AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE IN WRITING OF STATE SMK IN JAKARTA

Abstract

Mastering grammar is not easy for leraners. It makes students often make errors on their writing when related to grammar. Error analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes, and consequences of unsuccessful language. The purpose of this research is to identify the errors of simple past tense that is made by students in 42 State SMK in Jakarta in writing narrative composition. The qualitative method is used by researcher in finishing the research. She took 38 writing of students of 42 State SMK in west Jakarta. The research was held for a month start from June to July. The errors made by students influence the English narrative composition. It can be seen in the writing they made which is showing the sentences they made became meaningless. The learners weren’t used to write or made an English narrative composition by the English teachers so they got some difficulties when they were asked to make an English narrative composition. After having research on the learners’ English narrative composition, the errors happened in simple past tense are 32 mistakes; they are the use of simple past tense 20 mistakes or 62,5% and the form of simple past tense 12 mistakes or 37,5%. Keywords: