SEMINAR ON PROPOSAL

AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS ABILITY IN USING SIMPLE TENSES IN EIGHT GRADE OF SMP GANESHA DENPASAR IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2011 / 2012

BY NPM

: Kadek Ayu Tirtawati : 08.8.03.51.31.2.5.2567

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT THE FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MAHASARASWATI DENPASAR

AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS ABILITY IN USING SIMPLE TENSES IN EIGHT GRADE OF SMP GANESHA DENPASAR IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2011 / 2012

1.1

Background of Study

Nowadays, Mastering English is required in view of the fact that it becomes one of the science and technology languages. Moreover, English is an international language which is the most commonly used to communicate by the people among the different countries. If you know nothing about English, of course it will be very hard for you to prevent your existence in modern world. English, similar to other languages, consists of four basic language skills. They are reading, writing, listening and speaking. Reading and listening are categorized as receptive skills, while writing and speaking are classified as productive skills. As productive skills, writing and speaking can be seen on the students products. The example is that when the students write a report (writing) and then tell it orally (speaking). However, writing has more complicated process than speaking. The reason is that the writer not only needs to think the idea that he or she want to deliver to other people but also the right way to express their idea in a written form. In addition, Akhadiah (1988 in Arifudin, 2007: 167) states that writing is the most complicated skill to be assessed. The factor is that one of the components of writing skill relates to language use and grammatical control. As a result, grammar becomes aspect that is important if we want to-be-fluent-in-english. In grammar, we will learn how to construct sentences in an appropriate way. In grammar, we learn about how to create a good sentence with right structure. We will learn many kind of tenses such as: simple tense, past tense and future tense, etc and how to make integrative and negative sentence.

However, grammar is not as easy as people thought. Moreover, for many people, grammar is an aspect which becomes most difficult to learn in English. For that reason, in every English class, grammar becomes one important subject that is must be teach. In express a condition with right

tenses, many people still make errors or, in other word, inappropriate with the grammatical rule that has been decided. Language use is emphasized on producing how language is used based on its context. It means that different people use English based on the different purposes while usage concerns to the pattern of language. The use of language (constructing the text both orally and written) is determined by the context of culture and the context of situation. In this research, the writer chooses the objective test as a subject of the investigation because many students make mistakes in using the correct verbs in constructing the sentences which relate to their own experience. For example, students say I go to Senggigi Beach yesterday and the other mistakes can be found in I vacation to Bali which should be I took a vacation in Bali. They find it quite difficult to write the sentence even though it relates to their own experience. It means that the students already find difficult to use the correct verb and noun itself.That is why, the writer chooses the objective test. From the case above, the writer wants to investigate what the students problems in using simple tenses.

1.2 Statement of research question This study is conducted in order to answer these following questions: 1. What is the students ability in using and understanding simple tenses? 2. What kind of problems do the students have in using simple tenses? 1.3 Purpose of Study In general, this study is aimed at investigating the students problems in using simple tenses, this study is intended to: 1. Find out the students ability in using simple tenses. 2. Identify some problems are faced by students.

1.4 Limitation of the study This study is focused on investigating the students problems in using simple tenses at the second year students of SMPN GANESHA DENPASAR in academic year 2011/2012.

1.5 Significance of Study This study is expected to give theoretical and practical significance of study. Theoretical Theoretically, this study is expected to give information about the students ability in using simple tenses and the problems that the students have so they can improve their knowledge in using it. Practical Practically, the writer expects that this study would provide further information for English teacher in developing the quality of teaching and learning process. While for the students, it can be used as basis to improve their ability in using simple tenses. 1.6 Assumption In this present study, the researcher thinks that it is necessary to make some assumptions. The assumptions of the present study are as follow: The students under investigations are assumed to have similar prior learning experience in English due to the length of study and exposure in target language both inside and outside classroom setting. The 8th grade students of SMP GANESHA are assumed to have the same strength of learning motivation. Because learning motivation has been admitted to play determinant and acquiring English. 1.7 Hypothesis The researches predicts that the error of using simple tenses is influenced by the changed of verb and adverb of time in the sentence. 1.8 Definition of the Key Terms In order to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the terms and the content of this study, it is necessary to define the key terms as follows. Simple Tenses

*Objective test