DINAMIKA ILMU - Vol. 19 No. 1 - Error Analysis in the Descriptive Text Writing of Vocational High School Students

Oct 15, 2026

English is a core subject in Indonesia, yet many students still make frequent mistakes during technical writing. This descriptive qualitative study investigates errors in English descriptive text writing by eleventh-grade vocational high school students, focusing on the types of errors and the factors causing them. Thirty students wrote descriptive texts, which were analyzed to identify the most common error categories and their relative frequency. Results show capitalization as the highest category (60 errors, 14.67%), while transfer between languages is most prominent (172 errors, 42.05%), with the lowest category being sentence 3 errors (0.73%) and communication strategy errors (11.98%).

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

A. Introduction

DINAMIKA ILMU Vol. 19 No. 1, 2019 P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 doi: [http://doi.org/10.21093/di.v19i1.1364](http://doi.org/10.21093/di.v19i1.1364) Error Analysis in the Descriptive Text Writing of Vocational High School Students Sita Ratnaningsih Faculty of Educational Sciences, State Islamic University ofSyarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia e-mail: [sita@uinjkt.ac.id](sita@uinjkt.ac.id) Azizah Mumtaza Kindergarten School Jakarta, Indonesia e-mail: [aziza@gmail.com](aziza@gmail.com) Abstract English is one of the subjects that has been studied at the elementary to secondary level for many years in Indonesia. One area that must be studied is technical writing skills in English. In the technical writing process in English, there are still many mistakes made by students in Indonesia. So it is very necessary to recognize some common mistakes made by students, to help them improve their teaching and learning strategies in English and improve their learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to investigate errors in English technical writing of students at secondary vocational level and the factors that cause these errors. This study focused on errors made by the eleventh grade students of State 10 Vocational High School Jakarta, in their written descriptive text. A total of 30 students were the subjects of this study and they were asked to write descriptive texts. Data is analyzed based on Procedure Analysis This descriptive qualitative study explains and investigates student errors in writing the technique and the causative factors. Research shows that the typical mistakes students make in their writing: the highest place is capitalization with 60 errors (14.67%) and the lowest place is sentence 3 error (0.73%) . According to a typical error, the author found the source of the error. The highest place is transfer between languages with 172 errors (42.05%) and the lowest place is a communication strategy with 49 errors (11.98%) . Keywords: descriptive text writing, error analysis, vocational high school students A. Introduction English has been considered as the first foreign language in Indonesia. According to Crystal (1992),“English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language – in over 100 countries,” It is understandable that in Indonesia, English is taught as the first foreign language in schools, it is taught from kindergarten until university. In studying English, all students in all levels learn the productive and receptive language skills. The productive skills include writing and speaking, whereas the receptive skills consist of listening and reading. Harmer argues that: speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore often referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading, on the other hand, involve receiving messages and are therefore often referred to as receptive skills. Linse (2005), also agrees with Harmer‟s statement. She argues, “Listening and reading are receptive skills because the focus is on receiving information from an outside source. Speaking and writing, on the other hand, are productive skills because the focus is on producing information.” Harmer‟s and Linse‟s statements imply that all language learners need to learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. It is important for students to have these four language skills. Generally these four skills cannot be separated. They are interconnected. However, in terms of language learning and teaching methodology, it is necessary to emphasize on one of the skills as the focus of every learning and teaching activity. In terms of the teaching of writing, the teacher needs to keep in mind the purpose of writing. Ur points out, “The purpose of the writing in principle, is the expression of the ideas, the conveying of a message to the reader; so the ideas themselves should arguably be seen as the most important aspects of writing.” To make sure that this purpose is accom

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study in this document?

The study investigates errors in English technical writing at the secondary vocational level and identifies factors that cause those errors.

Who participated in the research and what task did they complete?

A total of 30 eleventh-grade vocational high school students wrote descriptive texts for the study.

Which error categories were found to be most and least common?

Capitalization had the highest count (60 errors, 14.67%) and sentence 3 had the lowest (0.73%). Transfer between languages was the highest category (172 errors, 42.05%), while communication strategy had the lowest (11.98%).

Oct 15, 2026

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