Download 1 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Writing is one of

CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Writing is one of many medias to express our ideas or thoughts. The primary
purpose for writing in almost all contexts is for communication. According to
William Grabe and Robert B. Kaplan (1996), most writings are usually undertaken to
communicate with one or more readers for a variety of informational purposes.
Moreover, William Grabe and Robert B. Kaplan (1996) said that “when there is no
other anticipated reader, and the writing is truly personal and private, one could
argue that the writer serves as a reader, and thus the writing remains as a
communicative act. “
Nowadays many schools offer programs which enable students to be
competent in the four languages skill: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Schools have succeeded in producing students who are good at speaking, reading,
listening but unfortunately they have failed to produce students who have good
proficiency in writing. Alwasilah (1998 cited in Gunawan, 2002)
2.1 Function of Writing
There are some definitions regarding the function of writing. According to
Wilkinson (1985, p.85), “defines writing is a frame means of developing of our
thinking and our emotion and therefore of defining and redefining, ourselves”.
Writing can help somebody consider more regarding his thought, and analyze
people’s feelings because it gives people time and opportunity for reflection. Writing
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covers a number of elements, such as content, grammar, vocabulary, and coherence.
All of these items are essential in writing. According to Farman and Dahl (2003),
writing is the learned process of shaping experience into text, allowing the writer to
discover, develop, clarify, and communicate thoughts and feelings. Writing requires
and supports the development of thinking skills. According to Cohen and Riel (1989,
in Yulianti’s), writing as a communicative act, a way of sharing observations,
information, thought, or ideas with others. Meanwhile, Bryne (1979, in Yulianti’s)
defined writing as transforming our thoughts into language. In other words, writing is
transforming our thoughts into language. In other words, writing can be defined as a
way of communication by transforming observations, information, thought, or ideas
into language, so it can be shared with others.
2.2 Aspects of Writing
The students’ writing performance can be seen from the aspects of writing.
Cohen (1994, pp.328- 32) defined five aspects of writing, as stated below:
a. Content: main ideas stated clearly and accurately, chance of opinion very clear.
b. Organization: coherent and logical
c. Vocabulary: choices of words, use of idioms, and word forms
d. Grammar: control of structure.
e. Mechanics: mastery of spelling and punctuation.
Regarding the aspects, in writing process, student should pay attention to the aspects
of writing in order to be able to write well.
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2.3 Theory of Writing
Some theories regarding writing analysis theory are used to support the
research held by the writer in this paper. From these theories, the findings are
expected to be acceptable academically. According to Witte (1992), theory of writing
needs to synthesize the cognitive, social, and textual (linguistic) factors.
2.3.1 Social Theory
Social context - that of the classroom, the other students, the interactions
among the teacher and the students, and the larger world outside the classroom – has
a profound impact on the development of writing ability (Heath 1993, Johns 1990,
Raimes 1991). Beside, social theory is related to motivation. According to Gardner
(1985), motivation itself can be classified into integrative motivation and
instrumental motivation. Integrative motivation involves a desire to learn an L2
because individuals need to learn the target language to integrate into the community.
In addition to this interest, the people or the culture represented by the other language
group may also inspire them, and instrumental motivation acknowledges the role of
external influences and incentives play in strengthening the learners' desire to
achieve. Learners who are instrumentally motivated are interested in learning the
language for a particular purpose, such as writing a dissertation or getting a job.
2.3.2 Cognitive Theory
“Academic writing is believed to be cognitively complex. Acquisition of
academic vocabulary and discourse style is particularly difficult. According to
cognitive theory by Johanne Myles (2002, p, 12), communicating orally or in writing
is an active process of skill development and gradual elimination of errors as the
learner internalizes the language”. It is linked to the research finding because the
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cognitive factors are more often appears in the student written text. Moreover, the
English written text is also one of the most difficult structural elements for some
learners than other elements, such as social factors or textual factors.
2.3.3 Textual Theory
The first set of insights from research argues that the written product, and
formal aspects of writing, cannot be disregarded in instruction (Leki 1992, Raimes
1991). For L2 writers, greater language proficiency will lead, at some point, to better
writing quality. Recent research from socio-cognitive perspective points out the need
for models of writing and the raising of student awareness with respect to the ways in
which words, structures, and genre forms all contribute to purposeful communication
(Berkenkotter and Huckin 1995, Cazden and Gray 1992). The use of sentence
combining has been shown to improve students’ abilities to write more complex and
varied sentences. On a somewhat larger scale, research on genre structure has
indicated that its role in conveying purpose and assisting the reader’s interpretation is
critical in effective writing.
Regarding the functions, the three theories may be combined as below:
Flower (1994) has developed a socio-cognitive model which incorporates
contextual influences into the cognitive processing of the writer, but the limitation of
the Flower model is seen in the minimal integration of textual factors. Drawing on a
concept from social psychology (Moscovici 2000), social representations — or
socio-cognitive representations (SCRs) as they can be called more accurately — have
been defined as ‘organized, coherent, socially shared set[s] of knowledge about an
object or domain of objects’ which combine with ‘affective structures with inherent
normative and evaluative dimensions. According to Veronika Koller (2012),
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therefore, a socio-cognitive analysis will relate the text to its contexts of production
and/or processing. Based on Vygotsky’s (1996), socio cognitive is the student learns
to write by working a more knowledgeable person on the skills and knowledge
needed to perform specific purposeful actions through kind apprenticeship. In
summary, the socio-cognitive approach is indispensable when collective identity,
understood as an SCR, is to be investigated.
2.4 Component of a text
2.4.1 Grammar and Usage
According to Carolyn D. Rude (2001), grammar refers to relationship of
words in sentences: subjects to verbs, modifier to item modified, pronouns to
antecedents, and so forth. Grammar describes conventional and expected ways for
the words to relate. For example, subject and verb agree in number.
Moreover, based on Carolyn D. Rude (2001), grammar is ultimately about
meaning, not about rules. Grammar rules describe words in relationship to each other.
Facts and ideas become meaningful in relationship to each other, not in isolation, and
so do words. Errors is grammar may result in misreading or misunderstanding
because the relationships between parts of sentences seem unclear, making the
sentences hard to interpret. Because errors are relatively easy for readers to identify
and actually errors in usage are less serious than errors in grammar. This research
defines grammar as descriptions of relationships of words in sentences. Grammar
describes the accepted ways of using words in relationship to one another to form
sentences.
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2.4.2 Verb Tense and sequence
Verbs communicate relationships of time. Based on Carolyn D. Rude (2001),
the tense of a verb refers to the time when the action takes place- present, past, or
future. This information helps readers to create a sense of chronology. The six tenses
in English are present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.
Tense
Example
Use
Present
I edit
Indicates action takes place now or usually.
I am editing
Indicates continuous action in present.
I edited
Indicates an action that has been completed.
I was editing
Indicates continuous action in the past.
Future
I will edit
Place the action in the future.
Present
I have edited
Indicates a recently completed action.
I had edited
Places the action before another action in the
Past
perfect
Past perfect
past.
Future
perfect
I will have edited
Indicates an action that will be complete before
some other event in the future.
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2.4.3 Subject- verb Agreement
Based on Carolyn D. Rude (2001), a sentence will be easier to understand if
the subject of the sentence agrees in number with the verb. A singular subject takes a
singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb.
2.4.4 Fragments
Based on Alice Savage, and Masoud Shafiei (2007), every sentence must
have a subject and a verb and express a complete idea. A sentence that is missing a
subject or a verb is incomplete. It is called fragment.
Incorrect
Correct
I like Minneapolis. Is a clean city.
I like Minneapolis. It is a clean city.
(subject is missing)
They successful.
They are successful.
(verb is missing)
2.5 Prepositions
According to Joyce S. Cain (2001), a preposition connects a noun or a
pronoun to the rest of a sentence. It indicates a relationship such as time, place, or
position. Here are some common prepositions, listed by the type of relationship they
indicate:
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1. Prepositions of time
Month/ year (in), day/ date (on), specific time (at), general time (in, before,
after), approximate time (about, around, between), duration (for, through,
during).
2. Prepositions of place
City/ country (in), street (on), address (at), motion (to).
3. Prepositions of position
The book is on the table.
The dog is sitting beside its owner.
The lecturer notes are in my notebook.
My house is between the library and the bridge.
Let’s meet at the library.
Joyce S. Cain (2001), some other prepositions that commonly show position
are: above, across, against, along, among, behind, below, beneath, beyond, by, down,
inside, into, near, outside, over, past, under, up.
1. Prepositions of manner
She is good at speaking foreign languages.
He can understand their accent by listening carefully.
2. Prepositions of comparison
We are so close that he is like my brother.
The storm made the sky as dark as night.
3. Prepositions of possession
Dino is a good friend of mine
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There are also some other forms of prepositions, as follows:
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Adjective + Preposition Combinations
Afraid of, angry at, bored with/ by, concerned about, content with, curious
about, different from, dependent on, full of, glad about, happy about,
interested in , jealous of, suitable for, tired of, upset with, worried about,
sorry for/ about etc.
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Verb + Preposition Combinations
Agree with, apply for (something), believe in, belong to, care about/ of, come
from, deal with, decide on, dream of/ about, escape from, feel like, listen to,
look at, hope for, search for, talk about, think about/ of, take care of, etc.
2.6. Capitalization
According to Joyce S. Cain (2001), there are capitalization rules, the rules for
capitalization include the following:
1. Capitalize the first word of sentence.
2. Capitalize proper nouns (nouns that name specific people, places, groups, and
things, including languages, and religious, ethnic, and political groups).
Adeline Yen Mah, Vancouver, Spanish, Moslems, Hispanic, Democrats
3. Capitalize adjectives of nationality and regional or religious affiliation.
Brazilian restaurant, Basque region, Christian church
4. Capitalize titles before proper names.
Professor William Su, Reverend Hoffman, Uncle Joe
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5. Capitalize important words in title of books, plays, movies, newspapers,
magazines, songs, etc.
Romeo and Juliet, The Sound of Music, The Daily Mirror, Newsweek
6. Capitalize historical events and periods.
Korean War, The Cold War, Renaissance
7. Capitalize holidays, days, and months
Easter, Monday, January
8. Do not capitalize seasons.
Summer, spring, winter, fall/ autumn
Moreover, Joyce S. Cain (2001), the use of capitalization has declined in part
because excessive capitalization distracts readers and interferes with readability.
Capitalizing for emphasis encourages word-by-word reading rather than reading for
overall sense. The repeated capitals also look like hiccups on the page. Typing words
in all capital letters destroys the shape of the world (all words become rectangles)
and therefore obscures information that readers use to identify words.
2.7 Punctuation
Above, we learned that grammar describes relationships of words in
sentences and that sentence patterns follow from the use of the verb. This chapter
continues the review of sentence patterns and explains how punctuation identifies the
patterns. By signaling the structures in sentences, punctuation provides readers with
clues to meaning. According to Carolyn D. Rude (2001), punctuation is the system of
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symbols (. , ! - : etc) that we use to separate sentences and parts of sentences, and to
make their meaning clear. Each symbol is called a "punctuation mark".
Punctuation helps readers to read a sentence accurately. Internal marks-commas, semicolons, periods—as well as end punctuation reveal sentence patterns
and relationships. Incorrect punctuation may create text noise. To express thoughts
and ideas more clearly, to specify the structure of a sentence and also the pauses in a
sentence; moreover to ease reading comprehension and to state the ways of
intonation and stress on a sentence punctuation is crucial (Akalõn et al. 2005: 32).
Then, "good punctuation is crucial for successful academic writing.
According to Joyce S. Cain (2001), there are apostrophe rules, they are:
1. Use an apostrophe to show one or more letters have been left out.
Cannot  can’t
That is  that’s
2. Use an apostrophe to show ownership.
The book of the student  the student’s book
The home of James  James’s home
According to Alice Savage (2007), Masoud Shafiei (2007), punctuation rules:

A complete sentence can end with a period (“.”)
A good speech begins with a joke.

A question ends with a question mark (“?”)
Do you enjoy learning about the world?
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
Occasionally, writers use an exclamation mark to give emphasis to a sentence
I looked down and sliding across my bare foot was a giant green mamba!
2.8 Diction
Keraf (2004, p.24) states that the choice of words or diction is related to the
meaning of words. Firstly, it is related to choosing the right meaning of words to
express ideas. Secondly, it is connected to the usage to a group of words effectively
in connection with how to express the ideas; and thirdly, it is related to a certain style
of language that is appropriate with the context. Word choice or diction together with
sentence structure can create style in a language, and the style itself is personal
variation within the accepted principles of language, freedom within order, like the
decision to use common or uncommon words, and abstract or concrete words.
However, it is not just a matter of style, it is a matter of ordering experience,
evaluating it, and communicating the result. Word choice or diction is a deliberate art
since accuracy in expression involves careful marksmanship-carefully aiming the
specific word for the writer purpose and the audience (1995, Sujiyati). According to
While Hatch and Brown (2000, p.219), the errors of using diction are based on open
words class verbs, nouns, adjective, and adverb) and closed word class (preposition
and conjunction).
2.8.1 Redundancy
Based on James (1990), redundant error occurs by carrying considerable
unnecessary vocabulary. This is shown throughout the system in the form of
unnecessary addition of words and indefinite articles.
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2.8.2 Run-on Sentences
According to Alice Savage, and Masoud Shafiei (2007), two sentences that
run together without correct punctuation between them are called run-on sentences.
One way to correct a run-on sentence is to put a period between the sentences.
Another way is to add comma and a connecting word.
Incorrect
Correct
I received a letter it was from my sister.
I received a letter. It was from my sister.
(no punctuation between two sentences)
(period added between two sentences)
They laughed, I felt better.
They laughed, and I felt better.
(comma alone between two sentences)
(connecting word added)
2.9 Coherence
According to Jason Davis and Rhonda Liss (2005), coherence in a paragraph
means that all the ideas fit together in a logical flow. In a coherent paragraph, the
relationship between ideas is clear, and one idea connects logically to the next.
Coherence can be achieved by using transition expression, logical order, pronouns,
and parallel forms.
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Using Transition Expression for Coherence
Transition expressions show how one sentence relates to another and creates
a logical flow. For example: I enjoy writing in my journal. However, I do not like
writing letters.
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And the other transition expressions are like: for example, in some cases, for
instance, moreover, furthermore, in addition, in contrast, nevertheless, as a
results, therefore, thus, consequently, indeed, in fact, obviously.
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Ordering Ideas for Coherence
One way to achieve coherence in an essay is to arrange ideas in a logical
order, such as chronological order, or order of importance.

When arranging ideas in chronological order, use language such as in
the beginning, next, then, first, second, and finally.

When arranging ideas in order of importance, people order items from
the most important to the least important or vice versa. Use language
such as the most/ least important thing, the next priority/ most
important thing, or the third/ final priority/ goal.
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Using Parallel Forms for Coherence
Another strategy to achieve coherence is by using parallel forms. This means
that all items in a list have the same grammatical forms.
I like playing tennis, swimming, and dancing.
I like playing tennis, swimming, and to dance. (incorrect)
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Using Pronoun Reference for Coherence
A pronoun is a word that can replace a noun. I, your, that, this, those, it. And
these are some examples of pronouns. Pronouns can be used to create coherence in
an essay.
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What is revision and why is it necessary?
Pronouns can also replace whole phrases or ideas.
I left my expensive dictionary in the library. I don’t know how I do that.
Note: pronouns must be agree in number and gender with the noun they
refer in.
I have a younger brother. He is a lawyer.
I have a younger brother. She is a lawyer. (incorrect)
2.10 Definition of Error
An error is different from a mistake, so we have to be careful to differentiate.
According to Yulianti (2007, p.9):
“A mistake is a performance error, which is either a random guess or a ‘slip’, i.e. a
failure to utilize a known system correctly”.
An error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker,
reflecting the inter language competence of the learner.
Yulianti (2007), also clearly differentiated a mistake from an error. She stated:
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A mistake is a slip that a learner can self-correct.
-
An error is what a learner cannot self-correct.
Therefore, from those definitions above, the writer concludes that a mistake is
just a slip that the learner forgets the right form. While, an error is a deviation which
is made by the learner because he/ she does not know the rule and he /she will make
the errors repetitively.
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2.10.1 The Sources of Error Occurrence
The source of error occurrence according to Ancker (2000, p.1)
1. Interference from the native language.
The learner may assume that the target language and his native language are
similar. From the research, the learner may assume that the target language
and his native language are similar. Then, he will over generalize the rules of
his native language and the target language.
2. An incomplete knowledge of the target language
Because of the incomplete knowledge, the learner may make guesses. When
he has something that he does not know, he may guess what it should be there.
Passion and motivation also can be the potential reason of incomplete
knowledge.
3. The complexity of the target language
Certain aspects in English are difficult for some learners, it may be caused the
rules of their native language are quite different from English and even more
complex than their native language.
2.10.2 Benefits in Analyzing Error
It is important to analyze the errors because there are many benefits in
analyzing the errors, such as:
1. A device which the learner uses in order to learn (Selinker in Soesanti’s thesis,
1992, p.150)
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2. To fully grasp and understand the nature of the errors made, and
3. Instead of just being able to explain the rules and correct the errors (Mei Lin
Ho, 2003, p.1)
Therefore, Lengo (2003, p.1) mentioned that errors are believed to be an
indicator of the learners’ stages in their target language development.
2.11 The reason why the errors happen in writing
2.11.1 Grammar
According to Robert and Freida (1972, Yulianti’s thesis p.154), learning
English is not easy, the language learners may have difficulties. The difficulties that
are encountered by every student will vary according to his / her native language.
Because of these, there will be errors that can be found in their learning. The errors
usually occur in the productive skills, speaking and writing, but to analyze the errors
in productive skills in short time is not easy.
2.11.2 Diction
According to Ima Mutholliatil Badriyah (2008), diction error is caused by
interlingual transfer. These errors appeared because the students used their native
language rules, namely Bahasa Indonesian, to construct English sentences. Besides,
the influence of the students’ mother tongue also influenced them in using diction of
the target language. Then, diction is caused by intralingual transfer. It is caused by
the students’ failure in English diction application. Almost all of them made
overgeneralization within the function of the target language system. The students
did not know the uses of the synonymous words.
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The last, it is caused by communication strategy. In this case, the students
only used dictionary in translating their intended meaning to the target language
without knowing the use of the words. Because of that, the dictions made by them
were inaccurate with the context of the sentences.
2.11.3 Coherence
According to Roland Pearson thesis (2005), from a detailed analysis of the
texts we discovered that most of the errors we found could be regarded as “static”, in
the same sense as one would use the term when referring to radio reception. In other
words, they might distract one but they do not entail extra processing effort. Other
errors were rather more serious and required a great deal of processing effort and
sometimes needed second or further readings to be able to come to a coherent
reading. However, in some cases the search had to be given up as no coherent
meaning could be arrived at.
2.11.4 Preposition
Based on Eli Hinkel (2004), academic writing is particularly packed
with prepositional phrases because they allow a writer to structure a great deal of
information compactly. In fact several adverbial phrases can occur in one sentence,
and often they do. . . . [P]repositional phrases are flexible in their syntactic roles,
modifying functions, and sentence positions. The extraordinarily high frequency of
prepositional phrases, combined with their flexibility, is the reason that students have
to learn to recognize prepositional phrases and use them appropriately in their
writing."
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2.11.5 Punctuation and Capitalization
According to Abdulamir Alamin, and Sawsan Ahmed (2012), students were
asked to rewrite some passages and sentences in the correct forms of punctuation and
capitalization. Their errors can be categorized into the following:
1. Starting new sentences with lower case letters.
2. Not using capital letters for proper nouns.
3. Using the colon incorrectly.
4. Using the semicolon incorrectly at the beginning of the passages and after the
words.
5. The exclamation mark hardly used.
6. Forgetting to use full stops at the end of a sentence.
7. Not using enough space between words.
8. Hardly using question marks.
9. Hardly using hyphens.
So, it is important to know a basic capitalization and punctuation. According to
Joyce S. Cain (2001), the use of capitalization has declined in part because
excessive capitalization distracts readers and interferes with readability.
Moreover, according to Akalon et al. (2005, p.32), “good punctuation is crucial
for successful academic writing).”