ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT GRADE XI OF SMA N 1 MERANTI

Abstract

This study investigates the types and causes of students’ errors in writing descriptive texts at Grade XI of SMA Negeri 1 Meranti. The research employed a qualitative descriptive approach using the surface strategy taxomony developed by Dulay et al., which includes omission, addition, misinformation, and misordering. Data were collected from students’ written assignments and analyzed using error analysis techniques. The findings revealed a total of 179 errors. Misinformation errors were the most frequent (65.36%), followed by omission (22.91%), misordering (8.94%), and addition (2.79%). The results indicate that students face significant challenges in grammatical accuracy, particularly in the use of simple present tense. This study recommends that English teachers focus more on targeted grammar instruction and provide error-based feedback to improve students’ writing proficiency. This research also serves as a reference for future studies on writing errors in second language acquisition.