AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE USE OF TENSES IN WRITING PERSONAL LETTER OF EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP N 1 PURING, KEBUMEN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013

Abstract

This study is aimed to give description what kind of errors the students’ have in using tenses in writing personal letter. Then, the researcher classifies each error and identifies the causes of the students’ errors in using tenses in writing personal letter. In this research, the researcher uses descriptive qualitative method. The test is made by the students spontaneously without looking up their note or dictionary. Then, the researcher analyzes the students’ personal letters using surface strategy taxonomy method. After analyzing the student’s personal letter, the researcher gets the result that the students’ error belongs to fair category (42.35%). There are four kinds of errors that are made by the students. There are omission (41.98%), addition (8.98%), misformation (36.79%), and misordering (12.26). Omission error was the most frequent error that the students produced. It shows that the students get difficulties in using tenses in writing personal letter. They are lack of grammar mastery and most of them are also lack of vocabulary.

Key words: Error Analysis, Tenses, Writing, Personal Letter.