CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

The ability to communicate effectively through writing is a fundamental skill that

students are expected to develop through their academic journey. According to

Khairunisa (2019), grammar proficiency is crucial for writing ability since it can assist

students in creating quality sentences. Grammar is the rule that says how words are

changed to show different meanings and combined into sentences. Nadrun (2018)

indicates grammar to give words that are used to construct sentences in writing a

different meaning, and writing requires hard thinking for formulating ideas into a word,

a word into a sentence, and a sentence into a paragraph at the same time with good

grammar.

Among the other macro skills, writing is one of the most active skills because it

requires reading and understanding. It is also considered the most challenging of the

four language skills since it both takes ideas and abilities to make written ideas readable

(Widya and Wahyuni, 2018). Thus, Kaplan (2023) noted in her study that a good writer

is someone who can communicate their point of view to their audience without using too

much fluff.

Similarly, since the researchers discovered from primary sources that Palawan

National School has no standardized tools which measures students writing

composition, specifically grade 9, the researchers conducted this study to recognize this

concern by focusing on the common grammar structure mistakes that grade 9 students

commit in their written essays. This study assessed the students’ grammatical
competence. As Widianingsih (2016) claimed that most second language learners,

especially those studying English at different levels, usually make more mistakes in

specific grammatical rules.

Jones (2018) indicated that understanding common writing mistakes on a global

scale is vital to preparing students for effective communication in an interconnected

world. The Philippines can adopt this study by mandating that public schools enhance

students' macro skills, especially speaking and writing skills. It is widely believed that

the 21st century is widely habitable with 21st-century literacy skills.

The students’ writing problems have become one of the first and foremost issues

in the classrooms. The absence of up-to-date studies and standardized measuring tools

that measure the common writing mistakes that 9th grade students commit is the focus

of the study, where the researchers look for strategized sublimation to enhance the

students’ mistakes in constructing sentences. As evident in the study of William and

Brown (2021), they stressed that localized data is essential for tailoring interventions

that address the unique needs of students within a specific area, particularly English

grammar.