An analysis of writing difficulties

Abstract

This research aims to find out: (1) the difficulties in writing in form of errors and (2) the causal factors of the difficulties in writing in form of errors of the tenth grade students of SMA Negeri 5 Yogyakarta in the school year of 2014/2015. This research employed descriptive qualitative approach. The research subjects comprised of 28 students of the tenth grade classes (Cerdas Istimewa classes). The data were collected through documentation, observation, test, in-depth-interviews, and questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the interactive model of the analysis. The research finding reveals that (1) there are difficulties in writing in 14 forms of common errors found related to vocabulary and grammatical case, namely: diction, capitalization, plurality, punctuation, spelling, redundancy, preposition, determiner, auxiliary verb, missing word, agreement, verb tense, word formation, and word order; (2) three forms of errors causing students’ incoherent writing are: errors in diction, incomplete writing, and no unity in paragraphs; (3) two direct causal factors of difficulties in writing are: inter-lingual transfer (Indonesian interference) and intra-lingual transfer; (4) seven indirect causal factors of difficulties in writing are: students’ motivation, media, writing instruction, teacher’s creativity, writing feedback, parents’ support, and learning control.