Errors in Using Simple Past Tense in Narrative Compositions Made by English Non-Native Students

Abstract

Errors or mistakes frequently occur when school students write English texts or sentences according to the correct grammatical rules of English. This research aims to identify the inaccuracies made by the eleventh-grade students of SMA N 1 Pasemah Air Keruh, Empat Lawang District, South Sumatra province in their narrative compositions. A descriptive quantitative research technique was employed in this study. Data were obtained through a writing task. The sample of this study consisted of 32 eleventh-grade students of the school selected using purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using a simple percentage formula. The results of the study showed that there are four categories of errors made by students containing 125 errors found in their narrative compositions. They were classified into four types of errors, they are misformation (45.6%), omission (42.4%), addition (10.4%), and misordering (1.6%). In conclusion, misarrangement, exclusion, and inclusion of grammatical features were found in students’ compositions.