CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. The Background of the Study

Language is an exclusively human property. Language is the ability to

acquire and use complex systems of communication Language is a set (finite or

infinite) of sentences, each finite in length, and constructed out of a finite set of

elements (Chomsky, 1957 : 13). Knowing a language means being able to produce

an infinite number of sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences

never heard before. The functions of language provide the primary dimension for

characterizing and organizing communicative processes and products in a society;

without understanding why a language is being used as it is, and the consequences

of such use, it is impossible to understand its meaning in the context of social

interaction. Language then is the main vehicle by which we know about other

peoples thought because every time we speak we are revealing something about

language.

At a societal level, language serves many functions. Chief among these,

perhaps, is that a language creates/reinforces boundaries, unifying its speakers as

members of a single speech community, and excluding outsiders from intragroup

communication and at the levelof individuals and groups interacting with one

another, the functions of communication are directly related to the participants

purposes and needs (Hymes in Troike and Saville, 1986)

 Language acquisition serves as one of the central topics in cognitive

science. Language acquisition is the process by which human acquire the capacity

to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and

sentences to communicate. Language acquisition is one of the quintessential

human traits, because non-humans do not communicate by using language.

Children learn their first language naturally, instinctively, and

through oral skills long before reading or writing are applied. Second

language acquisition is quite different. It requires conscious effort and often

occurs through oral and literacy skills simultaneously. Recent research on

language seeks to understand whether or not humans have a critical period

for acquiring language. As we age, language acquisition becomes more

difficult, especially for adults learning a new language. So the researcher

needs to know how language acquisition works on the junior high school

students. Learning a second language can be very difficult and can put students

behind on their regular education.

1.2. The Problems of the Study

In line with the background of the study, the problems of the study are

formulated as follows:

1. To what extent do the junior high school students acquire the text structure

and lexicogrammar of descriptive paragraph?

2. How does the acquistion of text structure and lexicogrammar of descriptive

text?
1.3. The Objectives of the

Related to the problems of the study, the objectives of the study are:

1. to find out

2. to describe

1.4. The Scope of the Study

1.5.The Significances of the Study

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1. THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Language acquistion is a process by which a language capability develops

in human beings which concerns with the development of language in children.

2.2. THE NATUREOF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Piagets theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about

the nature and development of human intelligence which deals with the nature of

knowledge itself and how humans gradually come to acquire, construct and use it

(Torres and Ash, 2007). It was first created by the Swiss developmental

psychologist, Jean Piaget

Piaget states that language acquisition is a mental and emotional process.

The development of language in a child is linked to the childs cognitive

development. It is believed that a child must have the understanding of a concept

before he can verbalize it.

For example, if a child says, This car is bigger than that one, he must

have the concept of size in his mind before commenting.

According to Piaget, children learn their initial rational constructs through

the environment i.e. by interaction with other people.

The four stages of development Piaget proposed are :

1. Sensorimotor Stage

a. begins at birth and continues up to about age 2

 b. children learn about physical objects and are concerned with motor skills

c. when children in this stage see a new object they shake it, throw it, chew it

or put it in their mouth simply to understand the characteristics of the

object.

2. Preoperational Stage

3. Concrete operations stage

4. Formal operations stage

2.3. LEXICOGRAMMAR

Lexicogrammar is a term pecullar to systemic functional linguistics. It was

coined by Michael Halliday the father of systemic functional linguistics, to

describe the continuity between grammar and lexis. Halliday brings these

phenomena together with this term. He describes the relation of grammar to lexis

as one of a cline and therefore, one of delicacy (Halliday, 1961)

2.4.

2.5.
 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

3.1. Research Design

This study will be conducted by applying descriptive qualitative research

design. Bogdan and Biklen (1992) states that descriptive qualitative research is a

research which has natural setting and the researcher is the key instrument,

qualitative means to find out how a theory works in different phenomena whose

data collected are in the form of words rather than number.

3.2. Subject of the Study

The subject of the research are the students of junior high school in SMP

Negeri 1 Tanjungbalai. The students will be observed in their school. They are

all native Indonesian speakers who are included in an English speaking club.

The students level are from seventh ninth grade.

3.3. Technique of Collecting Data

In this research, the data will be collected by observation technique. The

data will be collected from the students

3.4. Technique of Data Analysis

 There are three main components of qualitative data analysis, those are

data reduction, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions (Miles,

Huberman & Sladana, 2014)

 REFERENCES

1. Halliday, M.A.K. 1961. Categories of a Theory of Grammar. Word, 17 No

3. p267

2. Torres, J. and Ash, M.(2007). Cognitive development. In Encylopedia of

special education: A reference for the education of children, adolescents,

and adults with disabilities and other exceptional individuals.

Retrieved from:

http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyse/cognitive_develop

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