Problems In Learning English Grammar
The student transfers the set of habits of the grammatical structure of his native language to the foreign language. Thus when a given structure pattern has the same functions, the same form, and the same distribution in the native and the foreign languages, the student will ‘learn’ it easily and quickly by simple transfer. When the structural pattern is not paralleled in the native language, the student will have trouble learning it because of interference from the native language habit patterns. This problem can be illustrated in this scenario: the Indonesian sentence of Nanda menemui Nyonya Nancy tadi malam can be translated into English in Nanda met Mrs. Nancy last night. The time marker of last night and the presence of verb met from this sentence indicate that the doer did past activity (past tense). Meanwhile, when the time marker is turned into setiap sore/ every afternoon, the sentence indicates a habitual activity (present tense) as in Nanda meets Mrs. Nancy every afternoon. If we analyzed it, we can get the indicator affecting the change of this tense, that is, the verb of met that turns into meets. On the contradiction, in Indonesian, if the learners want to say in their native language, they do not need to turn the verb of menemui into *menemuis. They may say Nanda menemui Nyonya Nancy setiap sore hari.
Briefly, the description above implies that the differential grammatical structure between L1 (First Language) and L2 (Second Language) influences the students’ difficulty in mastering L2. In Indonesia, the students learn English as the foreign language. Hence, the problems in mastering English grammar can not be avoided because that system is not same and errors are often yielded by them.
Grammar
Grammar is the study of words and their
function. In its wider sense it may include phonology (pronunciation),
morphology (inflectional forms), syntax (the relation of words to other words
in phrases, clauses, and sentences), and semantics (meaning of words). In its
narrower sense it may deal only with the uses of words.
On the other words, grammar is the support system of communication and we
learn it to communicate better. Grammar explains the why and how of language.
We learn it because we just can not do without it. Or we can say that grammar is the rules for forming words
and making sentences.
Moreover, grammar is as a description of
the structure of a language and the way which linguistic units such as words
and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language. It usually takes
into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in the overall
system of the language. Besides, he also clarifies that a phrase, clause, or
sentence which is acceptable because it follows the rules of a grammar is described
as a grammatical. For example, the English sentence: They walk to school would be a grammatical sentence according to a
grammar of Standard English, but the sentence: *They walks to school would be considered ungrammatical according
to such grammar.
From the
clarifications above, the term of “grammar” that the writer means is a set of
rules in linguistic units to produce sentence or utterance appropriately in the
language. By mastering grammar well, the L2 (Language 2) learners can convey their thought
meaningfully.
Sentence
A sentence is a group of related words
containing a subject and a predicate and expressing a complete and independent
unit of thought. For example: Duck swim,
A flock of wild ducks flew across the river, I bought the book that you wrote.
a. Subject
The
subject of a sentence is a word or a group of words denoting that of which
something is said. The subject may be a noun or any word or group of words
substituting for a noun.
b. Predicate
The
predicate is the word or group of words denoting that which is said of the subject. The predicate may be
only a finite verb, or it may be a finite verb with its complement and
modifiers. For example, in John is in the
Navy, John is the complete subject,
and is in the Navy is the complete
predicate. In For a man to speak of
himself is a difficult and delicate matter, the subject is the phrase For a man to speak of himself; the
complete predicate, is a difficult and
delicate matter, consists of the verb is
plus the noun matter with its
adjective modifiers.
Phrases
A phrase
is a group of related words without a subject or a predicate, acting as a
single part of speech. Phrases may be classified as to their function (adverb,
adjective, noun, and verb) or as their structure (prepositional, participial,
gerundial, and infinitive). The most common phrases are the verb phrases (have, come, will be seeing, might have been) and the prepositional
phrases (at the seashore, in Europe, across the lake, in a bad
humor, without reservation). The
term of phrases are not discussed in more detail because the researcher does
not practice it in this study.
Clause
A clause is a subdivision of a sentence
containing a subject and a predicate. Clauses are traditionally classified as
independent (or principal) and dependent (or subordinate). Or we can say that: a clause is a group of words containing a
subject and a verb. Moreover, she emphasizes that an independent clause is a
complete sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a sentence (it is
also called as a main clause). Meanwhile, a dependent clause is not a complete
sentence. It must be connected to an independent clause. For example in the
adjective clause of the sentence I
thanked the woman who helped me. I
thanked the woman is an independent clause and who helped me is as the dependent clause (or adjective clause)
because it does not stand alone and it modifies the noun woman.
Noun Clause
A noun clause is used as a subject or an object. In other
words, a noun clause is used in the same ways as a noun. He also states that
the words such whether, if, that, when, where, why, how, who, whom, what,
which, whose mark out the forming of noun clause or noun clause or nominal clause
is a clause which functions like a noun or a noun phrase; that is, which may
occur as subject, object compliment, in apposition, or as prepositional
complement. For example:
a.
What she said is awful.
b.
What he said was interesting.
c.
I don’t know what she said.
d.
I wonder whether he needs help.
Subject-Verb Agreement
One of the problem sections most students
encounter in English grammar is keeping the subject and verb consistent in a
compound sentence. This is particularly severe in long sentences. Subject verb agreement is simple. If the subject of
a sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular, and if the subject of
the sentence is plural then the verb must be plural. An “s” on a verb usually
indicates that a verb is singular, while an “s” on a noun usually indicates that
the noun is plural but on the special treatment, this theory is not applied in
the certain noun such as, women, children, people, etc. Verb must agree with their subjects in number (singular
or plural) and person (I, you, he, they, and so on). A singular subject (one
person or thing) has a singular verb. A plural subject (two or more people or
things) has a plural verb. For example:
a.
The boy walks to school.
b.
The boys walk to school.
c.
The children are having
breakfast.
d.
Jamie is having breakfast.
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