AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN

SPEAKING (A Case Study at 6th Semester Students of English Education

Department State Islamic University of Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung)

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Research
English has become international language spoken by people around the
world. Crystal (2000) says that English has become global language because it is
widely used by people in the world for the subject matters learned by students. It
is given in some educational level such as elementary, intermediate, and upper
intermediate level. Therefore, learning English seems to be a must by some people
to face this modern era in which English has dominated some sectors such as
technology, education, and commerce.
When learning a language, foreign language like English, it is necessary
for learners to learn four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. One of
those skills which is essential to learn is speaking. Mead and Rubin (1985) say
that speaking is an interactive process in which an individual alternately takes the
roles of speaker and listener, and which includes both verbal and nonverbal
component. Speaking is an interactive process consisting of producing systematic
verbal utterances to convey meaning. This interaction should run smoothly in
order to avoid misunderstanding. Therefore, speaking can be considered to be the
skill which requires learners to spend very much time learning and practicing.
Speaking English, however, is not a simple job since English is not easy to
learn because of its grammar that is rather complicated. In fact, many English
learners have the misconception that when they have memorized many grammar
structures and can write well, they can speak well. When they stand up to speak
on something, things do not appear to be as easy as they expected. Sometimes,
learners can speak on something and feel satisfied their speeches after finishing
them. But they rarely take notice of or even recognize some sentence problems
related to grammar structures that may occur.

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Problems with grammar when speaking can hinder students’ ability to

communicate effectively in conversation In addition, frequent grammar errors can
make nonnative English speakers seem less fluent and less educated than they are,
and could be a professional liability in the future. Some second language learners
make grammar mistakes because their fluency is weak or they are not used to
communicating in spoken English.
Based on the phenomenon above, EFL learners somehow have difficulties
with grammar when they speak. Considering the fact, it is interesting for the
researcher to do a research in this area particularly on English Education
Department students. Therefore, the research was given a title “AN ANALYSIS
OF STUDENTS’ GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN SPEAKING (A Case
Study at 6th Semester Students of English Education Department State
Islamic University of Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung).

B. Research Question
This research concerns on solving the following questions:
1. What types of grammatical errors are commonly made by the students in
speaking English?
2. What problems are students commonly faced in speaking English?

C. The Aim of Research

Based on the questions above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To describe types of grammatical errors commonly made by students in
speaking English.
2. To describe the students’ problems in speaking English.

D. The Significances of Research

This research is expected to give benefits and contribute to these following
parties:
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a. Students
The students are expected to understand types of grammatical errors they
usually make when speaking, so that they can improve their grammar and
speaking skill.

b. Readers
The readers are able to get more information about grammatical errors in
speaking that are usually made by students, how they produce errors, and
problems they face.

c. Teachers and Lecturers

Teachers and lectures are expected to help their students to speak in
correct grammar in order to improve students’ English ability particularly
speaking.

E. Rationale
Speaking is a central skill for successful communication. Bygate
(2009:3) says, “Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the
other skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than

just pronouncing words. Speaking, as stated by Chaney & Burd (1998) is the
process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-
verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts. Speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing and processing information
(Brown 1994; Burn & Joyce 1997).
Speaking in a second language involves the development of a particular
type of a communication skill. It has occupied a peculiar position throughout
much of the history of language teaching. Speaking is a skill which deserves
attention every bit as much as literary skills, in both first and second languages.
Ours learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry
out many of their most basic transactions. It is the skill by which learners are
most frequently judged and through which they make and lose friends (Bygate,
2009: 3)
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As we know that grammar is the most important part in studying English,

because the students learn about how to construct the utterance correctly.
According to Harris (1974:81) “Mastering grammar knowledge will help one
in speaking English, because he will know how to arrange word in sentence,
what tense will be used, how to use appropriate utterance”. In other word,
grammar is important role to master the spoken of the language.
According to Bartram and Walton (2002:32), accuracy in spoken English
refers to “utterances as near as to a native speaker’s as possible”. Brumfit
(1984) refers to the accuracy of the language content: grammar, pronunciation
and vocabulary. However, the grammatical accuracy in spoken language is
different from written language. Beattie (1983:33) states that spontaneous
speech is unlike written text. It contains many mistakes; sentences are usually
brief (cited in Halliday, 1985:76).

F. Research Methodology
1. Research Method
The research used a qualitative method. According to Beverly (1998:2), a
qualitative research is concerned with developing explanations of social
phenomena. Students’ grammatical errors in speaking were the
phenomenon. The results of the data were taken from the result of
questionnaires, interviews, and observation.

2. Kind of Data
The qualitative data were used to answer the questions in this research about
the student’s grammatical errors in speaking. The data in this research were
taken from the result of questionnaires, interviews, and observation.

3. Site and Participants

This research was conducted in State Islamic University of Sunan Gunung
Djati Bandung which is located at Jl. A.H. Nasution No. 105, Ujung
Berung, Bandung 40614. The participants of this research were the 6th
semester students of English Education Department. The purposive
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sampling was used in this research. This research involved 9 students as the
participants requiring low, medium, and high achievers. The number of
samples was based on the needs of the data collection.

4. Data Collection
Data collection is the process of gathering data through some methods.
There are three kinds of data collection used in order to gain the accurate
data:
a. Questionnaires
This kind of data collection was used to gain the information about the
students’ prior knowledge about grammar and speaking skill. There were
two types of questions, open and close questions. The questionnaire
contained questions dealing with students’ prior knowledge, and
comprehension about grammar and speaking skill.

b. Interviews
According to Stake (2010:95), an interview is used to obtain unique
information or interpretation held by the person interviewed. There were
structured questions, functioned as the main questions, and unstructured
questions, spontaneously asked as addition to gain more information. The
students were interviewed regarding their problems and difficulties in
using grammar to speak.

c. Observation
According to Arikunto (2010:197), observation mentioned as an
observation which focuses on an object using all human senses. This
technique of collecting data was used to observe the behavior and
grammatical errors in speaking committed by students. A small
discussion class participated by participants was made. The meetings
were recorded at which the process of discussion was carried out. This
aimed to get the data dealing with students’ problems and grammatical
errors in speaking.
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G. Establishing Trustworthiness
In establishing the trustworthiness, the research was established through
triangulation. According to Gulon (2002:1), triangulation is a method used by
qualitative researchers to check and establish validity in their studies. This
research used methodological triangulation. Methodological triangulation uses
multiple qualitative methods to study the program (Gulon, 2002:2). The
methods used were questionnaires, interviews, and observation.

H. Data Analysis
Creswell (2009:184) said that data analysis involved collecting open-
ended data, based on asking general questions and developing an analysis from
the information supplied by the participants. The data were obtained from the
questionnaires, interviews, and observation. In analysing the data, there were
four steps of qualitative data analysis such as organizing and preparing the
data, reading through all the data, beginning the detailed analysis and
interpreting the data as stated by Creswell (2009:185). The steps are as follows:

a. Organizing and Preparing the Data

In this step, all the data taken from questionnaires, interviews, and
observation were organized. Since there were many data collected, those
related to students’ grammatical errors and problems in speaking were
collected.

b. Reading through All the Data

After organizing and preparing the data, it was read thoroughly to obtain
general information about students’ grammatical errors and problems in
speaking to reflect the overall meaning.

c. Beginning the Detailed Analysis

The next step of the data analysis began with the detailed analysis of the
data. This step was different from the previous step, because the detail
information from the data collection was found here.
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d. Interpreting the Data

In this step, the interpretation or the meaning of the data was obtained. After
obtaining the meaning of the data, the result of this research was made into a
conclusion.

I. Clarification of Terms
This research provides term related to students’ grammatical errors in
speaking in order to avoid misunderstanding of this research.
Speaking : The process of building and sharing meaning
through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols,
in a variety of contexts. (Chaney & Burd, 1998)
Grammatical errors : Instance of faulty, unconventional, or controversial
usage of grammar. (www.grammar.about.com)
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References
Batram, M., & Walton, R. 2002. Correction: A positive approach to language
Beattie, G. 1983. Talk: An analysis of speech and non-verbal behaviour in
mistake. Boston: Heinle.
Brumfit, C. 1984. Communicative methodology in language teaching: The roles
of fluency and accuracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bygate, M. 1987. Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bygate, M. 2009. Teaching the Spoken Foreign Language. Berlin.
Chaney & Burd. 1998, Teaching Speaking, Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
conversation. Open University Press: Milton Keynes.
Creswell, John W. 2009. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed
Methods Approaches. London: SAGE.
Crystal, David. 2000. The Cambrigde Encyclopedia of the English Language.
Deakin University.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). Spoken and written language. Victoria, Australia:
Harris, D.P 1974. Testing English as a second language. New York. Mc.Grow
hill.
Mead, Nancy A and Donal L Rubin. 1995. Assessing Listening And Speaking
Skill. ERIC DIGEST.
Stake, Robert E. 2010. Qualitative Research: Studying How Things Work. New
York: The Guilford Press.