Didactum
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2026): September 2026

An Error Analysis of Recount Text Writing Produced by Eighth Grade Student of MTsN 11 Agam

Oktavia Elya Zahra (Universitas Islam Negeri Sjech M.Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi)
Lena Sastri (Universitas Islam Negeri Sjech M.Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi)



Article Info

Publish Date
20 Sep 2026

Abstract

This study aimed to identify, classify, and determine the frequency of omission and misselection (misinformation) errors in recount texts written by eighth-grade students of MTsN 11 Agam. The study employed a qualitative content analysis approach supported by quantitative frequency calculations. The participants were selected through purposive sampling and consisted of 14 eighth-grade students whose recount texts followed the generic structure of orientation, events, and re-orientation but contained grammatical errors. Data were collected through document analysis and analyzed using the Surface Strategy Taxonomy proposed by Dulay et al. (1982), supported by James’ (1998) error analysis framework. The analysis focused on two categories: omission and misselection (misinformation). Omission included the omission of was/were, main verbs, articles, suffixes -s/-es, and -ed. Misselection (misinformation) included incorrect pronoun use, prepositions, verb forms, and Subject-Verb Agreement. The findings based on the final data from Rater 3 identified 9 omission errors and 53 misselection (misinformation) errors, resulting in 62 validated errors. Omission errors were most frequently found in the -ed suffix (4 cases; 44.45%), followed by was/were and -es (2 cases each; 22.22%), and articles (1 case; 11.11%); no omission of main verbs was identified. Misselection errors were dominated by incorrect verb forms (31 cases; 58.49%), followed by prepositions (12; 22.64%), Subject-Verb Agreement (6; 11.32%), and pronouns (4; 7.55%). The findings indicate difficulties with verb forms, past-tense markers, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, and agreement. These errors reflect systematic interlanguage development and L1 interference, as Indonesian does not use morphological tense inflections in the same way as English. The findings are expected to help teachers develop more focused grammar instruction and writing-based remedial activities.  

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Journal Info

Abbrev

didactum

Publisher

Subject

Religion Computer Science & IT Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Library & Information Science Mathematics Other

Description

Didactum: Journal of Educational Innovation and Learning Studies publishes peer-reviewed articles on teaching and learning innovation. It welcomes original research that advances educational theory and practice in Islamic and general education. The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited ...