the masteryofpassive voice: terbuka pondok...

THE MASTERY OF PASSIVE VOICE:A CASE STUDY AT THE THIRD YEARSTUnENTSOF

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL "DHARMA KARYA UNIVERSITASTERBUKA" PONDOK CABE

DINDIN ROSYIDINNI11. 102026024587

ENGLISH LETTERSUEPARTMENTLETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY "SYARIF HIDAYATULLA.H"JAKARTA

2007

THE MASTERY OF PASSIVE VOICE:A CASE STUDY AT THE THIRD YEAR STUDENTS OF

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL "DHARMA KARYA UNIVERSITASTERBUKA" PONDOK CABE

A PAPERSubmitted to Letters and Humanities Facultyin Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for

the Degree of Strata. I

DINDIN ROSYIDINNI~. 102026024587

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENTLETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY "SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH"JAKARTA

2007

APPROVEMENT

THE MASTERY OF PASSIVE VOICI~:

A CASE STUDY AT THE THIRD YEAR STUI>ENTS OFSENIOR HIGH SCHOOL "DHARMA KARYA UNIVERSITAS

TERBUKA" PONDOK CARE

A PAPERSubmitted to Letters and Htilllanities Facultyin Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of Strata. 1

DINDIN ROSYIDINNIM. 102026024587

Approved by:

Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M.EdNIP. 150181 922

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENTLETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY "SYARlFHIDAYATULLAH"JAKARTA

2007

LEGALIZATION

rhe paper entitled "The Mastery of Passive Voice: A Case Study at the Third Year

itudents of Senior High School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbulm" Poridok

:abe has been defended before the Letters and Humanities Faculty's Examination

~omrnittee on May, 25 2007. The paper has already been accepted as a partial

ulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Strata. 1.

Jakarta, May 25, 2007

The Examination Committee

:hair Person,

Members:

Secretary,

fIP. 1M.Pd.

.(':),,;1V

/~~Solikatussa'diyah, M.Pd.NIP. 150370230

DECLARATION

lereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge

ld belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor

aterial which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree

diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due

knowledgment has been made in the text.

Dindin Rosyiflin

ABSTRACT

indin Rosyidin, The Mastery of Passive Voice: A Case Study at the Third Year

'udents ofSenior High School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe. A

lper, Letters and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University "Syarif

idayatullah" Jakarta, May 2007.

The research is aimed at knowing to what extent the third year students of Senior

igh School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe have mastered the passive

lice and finding out the problems found by them.

The research uses field study. The sample of the research is randomly taken from

e population of the third year students of senior high school "Dharma Karya Universitas

:rbuka", Pondok Cabe in the academic year of 2006/2007. The data collected through the

,t are analyzed qualitatively using descriptive comparative analysis t(:clmique.

The data collected shows that the students get more difficulties in mastering the

Issive voice of Past Continuous Tense and Present Perfect Tense. The percentage of the

correct answers in passive voice of Past Continuous Tense achieves 95 % and followed

, Present Perfect Tense that achieves 85 %.

Based on the data analysis, the students meet some problems in mastering the

ssive voice. The causes are Indonesian grammar influence and teaching methodology

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

First of all, the writer would like to thank to Allah, because his guidance always

:companies the writer in completing this paper. The blessing and salutation be delivered to

e most honorable Prophet and Messenger Muhammad SAW,his families, his companions

ld his followers.

The writer would like to say his gratitude to:

I. Dr. H. Abdul Chair, the Dean of Letters and Humanities Faculty, Dr. Muhammad

Fark/lan, the Chief of English Letters Department, Drs. A. Saepuddin, M.Pd, the

Secretary of English Letters Department, Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed, the writer's

supervisor, the staffs of Letters and Humanities Faculty. They all have helped the

writer to complete this paper.

2. Bambang Sutoyo, SP, the Head Master of Senior High School "Dharma Karya

Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe. He has permitted the writer to do research in

his institution.

3. Prof. Dr. H.D. Hidayat, MA, Drs. H. Muslich ldris, Lc, Dr. H. Udjang Tolib, MA,

Azharuddin, M.Ag, Dede Abdul Fatah, M.si, the Lecturers of Foundation

"Sabilussalam", Kampung Utan, Ciputat. Their guidance is very essential in

completing this paper.

4. Writer's parents; Abdul Hafidz and eucu Sowifah. They always SUppOlt and guide

the writer in completing this paper.

5. All of the writer's classmates who have motivated the writer to finish his study

quickly.

Finally his paper may benefit the readers who want to master the passive voice

deeply.

Jakarta, May 15' 2007

Dindin JRosyidin

TABLE OF CONTENTS

<\PPROVEMENT .

LEGALIZATION ..... II

DECLARATION......... 111

<\BSTRACK IV

<\CKNOWLEDGMENT .

rABLE OF CONTENTS " .

:::HAPTER I. NTRODUCTION .

V

Vll

1

A. Background of Study ... . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . 1

B. Focus of the Study .

C. Research Questions .

4

4

D. Significances of the Study ... .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . 5

E. Research Methodology ,. 51. The Method ofthe Research.................. 52. Data Analysis Technique , '.' 63. Data Collection.................................... 64. Unit of Analysis...................................................... 75. Time and Location....................................................... 7

~HAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK... 8

A. Grammar. .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . .. . . . 81. Definition... .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. 82. Usage 9

B. Structure................................................................... 10

C. Sentence. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. 101. Definition ... .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . 102. Kinds of Sentence , 12

D. Passive Voice. 131. Definition _... 132. Fonn 143. Usages 16

E. Mastery .

CHAPTER III DATA FINDINGS .....

A. Data Description ...

B. Data Analysis .

18

21

21

22

CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION............. 47

A. Conclusion..................... 47

B. Suggestion . 47

BIBLIOGRAPHY , , 49

APPENDIXES . 51

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Backgl"Ound of Study

Language is the specialized sound signaling system, which seems to be

genetically programmed to develop in humans. Humans can, of course, communicate

in numerous other ways: they can wink, wave, smile, tap someone on the shoulder,

and so on.'

Language is a system of communication. When humans know a language,

they can speak, and be understood by others who know that language. They can also

transfer language to various other mass Medias, for examples newspaper, magazine,

tabloid, and so on. From the explanation above individuals who have the same roles

in language can hold communication each other; meanwhile individuals who have

different roles in language cannot hold communication.

Today world is borderless. Many people from a country can come to another

country for some reasons, such as politics, economy, education, and amusement.

They bring their own way to communicate with any other citizens who they visit.

This case produces the problems ofcommunication.

Therefore, language plays very important role. The important role oflanguage

IS seen when people from one country shares idea and communicates with other

I Jean Aitchison, Lillguis/ics, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1987), p.19

2

people from any different countries. They need international language. Here, English

is considered as an international language used as medium of communication

between a country and another foreign country. As an international language, English

is used for trade transaction, politics, science and technology. culture, and so on.

Thus, English is widely used most people in the world. Rudolph wrote English is

generally acknowledged to be the world's most important language. One criterion is

the number of speakers of the language. The spread of English over the world as

international language is unique phenomenon in world's history: about 1500 million

people -over a third of the world populations- live in countries where English has

some official status or is one ofthe native speakers. 2

In this era, English in almost every aspect of life is needed in accordance with

the world which economy and teclmology develop recently. Indonesian people also

feel the need to be able to use English, because Indonesia as a developing country has

opened an opportunity for investors from many different countries to invest their

capitals. So that, it cannot be avoided, the mastery ofEnglish is required.

Every human being who speaks a language knows its grammar. When

linguists wish to describe a language, they attempt to describe the grammar of the

language that exists in the minds of its speakers. There may be some differences

2 Radolph Quirk, A Comprehensive Grammar of The English Language, (New York:Longman, 1985), p.5

3

among speakers knowledge, but there must be shared knowledge, because it is this

grammar that makes it possible to communicate through language.)

So that, whoever wants to master English, he/ she has to master English

grammar, too. It CaIillot be avoided because English as foreign language, exactly, is

very different from Indonesian language.

Grammar covers a lot of language elements. One of them is passive voice.

When a writer or a speaker wants to emphasize or direct attention to the receiver of

the action and he/ she wants to eliminate the necessity of naming agent of the action

when that agent is unknown or unimportant, the writer or the speaker has to use

passive voice in his/ her sentences. The passive voice form can be constructed from

active voice. There are some problems that arise especially for adults who want to

master the passive voice because the passive voice is very diffi:rent from the active

voice. This case is often felt by almost of all non-English speaking students. For

example in the sentence of "some one smashed the window" is active voice. If they

do not master the rules, they maybe change its sentence to be "the window smashed

by someone". That sentence is grammatically incon-ect. The correetiXOlieis. the

window was smashed. Some one can be omitted because it is an unimportant agent to

be written. Without knowing the formula of the passive voice, the students will feel

difficult to write a sentence of the passive voice correctly. Other possible errors done

by them are, for instaI1Ce, in changing 'to be', 'to have', past participle (V3). 'To be'

] Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, All lmrodllctioll to Lallguage, (Orlando: HarcoUl1Brace College Publisher, 1998), p 14

4

and 'to have' change in harmony with the kind of tense. Students may put 'is/ are/

am' in the past tense instead of was/ were. For example, the students may change the

sentence 'the gardener planted thejlower (active voice) to be "thejlower is changed

by the gardener" (passive voice). They also may put 'has/ have' in the past perfect

tense instead of 'had'. For example, the students may change the sentence "Sue had

cleaned the jloor" (active) to be "the jloor has been cleaned by Sue" (passive). The

students sometimes make en'or in writing irregular past participle (V3). For example,

'thrown' (past participle of throw) is written 'thrawen', 'taught' (past participle of

teach) is written 'tought' or 'teached'.

From description above, the writer intends to do a research connecting to the

passive voice. In conducting the research the writer chooses the third year students of

Senior High School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe. Selecting

the third year is appropriate enough, because the third year students have already

studied about the passive voice. In this research, the researcher would like to know

their mastery of passive voice. Thus, the title of this research is "The Mastery of

Passive Voice" a Case Study at the Third Year Students of Senior High School

"Dharma Kal'.va Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe.

B. The Focus of the Study

In the focus of the study, the writer will analyze the test-results of the passive

voice in the forms oftenses such as the present, the past, and the future tenses and the

modals ofcan, may and must, which are collected from the selected informants.

5

C. The Reseal'ch Question

From the focus of the study above, then the writer would like to propose the

following questions:

I. To what extent have the third year students of Senior High School

"Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe in the Academic Year

of2006/2007 mastered the passive voice?

2. What are the problems found by the third year stud,ents in mastering the

passive voice?

D. The Significance ofthe Research

The writer expects this research can benefit the readers who want to know

further about "the passive voice". In addition, the writer expects that the readers can

understand how to write passive voice correctly whether in forms of the tenses or in

the modal auxiliaries of can, may and must.

E. Research Methodology

1. The Method ofthe Research

The writer uses descriptive method to describe an object based on the

readably visible fact.

6

The writer does this research by using field research. Field research involves

the collection ofprimary data or information that is new. This is collected through

smveys and questionnaires that are made out specifically for a purpose.4

2. Data Analysis Techniqnc

For the data analysis technique, the writer uses descriptive comparative

analysis technique. Here, the writer wants to compare the different structme between

the students' test results and the written-theories. In calculating the tests' results, the

writer uses the following formula:

FP=-- x 100%

N

P = Percentage

F = Frequency ofwrong answers

N = Total Number ofTest

3. Data Collection

To find out the data, the writer uses test. The writer gives the test which

focuses on passive voice in some tenses to the informants (the sample of students). It

is essay test, which consists of 20 items covering: Simple Present, Present

Progressive, Simple Past, Past Progressive, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Futme,

Futme Perfect, Be going to, and Modal of 'can', 'may' and 'must'

4 http://linguislics.byu.cdu/facully/henrichsen I/researchmelhods/RM_2_05.hlm, May 2007

7

The writer assumes those items represent 16 tenses that will be analyzed. The

instrument of the research was selected fi'om Understanding English Grammar by

Betty S. Azar. It is expected that the writer can get representative data relating to the

goals ofthis research. The test-instruments can be seen in (Appendix I).

4. Unit of Analysis

The unit of analysis in this study is the test results from the twenty selected

studeI1ts from the third year students of Senior High School "Dharma Karya

Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe in Academic Year of 2006-2007. This grade

contains two classes, and each class consists of 20 students. The writer then takes 10

students randomly from each class. Therefore the number of sample is 20 students.

8. Time and Location

The field study was taken place at SMU Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka

Pondok Cabe located at JI. Talas II/30, Pondok Cabe I1ir, K'~camatan Pamulang,

Tangerang 15418. The writer started the research from December 1st 2006 and ended

on January 1st 2007.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Grammar

1. Definition

There are some definitions of grammar. Noah Webster ,;vrote grammar is the

part of the study of language which deals with the forms and structures of words

(morphology) and with their customary arrangement in phrases and sentences

(syntax), formerly used to denote all phases of language study (except that of the

detailed meaning of words), as centered on morphology and syntax; now often

distinguished from the study ofpronunciation (phonology) and that ofword meanings

(semantics, semasiology).l Grammar is the rules in a language Jbr changing the form

of words and combining the sentences. 2 According to Penny. Ur, grammar is a set of

rules defined as how words (or parts of words) are connected or changed fi'om

acceptable units of meaning within language.'

David Nunan stated Grammar is:

1. An analysis of the structure of language, either as encountered a corp ofspeech or writing (performance grammar) or a predictive of a speakers'knowledge (a competence grammar).

I Noah Webster, Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictiollary, (USA: William CollimsPublishers. Inc, 1980), p.792

2 A S Hornby, O.iford Advallced Leamer's Dictiollary of Currelll Ellglish,(New York:Oxford University Press, 1995), p.517

J Penny. Ur., A Course ill Lallguage Teachillg: Practice allli Theo~v, (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1996), p.87

9

2. An analysis of that structural property which defines human language (auniversal grammar).

3. A level of structural organization, which can be studied independently 0 fphonology and semantics.4

From some definitions above, the writer can conclude grammar is the study of

structure to form word or phrase to be a correct sentence then nnally we can sayan

interpretation correctly in the basic meaning of what someone has been said and can

send written massage grammatically.

2. Usage

There are many functions of gralmnar. Grammar helps some learners to

extend their control over the resources of language, helps the leal'ners to analyze

sentences and helps them to use patterns and constructions.5

The learners can apply the grammatical word to units smaller than sentences.

Grammal' does not only affect how units of language are combined in order to be

con'ect, but also to affect their meaning. It will be useless if the learners know how to

form new verb, but they do not know exactly the meaning when the new verb has

been used.

Grammar is important to practice. It is aimed to get learners learn the structure

thoroughly that. The leal'ners will be able to produce the sentences cOlTectly, if

4 David Nunan, Second Language Teaching and Learning, (New York: Heinle and HeinlePublisher, 1999), p.96

5 Hans P Guth, The Uses oflanguage, (New York: McGraw-Hill. lnG, 1989) p.72

10

they are able not only to produce and understand structures but also use them to

express the communicative competence oflanguage.

B. StructUl'e

Structure is a specific grammar; examples of structure are tense, direct and

indirect speech, passive voice and so on. It often refers to sequence oflinguistics unit,

that is, in certain relationship to another.6

Structure will help the listener or reader understand the speaker or written

language and it can determine meaning and function of word in a sentence. Without

structure, language would simply be chaotic. Therefore mastering structure is

absolute.

C. Sentence

1. Definition

Sentcnce is a group ofwords expressing a complete thought.7 In a different

book, Warriner defined sentence as a group of word containing a subject andverb.8

P.H. Matthew defined:

"Sentence is a full predication containing a subject plus a predicate with afinite verb. Its arrangement may be symbolized by such formulas as SVO

61. Richard, J Platt and H Webber, Longman Dictionary ofApplied Linguistics, (London:Longman, 1985), p.227

7 W. Nelson Prancis, The English Language: An Introduction backgroundfor writing,(New York: Brown University Press, 1965), p.61

8 John E Warriner, English Grammar and Compo.,ition, (New York: Harcouri BraceJovanovich Publisher, 1985), p.n

11

(subject+verb+object), Nl V N2 (noun+verb+noun), or NP + VP (noun phrase+verbphrase). In popular view, a sentence is a series of words in con-ected speech orwriting, forming the grammatically complete expression of singl1e thought.,,9

From definitions above, the writer can conclude that sentence is a group of

word containing a snbject and verb, expressing a complete thought.

The subject consists of one item or several items. The predicate also consists

of one item or several items, as the following chart:

NO SUBJECT PREDICATEI Birds Sing2 The sun Shines3 Rumors Spread out4 The security ofthe building Checked every visitor with great care

The subject is often a noun or noun-equivalent. In (I) to (3), the subjects

'birds, the sun, rumors are all nouns. In (4), the su~iect 'the security' is a noun with

an adjective phrase 'of the building'. As for the predicate, it may have one item or

more. If it has only one item, that item must be the verb when the predicate consists

of several items, the main item must be the verb; other may be the object ifthe verb is

transitive or adverb! adverb equivalent or both the object and the adverb! adverb

equivalent. In (I), the predicate is the verb 'sing'. In (2), the predicate is the verb

'shines', in (3), the predicate is verb 'spread' and the object is 'every visitor'

and the adverb phrase is 'with great care'. The verb may be linking verb. If so, it

requires a complement. 10

9 P.H. Mathews, Syntax, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 26

10 Dr. Tan Cheng Lim.P.hD, Practical English Grammar, (Singapor,,, Singapore AsianPublication, 2002), p.189-190

12

2. Kinds of Sentence

According to its construction, a sentence may be simple, compound or

complex.

I. Simple Sentence

Simple sentence is a sentence, which consists of only one clause called

dependent clause. This dependent clause may only have subject and one verb

d· IIor pre lcate.

James bought a new car.

In the sentence above there is only one subject 'James' and one verb 'bought'.

2. Compound Sentence

Compound sentence can be made up with two independent clauses combined

with a conjunction'and, or, or but. 12 Here are the examples:

Anne wants to go to a playground, but his sister wants to see a movie.

!VIr. Simon will go Bali tomon-ow, and he will be there for a week.

You have to study hard or you will fail the exam.

3. Complex Sentence

A complex sentence consists ofone or more full predications. One ofthese is

an independent clause (or main clause) that is similar to the form ofsimple

11 Dedy Setiawan, Drs, MA, M.Ed., PrllcticlIl Guide to TeclmiclIl Writillg/or TertillryStudell/s lIllll pro/essiolls, (Bandung: Politeknik Negeri Bandung, 2002), p.69

12 [hill, p.70

13

sentence and one or more of these are dependent clauses (or, subordinate

clauses. 13

Examples:

The man who stole the jewelry hid it in his home

She should not come because she was busy.

Both sentences above have independent clause and dependent clause. 'The

man hid it in his house' and 'she should not come' are independent clause. 'Who

stole the jewelry' and 'because she was busy' are dependant clauses that cannot stand

independently.

D. Passive Voice

1. Definition

Passive is accepting what happens or is done to one without responding

actively or asseliing oneself; not active 14. Voice in English grammar refers to the

active or passive use of a verbis. From these definitions it can be inferred passive

voice is a grammar etymology to state what happens or what is done.

A sentence is called the passive voice when the subject receives the action of

the verb. Therefore in the passive voice, the original receiver of the action is

13 Marcella Frank, Modem English: A Practical Referellce Guide, (New York: New YorkUniversily, 1972), p. 223

J4 A S Hornby, op.cit, p.847

15 Marcella Frank, op.cit, p.SS

14

the grammatical subject aJ1d the original doer of the action is the grammatical object

ofpreposition byl6. For example:

I.The Janitor ('doer' of the action) always opened the door. ('receiver' ofthe action)

(Active Voice)

2.The door ('receiver' of the action) is always opened by Janitor.('doer' ofthe action)

(Passive Voice)

Because the grammatical subject of a passive verb is the original object of an

active verb, only traJ1sitive verb may be used in the passive voice. 17

David Kilby defined something as a passive voice if it meets two conditions:

firstly, it must contain a 'past participle' not dependent on the auxiliary has, aJ1d

secondly, the subject (or understood subject) must be interpretable in the same way as

the object of the cOlTesponding verbis.

2. Fotm

The passive voice ofan active tense is formed by putting the verb 'to be' into

the same tense as the active verb and adding the past participle of the active verb. 19

16 Loc.cit

17 Marcella Frank, Modern English: A PTilctical Reference Guide, (New York: New YorkUniversity, 1972), p.56

18 David Kilby, Descriptive Syntax and the English Verb, (Australia: Croom Helm,1985), p. 57

19 A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet, A Practical English Grammar, INew York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1979), p.254

15

The objeet of an active voice corresponds to the subject of a passive verb?O

Active A does

Passive done by A

We make the passive verb with the different tenses of 'be' followed by the

past participle. Here is the table printed by Swam: 21

tense StmctUl'e

I. Simple Present am / are / is + pp2. Present Progressive am I are / is + being + pp3. Simple Past was / were + pp4. Past Progressive was/were + being + pp5. Present Perfect have / has + been + pp6. Past Perfect had + been + pp7. Future will + be + pp8. Future Perfect will have + been9. Going to Going to be + pp

After modal, we use the base form "be" followed by the !past participle.22 The

passive form of modal is formulated in the table below.

NO MODAL PASSIVE FORM EXAMPLE02 Can S+Can+be+pp The window can be opened04 May S + May + be + pp You may be excused fi'om class05 Must S + Had better + Marry must be told about om change in

plans

20 Michael Swam, Basic E/lglish Usage, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), p.237

21 Ihid, p. 238

22 Dave Willis, Siudellf's Grammar, (London: Harper Collin Publisher, 1991), p.170

16

The past passive form of modal is explained in table below:

NO MODAL PASSIVE FORM EXAMPLE

01 May S + Should + I-lave This letter may have been sent last weekbeen + pp

02 Must S + Must + have + This house must have been built over 200been +pp years a go

To change an active voice to be the passive voice, Dr. Tan Cheng Lim offered

the following steps:

1. Move the object of the active sentence to be the subject of the passive form.2. Add the correct form of the verb'be' according to the tense of the verb and

the number of the subject.3. Place the past pmticiple of the verb after the verb 'be'. If there is a modal

verb, it must be kept in this form: (modal verb + be + j:Jast pmticiple.4. Move the subject of the active sentence to the back of the passive sentence

with the aid of the preposition 'by'. If the subject of the active sentence is notimpOitant, omit it.

5. If there are two objects, use one of them (direct or indirect) to the subject ofthe passive sentence, normally, the indirect object (that is, the person) isused.23

3. Usages

Since it is generally preferable to make a direct statement of an action, a good

writer chooses the active voice wherever necessary when greater emphasis is to be

placed on the "event" represented by a verb plus its complement than on the "action"

involved in this event. Thus, the passive voice will be preferred in the following

instances:24

23 Dr. Tan Cheng Lim, PhD, op.cit, p.217

24 Marcella Frank, op.cit, p. 56

17

1. Attention is to be drawn especially to the "receiver" of the action.

Example: My dog was hit by a car.

In a peace of connected prose, the use of the passive voice permits the subject

under discussion to remain a grammatical subject even when it is not the "doer" ofan

action. For example:

William Faulkner wrote a number of books about a mythological county in

the sOllth. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1949.

2. The "doer" of an action is unimportant or is not known. The omission of

the agent makes it possible for an impersonal tone to be maintained. Examples:

1. Your little boy threw my kitchen window in the morning (active voice)

2. That window was thrown (passive voice)

In the first example above, the speaker knows the 'doer' of the action.

Meartwhile in the second example the doer of the action is unknown. It means the

doer is not refening to any particular person who has done the action.

The use of the passive voice for impersonal statements occurs frequently in

textbooks, in scientific, technical or business reports, and in newspapers stories.

Example: The Yalta agreement was signed during World War Two

The central jewelry store has been robbed several times

The repOit was confirmed yesterday

The passive voice is llsed in English when it is more convenient or interesting

to stress the thing done than the doer of it, or when the doer is unknown.

18

Sidney in A student's Grammar ofthe English Language explained:

"Speakers or writers use the passive for the following reasons. In consideringthe examples, bear in mind that more than one reason may apply. Reason 1-4illustrate the uses of the passive without agent 'by' phrase, which iscommonly omitted:I. They do not know the identity of the agent of the action. For example:

Many lifeboats were launched from the titanic only partly filled.2. They want to avoid identifying the agent because the do not want to design

or accept responsibility. For example: My letter has not yet beenanswered.

3. They feel that there is no reason for mention of the agent because theidentification is unimportant or obvious from the context.For example: The small thin pieces of metal at the sides are to protect theappliance during handling and may be discarded.

4. In scientific and technical writing, writers often use the passive to avoidthe constant repetition of the subject 'I' or 'We' and to put emphasis onprocesses and experimental procedures. This use of the passive helps togive the writing the objective tone that the writers wish to convey.For example: The subject was blindfolded and a pencil was placed in theleft hand.

5. To put emphasis on the agent of the action6. To avoid what would otherwise be a long active subject.7. To retain the same subject through a combination of these last tlU'ee

reasons for using the passive.,,25

E. Mastel)'

Mastery IS a noun borrowed Ji-om old French 'maistrie' fi'om 'maistre,26.

According to Merriam mastery is:

1. a. The authority of a master: Dominion

b. The upper hand in a contest of competition

2S Sidney Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk, A Stut/ellt's Grammar ofthe Ellglish Lallguage,(New York: Longman, (990), p. 121

26 Robert K. Barnhart, The Bamllllrt COllcise Dictiollary ofEtymology, USA: HW. WilsonCompany, 1995, p. 462

19

2. a. Possession or display ofgreat skill or technique

b. Skill or knowledge that makes one master of a subject27

Meanwhile Noah Webster defines mastery as:

"I. Mastership; Dominion; power of govemment or commanding2. Superiority or victOlY in competition or war; the upper hand3. A struggle for advantage4. A masterpiece5. Masterly ability; expert knowledge; eminent skill or power" 28

From some definitions above, the writer uses definition written by Merriam in

2.b and Noah Webster in point 5. The writer concludes that mastery means complete

knowledge or great ability in a subject, in this research the subject is the passive

vOIce.

The criteria which indicate the students master the passive voice in this study

are:

I. The students are able to change the active voice to the passive voice

2. The students are able to use 'to be' (is, am, are, was, were, be, been) in any

different tenses

3. The students are able to use 'to have' correctly

4. The students are able to change the verb (VI) to past participle (V3) regularly or

irregularly

27 Merriam-Webster, Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictiona~v, USA: An EncyclopediaCompany, 2003, edition II, p. 764

28 Noah Webster, Webster's New Twentieth Cel/tury Dictionary ofthe English Langnage,USA: William Collins and World Publishing Co., Inc, 1979, second edition, p. 1108

5. The students are able to put adverb in the right place.

6. The students are able to differentiate countable and uncountable noun

7. The students are able to differentiate singular and plural noun

8. The students are able to match subject and verb to meet subject-verb agreement

20

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FINDINGS

A. Data Description

In the data description, the writer would like to tabulate the results of the test,

as described below, and only the incorrect answer will be given the percentage (%).

Table. IThe students' achievement ofpassive voice

Question Student's Correct Stndent's Incorrect The percentage of RemarkNumber Answer Answer Incorrect Answer

I 17 3 15 %2 5 15 75 %~ 3 17 85 %.)

4 11 9 45%5 8 12 60%6 I 19 95%7 6 14 70%8 9 11 55 %9 6 14 70%10 9 11 55%11 17 3 15 %12 15 5 25%13 9 11 55 %14 5 15 75 %15 17 ~ 15 %.)

16 15 5 25 %17 11 9 45%18 12 8 40%19 6 14 70%20 12 8 40%

22

Table.2The students' Incorrect Answers

StudentTenses (14 items) Modal (6 items) The average

Number percentage ofCorrect Incorrect % Correct Incorrect % tenses and modal

1 1 13 93 2 4 67 80 %2 10 4 29 5 1 17 23%3 6 8 57 3 3 50 53.5 %4 8 6 43 5 1 17 30 %5 4 10 71 1 5 83 77%6 8 6 43 3 3 50 46.5%7 6 8 57 2 4 67 62%8 9 5 36 5 1 17 26.5%9 3 11 79 2 4 67 73%10 4 10 71 5 1 17 44%11 6 8 57 3 3 50 53.5%12 10 4 29 5 1 17 23%13 6 8 57 4 2 33 45 %14 6 8 57 5 1 17 37 %15 7 7 50 5 1 17 33.5%16 4 10 71 3 3 50 60.5%17 5 9 64 2 4 67 65.5%18 6 8 57 5 1 17 37%19 3 11 79 3 3 50 64.5 %20 10 4 29 5 1 17 23 %

Averaae 56.4 39.3 47.9 %

B. Data Analysis

The writer analyzes only the question (table.!) whos" students' incorrect

answers are 60 % and above to find out the problems found by students in mastering

the passive voice. Then, the data that will be analyzed are: question 2 (75 %),

question 3 (85 %), question 5 (60 %), question 6 (95 %), question 7 (70 %), question

9 (70 %), question 14 (75 %) and question 19 (70 %).

The item

Indicators

The purposes

23

The collected data that will be analyzed are as follows:

I. Question 2 (Past Tense)

: I. To measure the students' ability of the passive voice of

past tense

2. To find out the problems faced by the students

1. The students know the formula of the passive voice of

past tense

2. The students know the use of to be "was/ were" and its

position

3. The students know singular and plural nOlm or pronoun

4. The students know the regular and irregular form ofpast

participle (V3)

"The teacher collected the students' paper at the end ofthe

test yesterday"

Possible answer: "The students' paper was collected by the teacher

yesterday".

From table 1 above the writer finds 15 students cannot answer the question

correctly. The writer groups 15 incorrect answers into 2 groups based on the

similarity of the error:

24

a. Group 1

Group 1 is the incorrect answers caused by the error in using "to be". Here are

the examples of the students' sub-group:

1. The students' paper is collected by the teacher at the end of the test

yesterday. (Student no 1,2,3,7,11,15,16, and 17)

2. The students' paper are colIected by the teacher at the end 0 f the test

yesterday. (Student no 9 and 10)

3. The students' paper were collected by the teacher at the end ofthe test

yesterday. (Student no 6, 14, 18, and 19)

Such responses indicate the students are not able to use 'to be' correctly. The

examples of students' sub-group 1 and 2 above are the evidences of incorrect

answers. From 15 students' incorrect answers, 10 students' cannot differentiate the

use of 'to be'. Those ten students choose 'is' in their answers. The correct 'to be' that

should be used is 'was! were' because of the past tense.

The students also do not know the agreement between 'To be' and subject

(nolm). The example of students' sub-group 3 is the evidence of incorrect answers. It

means 'to be' as a verb agrees with the subject. The verb be hail two separate forms

for the past -was for the singular, were for the plural. I In this case the subject taken

from noun (the students' paper) is singular, therefore in that sentence the correct 'to

be' is 'was'.

I Marcella Frank, Modem Ellglish: A Procticill Referellce Gllide, (New York: New YorkUniversity. 1972), p.72

25

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the inconect answers caused by using the incorrect passive

formula of past tense. Here are the examples of the students' sub··group:

I. The student's paper being collected at the end ofthe te:>t by the teacher

yesterday. (Student no. 4)

2. The student's paper were being collected at the end ofthe test by the

teacher yesterday. (Student no 12 and 20)

The passive formula of past tense is 'was Iwere + past participle'. From IS

students who have incorrect answers, two of them indicate they are still confhsed to

use the passive voice formula in the past fOffil of 'to be'. Here they used present

continuous instead of the past tense of ' to be' such as in the example of student's sub

group 1. Meanwhile, the students' sub-group 2 used past continuous tense instead of

the past tense of 'to be'.

The students cannot differentiate the use of 'to be' and don not know subject

verb agreement because they are influenced by Indonesian grammar. 'To be' and

subject-verb agreement in Indonesian grammar are not recognized. For example:

I. Guru telah mengumpulkan tugas siswa kemarin (active voice)

2. Tugas siswa telah dikumpulkan oleh guru kemarin (pa:,sive)

In Indonesian grammar, passive voice needs only the change of suffix or

prefix of the verb from 'mel me - kan' to be 'dil di - kan' and the object changes to

be subject.

Indicators

The item

26

Another cause is teaching method. It is not explained clearly about the forms

of 'to be' that has some forms (am, is, are for present and was, were for past tense). It

is also not explained clearly the differences among them.

2. Question 3 (Present Perfect Tense)

The purposes : I. To measure the students' ability ofpassive voice of

present perfect tense


I. The students know the formula of the passive voice of

present perfect tense

2. The students know the use of to be "been" and its

position

3. The students know the use of "have and has" which

connect to the subject


participle (V3)

"People in Latin America have spoken Spanish for nearly

600 years"

Possible answer "Spanish has been spoken by people in Latin America. for

nearly 600 years".

27

From table 1 above the writer finds 17 stndents (85 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups 17 incorrect answers into 2 groups based on the


a. Group I

Group I is the incorrect answers caused by using incorrect 'to have' (have/

has). Here are the examples of students' sub-group:

I. Spanish had been spoken by people in Latin America for nearly 600 years.

(Student no 9, 10, and 13).

2. Spanish have been spoken by people in Latin America for nearly 600 years.

(Student no 3, 4, 6, 8,12,15,18,19, and 20).

Such responses indicate the students are not able to use 'to have' correctly.

'To have' is used with the past participle to form the following tenses present perfect,

past perfect, future perfect and perfect conditional2. 'To have' has three forms: Have/

has (present), had (past and past perfect{ In this case, the correct 'to have' that

should be used is 'have/ has' because the sentence is present perfect tense. The

example of students' sub-group 1 is the evidence of incorrect answer. From 17

students' incorrect answers, 9 students cannot use 'to have' corre,~tly. They used past

tense of 'to have' instead of present perfect of ' to have'.

2 AJ. Thomson and A.V. Martinet, A Practical English Grammar, (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1979), p.105

3 Ibid, p. 104

28

Such responses above also indicate the students also don not know the

agreement between 'to have' and subject (noun). The example of students' sub-group

2 is the evidence of incorrect answers. It means they use incorrect 'to have'. 'To

have' has two forms either in the active voice or in the passive voice. They are 'have'

and 'has'. The form of 'Have' is used for I, you, we, they, and plural noun,

meanwhile the form of 'has' is used for he, she, it, and singular noun.4 In this case the

subject of the sentence is 'Spanish'. Then, the correct form of 'to have' in that

sentence is 'has', because Spanish includes singular noun.

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by usmg the incorrect passive

formula of present perfect tense. I-Jere are the examples of student' sub-group:

1. The people America have been speaking Spanish by nearly 600 years.

(Student no. I)

2. Spanish in Latin America are spoken for nearly 600 years. (Student no. 5)

3. For nearly 600 years have been spoken Spanish by people in Latin

America. (Student no 7,11,16 and 17)

The passive formula of present perfect tense is 'have/ has + Past Pmticiple'.

From 17 students who have incorrect answers, 6 students indicate they are still

confused to use the passive voice formula in the present perfect lorm. In the example

of student's sub-group I above, the student used the active formula of present perfect

continuous tense instead of the passive formula of present perfect tense. It proved

4 Marcella Frank, OfJ.cil, p.78

29

the student cannot form the passive voice. The sentence in student's sub-group I is

still in active voice of present perfect continuous tense, although, grammatically its

sentence is incorrect, because the subject does not agree with the verb. In example of

students' sub-group 2, the student used the passive formula of present tense instead of

the passive formula of present perfect tense. It also indicates that the student cannot

detect the kind of tense in an active sentence. If the student can detect it, the student

will be able to form the passive voice, in this case, the passive of present perfect

tense. In the example of students' sub-group 3, the students are influenced by

Indonesian interference.

The causes are the influence of Indonesian grammar and the lack of students'

knowledge of 'to have'. In Indonesian grammar, there are only three kinds of tenses;

past tense, present tense and future tense. The present perfect tense where 'to have' is

always involved in, is not recognized in Indonesian grammar, finally the students'

knowledge of 'to have' is very poor. In Indonesian grammar, there is also no subject

verb agreement. It causes the students miss to match subject and its verb in order to

meet subject-verb agreement. Another cause is teaching methodology. The students

are not explained clearly the use of 'to have' and its agreement between subject and

verb.

3. Question 5 (Present Continuous Tense)

The purposes : 1. To measure the students' ability ofpassive voice of

present continuous tense

30


Indicators

The item


present continuous tense

2. The students know the use of to be 'is! are' and its

position

3. The students know the singular and plural noun

4. The students lmow the regular and irregular form ofpast

participle (V3)

"Mr. Rice is teaching our class now"

Possible answer: "Our class is being taught by Mr. Rice now".

From table I above, the writer fmds 12 students cannot answer the question

cOITectiy. The writer groups 12 incorrect answers into 2 groups based on the

similarity of the error.

a. Group I

Group I is the incorrect answers caused by the error of the past participle

(V3). Here is the example of student' sub-group:

"Our class is being teach by Mr. Rice now. (Student no 16)"

The response above indicates the student is not able to change a verb into

irregular past participle (V3). The example of student's sub-group is the evidence of

incorrect answer. 'Teach" in the sentence above is simple form, whereas the verb

which is needed in the sentence is past participle (V3fQ<l.s~.'<'>E..!_~!':!~~?:L

I

31

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answer caused by using the incorrect passive formula

ofpast tense. Here are the examples:

1. Our class is teached by Mr. Rice now. (Student no 1, 3, 7, 11, 17, and 19)

2. Our class is tought by Mr. Rice now. (Student no 15)

3. Our class are teaching by Mr. Rice now. (Student no.S)

The passive formula of present continuous tense is " is/ are + being +

past participle (V3). From 12 students who have incorrect answers, 9 students used

the incorrect passive voice formula of the present continuous tense. The examples of

students' sub group I, 2 and 3 are the evidences of incorrect answers. In example of

students' sub-group 1 and 2, the students used the passive formula of present tense,

although the past participle (V3) in that sentence is incorrect. The past Participle (V3)

of "teach" is "taught". In the example of student's sub-group 3, the student is not able

to use the passive formula ofpresent continuous tense. The sentence in that sub-group

is grammatically and semantically incorrect. Granmmtically the subject should agree

with the verb. The subject of the sentence "our class" is singular. Therefore the verb

should be singular, too. So, the correct verb should be "is". The sentence also is

semantically incorrect, because the class in that sentence cannot do an action.

The causes are the influence of Indonesian verb and the teaching

methodology. The verb in Indonesian does not change in form. For example:

'Beli' cannot change to be 'Belu','bule' etc.

32

Unlike Indonesian, the verb in English changes in accord311ce with the kind of

tenses. This case makes the students obtain the English verb in form. Teaching

methodology also influences the students in mastering the passive voice of present

continues tense. They are not explained the irregular past participle and the

differences of verb between English and Indonesian clearly.

4. Question 6. (Past Continues Tense)

The purposes : 1. To measure the students' ability ofpassive voice ofpast

continuous tense

The item

Indicators



past continuous tense

2. The students know the use of to be 'was/ were' and its

position

3. The students know countable and uncountable noun

4. The students know the regular and ilTegular form ofpast

participle (V3)

'The movers were moving the furniture fi'om my apartment

to a truck last week"

Possible answer: "The fiJrniture was being moved by the movers fi'om my

apaIiment to a truck last week".

33

From table 1 above, the writer finds 19 students (95 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups 19 incorrect students into 2 groups based on the

similarity of the error.

a. Group 1

Group 1 IS the incorrect answers caused by nllssmg 'Subject-Verb

Agreement'. Here is the example of students' sub-group 1:

"The furniture were being moved by the movers ll-OJll my apartment to a truck

last week". (Student no 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,12,14,16,17,18,20)

Such responses above indicate the students are not able to match the subject

with the verb. They also cannot recognize the countable and uncountable noun; and

its consequence to the verb. The example of students' sub-group I is the evidence of

incorrect answer. They used 'were' instead of 'was', whereas the subject of the

sentence is uncountable noun. Referring to the theory, Uncountable noun is not used

in the plural.s Therefore in the sentence above the conect 'to be' is 'was'.

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by using the incorrect formula ofpast

continuous tense. Here are the examples of students' sub-group:

I. The furniture were moves by truck last week. (Student no 1 and 19)

2. The furniture my apartment to a truck are movers last week. (Student no 5)

j Ibid, p. 7

Indicators

34

3. My apartment were being moved the furnitme by a truck. (Student no 10

and 13)

The passive formula of the past continuous tense is 'was/were + being + past

participle (V3). From 19 students who have incorrect answer, 5 students indicate they

are still confused to use the passive formula ofpast continuous tense even they do not

know the passive formula of past continuous tense. The three sentences above do not

correlate to the passive form ofpast continuous tense.

The writer assumes the causes of those problems above are the influence of

Indonesian grammar and teaching methodology. In Indonesian grammar, there is no

subject-verb agreement. It causes the students miss to match subject and its verb in

order to meet subject-verb agreement. Another cause is teaching methodology. The

students are not taught clearly the passive formula of past continues tense and how to

use the formula into a sentence.

5. Question 7 (Futme Perfect Tense)

The pmposes : 1. To measme the students' ability ofpassive voice of

future perfect tense



future perfect tense

2. The students know the use of to be 'been' and its

position

35


participle (V3)

4. The students know the place of adverb of time

The item "Soon Maria will have bought the book"

Possible answer: "The book will have been bought soon by Maria".

From table 1 above, the writer finds 14 students (70 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups 14 incolTect students into 2 groups based on the

similarity of the elTor.

a. Group 1

Group 1 is the incolTect answers caused by using of incorrect passive formula

ofthe future perfect tense. Here are the examples of students' sub-group:

1. The book will have be bought by Maria soon. (Student no. 6)

2. The book will be have bought by Maria soon.(Student no 2, 6, 8, 18 and 20)

3. The book was would have bought by soon Maria. (Stud,ent no 9 and 10)

The passive formula of the future perfect tense is 'will have + been + past

participle (V3). From 14 students who have incorrect answers, 8 ~;tudents are not able

to use the passive formula of the future perfect tense correctly. In the example of

student's sub-group 1, the student used the wrong 'to be'. She used 'be', whereas,

based on the formula above the COlTect 'to be' is 'been". In the example of students'

sub-group 2, besides students used the wrong 'to be', they also placed 'to be' in the

wrong place. Based on the formula above 'to be' should be laid after the auxiliary of

36

'have', but they, in the student's sub-group 2 above, laid 'to be' before the auxiliary

of 'have'. In the students' sub group 3, the students really do not know the passive

formula of the future perfect tense. There is no 'to be' in the example of students'

sub-group 3, whereas, the being of 'to be' in the passive form is a must, because

generally the formula of passive voice is 'to be' + Past Patticiple (V3). The problems

arise because 'to be' changes according to the tense. In the present tense, 'to be'

changes to be "ami is! are', in the past tense 'to be' changes to be "was and were', in

the perfect tense, 'to be' changes to be 'been'. Here is the form of tense of

PRESENT PAST PERFEeam Was beenare wereis

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by placing incorrect adverb of

manner. Here is the example of students' sub group:

- The book will have been bought by soon Maria.

(Student no 5, 7, II, 13, 14 and 16).

From 16 students who have incorrect answers, 5 students are not able to

lay adverb in the correct place. Adverb of manner usually comes after verb,

'Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding ami Using English Gramnltrr, (USA: Prentice hali,Inc, 1989), ibid, p. A4 appendix 1

37

after the object when there is one.7The adverb of manner is com,ctly, in the example

of sub-group 2 above, put after the verb 'bought.

The causes are the lack of students' knowledge of the adverb of manner. They

think 'soon' is a fi'ont name of Maria, whereas 'soon' in that sentence is one of the

adverbs of manner.

6. Question 9 (Be going to)

The purposes : I. To measure the students' ability ofpassive voice of Be

Going To


Indicators

The item


Be Going To

2. The students know the use ofto be 'be' and its position

3. The students know the regular and irregular form of past

participle (V3)

4. The students know the position ofadverb ofplace

"Eric's cousins are going to meet him at the airport this

afternoon"

Possible answer: "He is going to be met by Eric's cousin at the airport this

afternoon".

7 Marcella Frank, op.cil, p.S8

38

From table I above, the writer finds IS students (75 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups IS incorrect students into 2 groups based on the


a. Group I

Group I is the incorrect answers caused by using of incon'ect passive formula

of 'be going to' and the incorrect subject of the sentence. Here are the examples of

students' sub-group I:

I. The airport Eric's cousins is going to meted at this morning. (Student no. 5)

2. The airpOli is going to be him by Eric's cousins this morning.

(Student no 9 and 10)

3. The airport was going to be met him by Eric's cousins this morning.

(Student no 13)

Such responses indicate the students are not able to recognize not only the

passive formula of 'be going to', but also the subject arid the object of the sentence.

The subject of the question above is 'Eric's cousins' and the object is 'him'. To form

the passive voice, the subject of the sentence should be moved to be the object of the

sentence. On the contrary, the object of the sentence should be moved to be

the subject of the sentence. The adverb of place and the adverb of time never became

the subject of the sentence. An adverb is a word to modifY a verb, an adjective or

another adverb. 8Therefore the airport, in the example of student's sub-group! has no

function. Besides the students used the incorrect passive formula in the examples of

8 Dr. Tan Cheng Lim, PhD, op.cit, p. 113

39

students' sub-group 2, they also used the wrong subject grammatically. In the

example of student' sub-group 2 there has no past participle (v3), whereas, the

passive formula of ' be going to' is 'be going to' -I- be -I- past participle (v3).

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by using the incorrect passIve

formula of ' be going to' and the incorrect form of the personal pronoun. Here is the

example of student's sub-group 2:

I. Him is being meet by Eric's cousins at the airport.

(Student no 2, 4, 14, 18 and 20)

2. Him are going went to meet by Eric's cousins at the airport this

afternoon.

(Student no 12)

Such responses above indicate the students who have incorrect answer like

above are not able to change an objective case to be nominative case. The students

can put the subject correctly, but they used 'him' instead of 'he'. 'Him' is used when

it places the object position. The pronoun in the example of student's sub-group 2

places the subject position; therefore the correct pronowl should be 'he'.

The causes are the influence ofIndonesian grammar of pronoun and teaching

methodology. The students think the pronoun in English is the same as the pronoun in

Indonesian. In Indonesian the pronoun does not change in form., but in English the

pronoun changes in form according to its position. For example:

Indonesian

s~mu

Dia suka saya

English

I love 'IOU

~---..She loves me

40

In teaching methodology, the students are not explained the change of

pronoun in English clearly, whereas the change of pronoun in the English passive

voice is very important especially the pronoun of subject (nominative case) and

object (objective case).

7. Question 14 (Past Tense)

The purposes

Indicators

The item

: I. To measure the students' ability of the passive voice of

past tense



past tense

2. The students know the use of to be "was! were" and its

position

3. The students know singular and plural noun or pronoun


participle (V3)

"An old man told a story this morning"

Possible answer : "A story was told by an old man this morning".

41

From table I above, the writer finds IS students (75 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups IS incorrect students into 2 groups based on the


I. Group I

Group I is the incorrect answer caused by using the incorrect "to be". Here is

the example of student's sub-group:

- A story is told by an old man this morning.

(Student no 1,2,3,4,5,8, IS, 17, 18, 19, and 20)

Such response indicate the students are not able to use 'to be' correctly. The

example of students' sub-group above is the evidence of incorrect answer. From IS

students' incorrect answers, II students' cannot differentiate the use of 'to be'. Those

eleven students choose 'is' in their answers. The COlTect 'to be' that should be used is

'wasl were' because ofthe past tense.

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by usmg the incorrect passive

formula of Past Tense. Here are the examples of students' sub group:

I. A story has been told by an old man this morning.

(Student no 14)

2. A story told by an old man this morning.

(Student no 6)

42

The passive formula of Past Tense is 'was /were + past participle'. From 15

students who have incorrect answers, two of them indicate that they are still confused

to use the passive voice formula in the past form of 'to be'. In example of student's

sub-group 1, the student used the passive formula of present perft~ct tense in stead of

the passive formula of Past Tense. She cannot recognize the kind of tense. The

sentence in that question is Past Tense. If the student changes the sentence to be

passive voice, she should form the passive sentence in Past Tense, too based on the

formula of past tense that has been written above. Meanwhile, the students' sub

group 2 did not use 'to be' at all, whereas, the being of ' to be' in the passive form is

very essential, because generally the formula of passive voice is "be + Past Participle

(V3).

The causes of those problems above are influenced by Indonesian grammar.

'To be' and subject-verb agreement in Indonesian grammar are not recognized as it

has been explained clearly above. Another cause is teaching methodology. The

students may not be clearly explained how to use the passive formula of past tense in

a sentence.

8. Question 19 (Perfect Modal "May")

The purposes : 1. To measure the students' ability of the passive voice of

perfect modal 'may'

2. To find out the problems faced by thl~ students

Indicators

43


past tense

2. The students know the use of to be "been" and its

position

3. The students know singular and plural noun or pronoun


participle (V3)

The item "The teacher may have permitted the students to go to the

toilet"

Possible answer : "The students may have been permitted by the teacher to go

to the toilet".

From table I above, the writer finds 14 students (70 %) cannot answer the

question correctly. The writer groups 15 incorrect students into 2 groups based on the


a. Group I

Group I is the incorrect answers caused by using the incorrect "to be" and its

position. Here are the examples of student's sub-group:

I. The students may have be permitted by the teacher to go to the toilet.

(Student no 6)

2. The students may be have permitted by the teacher to go to the toilet.

(Student no 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 20)

44

Such responses indicate the students are not able to use "to be" and put it

cOlTectly. The example of students' sub-group 1 above is the evidence of incorrect

answer. The student in the example of student's sub-group 1 put "to be" in the correct

position, but she used incorrect "to be". She used "be" instead of "been". Putting "to

be" of "been" in that sentence is a must, because "to be" in that case is preceded by

"to have" as auxiliary. The verb, proceeded by "to have" as auxiliary, should be past

participle (V3). Then, the verb "be", in that case, should be in past participle (V3).

The past participle of the verb "be" is "been".

In the example of students' sub-group 2, the students not only used the

incorrect "to be", but they also put "to be" in the wrong position. "To be", in the

passive voice of perfect modal "may", is put after "to have" based on the perfect

passive form of modal. The perfect passive formula of modal "may" is "May + Have

+ Been + Past Participle (V3)".

b. Group 2

Group 2 is the incorrect answers caused by using incorrect passive formula of

perfect modal "may". Here are the examples of students' sub-group:

1. The student have been permitted by the teacher to go to the toilet.

(Student no 16)

2. The student may have permitted by the teacher to go to the toilet.

(Student no 7)

45

3. The student is have permitted by the teacher to go to the toilet.

(Student no 1, 3 and 17)

Such responses indicate the students in the example of students' sub-group

above are not able to use the passive formula ofperfect modal "May". In the example

of student's sub-group 1, the student used the incorrect passive form of present

perfect tense in stead of the passive form of past passive of modal "May". In the

example of student's sub-group 2, the student has used the Perfect Modal "May", but

he do not put "to be" after "to have", Whereas, based on theory, the passive formula

of perfect modal "May" is May + Have + Been + Past Participle (V3). In the

example of students' sub-group 3, the students are not able to form the passive voice.

Those problems above arise because the students have poor knowledge of 'to

be' and its change. Another cause is teaching methodology. The students are not

explained how to use the perfect modal formula of 'May' in a sentence clearly.

After finding some problems found by the students in mastering the passive

voice, the writer interprets the data using the measurement below to know to what

extent the students have mastered the passive voice.

The measurement used as follows:

Score Categol"y

a - 25 Very Poor

26 - 50 Poor

51 - 75 Enough

75 - 100 Good

46

From the data description, table 2, the writer can interpret the average score

and categorize into measurement above. The average score of the student can be

accounted by using average formulation:

A=

A

s

N

sN

= Average Score

= Total Score

= Number of student

After processing the data the writer accounts the average of score as follows:

A =1.5+7,5+4,5+6,5+2,5+5.5+4+7+2,5+4.5+4.5+7,5+5+5,5+6+3,5+3,5+5,5+3+7,5

20= 4.9

The average score of students' achievement test is 4.9. According to the

measurement above, the writer categorizes the student's mastery of passive voice as

Poor. Because based on the measmement, the score around 26 - 50 is categorized as

poor. It means the mastery of passive voice at the third year students of Senior High

School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka' Pondok Cabe is not good.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

The result of the research can be concluded as follows:

I. Most of the students at the third year of Senior High School "Dharma Karya

Universitas Terbuka" Pondok Cabe have a poor ability of the passive voice.

2. There are a number of problems found by the students in mastering the passive

vOlce:

a. The use of incorrect 'to be' in different tenses

b. The use of incorrect formula of the passive in a sentence

d. The use of incon·ect past participle (V3)

e. The use of incorrect 'to have'

f. The incorrect position ofadverb; adverb manner

g. The incorrect pronoun nmctioned as the subject of the sentence

3. The causes of those problems are:

a. The influence ofIndonesian grammar

b. The teaching methodology used by the teacher

B. Suggestions

Based on the conclusion above, the writer proposes some suggestions for the

following parties:

48

1. The institution (Senior High School "Dharma Karya UT") to:

a. provide book collections of English basic grammar in the school library to

support the students' ability of English basic grammar

b. provide any different books containing the passive voice of English from any

different publishers.

2. The English teacher to:

a. improve the effectiveness of teaching methodology

b. improve learning process in teaching passive VOIce by explaining the

differences between English and lndonesian grammar clearly, especially 111

the passive voice.

3. The learners to:

a. distinguish the formulae of the passive voice

b. memorize the irregular past participle (V3) because it is always involved in

the passive voice

c. consider the correct form of 'to be' to meet subject-verb agreement

d. point out the object of the sentence in the active voice, because the subject of

the sentence in the passive voice is constructed from the object ofthe sentence

in the active voice.

e. point out the kind of tense in the active voice, because the passive voice

changed from the active voice obtains the tense in the active voice.

Finally, the writer hopes this study will be useful for the future improvement

of studying structure, especially "the passive voice form".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet, A Practical English Grammar, New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1979

A S Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ofCurrent English, NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1995

Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, USA:Prentice hall, Inc, 1989

David Nunan, Second Language Teaching and Learning, New York: Heinle andHeinle Publisher, 1999

Dave Willis, Student's Grammar, London: Harper Collin Publisher, 1991

Dedy Setiawan, Drs, MA, M.Ed., Practical Guide to Technical Writing for TertiaryStudents and professions, Bandung: Politeknik Negeri Bandung, 2002

Dr. Tan Cheng Lim.P.hD, Practical English Grammar, Singapore: Singapore AsianPublication, 2002

Hans P Guth, the Uses oflanguage, New York: McGraw-HilI. Inc, 1989

Http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/researchmethods/RM_2_05.htm, May2007

Jean Aitchison, Linguistics, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1987

John E Warriner, English Grammar and Composition, New York: Harcouri BraceJovanovich Publisher, 1985

.J. Richard, J Platt and H Webber, Longman Dictionary ofApplied Linguistics,London: Longman, 1985

Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, New York: NewYork University, 1972

50

Michael Swam, Basic English Usage, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986

Noah Webster, Webster's New Twentieth Century DictionOlY, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1983

Noah Webster, Webster's New Twentieth CentUly Dictionary, USA: WilliamCollims Publishers. Inc, 1980

Penny. Ur, A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and TheOlY, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1996

P.H. Mathews, Syntax, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Radolph Quirk, A Comprehensive Grammar of The English Language, New York:Longman, 1985

Sidney Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk, A Student's Grammar o.fthe EnglishLanguage, New York: Longman, 1990

Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, An Introduction to Language, Orlando:Harcourt Brace College Publisher, 1998

W. Nelson Prancis, The English Language: An Introduction BackgroundforWriting, New York: Brown University Press, 1965

APPENDIXES

Appendix I

Jay/ Daterime Duration<\venue::omplete Name::lass

ITEST INSTRUMENT 1

: Friday, December 22ml 2006: 90 minutes: Senior High School "Dharma Karya Universitas Terbuka"

CHANGE THE ACI1VE SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE

I. The big fish eats the small fi sh :

2. The teacher collected the student's paper at the end of the test yesterday:

3. People in Latin America have spoken Spanish for nearly 600 years:

4. Thousands of tourists will visit Hawaii this year:

5. Mr. Rice is teaching our class today:

6. The movers were moving the furniture from my apartment to a truck last week:

7. Soon, Maria will have touched the book:

8. John had written the book before I bon"owed the book:

9. Eric's cousins are going to meet him at the airport this afternoon:

JO. Someone can teach the dog how to trick:

1J. People must obey all traffic regulations:

12. My mother may cook lice at home:

13. People grow rice in India:

14. An old man told the stOly this morning

J5. The chefwill prepare the lood :

16. Lookl Someone can open the door :

17. Someone was reading book in the library yesterday morning:

l8. Many people must have built this house over 200 years a go :

J9. The teacher may have permitted the student to go to the toilet:

20. The student will have done the homework by the end of this week:

ARYA

YAYASAN PEMBINA UNIVERSITAS TERBUKABIDANG PENDIDIKAN

SMA DHARMA IKARYA UTSTATUS TERAKREDITASI B

SK. NO. : 02 I BASDA-BTN I SK I V I 2004JI. Talas 11/30, Pondok Cabe IIi I., Kecamalan Pamulang, Tangerang 15418 Telp (021) 74701542

... IM

SURAT KETERANGAN

Nomor: 063/102. J/SMA DK-UT/I/2007

~epala SMA Dharma Karya UT dengan ini menerangkan :

~ama

-lIM.

urusan

'akultas

udul Skripsi

~empat/tanggallahir

enis Kelamin

~gama

Vamat

: Dindin RosyicJin

: 102026024587

: Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris

: Adab dan HUl11anioro

: The Mastery ofPassive Voice

"a care study on the third year of SMA Dharma Karya UT

Pondok Cabe Academic Year 2006/2007".

: Sukabumi, 04 Mei 1983.

: Laki-laki

: Islam

: Jl. ABO Wahab No. 20

Rt. 02/08 Cinangka 16516

Sawangan Kola Oepok

Ilenerangkan bahwa yang bersangkutan benar-benar telah melaksanakan Penelitian

elama satu bulan, (tanggal, 1 Desember 2006 s.d I Januari 2007)

)emikian surat keterangan ini dibuat untuk clipergunakan sebagaimana mestinya.

08 Februari 2007ah

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