Students’ Ability To Construct 6 Tenses at the first year Of English Student Department In Lancang Kuning University

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.  Background of the Problem

Language is a means of communication that is used by the people. People use language to communicate and express all the information. In other words, language is to communicate each other to share the ideas. English is one of the important language to communicate. It is very useful for everyone because they can communicate by using English. There are some countries that use English as a language communication.

English has four main language skills, such as: reading, writing, listening and speaking, and for those skills must be strengthened by the correct grammar which from fundamental step to English mastery. In the study of grammar, the students are not only expected to develop their competence in combining words into sentences but also to gain some understanding  of what a language is like and how it works. In studying grammar review, there are so many patterns that must be learnt by the learner, the learner must select the suitable grammar in making some sentences. Grammar helps the learner to emphasize what is the best sentence that can be used and understandable.

            The fundamental grammar for the student is tenses, the studying of tenses is needed to develop the sentence. In a sentence, the student has to make it base on the pattern, the student is not allowed to make wrong formulation or construction of sentence because that sentence will not be understandable. So, with that  formulation the sentence will be good. There are 12 tenses that must be studied by the students, each of that tenses has different form and time usage. The sentence cannot be used when the time and event  is wrong.

            In studying tenses, there are two parts that students have to comprehend and understand, those are time and event. Time is the duration that used when the student write something, she/ he cannot make  the sentence that is not related with the exact time, the parts of the time are present, past  and future. Three of them are the duration that is in different time. Present time is used when the student make the sentence for habit or now. Past time is  used when the student make the sentence for  the past time and not related now, and future time is used when the student make the sentence for the future.

            Event is the situation that happened in different circumstances, there are four parts of event that must be understood by the student, they are simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. Four of them are different function, simple is used for the action that happened habitually or just in a simple action, continuous is the action that happening, perfect is the action that happened at the past but still happened this time, and perfect continuous is the action that happened at the past and still happening right now when the student is doing the same thing.

            To make a sentence, the student must have a good ability, it means the student can construct the sentence well, not only about tenses but also about sentence. Sentence means the combination of subject, predicate and the complement that has a meaning. In making a sentence, the students need to know how to put the subject, predicate, object, complement and adverb to construct the sentence, subject is always put at the first of sentence, predicate is after subject, and the complement, object and adverb are after predicate. So, the student can construct the sentence that has the meaning by following the rules. In line with the above point, the learning of this grammar unit, especially tenses had been applied in English department FKIP (Faculty Teachers Training and Education) Lancang Kuning University. It had language program since at the first year. The students study about tenses in Structure subject.

Based on the curriculum 2007 of FKIP English Department, this subject is studied for three semesters. Structure I discussed about the structure of English language to prepare the students’ ability in making the sentence and use it in communication either spoken or written at the level intermediate, this subject includes the ability to make the sentences on intermediate level, understanding tenses. Tenses was studied at the first year, those were the first and the second semester. In the second semester, the students continued to subject Structure II. It discussed about the ability of the students  in making the sentences by using all of tenses form in passive voice. When the students learnt tenses lesson, they were trained by the lecturer to make a good sentence by using tenses form.

And, in the third semester the students continue to Structure III, this subject was for preparing the students on the advance level. In this subject, the students studied about the using of gerund and applying it to all of the sentences, before understanding the gerund, the students had to master the tenses because when the students made the sentence by using gerund, they had to know how to put the gerund in the sentences. If the students did not understand the tenses form well, they could not state the gerund in the sentence.

In this gap of the problem between Structure II and structure III, I did the research at the third semester of English department students because they had studied tenses in structure 2 and I would find out whether the target of curriculum was reached or not in structure 3 exactly in the third semester. I observed to the students dealing with the studying of tenses and I found some problems that were significant to be researched and this research could predict the ability of the students. I observed about the students ability in constructing 6 tenses, some students were asked about what were the problems in constructing 6 tenses.

There were some students whom were interviewed dealing with 12 tenses. I tried to know and find out the problem, a student could not develop her sentences well because of confusing which was the suitable tenses  used to make the sentences, she wanted to make a sentence, but she had to think of tenses and she had to choose the form based on the time and event. For example, she wanted to make a sentence that was happening at the past and until now, she had to  make it into present perfect tense, she was hard to construct it because she had to think about the pattern before making a sentence. Another student of English department said that  she was lack of knowledge about  the tenses form, when she made a sentence, that student did not think about the tenses but just think about  the meaning of the sentence, she was hard to understand 12 tenses because she had low ability to remember tenses form, meanwhile tenses was the important one in constructing 6 tenses in sentences.

There were some sentences that uncommonly used by the students, they were: future tense, future continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect  continuous tense, past perfect tense, and past perfect continuous tense.  Regarding with the teaching and learning process of 12 tenses at English department, students began to learn them at the first year and had to reach the target of the lesson based on the curriculum of faculty but the students did not get the explanation of the lesson in detail, from the book she/he referred to do not entail the detail usage of  tenses grammar, particularly parts of  6 tenses. In addition, to teach grammar in detail would not work out well for student since most of them were dispassionate. The teaching of tenses grammar had to be  regularly taught by the lecturer from simple present tense until past perfect continuous tense.

Based on the phenomenon mentioned earlier, I was interested to conduct the research focuses on “Students’ Ability To Construct 6 Tenses at the first year  Of English Student Department In Lancang Kuning University “.

B.   Identification of the Problem

Base on the background above, the researcher identifies the problem as follows:

1.      Some students  did not have a good  ability to construct some of 6 tenses.

2.      Some  students  misplaced the use of 6 tenses in making a sentence by using  some of  6 tenses.

3.      Some students had some problems to distinguish each of tenses  toward 6 tenses.

C.   Limitation of the Problem

There was a number of problems that might be related to this research, but I concerned to limit the problem and focused it on students ability to construct  some of 6 tenses in sentences, I researched 6 tenses they were future tense, future continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect, continuous tense, past perfect tense and past perfect continuous tense as well as some issues and factors that have an effect on the students’ abilities.

D.    Formulation of The Problem

            The above problem of the research can be formulated as follows :

 1.    What are the students level of ability in constructing 6  tenses  in sentences?

 2.    What factors influences students’ ability to construct 6 tenses in sentences?

E.   Purpose of the Research

            Referring to the above formulation of the problems, this research has some purposes as follows:

  1.   To identify the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences

  2.   To find out the factors that influences the students’ ability in constructing 6  

         tenses in sentences.

F.   Significance of the Research

            The use of the result of the research has great as in the following:

1.      To see and know the students’ ability and creativity, especially in constructing 6 tenses in sentences.

   2.   To help the writer enlarges his knowledge in field of research in the future.

   3.   To fulfill one of the partial requirement for the undergraduate study program

          at the Education and Teacher Training Faculty of LANCANG KUNING

          UNIVERSITY of Riau.

    4.   To enlarge the ability of teacher in teaching 6 tenses.

G.   Definition of Key Terms

To avoid mix-up over the topic of this study the researcher needs to define the term used in this paper as follows:

1.     Ability

It is the state of being able to do something or one’s level of skill at doing something. Here, the writer concerns students’ ability in forming 16 tenses in sentences.

2.  Construct

It is the way in which words are put together in a sentence .in this research, the formation of tenses in sentences is studied.

3.    Tenses

           Verb form that shows the time of the action or state the present/past/future.

( Oxford, 2000:45).

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

A.    Review of the Related Theories

            In  this  part, I will  describe  some related  theories  which support  the problems  of this research as follows:

1.       Concept of Ability

Ability is skill or power of someone that is used to reach his purpose. In this research, ability to construct 6 tenses in sentences is a way to ease to understand and summarize a sentence. The ability will become very efficient after learning or exercising. In learning activity, the students’ ability should be directed, developed and valued in order to function well. So that, the skills in understanding grammar by constructing 6 tenses in sentences is one of good solution. On the word of Longman Active Study Dictionary (2004:1) ability is the state of being able to do something or your level at doing something.

Yuliana in Afdal (2009:1) states that there are some concepts related to ability, as follows :

1. Intelligence : Those who have good intelligence will have good ability in absorbing the lesson .
2. Interest : those who have no interest in learning will have poor ability, vice versa those who have least interest will progress well in acquiring the subject.
3. Motivation : The higher motivation,  the better we understand  and learn something.
4. Health : Poor health will decrease someone’s ability to learn something.

2.    The Usage of 12 Tenses

Oxford (2000:45), tense is verb form that shows the time of the action or state the present/past/future. It is used to show what is exactly time used to state the sentence. Base on the curriculum, the students of English department have had the Subject that  has the lesson  tenses, they learnt it from the first year, specifically the first and the second semester and the students had to reach the target of curriculum that was understand about tenses base on the time and event.

According to Lougheed (2004:184) The tense of a verb tells when something happens. There are three tenses in English: present, past, and future. All tenses have four forms : simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive.  Present is used for what happened now and the habit, past is used for the activity that happened in the past, future is used for the activity that will be happened at the future. The combination between tenses and form will be: present (simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive), past (simple, progressive, perfect and perfect progressive) and future (simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive). So, It shows that every tenses have different form.

Lane and Lange (1999: 2) point out “ verb –tense error are global (more serious) errors. Because time is an important message expressed by the verb in English, I had to be able to control verb tenses in order for the reader to understand when actions and events take place”.

Base on the expert statement above, the students had to control the tenses when she/he wanted to make a sentence, student was not allowed to make sentence that was not related with the time and event. Student had to know the exact time. This statement was related with the research of mine, I found that students did not think about the time when making a sentence, and not based on the suitable form, it caused the lecturer could not accept the sentence.

       According to Lane and Lange (1993:10) the usage of 12 tenses in sentences is divided into 12 parts :

a.      Simple Present Tense

Simple Present Tense  is  show the habit or occurrence. Simple present tense is used to express a habitual or repeated action in the present or a condition  that is true at any time. For example: Thuy rides her bicycle everyday. It is used to describe past events as if they were happening now. This use is called the historical present. For example: My friend and I arrive  at Kathmandu Airport on February  25, 1991. From these two examples, it shows that Simple Present Tense can be used for the habitual action and can represent the past event as if happened this time. Simple present tense can be used for a simple sentence and the form is base form, for third person singular, add –s or –es.

b.      Present Continuous Tense

Present Continuous Tense is the action that happening in progress. Present Continuous Tense is used to express an action or activity that is happening right now (at this moment, today, this year): the action has begun and is still happening. For example: Tammy is working on the first draft of her essay. It is used to express that an action or activity is happening at the present time and is temporary. Another example: Mark is working for his uncle. When we make a sentence of present continuous tense, the form is : am/is/are + present participle (-ing).

c.       Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense is the relationship of time between occurrence an action and the present, past or future. Present Perfect Tense is used to express an action or state that began in the past and continues in the present. For example: Hiroaki has lived in California for two years. It is used to indicate that an action or event occurred some time in the past, although the exact time is not specified or important. Another example: I have already filed my income taxes.  Present perfect tense is needed when we want to relate the event that happened in the past and still happened right now. The form is has/have + past participle.

d.      Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense is the relationship between the duration of an action and the present, past or future. Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used to emphasize the duration of an activity that started in the past and has  continued into the present. For example: I have been waiting for you for an hour. It is used to indicate that an activity has been in progress recently (the activity started in the past and is still going on). For example: I have been thinking about moving out of the dorm. When the action happened at the past and then still happening right now, we can use the present perfect continuous as the sentence pattern. The form is has/have + been + present participle (-ing).

e.       Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense is to show the habit or occurrence at the past. Simple Past Tense is used to indicate that an action or event took place at a specific time in the past. For example: I visited Japan in 1991. It is used to indicate that an action or event occurred over a period of time in the past with the implication that it is no longer true in the present. For example: I lived in Los Angeles for 5 years. Simple past is only used for the action that happened at the past .the form is base form + ed.

f.       Past Continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense  is the action that happening in progress at the past. The past continuous means that at a time in the past we were in the middle of an action. It is used to express that an activity was in progress at a specific point of time in the past. For example: I was cooking when the phone rang. The form is  was/ were + present participle (-ing).

g.      Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense is the relationship of time between occurrence an action and the present, past or future. Past Perfect Tense is used to indicate an action that was completed by a definite time or before another action was completed in the past. For example: I had never read anything by Jane Austen until last month. When we talk about things before this past time, we use the past perfect. The form is had + past participle.

h.      Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense is the relationship between the duration of an action  and  past. Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used to emphasize the duration of an activity that was completed before another action or time in the past. For example: I had been waiting for him for an hour when he finally arrived. We use  the past perfect continuous for an action which happened over a period of time. The form is had + been + present participle (-ing).

i.        Future Tense

Future Tense is the  expressing of  an action, event, or state that will occur in the future. Future Tense is used to express an action, event, or state that will occur in the future. For example: I will drive you to the airport tomorrow. We use it to talk about facts in the future. We often use will as a neutral way of expressing the future. The form is will + base form.

j.        Future Continuous Tense

Future Continuous Tense is the expressing of an action that will be happening over a period of time. Future Continuous Tense is used to express an action that will be happening over a period of time at some specific point in the future. For example: Even though I will be studying when you call, I do not mind being interrupted. It is used to emphasize the duration of an action of the future. For example: Lin will be working on this essay for the next week. We use the future continuous for an action over a period of time. The form is will + be + present participle (-ing).

k.      Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Tense is for something that will be over in the future. Future Perfect Tense is used to indicate that an activity will be completed before another event or time in the future. For example: Maria will have finished her Ph.D by the time she leaves for a two-year stay in France. We use the future perfect tense for something that will be over in the future. The form is will+ have + past participle.

l.        Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense is an action has been in progress for a period of time before another event or time in the future. Future Perfect Continuous Tense is used to indicate  that an action has been in progress for a period of time before another event or time in the future. For example: Carlos will have been working on his dissertation for three years before he gets his PhD degree. The form is will + have + been +present participle.

3.    Sentence Structure

Sentence is a group of words normally containing a subject and predicate, expressing an assertion, question, command, wish or exclamation. Subject means element in a sentence performing the action indicated by an active verb, element in a sentence receiving the action of a passive, and predicate means the verb with its modifiers, object, complement, or indirect object. Murphy (1991:1).

Seaton (2007:139) defines that a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. A sentence must have  a subject and a verb, but it may or may not have an object. It means that sentence must have a subject and a verb, the sentence will be awkward and have no meaning or giving sense to the reader. Also, Seaton (2007:140) claims that there are four kinds of  sentence that can be seen as follows:

a.       A declarative sentence makes a statement

Example : The children are swimming

b.      An interrogative sentence asks a question

Example : Are you going shopping today?

c.       An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion

Example: How stupid I am!

d.      An imperative sentence gives an order

Example: Please sit down!

            Carter and Skates (1990:50) state that when the subject and predicate expresses a complete idea, the clause is called sentence. It means that sentence must have complete idea to give sense to the reader and sentence is the development from clause.

Carter and Skates (1990:64) claim that there are four kinds of sentence can be seen as in the following:

a.       Simple sentence is made up of only one independent clause.

Example: Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide.

b.         Compound sentence is made up of two or more independent clauses.

Example: For countries, Brittany was an independent state, but now the area is part of France.

c.       Complex sentence is made up of one independent clause and one more dependent clauses-adverb, adjective, or noun.

Example: The game involves three contestants who spin a roulette

     wheel.

d.      Compound complex sentence is made up two or more in dependent clauses and one or more dependent clause.

Example: London’s Great Exhibition, which opened in 1851, was

                 designed to show human progress; it brought together in   

                 the “Cristal Palace” industrial displays remarkable for

                 their day.

Hogue (1996:18) states that a sentence is a group of words that  contains at least one subject and one verb and expresses a complete thought. It means that in a sentence which have subject and verb, but if it does not have complete thought and give no any sense to the reader, the sentence still not complete yet. As a similar to the Carter (1990), Hogue (1996:18) claims that there are four basic kinds of sentences in English: simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences. From the experts above can be concluded that there are four basic skills of writing sentences should be known by writer to produce good writing.

Eastwood (1999:4) states that the parts of a sentence are the subject, verb, object, complement  and adverbial. A statement begins with the subject and the verb. There are five main structures which we can use to make a simple statement:

      a.   SUBJECT              VERB

           My arms                  are   aching.

            Something               happened.

      b.   SUBJECT              VERB              OBJECT

            /                               need                  a rest.

            Five people             are moving       the piano.

The subject and object can be a pronoun (e.g. I) or a noun phrase (e.g. the piano).

 c.  SUBJECT               VERB              COMPLEMENT                              This piano                is                      heavy.

      It                            was                    a big problem.

            The complement can be an adjective (e.g. heavy) or a noun phrase 

(e.g. a big problem).The complement often comes after be. It can also come after appear, become, get, feel, look, seem, stay or sound. For adjectives and word order

 d.   SUBJECT              VERB                ADVERBIAL

        It                             is                        on my foot.

        Their house              is                         nearby.

 An adverbial can be a prepositional phrase (e.g. on my foot) or an 

             adverb (e.g. nearby).

       e.  SUBJECT                VERB               OBJECT              OBJECT

       It                                 s giving               me                      backache.

       David                         bought                 Melanie               a present.

We use two objects after verbs like give and send

4.    The Mastery of English Structure

According to Rozakis (2003:32) The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). The basic form shows action, occurrence, or state of being that is taking place right here and now. The basic form also is the base for the future form (i.e I will sleep; they will sleep).The six tenses express time within three main categories: past, present, and future. The using of correct tenses will show how is one event related to another.

There are four principals of  verb parts:

a. The present tense

The present is used to form the present tense (“I look”) and the future (“I will look”).English uses the helping verb will to show the future tense.

b. The present participle

The present participle forms all six of the progressive forms (“I am looking,” “I was looking,” and so on).

c. The past tense

The past forms only one tense, the past tense (“I looked”). As with the present tense, the principal parts and alone.

d. The past participle

The past participle forms the last three tenses: the present perfect (“I have looked”), the past perfect (“I had looked”), and the future perfect (“I will have looked”). To form the past participle, start with a helping verb such as is, are, was, has been. Then add the principal part of the verb.

The following are the guide line of Verb Tenses and Time

-          Use the two present forms (simple present, present progressive) to show events that take place now.

-          Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.

-          Use the two present forms (simple present, present progressive) to show events that take place now.

-          Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.

-          Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, future perfect progressive) to show events that take place in the future.

5.       Factors Influencing Students Ability

            The students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences is much or less influenced by the factors in learning English. Brown (2000:142) states:

“two facets of the affective domain of second language acquisition. The first of these is the intrinsic side affectivity: personality factors within a person that contribute in some way to the success of language learning. The second facet encompasses extrinsic factors-social cultural variables that emerge as the second language learner brings not just two languages into contact but two cultures, and in some sense must learn a second culture along with second language”.

a.      Personality Factor

These factors come from the students themselves that consist of physiological aspect such the affective domain, motivation, the neurobiology of affect, and measuring affective factors ( Brown, 2000:143-167).

1.      The Affective Domain

The affective domain is the emotional side human behavior, and it may be juxtaposed to the cognitive side. The development of affective states or feeling involves a variety of personality factor; feeling both about ourselves and about others with whom we come into contact. There are some of human behavior such as self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, and extroversion.

a.       Self-esteem

Self- Esteem probably the most pervasive aspect of any human behavior. It could be easily claimed that no successful cognitive or affective activity can be carried out without some degree of Self- esteem, Self-confidence, knowledge of yourself, and belief in your own capabilities for that activity.

b.      Inhibition

Inhibition is closely related to and in some cases subsumed under the notion of self-esteem. All human beings, in their understanding of themselves, build sets of defenses to protect the ego.

c.       Risk-Taking

Risk-taking is an important characteristic of successful learning of a second language. Learners have to be able to gamble a bit to be willing to try out hunches about the language and take the risk of being wrong.

d.      Anxiety

The research on anxiety suggests that like Self-Esteem, anxiety can be experienced at various level (Oxford:1999).

e.       Empathy

Empathy is the process of “putting yourself into someone else’s shoes” of reaching beyond the self to understand what another person’s feeling.

f.       Extroversion

Extroversion is the extent to which a person has a deep-seated need to receive ego enhancement and a sense of wholeness from other people as opposed to receiving that affirmation within oneself.

2.      Motivation

Motivation is probably the most frequently used catch-all term for explaining the success or failure of virtually any complex task. It is easy to assume that success in any task is due simply to the fact that someone is “motivated”.

a.       Instrumental and Integrative orientations

The instrumental side of the dichotomy referred to acquiring a language as a means for attaining goals; furthering career, reading technical material, translation, and so forth. The integrative side described learners who wished to integrate themselves into the culture of the second language group and become involved in social interchange in that group.

b.      Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent for reward except the activity itself. People seem to engage in the activities for their own sake and not because the lead to extrinsic reward…. intrinsically motivated behaviors are aimed at bringing about certain internally rewarding consequences, namely, feelings of competence and self-determination.

3.      The Neurobiology of Affect

John Schumann’s(1997,1998,1999) work in this area has singled out one section of the temporal lobes of the human brain, the amygdale, as a major player in the relationship of affect to language learning. The amygdala is instrumental in our ability to make an appraisal of a stimulus. In other words, if you see or hear or taste something, the amygdale helps you decide whether or not your perception is novel, pleasant, relevant to your compatible with your own social norms and self-concept. 

4.      Measuring Affective Factors

The measurement of  affective factors has for many decades posed a perplexing problem.

b.      Socio-Cultural Factor

These factors  consists of social, environmental such as attitudes, second cultural acquisition, social distance, and culture in the classroom (Brown,2000: 180-189).

1.      Attitudes

Attitudes, like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop early in childhood and are the result of parents’ and peers’ attitudes, of contact with people who are “different” in any number of ways, and of interacting affective factors in the human experience. These attitude form a part of one’s perception of self, of others, and of culture in which one is living.

2.      Second Culture Acquisition

Culture learning is a process of creating shared meaning between cultural representatives. It is experiential, a process that continuous over years of language learning, and penetrates deeply into one’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

3.      Social Distance

The concept of social distance emerged as an affective construct to give explanatory power to the place of culture learning in second language learning. Social distance refers to the cognitive and affective proximity of two cultures that come into contact within an individual ”Distance” is obviously used in a metaphorical sense to depict dissimilarity between two cultures.

4.      Culture in the classroom

Geert Holfstede in Brown (2000:190) states that who used different conceptual categories to study the cultural norms of fifty different countries such as individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity or femininity.

a.       Individualism as a characteristic of a culture opposes collectivism ( the word is used here in an anthropological, not a political, sense).

b.      Power distance as a characteristic of a culture defines the extent to which the less powerful persons in a society accept inequality in power and considerate as normal.

c.       Uncertainty Avoidance as a characteristic of a culture defines the extent to which people within a culture are made nervous by situations they perceive as unstructured, unclear, or unpredictable, situations which they therefore try to avoid by maintaining strict codes of behavior and a belief in absolute truths.

d.      Masculinity as a characteristic of a culture opposes femininity. The two differ in the social roles associated with the biological fact of the existence of two sexes, and in particular  in the social roles attributed to men. They expect men to be assertive, ambitious and competitive, to strive for material success, and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast. They expect women to serve and to care for the non-material quality of life, for children, and for the weak.   

  

B.   Review of the Related Findings

Naniwati (2006) in the title “a study on the first year students ability of smanegeri 2 Bangkinang in using sentences in past progressive tense and past perfect tense” found that The finding of the whole samples (40 students) led the researcher to infer that the ability of the first year students of SMA Negeri 2 Bangkinang  in using past progressive tense and past perfect tense is low. It was proven  by 19 students (47%) are above the mean (X = 54) and 21 students (53%) are below the mean . From two of the tenses, past perfect was more difficult than past progressive tense. It could be seen from the mean of each tense. The mean of past progressive tense (X=62) is higher than of past perfect tense (X=45).

Suparman (2009) in the title “a study on the ability of the second year students of Smpn 3 Kuantan Hilir in selecting  correct English structure” found that ;The average of students’ ability level in selecting English structure is still low. The students‘score are mediocre level (47,72%). It means that the students still find difficulty in selecting the correct English structure. From 34 the second year students of SMPN 3 Kuantan Hilir who took the test the writer found out that the classification of the students’ ability in selecting correct English structure can be drawn as follows: one student (2,94%) is in excellent level, 2 students (5,8%) are in good level, 25 students ( 73,5%) are in mediocre level, 6 students ( 17,6%) are in poor level. Through the data analysis in chapter four, it can be concluded that the students got the lowest score in personal pronoun (44,4%).And the highest percentage of the students’ score was the simple present tense (54,4%).

Marwa (2004:62) claims that “there is a significant correlation between students’ mastery on verb tenses and their writing achievement at the third year students of English Education Department of State Islamic University SUSKA Riau”. It means that the students are expected to have good writing whenever they have already mastered verb tenses. In short, the students must be good at verb tenses if they want to be good in writing.

Based on the related findings above, I could conclude that most of the students were not able to apply verb tenses in sentences. The students were not able to choose verb tenses that are correct in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. In conclusion, the students must be mastered in constructing 6 tenses in sentences.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A.    Kind of the Research

            In doing this research, I conducted mixed methods; they were quantitative and qualitative research. I used mixed method based on research questions in this research. Cresswell (2005:510) states that mixed methods research design is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and “mixing” both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study to understand a research problem. In this research, I used explanatory research as a type of mixed methods research. According to Cresswell (2005:515) an explanatory design (also called a two –phase model) consists of first collecting quantitative data then collecting qualitative data help explain or elaborate on the quantitative results. It means that in the mixed methods, I collected quantitative first in the sequence and this was followed by the secondary qualitative data collection.

B.   Research Context

In doing a research, the area of this research was necessary to be determined where the research had to be held. The area used in this research should have good quality, because it was used as a place to get valid data, it was aimed to make a research was easy to be done, and it did not need much time. This research was held at The second year English Department Student Faculty Of Teachers Training and Education Lancang Kuning University Pekanbaru. The Subject of this research was the second year of English Department Student Faculty of Teachers Training and Education in Lancang Kuning University Pekanbaru. The Object of this research was the students ability to construct some of 6 tenses in sentences.

1.      Population

Cresswell (2005:510) states that a population is a group of individuals who have the same characteristic. The population of this research was the second year students of  English Department Student FKIP Lancang Kuning University. There were two classes. So, the total of the population in this research comprise  67 students. 

TABLE 3.1

The number of the Second year of the Students of English Department FKIP Lancang Kuning University

No	Class	Population		Total
		Male	Female
1	III A	5	30	35
2	III B	7	25	32
Total		12	55	67

2.      Sample

Cresswell (2005:510) states that a sample is a sub group of the target population that the researcher plans to study for generalizing about the target population. In this research, I used simple random sampling because in simple random sampling  the researcher selects participants (or units such as schools) for the sample so that any individual has an equal probability of being selected from the population.  I took class III B as  the sample of  this research.

C.    Rationale of the Research

In this research, I used mixed method based on the research questions. The first question, what is the students’ level of ability in constructing 6 tenses in Sentences at the Second year English Department FKIP UNILAK Pekanbaru? And the second question, what factors influencing students’ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences? To answer the first question, I used quantitative data because  using statistic’s formula to know the percentage of the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. And to answer the second question, I used qualitative data because using words to describe factors influencing students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. So, in doing this research, I needed both quantitative and qualitative data.  I used mixed methods research because the two research questions of this study pertinent to the first: the inquiry of numbers using statistics in this case was dealing with the students’ ability and the second: the data also relied on the views of participants regarding to the problems that they faced particularly within the scope of this study.

Regarding to this study, I used quantitative method to identify students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. Also, the qualitative research had been used to find out factors influencing students ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. In short, this research was to identify the phenomena of English tenses errors among the second year students at English Department FKIP UNILAK Pekanbaru.

D.   Collecting Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Techniques used in collecting the data in this research were test and questionnaire.

1.      Quantitative Data

 Test

Test was the first instrument in this research. Test was the instrument in quantitative method to answer the research question in this research. Test was used when I did on the inquiry of numbers using statistics in analyzing the obtained data.

This instrument was used to get the data pertinent to the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. I used this instrument to know the percentage of the students’ ability in constructing6 tenses in sentence. In this case, I gave the constructing test. The constructing test was designed consist of 6 tenses. 10 questions for future tense, 10 questions for future continuous tense, 10 questions for present perfect tense, 10 questions for present perfect continuous tense, 10 questions for past perfect tense, and 10 questions for past perfect continuous tense. The students were instructed to reconstruct the sentences into the correct tenses in sentences based on the parenthesis questions. To score this test, the correct tenses was divided into 60 timed 100. 

Before the test was given to the subject of the research, it had been tried out to prove whether it was reliable or valid.

2.      Qualitative Data

Questionnaire

A questionnaire was a research instrument consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering information from participants. A distinction was made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asked the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question had the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. In this research, I used open-ended questions on questionnaires to conduct qualitative data. Creswell (2005: 217) states that “on questionnaires, you ask some questions that are close ended and some that open-ended”. It means that a questionnaire was a research instrument to collect the data by using questions from the participants of the research. 

E.    Priority

Mixed methods research advanced the weight or priority to the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. In the explanatory  design, quantitative data was greater weight than qualitative data. Creswell (2005:518) states that “weight or priority means that the researcher in a mixed methods design places more emphasis on one type of data than other types of data in the research and the written report”. This emphasis might result from personal experience with data collection, the need to understand one form of data before proceeding to the next, or audience reading the research.

F.   Sequence

Mixed methods research advanced the sequence of data collection using concurrent or sequential approaches. In explanatory design, the quantitative data was collected first, followed by a qualitative data. The purpose of the study was to explain quantitative results further with qualitative data or to develop an instrument from qualitative data; the procedures should clearly indicate this sequence. The data collection procedures were independent of each other and typically presented as phases.

TABLE 3.2

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods of Data Collection and Types of Data

Quantitative Research		Qualitative Research
Methods of Data Collection	Data	Methods of Data Collection	Data
Instrument (Test)	Numeric Scores	Open-ended questions on questionnaires	Text data from questionnaire

G.     Data Analysis Matched to the Research

The data were collected from the participants by using test and questionnaire. I had analyzed the data to know the ability of the students in constructing 6 tenses in sentences and to find out the factors influencing in constructing 6 tenses in sentences. The data obtained from the test had been analyzed by using descriptive statistics as (figure 3.1) in the following diagram:

Figure 3.1 Diagram

 

Central tendency                           Variability                      Relative Standing

          Mean                                    Variance                                Z-Score     

        Median                           Standard Deviation                 Percentile Ranks

          Mode                                      Range                

                                                                        ( Cresswell, 2005:182)

The next step in the research was to display the data for explanatory  data analysis. The data gathered from test had been analyzed in terms of the percentage. Then, the percentage analysis of the data had been used to support and provide more detailed descriptions of the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences.

 Regarding to the second research question pertinent to student’ problems in verb tense errors, I had related the findings to Lane and Lange’s statement. Lane and Lange (1993: 4-5) claim that there are two problems that the students commonly have in using verb tenses in writing sentence; an incorrect verb tense has been used in a sentence or clause and the verb tenses within a piece of writing (one or more paragraphs) are inappropriately shifted from one time frame to another. Meanwhile, the data taken from questionnaire had been analyzed simultaneously with qualitative data such as describing of the data.

After identifying the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences and finding out the students’ problems in constructing 6 tenses, I described the students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences and factors influencing students’ ability in constructing 6 tenses in sentences.

H.     Diagram of the Procedure

In doing this research, I used mixed methods designs; they were quantitative and qualitative research. This research was explanatory research as a type of mixed methods research. In conducting this research, I conducted quantitative data and followed by qualitative data such as diagram of procedure (figure II) in the following:

  Figure 3.2 Diagram

Explanatory Mixed Method Design

	QUAN (Data / Results)		qual (Data /Results)

 

                                                Follow-up

                                                        

   

Legend:

Box = data collection and results

Uppercase letters/lowercase letters = major emphasis, minor emphasis

Arrow = sequence + = concurrent or simultaneous