SAMER MASOUD AHMED ALRBSH, 0203514087 (2016) THE PROBLEMS OF LIBYAN STUDENTS IN USING CORRECT SPELLING, PUNCTUATION AND PRESENT TENSE TO WRITE EXPLANATION TEXT. Masters thesis, Universitas Negeri Semarang.

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Abstract

This study aimed at describing Libyan students’ writing problems in writing an explanation text. The objectives of this study were: 1) To describe the problems of Libyan students in using punctuation marks in an explanation text; 2) To describe the problems of Libyan students in spelling English words in an explanation text; 3) To describe the problems of Libyan students in using present tense in writing an explanation text, and 4) To explain the reasons for their making mistakes. The design of this research was a descriptive qualitative method supported by simple quantification. The objects of this study were 25 Libyan students in Semarang city in Indonesia. A questionnaire and test were used to collect the data. The respondents have responded positively to the items of questionnaire; nevertheless, they have given wrong answers in the test. This is because the test is deeper in examining one’s knowledge. First, their responses in the questionnaire about the punctuation marks were positive, however, the test has revealed that 62.13% of the respondents gave wrong answers. The punctuation marks were considered as the most difficult aspect for the students in this study. Second, the minimum number of errors recorded in writing in this study was spelling. The percentage of errors committed in spelling was only 28.07%. The frequency of errors of the structure of explanation text was 28.3%. The percentage of errors committed by the students was in present tense 49.12% to be classified in this research as the second highest percentage of difficulty after punctuation marks. The recommendations were: teachers should pay more attention to punctuation, spelling, present tense and the structure of explanation text; teachers should motivate and encourage learners; teachers have to use English language for explanation instead of using the mother tongue; more attention has to be paid to teaching strategy; students should get more intensive practice; and the ministry of higher education has to provide good facilities for learning and planning to develop the curriculum.

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