Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics
Vol 10 No 2 (2026): Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics

Inflectional Verb Errors in Narrative Text Produced by Eighth-Grade Students at SMP Islam Sidoarjo

Adinda Eka Kurnia (Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Sidoarjo)
Ruri Fadhilah Kurniati (Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Sidoarjo)
Ana Christanti (Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Sidoarjo)
Masyitah Noviyanti (Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Sidoarjo)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Sep 2026

Abstract

This research attempts to determine the types of inflectional verb errors found in narrative texts written by Grade 8-1 students at SMP Islam Sidoarjo, and to identify the most dominant error type. A qualitative research approach using document analysis was employed in this study. The data consisted of 22 narrative texts produced by students and were analyzed based on the Surface Strategy Taxonomy proposed by Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982). The analysis focused on four categories of errors: omission, addition, misformation, and misordering. The findings revealed 47 inflectional verb errors, consisting of 14 omission errors (29.79%), 11 addition errors (23.40%), and 22 misformation errors (46.81%), while no misordering errors were identified. Misformation was found to be the most dominant error type, showing that students had greater challenges in implementing correct past tense verb forms, especially irregular verbs, than in constructing sentence structures. These findings suggest that students possess basic knowledge of English grammar but still face challenges in applying inflectional verb forms accurately in narrative writing. Therefore, teachers need to provide more focused practice on verb inflections, particularly irregular past tense forms, to improve students’ difficulties in English language learning contexts.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jetlal

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics is published by the English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah Gresik, twice a year in February and August. The purpose of this journal is to facilitate scientists, researchers, ...