Chapter I

An analysis of students’ ability to use present tense in cause-effect paragraph

writing at second year’s college students of English Education Program in
STKIP YPM Bangko academic years 2010-2011”.

as final project in writing class

Lecturer: Herysa Oktawati, S.Pd.I

OKTRISKY SAPUTRA
08020312184

English education Program

Language and Art Department
Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan
STKIP YPM BANGKO
Academic Years 2010/2011
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Problem

English is a language that must be learned people in this world. People

who master in English probably have opportunities to get job easily. For many

years, English has been the most important foreign language in Indonesia,

which is taught from elementary school to university. However, in senior high

school, English is taught as main subject in which the government has

changed the curriculum into Competence-Based Curriculum 2004 to be KTSP

in 2008. According to Departemen Pendidikan Nasional (2003: 36).

“The competence-basing language curriculum is a systematic draft and

strategy which build the communicative competence or the competence of
contextual. It means that it builds all the basis of competences themselves.
They are like linguistics competences, social culture and strategies to
make the benefit context.”

From the statement above, it is clear that Curriculum Based on

competence 2004-2009 tries to develop and achieve the communicative

competence or discourse competence and has perspective that is

comprehensive to the discourse. The learners must be able to master the four

skills, they are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, also English

components such as: grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

Among the four skills above, writing is the most difficult one. Because it

requires demonstrating the control of a number of variables simultaneously;

they are control of content, format, sentence structure, vocabulary, and

punctuation spelling. Nunan (1989: 35) points out, “It has been argued that

learning to write fluently and expressively is the most difficult of the macro

skills for all language users regardless of whether the language in question is

first, second, or foreign language.”

Another opinion comes from Heaton (1989: 138). He explain that the

writing skills are complex and sometimes difficult to teach, requiring mastery

not only of grammatical and rhetorical devices but also of conceptual and

judgment elements. It means that ability to write needs a special skill and

process in organizing language material by using learners’ own words and

ideas and to be a good composition.

Writing skill in English learning is a process in share idea to written form

by arranges the words, sentence that will give the reader information,

explanation even a description. Writing is a process of selecting, combining,

arranging, and developing ideas in effective sentence, paragraph or longer

units of discourse (the National Council of English Teacher, 1985:5)

Based on some studies that had been done before (Triyatna, in Silpristy

(2008: 8), it is proved that students still found many problems in writing. The

problems can be in content, organization, vocabulary, language used in

structure or grammar and mechanism.

These problems are faced by researcher when researcher got study in

writing course two last semesters. These problems were about contained and

how do the students organize the structure to be well arranged. Present tense

has the role itself, one of that is using it in cause-effect paragraph writing. It is
one of important that ill make the reader comprehend about the idea shared.

There are many students do not get good mark in writing course. They do not

have interesting if they were asked to write.

There are some usually paragraph developments according by the authors’

thought patterns. One of them is Cause-effect paragraph. The cause-effect

paragraph pattern is used to describe an event or action that is caused by

another event or action. A cause-effect paragraph explains why or how

something happened. It might be a one easiest of Pattern of paragraph for

students to write.

Based on these problems above, researcher interests in analyzing students’

ability to use present tense in cause-effect paragraph writing, with title

“analysis of students’ ability to use present tense in cause-effect paragraph

writing at second year’s college students of English Education Program in

STKIP YPM Bangko academic years 2010-2011”.

1.2 Identification of the Problem

It can be denied anymore, that writing is the most difficult skill to master

among the other skills, because there are some components that must master

by students to make their writing is good.

Cause-effect paragraph pattern is a way of organizing the idea, share idea

in written that can be easier for students. It refers to description of one event

is caused by another event/ action.

 There are some problems of students to write paragraph. They must deal

with the components of writing, have to master the rule of structure in

English, especially for this study is to use present tense, students can

differentiate the rule of the sixteen tenses and must know the differentiation

of irregular and regular verb in use, 3rd singular person’ rules and all of the

aspects in present tense.

1.3 Limitation of the Problem

Based on the identification of the problem above, I limit the problem in

this study on students’ ability to use present tense, to use auxiliary verbs,

students’ ability to use regular and irregular verbs, student’ ability to use 3 rd

singular person, to use conditional sentence and only focus for college

students at Writing class of STKIP YPM Bangko.

1.4 Research Question

Based on the description of the problem above, generally I formulated the

problem as:

“How is the ability of second year’s college students of STKIP YPM

Bangko to write a cause effect paragraph?”

1.5 Formulation of the Problem

Based on the description of the problem above, specifically I formulated

the problem as: how is the ability of second year’s college students of STKIP
YPM Bangko to use auxiliary verb, rule of 3rd singular person, to use regular

or irregular verb and conditional sentence in cause-effect paragraph writing?

1.6 Purpose of the Study

Generally, the purpose of this study is to know about the ability of

students to write cause-effect paragraph. Especially the purpose of this study

is to know more details about the students’ ability to use rule of present tense

in writing and to know what is the most difficult aspect in present tense for

students.

1.7 Significance of the Research

The result of this research gives contribution for teacher, students and

researcher. Teacher will know how is the students’ ability to write cause-

effect paragraph, especially the ability to use present tense. For students, they

will know that there are important component in writing and they will more

interest to write and think that writing is not so difficult to master. And for

researcher, this research gives contribution that researcher will know what

are the problems in writing, have responsibility to the problems in education,

especially English learning and complete the last final project.

1.8 Definition of Key Terms

To avoid misunderstanding of the concepts used in this study, some

definitions are provided as the following:

 Analysis is the detailed study or examination of something in order to

understand more about it; the result of the study (Hornby:2000)

Ability is capacity or power to do something physically or mentally

(Hornby:2000)

Simple present tense is the tense normally used for the relation of daily

event. The simple present tense is used for actions completed in the present at

a definite time. It is used for an action whose time now terminated, or

occurred in period of time now terminated. It is also used for a present habit,

and it is used in conditional sentences.

Cause-effect paragraph pattern is used to describe an event or action

that is caused by another event or action. A cause-effect paragraph explains

why or how something happened. It might be a one easiest of Pattern of

paragraph for students to write.