TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT i ABSTRACT . ii TABLE OF CONTENT . iv LIST OF TABLE ... vi LIST OF APPENDICES vii CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION . 1.1.The Backtground Of The Problem ..... 1.2.The Identification Of The Problem .... 1.3.The Limitation Of The Problem . 1.4.The Formulation Of The Problem .. 1.5.The Research Questions . 1.6.The Purpose Of The Study.. 1.7.The Significance Of The Study .. 1.8.The Definition Of The Key Terms . CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATUE ..... 2.1.The Concept Of Gerund ..... 2.2.The Function Of Gerund .... 2.3.Writing Sentences ... 2.4.Types Of Sentences 2.5.Evaluation Of Sentence Writing .... CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHOD ..... 3.1.The Design Of The Research . 3.2.Population And Sample . 3.3.Instrumentation .. 3.4.The Technique Of Collecting Data 3.5.The Technique Of Analyzing Data .... 1 1 3 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 14 15 17 18 18 18 19 20 21

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. The List Of Verbs Followed By Gerund ... 10 Table 2. The list Of Verbs And Example Followed By Either Infinitive Or Gerund With No Difference In Meaning .. 11 Table 3. the List Of And Example Of Verbs Followed By Either Infinitive Or Gerund With Difference In Meaning ... 12 Table 4. The List Of Common Verb-Particle Combination Followed By Gerund 13 Table 5. The List Of Adjective- Preposition Combination .. 13 Table 6. Component In Evaluating Writing Sentences 17 Table 7. Criteria Of Scoring . 20 Table 8. Range Score 21

CHAPTERI INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Problem When the people leam a second language, they learn to communicate \vith other people: to understand them, talk to them, read what they have written and write to them (Raimes, 1983: 1). Nowadays, many people use English as their second language. In Indonesia, English is not a second language, but a foreign language. Lie (2004:1) says that English is th frst foreign language that is recognized by the govemment and it is studied formally in a classroom. Kulper (1996:1) states that if you are studying English formally in a classroom, the subject usually focuses on hw the people use the language. This can take the form of helping students to improve their reading, speaking, listening and writing. Writing as one of language skills is important to be mastered by the learners. Raimes (1983:1) states that writing helps the students learn: frst, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that the teachers have been teaching. Second, when the students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take risks. Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language: the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand, and brain is a unique way to reinforc learning.

From the statement above, the writer can conclude that one of aspects in writing is grammar. It means that grammar is very important in writing. If the people want to write sentences, they should write it grammatically. Grammar is a description of the rules that govern how sentences are formed. Grammar attempts to explain why the sentences are acceptable or unacceptable. Learners need to learn not only what forms are possible, but what particular forms will express their particular meanings (Thornbury, 1999: 1,4). In Nurbaidah's thesis (2005: 1), she says that some students do not posses enough knowledge on grammar. They do not know the way how to make a good sentence, they do not know the way to write the sentence which have subject, predcate, and object, they cannot use an appropriate verb and they cannot differentiate the use of noun and verb, especially the use of verb plus ing (gerund). Gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun (Hartanto, 2003:349). Gerund may be used in place of noun as the subject, as the complement of a sentence, as the object of a verb and as the object of preposition. Gerund is important in writing sentences because in English the sentence is the basic unit of communication. No matter how long or how short they may be, most sentences are made up of two basic parts: a subject and a predcate (Lyons, 1995: 36). Gerind may replace noun as subject, object or complement. All of them are components in sentences. So the students should learn gerund in order to be able to write good sentences.

Sentences are by defnition, grammatically well - formed. There is no such tliing, therefore, as ungrammatical sentence. (Lyons,1995: 134). Megginson (1996: 1-3) categorizes four types of sentence: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound complex sentence. Whether it is simple, compound, complex or compound- complex sentence, each of them must liave sbject and predicate. And it is made up of noun and verb. The subject is a noun, and predicate is a verb. As the writer stated before gerund may be used as subject because it functions as a noun. Gerund has been studied by the second year students of FKIP Bung Harta University especially in Grammar subject. And they also have studied Writing I and Writing II. It means that they should be able to use gerund in writing especially in writing sentences. However, based on the writer' s experience in writing sentence the students still have difficulties in writing grammatically correct sentences. They are confused with the tenses, the use of nouns, verbs especially verbs that function as noun (gerund) Based on the phenomenon above, the writer was interested in doing the research on analysis of the ability of the second year students of English Department of FKIP Bung Hatta University in academic year of 2005/2006 to write simple sentences by using gerund.

1.2 The Identification of the Problem Blythe (2003: 1) categorizes four types of sentences: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound-complex sentence. Simple sentence consists of only one independent clause. Compound sentence consists of tvvo or more independent clauses. Complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. And compound-complex sentence consists of two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. Zamora (2004:1) says that English has three main sentence types: dechrative sentence, interrogative sentence and imperative sentence. Declarative sentences are used to form statements, such as "Mary is here", "My ame is Mary." Interrogative sentences are used to ask question, such as "Where is Mary?" What is your ame?" Imperative sentences are used for command, like "Come here!" "Tell me your ame!" . There are many aspeets that should be noticed in writing sentences, they are; \ocabulary, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Grammar is related to tenses, to be, verb, adjectives, adverb, article, noun, pronoun, modal and also gerund. The form of gerund is similar with the form of present participle and they are part of verb. But gerund functions as noun and present participle functions as

adjective. The similarity in formula will make the students confused to differentiate them. Hartanto (2003:350) says that gerund is a double part of speech- a combination of noun and verb. So there are two characteristics of gerund that should be explained, they are: gerund as noun and gerund as a part of verb. Gerund as noun consists of gerund as subject, gerund as object of verb, gerund as object of preposition, gerund as complement. Gerund as- part of verb consists of gerund followed by direct object, for example: He is clever at teaching Mathematics, gerund followed by indirect object, for example: He is clever at teaching us Mathematics, gerand followed by retained object, like: She is pleased at being taught Mathematics, gerund followed by cognate object, like; She is proud of having sung a fine song, and gerund followed by reflexive object; for example; She is in the habit of oversleeping herself.

1.3 The Limitation of the Problem Based on the identification above, the writer limited her study on the students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund. Gerund as noun consists of gerund as subject, gerund as object of preposition, gerund as object of verb and gerund as complement.

The writer also limited the sample of this study in the second year students of English Department of FKIP Bung Hatta University. The writer chose the second year students because they had studied gerund in Grammar II and they also-^ had studied Writing I and Writing II. It means that they should have been ble to use gerund in writing sentences especially simple sentences.

1.4 The Forra ulation of the Problem The problem to study was formulated as follow, "How is the students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund?" 1.5 The Research Questions Based on the formulation of the problem above, there are four research questions to be answered as follow: 1. How is the second year students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as subject? 2. How is the second year students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as object of verb? 3. How is the second year students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as object of preposition? 4. How is the second year students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as complement?

1.6 The Purposes of the Study In general, the purpose of this study was to identify students' ability to use gerund in writing declarative simple sentences. Specifically, the purposes of this study were as follow: 1. To know the students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as subject? 2. To know the students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as object of verb? 3. To know the students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund as object of preposition?
4. 4. To knovv the students' ability to write declarative simple

sentences by using gerund as complement?

5. 1.7 The Signifcance of the Study 6. This research gave contribution to lecturers and students. To lecturers,

it gives informaun about students' ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund. This is very important in term of considering enrichmnt and remedial programs for the students. To the learners, it also gives the information to the students about their ability to write declarative simple sentences by using gerund in order they can improve their ability.
7. 1.8 The Definition of the Key Terms 8. Gerund

: The ing-form of a verb used as a noun

9. (Hartanto, 2003:349) Simple Sentence

: A sentence that

contains only one clause

10. (Lyons, 1995:157) Declarative sentence : A sentence that that is

used to form statements

11. (Zamora:2004:l) 12. Punctuation conveys grammatical structure and meaning in written

language. For example; full stop, question mark, commas, semicolons and colons.
13. In writing sentences the people may write simple sentences,

compound sentences, complex sentences or compound - complex sentences. Before the people write it, they should know about the components of each kind of sentences, for example they should know about dependent and independent clauses. And all of them should be written grammatically.
14. In conclusin, there are sme advantages that can be got from

writing, for example: writing can improve students' language and stimulate the students' ability in learning English. They can practice their grammatical rules. Furthermore they can express their ideas and knowledge.
15. 2.4 Types of Sentences 16. Megginson (1996: 1-3) categorizes four types of sentence:

simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound complex sentence. The most basic type of sentence is simple

sentence, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence can be a short as one word, e.g. Run! A compound sentence consists of two or more clauses (or simple sentence) joined by conjunction like "and", "but", and "or", e.g. Canad is a rich country, but still it has many poorvpeople. A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause, e.g. "Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go". A compound-complex sentence is the sentence that joins two