ABSTRACT

A study on error in English use has long been conducted by

different researchers and in different settings. In this study, the writer
identified grammatical errors and problem areas (morphology, syntax,
and lexicon). The object of the analysis is spoof text made by Andi
Arninah and uploaded in her blog named arninah-andi.blogspot.com.
After doing a qualitative research and getting the data, the writer
analyzed them using three methods: segmenting the text into
sentences, identifying and classifying the errors based on their area,
and tabulating the results. The errors found which are based on the
area are as follows: morphology (27.2%), syntax (27.3%), and lexicon
(45.5%). It means that the owner of the blog, Andi Arninah is not
proficient enough in writing using English. By conducting this
research, the writer hopes Andi Arninah will improve her writing skill,
especially in English.
Keywords: interlanguage, written text, sentence, problem area

BACKGROUND
Writing has a tight relationship with language. In some conditions, it has
been a method to deliver unspoken language. It can be used to express feelings,
ideas, thoughts, hopes, and desires. According to Renard (1935), Writing is the
only way to talk without being interrupted. To some people, writing helps them
to create a literary work, while, to students, writing is included in one of common
activities which has been done in their class in order to improve their language
skill.
Being recalled, writing itself generally has been taught since everyone is
introduced to the lowest level of formal education. It is almost same as English
which has been introduced and taught as a second language (L2) starting from
junior high school, even from elementary school. Both writing competence and
English competence are gradually increasing as the students achieve the next stage
of education. Based on that reason, the owner of arninah-andi.blogspot.com was

expected to be able to create some essays in English without any mistakes since
the blog should provide valuable contents for those who need them. However, the
fact is different. There are some mistakes found in the spoof text written by her.
Because writing relies on many of the same structures as speech, such as
vocabulary, grammar, and semantics (Wikipedia, 2015), the students feel difficult
to create a better essay. It appears they have not mastered those three structures.
Related to English, these structures play their significant roles which are
connected to each other whenever producing both utterances and essays, but in
essays, students will need more attention, so that they can produce better essays.
This condition can be classified into the process of learning English as a second
language (L2).
"The process of learning a second language (L2) is characteristically nonlinear and fragmentary, marked by a mixed landscape of rapid progression in
certain areas but slow movement, incubation or even permanent stagnation in
others. Such a process results in a linguistic system known as interlanguage.
(Selinker, 1972). It is also a term for a dynamic linguistic system that has been
developed by a learner of a second language (L2) who has not become fully
proficient yet but is approximating the target language (Wikipedia, 2015). From
those explanations, it is clear that most of learners of English have not fully
mastered English and they have not been able to use English grammatically
correct. This condition makes interlanguage more interesting to analyze.
Furthermore, by analyzing interlanguage, the writers can develop their knowledge
about grammar and other stuffs relating interlanguage.
Research on interlanguage has been conducted many times but in different
settings with different purposes. Soepriatmadji (2008), for instance, conducted a
similar research in order to get the necessary information he may use to improve
the learning methods. By knowing the results of the previous research, the writers
were interested in conducting a similar research entitled INTERLANGUAGE
FOUND IN THE EXAMPLE OF SPOOF TEXT WRITTEN BY ANDI
ARNINAH IN HER BLOG NAMED ARNINAH-ANDI.BLOGSPOT.COM

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research question of this study is In what areas is the interlanguage
found in the example of spoof text written by Andi Arninah in her blog named
arninah-andi.blogspot.com?
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
As a universal language, English has been taught and learnt by many people
for years. Even some countries use it as their primary language, while some other
countries learn it as their additional language or second language (L2). Although it
is learnt as a second language, English has become one of the main subjects to
teach and learn, especially in Indonesia. However, the fact says that many second
language learners often make errors in grammar.
Error Analysis
Error analysis is a branch of applied linguistics. It is concerned with the
compilation, study and analysis of errors made by second language learners and
aims at investigating aspects of second language acquisition (Glottopedia, 2009).
One of the theories of error analysis was delivered by Jack Richards. In his theory,
he has classified the errors into four categories: (1) overgeneralization; (2)
ignorance of rule restrictions; (3) incomplete application of rules; (4) false
concepts hypothesis.
Interlanguage
Selinker (1972) explained that type of language produced by second and
foreign language learners who are in the process of learning language as
transitional language system is called interlanguage. An interlanguage is uniquely
based on the leaners experience with the L2. The learner creates an interlanguage
using different learning strategies: language transfer, overgeneralization, and
simplification.
According to Rod Ellis (1990), interlanguage is a transitional linguistic
system and the product of multiple interacting forces: transfer, general learning

mechanism, and input. He also proposed that interlanguage is developed

simultaneously in three phases: (1) innovation, (2) elaboration, (3) revision.
Grammar
When learning a language, knowing grammar is a must because grammar is
one of the most essential systems of language. In linguistic, grammar is defined as
the study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions and
relations in the sentence. It governs them to produce and interpret the sentences
they use in their communication (Veit, 1986). The fields of this study include
morphology, syntax, and phonology. Grammar itself has several elements as
follows: (1) tenses, (2) pronoun, (3) verb phrase, (4) noun phrase, (5) plural, (6)
conjunction, (7) article, (8) to infinitive, (9) preposition.
Syntax
Syntax is the grammar, structure, or order of the elements in a language
statement. Syntax applies to computer languages as well as to natural languages.
Usually, we think of syntax as "word order." However, syntax is also achieved in
some languages such as Latin by inflectional case endings (Hellspong, 2005).
According to Chomsky (1971), "Syntax is the study of the principles and
processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages. Syntactic
investigation of a given language has as its goal the construction of a grammar
that can be viewed as a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the
language under analysis." By studying syntax, people will also learn about
different parts of speech.
Morphology
Morphology is the study of the formation and structure of words. It is
concerned with such topics as the information of new words, compounds, and the
nature of the internal structure of words, such as the study of suffixes and
prefixes. Although word is the smallest independent unit of language, they have

an internal structure and are built up by even smaller pieces. These small pieces
are called morphemes.
Lexicon
Lexicology deals not only with simple words in all their aspects, but also
with complex and compound words as word is the meaningful unit of language
and lexicon is defined as the stock of words in a given language (Jackson and
Amvela, 2000). The term lexicon is synonymous with the term lexis, but
lexicon is generally used to represent the scientific analysis in linguistic.
Spoof Text
Spoof is a text which tells factual story, happened in the past time with
unpredictable and funny ending. It has social function to entertain and share the
story. Its generic structures are orientation, events, and twist.
METHOD
To get the data, firstly, the researcher tried to find the webpage providing
the example of spoof text containing some errors. Next, the text was copied to be
the data. Once getting the data, it is segmented into sentences, so that it can be
analyzed.

DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

The interlanguage found in each sentence is categorized based on the
problem areas. The findings are as follows:
No.

Error Area

Frequency

1.

Morphology

27.3

2.

Syntax

27.3

3.

Lexicon

45.4

For morphology area, the example is My aunt showed restroom. He did not
come, he was waiting outside. This error is classified into morphology area
because the sentence contains an incorrect pronoun. Pronoun he is inappropriate
as the sentence before is about my aunt (female), while he is supposed to refer
to a man (male). The correct pronoun to refer to my aunt is she. Therefore,
the correct clause is My aunt showed restroom. She did not come, she was
waiting outside.
For syntax area, the example is I push and push and push again, but
nothing happened. This error is classified into syntax area because the sentence
contains inappropriate verb. The verb push in there is inappropriate because the
event explained in the sentence happened in the past, so it should be its past form,
pushed. Therefore, the correct sentence is I pushed and pushed and pushed
again, but nothing happened
For lexicon area, the example is She showed me around and took me
shooping in several malls. This error is classified into lexicon area because the
word shooping in the sentence is misspelling. It should be written shopping.
Therefore, the correct sentence is She showed me around and took me shopping
in several malls.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Based on the result above, the owner of arninah-andi.blogspot.com often
makes error in creating an essay. The errors are mostly in the areas of
morphology, syntax, and lexicon. She often makes some errors for she has not
fully mastered English grammar. Her incompetence in producing English may be
caused by the lack of knowledge of English grammar. It is highly recommended
for her to do more practice in producing English, especially in writing competence
since she has a blog which is active providing information related to English
subject given at school.

REFERENCES

Arninah, Andi. 2013. Contoh Spoof Text. < http://arninahandi.blogspot.com/2013/03/contoh-spoof-text.html>. (July 5th, 2015)
Hellspong, Martin. 2005. Syntax.
<http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/syntax>. (April 22nd, 2015)
Jackson, Howard, Etienne Ze Amvela. 2000. Words, Meaning and Vocabulary.
Great Britain: Cassell.
Nordquist, Richard. 2015. Interlanguage.
<http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/Interlanguage.htm>. (May 3rd, 2015)
Nordquist, Richard. 2015. Language.
<http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/languageterm.htm>.(May 3rd, 2015)
Soepriatmadji, Liliek. 2008. An Error Analysis on the Spoken English of FBIB
Students: A Preliminary Research. Semarang: Dinamika Bahasa dan
Budaya.
Wikipedia. 2015. Article. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_grammar>. (May,
3rd, 2015)
Wikipedia. 2015. English Grammar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar.html>. (May 3rd, 2015)