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Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
89
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters:
(A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth Grade Students
Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment)
Nurul Adhalina
Politeknik Harapan Bersama Tegal
email: nuruladhalina@gmail.com
Abstract
There are four aspects of English skills should be owned by English learners in order to
reach communicative competence, namely Speaking, Listening, Grammar, and Writing. By
viewing the facts around, we know that the achievement of writing of Indonesian students are in
a shitter, either in structure a word, the use of the term, grammar, or another objectives. They
still often do mistakes and errors when they write. In line with this case, in this study the writer
tries to analyze errors in tenth grade students majoring marketing in class A at SMK N 1 Slawi
while they were writing invitation letters.
Keywords: writing, error, invitation letter, students
1. Introduction
At this time, we live in the twenty first century or globalization era where science and
communication develop very rapidly. By these developments, the flow of globalization feels
strong, so that the world also feels so flat (Friedman, 2005). This led us to the boundary of a
country become vague and eventually lost. The pressure of globalization attacks developing
countries such as Indonesia, also effects transformation changes faster and broader in various
aspect of life. This condition makes the competition among region becomes higher too. Those
who can control communication, they will rule the world. We know that language is a means of
communication in the world. Hence, its existence in the middle of current global needs to be
observed.
The existence of language in human life has a very important role. However, it is
sometimes less so understood by its speakers, so that it doesn't seem a civilization can be
changed by the presence of a language. The development of science, technology, and the arts
bring speakers inevitably must deal with other languages, such as English. Talking about English
in the modern era, we know that this kind of language is the most powerful language in the world
or well-known as International language. The increasing use of English makes this language
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters: (A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth
Grade Students Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment) (Nurul Adhalina)
90
getting deeper roots in every society. It cannot be denied, English has broken out violently in our
country including in learning-teaching activities in schools.
There are some problems regarding the low quality of learning English skills. Imran in
Hanuri (2011) explained that according to research conducted by Taufik Ismail student writing
skills turned out to be the lowest in Asia, Indonesia. Still in Hanuri’s (2011), according to the
report of the World Bank (1998) about reading test results of pupils in Indonesia ranks lowest in
East Asia. Average reading test results in some countries indicate as follows: Hongkong 75.5,
74%, Singapore Thailand 25.1% 52.6%, Philippines, and Indonesia 51.7% (2003: Semiawan,
574). Furthermore, the Semiawan also explained that the results of the research showed students
in Indonesia was only able to understand 30% of reading material and are having trouble
answering problems such as shape description that require reasoning. Regarding to this, Sarwoko
in Hanuri (2011) said that writing is an intellectual culture which is alarming.
English at school actually is the subject of a foreign language that is introduced and
taught to students in order they know about the international language and as a preparation to
face the world of globalization. It cannot be denied that both teachers and students are people
who are still learning that language, so it is often found any faults in the learning and teaching of
English.
Discussing about English skills, as we know that there are four aspects of the skills
should be owned by English learners, namely Speaking, Listening, Grammar, and Writing. As
mentioned above, the achievement of writing Indonesian students are in a shitter, either in
structure a word, the use of the term, grammar, or another objectives.
In line with the cases above, in this study the writer tries to do research in analyzing
errors as writing assessment by tenth grade students majoring marketing in class A at SMK N 1
Slawi while they were writing invitation letters. In this research, the writer limits the problem on
the Error analysis made by tenth grade students majoring ‘Marketing’ at SMK N 1 Slawi. The
writer takes a look at students’ results; writing invitation letters. Therefore, the writer needs to
classify Assessing writing, Genre of writing, Types of writing performance, and Errors. The
purpose of this study is to reveal error analysis used as writing assessment which made by tenth
grade students majoring ‘Marketing’ at SMK N 1 Slawi when they were writing invitation letter.
Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
91
2. Review of Related Literature
2.1. Assessing Writing
Writing is kind of activity which idea, thought, and feel are expressed into words in
meaningful form. Gerard M. Blair in (http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art4.html)
defined writing as an essential skill upon which all engineers and managers rely. Meanwhile,
Brown (2004) explained that writing skill is a necessary condition for achieving employment in
many walks of life and is simply taken for granted in literate cultures. He also said that it is
difficult to learning writing ‘well’ in any language, including in our own native language. Many
educated children learn how to write, but very little who can express themselves in writing form.
Brown (2004) said that the assessment of writing is complicated task. It needs to be clear
about objective and criterion when teachers assess students’ writing ability. The objectives in
assessing writing are such as hand writing ability, spelling, grammar, paragraph construction,
and others (morphology and syntactic). In analyzing the errors on invitation letter, the writer uses
two objectives; Morphology and Syntactic.
2.2. Genres of Writing
The classification of genres of writing here might produce, within and beyond in learning
teaching of second language. The writer thinks that these genres will be the same within
learning-teaching of foreign language. Genre of writing:
1. Academic writing
Papers and general subject reports
Essays, compositions
Academically focused journals
Short-answer test response
Technical reports (e.g. lab reports)
Theses, dissertations
2. Job-related writing
Messages (e.g. phone messages)
Letters/emails
Memos (e.g. interoffice)
Reports (e.g. job evaluations, project reports)
Schedule, labels, signs
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters: (A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth
Grade Students Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment) (Nurul Adhalina)
92
Advertisements, announcements
Manuals
3. Personal writing
Letters, emails, greeting, cards, invitations
Messages, notes
Calendar entries, shopping lists, reminders
Financial documents (e.g. checks, tax forms, loan application)
Forms, questionnaires, medical reports, immigration documents
Diaries, personal journals
Fiction (e.g. short stories, poetry) (Brown: 2004).
By looking at the classification genres of writing above, so that invitation letter written
by 10th grade students majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi includes the type 3; Personal
Writing. Writing a personal intended is one of topic in writing skill lesson in school. Students are
taught to write personal message in order they will be able to practice it later.
2.3. Types of Writing Performance
In Brown (2004), there are four categories of written performance that capture the range
of written production:
a. Imitative
The learners must attain skill in the fundamental, basic tasks of writing letters, words,
punctuation, and very brief sentence, in producing written language.
b. Intensive
The learners must attain skill not only in fundamental but also in producing appropriate
vocabulary within a context, collocations and idioms, and correct grammatical features up to the
length of a sentence.
c. Responsive
Learners must perform a limited discourse level, connecting sentence into a paragraph
and creating a logically connected sequence of two or three paragraphs.
d. Extensive
Learners focus on achieving a purpose, organizing, and developing ideas logically, using
details to support on illustrate ideas, demonstrating syntactic and lexical variety, and in many
cases, engaging in the process of multiple drafts to achieve a final product.
Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
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In this study, the type of writing performance of invitation letter by tenth grade students
majoring marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi is categorized as Intensive (controlled) performance.
Students who have task to write invitation letter are demanded to have fundamental basic and
also able to produce appropriate vocabularies within a context in their writing. This kind of task
is used to assess students’ writing skill also.
2.4. Errors
An error reflects the competence of the learner (Brown: 2000). James in Brown (2000),
said that an error cannot be self-corrected, whereas mistakes can be self-corrected if the
deviation is pointed out to the speakers. Brown (2000), in the reality, learners’ errors can be
observed, analyzed, and classified to reveal something of the system operating within the learner
which is called as error analysis. Error analysis became distinguished from contrastive analysis
by its examination of errors attributable to all possible sources, not just those resulting from
negative transfer of the negative language.
In this research, the writer analyzes some errors on invitation letters made by students’. It
has possibility for them to make an error because what they write is not their own language
writing. Writing invitation letter is one of efforts to train and develop students’ writing ability
and also can be as writing assessment.
3. Method of Research
3.1. Type of Research
In this study, the writer used the descriptive method in a qualitative research. Descriptive
method is a research method which describes systematically a situation or area of interest
factually and accurately (Isaac and Michael, 1987: 42). Meanwhile, qualitative research is used
because the research is based on data in the form of words, not as numbers (Sudaryanto, 1993:
57). The data are written words of the invitation letter made by tenth grade students majoring
marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi.
3.2. Method of Collecting Data
3.2.1. Data Source
According to Arikunto (1998: 117), data source is the subject from which the data are
obtained. There are two data resource, namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is
the data obtained directly by the researcher, whereas secondary data is data that obtained by the
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters: (A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth
Grade Students Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment) (Nurul Adhalina)
94
second part. The writer used the primary data in this study, that is, written form of invitation
letter made by tenth grade students majoring marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi.
3.2.2. Technique of Collecting Data
In conducting this research, the writer used some methods of collecting the data as
follows;
a. Documentation and Observation Method
Documentation method is a method of gaining data from printed texts like magazines,
books, diaries, and so on (Arikunto, 1998: 8). This research used documentation method because
the writer gained the data from the written form of invitation letter e as the data source. Arikunto
also says about another kind of method which is observation method. Observation method is a
method of collecting data by analyzing an object systematically (Arikunto, 1998: 9). In this
study, the writer also observed and examined the data source based on two objectives in
assessing writing; morphology and syntactic.
b. Population
Sevila and friends (1993) in Mahsun; Metode Penelitian Bahasa defined a population
into groups which are object in a research. In line with the study of language, understanding the
population focused on two things; the problem of speakers unit and the problem of territory unit.
The first one, population is defined as the total population of individuals who are members of
language speech community which will be investigated, and as subject to the withdrawal of the
generalizations about the intricacies of the language. The second one, population in terms of
territorial unit is defined as the entire region that was the whole individual members of the public
said language, which became the target of the compilation.
The population in this research which related to the speaker unit is all written form of
invitation letters; 29 letters made by tenth grade students majoring marketing in class A at SMK
N Slawi.
c. Sample
The smaller number of population called as sample. Sample is the strategy that enables
researchers to pick up a sub-group and then use the sub-group as a basis for making evaluation
about the large group (Hadi, 1983: 2).
In this study, the sample is tenth grade students majoring marketing in class A at SMK N
1 Slawi, who have errors in their writing.
Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
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d. Simak Libas Bebas Cakap Technique
Sudaryanto (1993: 133) explained two ways of collecting data in a research. They are
Simak and Cakap method. Simak method is a method of observing the data. Because this
research is conducted by gaining data not by interviewing, thus it can be categorized as applying
Simak method.
For addition, this research also used the Simak Libas Bebas Cakap Technique. In this
technique, the writer only acted as an observer without taking part on the process of creating the
data source. The writer only observed the written invitation letter made by tenth students
majoring marketing. After observing the data source, the writer applied the Catat technique by
listing the data source.
3.3. Method of Analyzing Data
3.3.1. Padan Method
According to Sudaryanto (1993: 13), Padan method is method of analyzing data which
its instrument is outside, independent, and not as a part of the data. The errors analysis of
invitation letter as writing assessment is assessed in written, either in the use of spelling,
grammar, word order (morphology and syntactic) or others. The steps for analyzing data are:
a. Collecting the data; invitation letters made by tenth grade students majoring marketing in
class A at SMK N 1 Slawi.
b. Reading and understanding all invitation letters made by tenth grade students majoring
marketing in class A at SMK N 1 Slawi.
c. Separating the results which have no errors and have errors.
d. Analyzing error on invitation letter
The writer analyzed error on invitation letter based on two objectives; morphology and
syntactic.
4. DISCUSSION
4.1. Research Object
In this research, the writer takes 29 students of tenth grade majoring marketing in class A
at SMK N 1 Slawi consist of five males students, and the rest; twenty four female students, to see
errors in their writing invitation letters which is used as writing assessment. The invitation letters
which have errors in writing can be seen in appendix pages.
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters: (A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth
Grade Students Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment) (Nurul Adhalina)
96
4. 2. Data Analysis
After reading all invitation letters made by tenth grade students majoring marketing in
class A at SMK N Slawi, so the writer found that there are some students who write in good form;
no errors, and some who write in not good form; errors. Thus, the writer makes a summary about
their errors based on Morphology and Syntactic, as follow:
Morphology
wrong attachment of –S
to gives bank …
Indefinite articles
incorrect
A party, the party
Syntax
Noun
Phrase
determiners
omission of 'a'
I have (a) meeting
use of
propositions
misuse of preposition
I will go to in Jakarta
Join to my birthday
use of pronoun
Addition of subject ‘I’
I without you the
party will be different
verb
phrase
omission of verb
Omission of to be
I (am) afraid
use of simple
present
use to before verb
I really to regret…
I certainly to come…
use of simple
future
use to before verb
I will to come
use of progressive
tense
replacement of -ing by
simple verb form
You will be to come
replacement of verb -
ing by noun
I was confirmation…..
use of modal and
verb
use to after modal
you can to come
I can’t to come
I would to come
verb and verb
construction
addition of unnecessary
verb
I promise will to
changes my time
word order
modifiers placed after
noun
I have there
programme family
Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
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The summary above is an outline of the writer’s analysis of the letters of invitation made
by 10th grade students majoring marketing in class A at SMK N 1 Slawi. Of the 29 letters of
invitation, the writer found 17 letters which have some errors in writings; like the above
exposure and for the rest; 12 letters of invitation does not have any errors in writing, they can be
categorized ‘good form’. A comparison of the number of errors and non errors made by students
is 17:12, it can be seen in this pie chart of the following:
Meanwhile, the comparison of errors by Morphology and Syntactic is 2:10. Syntactic
errors made by students are much more than morphology errors. Thus, the comparison of both
can be drawn as follow:
Errors : Non Errors
Non
Errors
Errors
Mophology : Syntactic Errors
Morphology
Syntactic
The Analysis of Errors on Invitation Letters: (A Case Study of Writing Invitation Letter by Tenth
Grade Students Majoring Marketing at SMK N 1 Slawi used as Writing Assessment) (Nurul Adhalina)
98
In morphology objectives, students’ errors cover wrong attachment of –S and indefinite
articles incorrect. Beside in Syntactic objective, students’ errors include determiners, use of
propositions, use of pronoun, omission of verb, use of simple present, simple of simple future,
use of progressive tense, use of modal and verb, verb & verb construction, and also word order.
All of these errors are common among students. Based on the writer analysis, students are less
awareness and not carefully in writing an invitation letter, so that they do many errors.
5. Conclusion and Suggestion
5.1. Conclusion
By looking at the discussion and findings in the previous chapter, it can be concluded
that:
1. Of the 29 invitation letters, there are 17 which have errors in writing. The comparison
between errors and non-errors is 17:12.
2. Based on Morphology and Syntactic objectives, students have more errors in syntactic
than morphology. The comparison between those objectives is 2 : 10
3. In morphology objectives, students’ errors cover wrong attachment of –S and indefinite
articles incorrect.
4. In Syntactic objective, students’ errors include determiners, use of propositions, use of
pronoun, omission of verb, use of simple present, simple of simple future, use of
progressive tense, use of modal and verb, verb & verb construction, and also word order.
All of these errors are common among students. Based on the writer analysis, students are
less awareness and not carefully in writing an invitation letter, so that they do many
errors.
5.2. Suggestion
There are still weaknesses in this research. Honestly, the writer has limited references as
basic knowledge to do this research, so that the findings are not maximal as her hope. It is
expected there will be advanced research related this topic, certainly with the more references as
the basic frame work to do research.
Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), 8(1), Mei 2021, 89-99
Copyright © 2021, Jurnal CULTURE (Culture, Language, and Literature Review), e-ISSN 2775-4618, p-ISSN 2355-8660
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6. References
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Brown, H. D. (2004). “Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices”. New York:
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Friedman Thomas, L. 2005. The World is Flat A Brief History of the Twenty First Century-
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Hanuri, Nurhadi. 2011. Model Belajar Konstruktivisme dalam Pembelajaran Menulis Bahasa
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Mahsun. 2007. Metode Penelitian Bahasa: Tahapan strategi, metode, dan tekniknya. Jakarta:
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Sudaryanto. 1993. Metode dan Aneka Teknik Analisis Bahasa (Pengantar Penelitian Wahana
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