The example is as below:

‘For the dormitory, usually there are some rules in it, like: the

dweller (university students) has to do the activities which have

planned.’

In the sentence above, there was a colon after the word ‘like’.

From the theory, a colon can be put in a sentence if the sentence

introduced a long series of items. In that sentence, the colon put

belong to error of addition because after the colon put, there was no

series of items that mentioned. There was just a sentence that

explained about an activity. So, the colon should not appear in that

sentence, as in:

‘For the dormitory, usually there are some rules in it, like the

dweller (university students) has to do the activities which have

planned.’

c). Period

The addition of period is the presence of a period in a sentence.

The sentence is not a complete thought, but it is ended by a period

suddenly. The example of the addition of period based on the data

analyzed can be showed, as in:

 60

‘Usually, boarding house that located in campus area collaborates

with campus committee to receive the students of campus. To live

in their house.’

The long sentence above seemed unclear because that sentence

separated by a period. That was ‘to live in their house’ after a

period that couldn’t stand alone. It was also a unit of the previous

clause before. So, the period was not needed there, as in:

‘Usually, boarding house that located in campus area collaborates

with campus committee to receive the students of campus to live in

their house.’

d). Exclamation Mark

The addition of exclamation mark happens when the presence of an

exclamation mark is not needed in a sentence. The data gotten from

the students’ writing work is,

‘You must say yes! because Stain Tulungagung facilitate you with

a dormitory, named Ma’had al Jamia’ah’.

The addition of exclamation mark on that sentence happened

because that was a series of sentence. The used of exclamation mark

was not needed because it was still in a sentence. The word ‘because’

also was not in capitalized. So, the revised one, as in:

‘You must say yes because Stain Tulungagung facilitates you with a

dormitory, named Ma’had al Jamia’ah’.

 61

e). Question Mark

The addition of question mark occurred when the appearance of

question mark in a well-formed sentence that must not appeared.

Based on the data gotten, the researcher found the example of the

addition of question mark, as in:

Why??? Because in there have some activities that can support the

students added the vocabularies.

Basically, the used of question word was true, but the used of

question mark belonged to the errors of addition. In writing a formal

or scientific writing work, it has not permitted to use the double, triple

or more same punctuation marks in the sentence or words, like the

question mark after the word ‘why’ above. It’s permitted if the format

of writing in the form of informal, such as: letter, messages to friend,

and novel. So, one question mark would be enough, as in:

Why? Because in there have some activities that can support the

students added the vocabularies.

f) Apostrophe

The addition of apostrophe usually happened to the students when

the students didn’t know the function of the adding of apostrophe

itself. We can see the example, as below:

In boarding house, they must obey the owner’s.

The sentence above seemed unclear in the word “owner’s”. The

word ‘owner’ itself had been showed a possession without the adding
 62

of apostrophe. So, the adding of apostrophe above was not needed.

We can revise the sentence, as in:

In boarding house, they must obey the owners. Or

In boarding house, they must obey the owner.

c Misformation

As explained in the previous chapter, misformation errors are the

errors that are characterized by the use wrong form in morpheme or

structure. Here, the learners put the punctuation marks in the sentence,

although it is incorrect. Based on the data analyzed by the researcher,

there were three kinds of punctuation marks that occurred to the errors

of misformation.

a) Comma

Misformation of comma occurred when the used of comma was

not appropriate in a sentence. The comma should not put, and can

be revised with the right one. The examples of misformation of

comma from the data gotten are, as below:

1. They need many hours to arrive at home, moreover is not good, It’s

so difficult guys.

The used of comma after the word ‘good’ above belong to

misformation, because the comma was not appropriate in the

sentence. Actually, that consisted of two sentences. The first was

“They need many hours to arrive at home, moreover is not good”,

and the second sentence was “It’s so difficult guys”. The first and
 63

second sentences were complete thoughts, so it didn’t need to put a

comma separating the both sentence. The appropriate one was

putting a period after the first sentence, as in:

They need many hours to arrive at home, moreover is not good.

It’s so difficult guys.

2. The first is dormitory, some campus have built dormitory for

their students.

There was a comma after the first sentence ‘The first is

dormitory’. Actually, those first and second sentences were

independent clauses, and it could stand alone. It could melt to

be a compound sentence if there was a coordinating

conjunction, but there was no conjunction there. So, those

sentences should be separated by a period, not a comma. The

revised one, as follow:

The first is dormitory. Some campus have built dormitory for

their students.

Those examples of misformation of comma grammatically also

can be called as ‘comma splice’.

b) Period

The example of the wrong used a period in a sentence can be

used as follow:
 64

‘The campus is usually far from their house, because the place

is in the town. Especially in Islamic State College of

Tulungagung’.

The sentence above included to the misformation of period. A

period put after the independent clause ‘The campus is usually far

from their house, because the place is in the town’. The next was

the dependent clause ‘Especially in Islamic State College of

Tulungagung’. We all knew that the dependent clause can’t stand

alone, so it usually joined with the independent clause. So, the

dependent clause should join to a sentence with the independent

clause by putting a comma, not period. We can revise it, as follow:

‘The campus is usually far from their house, because the place is in

the town, especially in Islamic State College of Tulungagung’.

c) Semicolon

Misformation of semicolon happened when the misused of

semicolon in morpheme or structure. From the data gotten by the

researcher, there was an example of misformation of semicolon, as

below,

‘Based on the necessary of students living around campus, I can

classify the type of off-campus housing in top two categories: can

living in dormitory; can living in boarding house’.

The used of semicolon above categorized in misformation of

semicolon. The function of semicolon naturally was to be the

 65

bridges between two sentences which convey ‘closely connected’.

From the sentence above, it was not between two sentences, but

between two phrases. Besides, the function of semicolon is to

replace the comma or colon that already used in list of items. In the

sentence above, there was a colon already. So, it didn’t necessary to

put a semicolon. We can revised it, as

‘Based on the necessary of students living around campus, I can

classify the type of off-campus housing in top two categories: can

living in dormitory, can living in boarding house’. Or,

‘Based on the necessary of students living around campus, I can

classify the type of off-campus housing in top two categories: can

living in dormitory and can living in boarding house’.

2. Semantically

In semantically function, the errors made by the students in using

punctuation marks was analyzed by emphasizing the semantic aspect.

Different used of punctuation marks create the different meaning. The

errors were classified into three types of errors: omission, addition,

and misformation.

a Omission

In semantic function, omission of punctuation marks means that

the absence of punctuation marks in a sentence creates a different

meaning. In this function, omission of errors was occurred in the

two kinds of punctuation marks: comma and period

 66

1. Comma (,)

The absence of comma in the sentences made by the students

has an effect in semantic function. Look at the example below:

Example 1:

Error Sentence:

Next you must on time when you pay rent for the owner of boarding

house.

Semantically:

‘Next you’ in the error sentence above means the person next to

you, not the thing that mentioned after the word ‘next’ that explained

a periodically between the sentences.

Correct Sentence:

Next, you must on time when you pay rent for the owner of boarding

house.

Semantically:

In the correct sentence, next means the step in a series of things

among the sentences.

The second example also showed a different meaning between

the error sentence and the correct sentence in using a comma,

especially in omission error.

 67

Example 2:

Error Sentence:

In the dormitory, all of students’ activities were scheduled. Because

of that well-organized life can be gotten in the dormitory.

Semantically:

Omission of comma in the error sentence above showed a role

of ‘because’ in expressing a reason. Actually, the placement of

‘because’ above was in the group of sentences. In the error sentence,

there is no comma after the word ‘because’ to emphasize a reason

from the sentence ‘In the dormitory, all of students’ activities were

scheduled’. There is no boundary between the word ‘that’ and ‘well-

organized’. So, the meaning seemed melting in ‘because of that well-

organized’.

Correct Sentence:

In the dormitory, all of students’ activities were scheduled. Because

of that, well-organized life can be gotten in the dormitory.

Semantically:

The put of comma after the phrase ‘because of that’ created a

clear meaning phrase that expressed a reason from the previous

sentence. There is a boundary between the word ‘that’ and ‘well-

organized’. So, it wouldn’t create a confusing meaning to the reader.

 68

2. Period (.)

Omission the period means that the absence of a period in the

well-formed sentence, and here it has a semantic function. The

example below showed how the different meaning between error

sentence and the correct sentence.

Error Sentence:

In the boarding house, the students can cook by themselves if the

students want to pay more, boarding house also serves them the food

and necessity.

Semantically:

The sentence “In the boarding house, students can cook by

themselves if the students want to pay more” means that the students

can cook by themselves if they want to pay more. It was not deal

with the next sentence ‘boarding house also serves them food and

necessity’. Logically, the students should pay more if they got

something. However in that sentence, the contrary happened. The

students should pay more, then they can cook.

Correct sentence:

In the boarding house, the students can cook by themselves. If the

students want to pay more, boarding house also serves them the food

and necessity.

Semantically:
 69

In the correct sentence, it put a period after the sentence ‘In the

boarding house, the students can cook by themselves’. It had a clear

meaning that in boarding house, the students can cook by

themselves. In the next sentence, it emphasized that if the students

want to pay more, boarding house also serves them food and

necessity.

b Addition

In addition errors, the presence of punctuation marks had an effect

in semantically function. In this addition error, there were three kinds of

punctuation marks: comma, period, and apostrophe.

1. Comma (,)

The presence of comma that should not appear in a sentence often

made a different meaning to the sentence itself. look at the example

below,

Error Sentence:

When, we will go out from boarding house, we will do it up to us.

Semantically:

The adding of comma after the word ‘when’ means that it

appeared a question within the sentence. The distance separated by a

comma to the next words in a clause made a different meaning. It

seemed ask ‘when we will go out from the boarding house?’.

Actually, that was not the real meant of the sentence. We could

differ with the correct sentence.

 70

Correct Sentence:

When we will go out from boarding house, we will do it up to us.

Semantically:

Deleting a comma after the word ‘when’ has made a clear

meaning within the sentence. The word ‘when’ melted in a

dependent clause became ‘When we will go out from boarding

house’. It was totally a statement, not a question.

2. Period (.)

The presence of period that should not appear in a well-formed

sentence often created a different meaning.

Error Sentence:

If we know about the type of campus housing, we can imagine. How

many activities there.

Semantically:

The adding of period after the clause ‘we can imagine’ has made

a confusing meaning. The used of period was to express the

complete thought feeling. In the sentence above, the clause ‘we can

imagine’ ended by a period, then what can we imagine? It had not

clear meaning. Then, in the next sentence, there was a statement

‘How many activities there’. If we correlated with the previous

sentence, it had a close relation. The meaning was the thing that we

can imagine was how many activities there. So, the adding of period

made the sentence became a confusing sentence.

 71

Correct Sentence:

If we know about the type of campus housing, we can imagine how

many activities there.

Semantically:

Replacing the period above made the sentence becoming clearer.

It means that the thing that we can imagine was how many activities

there. It was a unit of clause and had a close related with the clause

before ‘If we know about the type of campus housing’.

3. Apostrophe (’)

An apostrophe usually emphasized a possession of something.

Here in addition of apostrophe, it meant that the adding of

apostrophe was not needed in the sentence, and it could create a

different meaning from the correct sentence.

Error Sentence:

The owner’s as like the second parents who have guaranteed their

safety.

Semantically:

Owner actually had a mean as the person who had a possession right

for something. In the sentence above, the adding of apostrophe in the

word ‘‘owner’s’’ created a meaning the owner of owner. So, it meant

the owner of owner as like the second parents to the students.

Correct Sentence:
 72

The owners as like the second parents who have guaranteed their

safety.

Semantically:

Deleting the apostrophe above created a clearer meaning. It meant

that the owner of boarding house especially as like the second

parents to the students.

c Misformation

Misformation of punctuation marks meant that the use of

wrong punctuation marks in a well-formed sentence. This

misformation errors often made a semantically function. In this

misformation errors, there were two kinds of punctuation marks in

misformation errors in the use of semantically function: comma

and period.

1. Comma (,)

Error Sentence:

You just need to choose one of the off-campus housing, dormitory

gives us more knowledge, religion, education, and course.

Semantically:

On the misformation above, a comma put after the sentence ‘You

just need to choose one of the off-campus housing’, then followed

by a sentence ‘dormitory gives us more knowledge, religion,

education, and course’. A series of commas above seemed

explaining about a series of things. But, it was not in a same

 73

category. Unclear meaning when a comma put after the first

sentence. It emphasized about a need to choose one of the campus

housing. It was not ended yet, then explained about dormitory. The

comma after the first sentence should replace by a period to express

that the sentence in a complete thought, and then explained about

‘dormitory’ in next sentence.

Correct Sentence:

You just need to choose one of the off-campus housing dormitory

gives us more knowledge, religion, education, and course.

Semantically:

By replacing a comma with a period, the meaning was clearer.

The first sentence was a complete thought that explain about a need

to choose one of the off-campus housing, and then continued with

the next sentence by explaining about dormitory as one of off-

campus housing that the students need to choose.

2. Period (.)

Misformation a period means that the wrong use of period in a

well-formed sentence. In this part, the misformation of period gave

the different meaning in the semantically function.

Error Sentence:

After they do the test and know the announcement that allow to

study in university. Of course the new students will move from

their house to the place that near the university.

 74

Semantically:

There were two sentences that separated by a period in the

errors sentence above. Actually, the first sentence was a dependent

clause that explained about after the student and doing a test, and

then it was ended by a period. Of course it created a question that

appeared about what after? Then, in the second sentence, it

explained about the activity after the students doing a test. So, this

unclear meaning was caused by a wrong used a period. Replacing it

with a comma was needed to make the meaning clear.

Correct Sentence:

After they do the test and know the announcement that allow to

study in university, of course the new students will move from their

house to the place that near the university

Semantically:

Replacing a period with a comma made a clearer meaning,

because in the first clause explained about after the students doing

a test, then continued with the next clause by explaining the activity

after having the test.

d) Tabulation of error

From the data gotten by the researcher, the errors made by the third

semester students in using punctuation marks in writing essay

classified into three types, there are: omission, addition, and

 75

misformation. Firstly, the researcher explained about the errors in

using punctuation marks in the using of grammatically function, and

the second in the using of semantically function.

1. Errors in Using Punctuation Marks in Grammatically Function

In grammatically function, there were 219 errors with the

highest occurrence frequency was on error of omission that made up

75%. Then, it followed by misformation on 18%, and the last

frequency showed a very contrast numbers with the others with 7%.

The data is presented on the pie diagram below:

Figure 4.1. Types and number of errors made by the third semester students

in using punctuation marks in grammatically function

Types and number of errors in using

punctuation marks in grammatically
function
Addition, 7%
Misformation,
18%

Omission, 75%

Three types of errors were found by the researcher in using punctuation

marks in writing essay. In this part, those errors in using punctuation marks
 76

were counted based on each type of errors. The occurrence frequency of each

error in using punctuation marks was also counted here.

Table 4.2. Frequency and Percentage of Omission Error

No. Types of Omission Error Frequency Percentage

1. Comma (,) 143 87,2%
2. Period (.) 20 12,2%
3. Colon (:) 1 0,6%
TOTAL 164 100%

Table 4.2. above explains any points of errors which had caused error of

omission. The table shows that the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung made 164 errors of omission in using punctuation marks. The

kinds of punctuation marks occurred were comma, period, and colon. The

students made omission of comma 143 times. It was the highest number in

error of omission. The second frequency was the using of period in 20 times.

The last frequency was the using of colon. It was the fewer errors in omission.

The students made omission of colon only 1 time.

Table 4.3. Frequency and Percentage of Addition Errors

No. Types of Addition Error Frequency Percentage

1. Comma 6 37,5%
2. Period 3 18,75%
3. Apostrophe 2 12,5%
4. Question Mark 2 12,5%
5. Exclamation Mark 2 12,5%
6. Colon 1 6,25%
TOTAL 16 100%
 77

Table 4.3. shows some points of addition errors in using punctuation

marks in writing essay. The table describes that the third semester students at

IAIN Tulungagung made 16 errors of addition. There were six kinds of

punctuation marks that included in addition errors. The addition errors were

contributed most by addition of comma which was made 6 times by students.

Then, it followed by addition period in 3 times. The third until fifth addition of

errors had a same frequency and percentage; they were apostrophe, question

mark, and exclamation marks. The last addition error was the using of colon

that only made by students in 1 time.

Table 4.4. Frequency and Percentage of Misformation Errors

No. Types of Misinformation Frequency Percentage

Error
1. Comma 24 61,5%
2. Period 14 35,9%
3. Semicolon 1 2,6%
TOTAL 39 100%

Table 4.4. explains about some points of misformation errors in using

punctuation marks in writing essay. There were three kinds of punctuation

marks which included in misformation errors. The highest misformation

errors happened in comma which is made by 13 students in 24 times. The

second highest error was period in 14 times. The last misformation error

shown in the used of colon which was only one time.

 78

2. Errors in Using Punctuation Marks in Semantically Function

In semantically function, errors made by the third semester students

in using punctuation marks in writing essay were found in 48 errors

which made by 10 students. The dominant errors showed in error of

omission with 66%. The highest frequency found in error of omission,

then followed by error of addition in 19%. The last frequency showed

in misformation error with 15%. The data was presented on the pie

diagram below.

Figure 4.1.2 Types and number of errors made by the third semester students

in using punctuation marks in semantically function

Types and Number of errors in using

punctuation marks in semantically
function
Misformation,
15%

Addition, 19% Omission, 66%

Three types of errors were found by the researcher in using

punctuation marks in semantically function. In this part, those errors in

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using punctuation marks in semantically function were counted based on

each type of errors. The occurrence frequency of each errors in using

punctuation marks was also counted here.

Table 4.2.1. Frequency and Percentage of Omission Errors in Semantically

Function

No. Types of Omission Error Frequency Percentage

1. Comma (,) 20 62,5 %
2. Period (.) 12 37,5%
TOTAL 32 100%

Table 4.2 .1 above explains any points of errors which had caused error

of omission. The table showed that the students made 32 errors of two kinds of

punctuation marks. The first highest frequency was omission of comma in

62,5%. It gave the semantically effect to the sentence when the students made

omission of error.

Table 4.3.1. Frequency and Percentage of Addition Errors in Semantically

Function

No. Types of Addition Error Frequency Percentage

1. Period (.) 4 44%
2. Comma (,) 3 33%
3. Apostrophe (’) 2 23%
TOTAL 9 100%

Those three kinds of punctuation marks in the table 4.3.1. above included

in addition of errors in semantically function. There were only 9 errors in low

frequency. The highest frequency was addition of period in 44%. The second

highest frequency was addition of comma in 33%. The last frequency was
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addition of apostrophe in 23%. All of those addition errors gave a semantic

effect to the students’ writing.

Table 4.4.1. Frequency and Percentage of Misformation Errors in

Semantically Function

No. Types of Misformation Frequency Percentage

Error
1. Comma (,) 4 57%
2. Period (.) 3 43%
TOTAL 7 100%

Table 4.4.1. above explains about some points of misformation errors in

using punctuation marks in semantically function. There were two kinds of

punctuation marks with low frequency. The first highest frequency was

misformation of comma in 57%. All of those misformation errors gave a

semantic effect to the students’ writing.

B. Discussion

This subchapter presents the result of the data that is related to the

theory used in this study. The findings of this study are matched with

theory as presented in chapter II.

1. Types of Errors in Using Punctuation Marks in Writing Essay

The errors made by the third semester students in using

punctuation marks in writing essay are divided into three types. Those

three types were analyzed into two functions, grammatically and

semantically. The errors are omission, addition, and misformation.

Omission is the error that is characterized by the absence of the item

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that actually needed in a well-sentence. This meant that in writing, the

student omit the punctuation mark that actually needed in a well-formed

sentence. The second type is addition. This error is characterized by the

presence of the item that must not appear in the sentence. In this

research, addition error happened when the presence of punctuation

mark was not appropriate in a well-formed sentence. The last error type

is misformation. This type is characterized by the use wrong form in

morpheme or sentence. Here, the students put the kind of punctuation

marks in their essay, but that was not appropriate one.

Based on the data gotten by the researcher, there were any

possibilities caused of errors made by the third semester students at

IAIN Tulungagung. The first, basically the function of punctuation

marks in English and Bahasa Indonesia are mostly same. Here, the

students might not understand about the function of punctuation marks

in their first language. So, it could influence their writing work in

English, especially in the used of punctuation marks. Secondly,

Nurhayanti (2013) stated “The causes of errors in using punctuation

marks arethe students confused about the use of punctuation correctly,

and forget the punctuation material due to it covered in writing one

only”. In this research, those possibilities also might happen. The

students sometimes felt confuse in using punctuation marks, because

the lack of understanding of it. It could happen because the punctuation

material was rarely taught in writing lesson class. The students also
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might forget about the using of punctuation marks. Sometimes, the

students thought that punctuation mark is a little thing that doesn’t

much important in writing. They just concern in their content and

structure, and ignore the punctuation marks.

2. The Frequencies of Errors in Using Punctuation Marks in Writing

Essay

Based on the data that has been analyzed by the researcher, there

were two functions that the researcher analyzed, grammatically and

semantically. Firstly, in grammatically function, the highest frequency

of errors happened in omission of the using of punctuation marks. Here,

the students omit the punctuation marks that were actually needed in a

well sentence. Almost of the students did omission of comma in their

writing works. So, the dominant error made by the third semester in

using punctuation marks in writing essay was omission of comma.

Actually, comma is needed to make their sentence clear and suitable

with the rules. A comma put to emphasize the sentence which must be

separated based on their classification and rule, as mentioned in the

chapter II based on the several theories. For the example, a comma

should put to separate a series of thing in the same category. From the

data gotten by the researcher, there was an example of a sentence that

included in omission of comma, as in the sentence, ‘The students who

live there also can be more independent responsible and active in the
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large community.’ From that sentence, that was a series of thing in the

same category, in adjective category. There were independent,

responsible, active. Those three adjective should be separated by the

commas as the rule mentioned in Bram (1995:92). The students omitted

the commas by not putting anything between the adjectives. The second

highest of omission was period. Here, the students didn’t put the period

in their complete thought sentence. The period itself signed of the end

of the sentence.

The second highest frequency of errors in using punctuation marks

in writing essay that are made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung was misformation errors. Misformation errors happened

when the students used the wrong form in the morpheme and structure.

Here, the students used the punctuation marks, but that was not the

appropriate one. The students often put a comma that actually in the end

of the sentence. They arranged the sentences by separating with a

comma, although it should be ended by a period. From the data, there

was an example of misformation, like ‘The first is dormitory, some

campus have built dormitory for their students’. Actually, that were two

sentences that be forced into a sentence by putting a comma. Here, as

the rule of comma, the sentences can be separated by the comma if they

are in the same category, or there is a coordinating conjunction in

separating the sentences. According to Hansen (1998:109), the two

independent clauses can be joined if there is a coordinating conjunction,

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and a comma should put to separate them before the conjunction. On

the sentence above, they were not a coordinating conjunction there, so

that there was not a compound sentence that must be separated by a

comma. A comma at the sentence above should be replaced by a period,

like ‘The first is dormitory. Some campus have built dormitory for their

students’. Those misformation of comma in grammatically also can be

called as “comma splice”. It was also done to the other punctuation

marks that categorized in misformation error. That was the example that

the students didn’t allow the rule of using punctuation well.

The last type of errors made by the students in using punctuation

marks in writing essay was addition error. Addition errors are the errors

that are characterized of item that must not appear in a morpheme or

sentence. Here, the students put the punctuation marks that should not

appear in a sentence. In the data gotten by the researcher, the students

often add the period in a sentence that was not appropriate. That was an

example of the sentence ‘If we know about the type of campus housing

as dormitory and boarding house with their activities, we can imagine.

How many activities there.’ A period that was between two clauses, the

dependent clause (If we know about the type of campus housing as

dormitory and boarding house with their activities), and the

independent clause (we can imagine how many activities there). Here,

the adding of period in the independent clause was not allowed (we can
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imagine. How many activities there). That was a unit of a clause that

must not be separated by a period. We can revise the sentence, like

“If we know about the type of campus housing as dormitory and

boarding house with their activities, we can imagine how many

activities there.”

Secondly, in semantically function, the students made many errors

that were classified into three kinds of errors: omission, addition, and

misformation. The dominant error was omission of comma in 66% of

all errors. Actually, omission of punctuation marks, such as comma

created a different meaning with the correct one. For the example in the

sentence ‘Next you must on time when you pay rent for the owner of

boarding house’. Actually, that sentence classified in omission of

comma. A comma should put after the word ‘Next’ to show the

periodically of the series of things or activities. However in the error

sentence, there was no comma after ‘next’, and it created a different

meaning. The word ‘next’ melted with the word ‘you’. It was not a

boundary there. So, it seemed that ‘next you’ means the person next to

you, not a periodically of a series of things or activities. Therefore,

omission of comma absolutely created a different meaning to the

writing. In the error sentence, the word ‘next’ means that the person

next to you. The correct sentence ‘Next, you must on time when you

pay rent for the owner of boarding house’ put a comma after the word
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‘next’ with a pause intonation to emphasize the periodically of a series

of items or activities.

The second highest frequency was addition of errors. In addition

errors, the students often added the punctuation marks that could

change the meaning of the students’ writing work itself. For the

example was in the addition of apostrophe. An apostrophe naturally

used to emphasize the possession of something. In the error sentence

‘The owner’s as like the second parents who have guaranteed their

safety’, there was an addition of apostrophe in the word ‘owner’s’.

Of course it was a confusing meaning because ‘owner’ itself had a

mean as the person who had a possession right of something. So, if

the word said ‘owner’s’, it meant that the person who had a

possession right of the owner itself. It didn’t deal with the correct

sentence that stated ‘The owners as like the second parents who have

guaranteed their safety’. In the correct sentence, the owners means

that the person who had a possession right of boarding house that

became the second parents to the students. In the correct sentence,

the meaning was clearer than the addition error sentence.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

In this chapter, the researcher wants to present the conclusion of the study

that has been discussed in the previous chapter. In this chapter, the researcher also

wants to give the suggestion for English teacher, the students, and also for other

researcher.

A. Conclusion

The result of this study has been presented in the previous chapter.

Furthermore, the conclusion of this study is presented as below:

1. The type of errors made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay are divided into

three types that had been analyzed based on Dulay, et al. They are

omission, addition, and misformation. Omission of error is an error that is

characterized by the absence of item that actually needed in a well-formed

sentence. It means that the students here made the errors by omitting the

punctuation marks that must be appeared in a well-formed sentence. The

second error is addition. This error is characterized by the presence of

item that must not appear in a sentence. Here, the students add the

punctuation mark that is actually not needed in a sentence. The last type is

misinformation. Error of misinformation happened when the students use

the wrong form in morpheme or structure. While in omission errors the

item is not supplied at all, in misinformation the learners supply

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something, although it is incorrect. The students put the punctuation mark

in their sentence, but it doesn’t the appropriate one.

2. The first highest frequency of error made by the third semester students at

IAIN Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay is

omission. Omission of errors was the highest frequency in both of the

functions, grammatically and semantically. The researcher calculated

75% for omission in grammatically function, and 66% for omission in

semantically function. Here, the omission of comma is the first highest

occurred in both of two functions, grammatically and semantically. It

meant that the dominant error made by the third semester students at IAIN

Tulungagung in using punctuation marks in writing essay was omission of

comma. The students omit the comma that must appear in the sentence by

not allowing any rules of the using of comma. Omission the comma also

gave a different meaning to the sentence. It gave a semantic effect within

the error sentence and the correct sentence. The second highest frequency

of error in using punctuation marks in grammatically function is

misformation. The calculation of error of misformation is 18%. Here, the

students made misinformation error in three kinds of punctuation marks.

There are comma, period, and semicolon. While in semantically function,

the second highest frequency was addition of errors. The calculation of

addition error was 19%. Addition of period was the highest frequency.

The students add a period that should not appear in a sentence, and it

made a different meaning to the sentence itself. The last frequency of

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errors in using punctuation marks in grammatically function is addition. It

happened in 7% of all errors. However, the kinds of punctuation marks

that included in addition of error are the highest number. There are six

kinds of punctuation marks, although it is in the low frequency. While in

semantically function, the last frequency was misformation. It calculated

15%.

B. Suggestion

1. For English Teacher

In teaching writing, actually there are many aspects that must be

taught by the teacher. One of them is about the using of punctuation

marks. As the result of this research, the highest frequency of errors made

by the third semester students at IAIN Tulungagung in using punctuation

marks in writing essay is omission. The students often omit the

punctuation marks that must be appeared in their writing work. To avoid

the errors, the teacher can teach about punctuation marks before the

students starting to write. Here, the teacher can take a portion to teach

about the kinds of punctuation marks and the function. The teacher also

emphasizes the importance of the uses of punctuation marks, so the

student doesn’t think that punctuation mark is a little thing in their

writing. In scoring the students writing, the teacher also hopefully be

more detail in correcting the students’ punctuation used. These efforts can
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be done by the teacher to avoid the errors made by students in using

punctuation marks.

2. For Students

In writing, the students need to know the importance of the use of

punctuation marks. Many students do ‘comma splice’ and ‘fused

sentence’. They do not know the function of comma in a ‘comma splice’,

and they do not put a punctuation mark at all in their ‘fused sentence’.

Many students also made many errors that can change the meaning of the

sentence itself. Firstly, the researcher suggests that the students can learn

from their error. They can know what their errors, and they can learn from

those errors. Secondly, lack of understand is the big factor that influence

those errors. After finishing this research, hopefully the students can learn

more about the kinds of punctuation marks and the function of them. They

would not ignore the punctuation marks in their writing, because the use

of punctuation mark can determine the quality of their writing work.

3. For Other Researcher

The other related researcher is suggested to use a better method to

collect the data of their research. He/she should present the findings better

and more systematically, so that it can be understood well, and have more

benefit to the reader. Furthermore, the other researcher is also suggested

to not only concern in the using of punctuation marks in writing essay in

his/her research, but also he/she should add the other aspect of writing

essay that can be analyzed.