COMMON ERRORS IN CONVERTING DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH OF GRADE XI STUDENTS AT SMA MUHAMMADIYAH 2 YOGYAKARTA

Abstract

Reported or indirect speech is a structure that has quite always been investigated from a formal point of view, as the syntactical means by which we can construct the oratio, choosing between embedding or un-embedding sentences, respectively, within oratio obliqua or oratio recta.In indirect speech or reported speech, the reporter is free to introduce information about the reported speech event from his point of view and on the basis of his knowledge about the world, as he does not purport to give the actual words that were uttered by the original speaker or that his report is restricted to what was already said.

In Indonesia where English is both taught and learned as a Foreign Language, many grammatical differences between Indonesia and English Language are found. Students often experience difficulty in transforming direct into indirect speech in English. Much more, they commit grammatical errors because of the complexity of rules in the process of transformation. This research attempts to partially address students’ difficulty in this aspect of grammar by identifying common problems and how to solve them.

This study attempts to identify the common errors of Grade XI students at SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Yogyakarta in converting direct speech to indirect speech. Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions: 1) What are the common erros of Grade XI students in the conversion of direct to indirect speech along: a) Subject , b) Verb use and tenses, c) Conjunctions, d) Modals; (2) What intervention measures may be proposed to address these errors?; (3) What Learning Kit that may be developed to improve speech reporting skills of the students?

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were arrived at: 1) Grade XI students manifested difficulties in converting direct speech to indirect speech especially in converting subject noun and pronoun to correct pronouns, verb use and tenses, use of conjunctions and modals. 2) Intervention measures are doable and may be effective for grammar learners in an EFL setting. 3) The Learning Kit entitled “Meeting of Minds” may provide a more enriching educational experience for teachers.