An Error Analysis of Simple Past Tense Used in Writing Recount Text

Abstract

The objective of this research was to find out the types of error and the dominant factor that influenced the use of simple past tense in recount text. The writer used descriptive qualitative method and the techniques to collect the data were documentation, interview and questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using error analysis method. The respondents of this research was the tenth grade of MA Ar-Ridlo Pekuncen, there were 23 students. There were four types of errors found: omission 20.8%, addition 12.5%, misformation 54,2% and misordering 12,5%. The factor influenced was found from the result of interview and questionnaire. The result showed many factors, there were:over-generalization, carelessness, lack of knowledge, translation, errors encouraged by teaching material and or method, first language or mother tongue. In this research, the dominant factors that the writer found was first language or mother tongue because they wrote recount text by using Indonesian pattern.