




































1 

 ELT FORUM 5 (1) (2016) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 
 

http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 

 

AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE USE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES IN 

STUDENTS’ WRITTEN DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS 

A Case of Class X MIA 1 of SMA N 1 Binangun, Cilacap 

in the Academic Year 2014/2015 

 

Sekar Bayu Swasti 

 

English Department. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Semarang. 

 

Aticle Info 

________________ 
Article History: 

Received in February 

2016 

Approved in March 2016 

Published in April 2016 

________________ 
Keywords: 

Error analysis, English 

articles, descriptive text. 

____________________ 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 
This study is a case study which investigates errors on the use of English articles. It is focused on the errors made 

by tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Binangun, Cilacap in their written descriptive texts. 

The total of 32 students of class X MIA 1 became the subjects of this study and they were asked to write descriptive 

texts. The object of this study was errors in using English articles which occurred in their texts. The data were 

analyzed based on Ellis’s Error Analysis Procedure and normalization formula by Pica.   

The result of this study from the highest to the lowest exposed errors are: indefinite a/an-for-zero errors (61.51%), 

zero-for-indefinite a/an errors (22.19%), definite the-for-indefinite a/an substitution error (5%), definite the-for-

zero substitution error (4.65%), zero-for-definite the substitution error (4.41%), and indefinite a/an-for-definite 

the substitution error (2.23%).  

Based on the result gained from this study, the dominant error exposed by the students is grammatical error 

(indefinite a/an-for-zero). This condition shows that the students find difficulties to differentiate between 

countable and non-countable nouns. It is suggested that the teacher give more attention to this problem and 

start to improve his attitude in teaching grammar. 

© 2016 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 
 Correspondent Address:  

   B3 Building  FBS Unnes  

   Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 

   E-mail: unnes_english@yahoo.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISSN 2252-6706 

 

 

 

 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

2 

INTRODUCTION 

Background of the Study 

As a prospective teacher of English, I have 

many experiences regarding English teaching. 

One of the experiences was the moment I did my 

PPL (Praktik Pengalaman Lapangan) in one of 

vocational schools in Ungaran, Semarang. Based 

on the 2013 curriculum, the students are required 

to master listening, speaking, reading, and 

writing aspects using scientific approach. Besides 

that, the students also have to learn grammar in 

order to construct a good sentence. The 

curriculum, which requires students to solve their 

own problems while teachers most likely serve as 

an advisor, makes the students get difficulties in 

learning grammar. It is because the students do 

not get explicit explanation about grammar. In 

addition, based on my observation in classes, the 

students also tend to get anxious when it comes 

to learning grammar. It is supported by Mekhlafi 

and Nagartman’s research about students’ 

attitude towards grammar. They said that ‘within 

the classroom, any mention of grammar causes 

the student moments of discomfort and 

sometimes even terror’ (Mekhlafi and 

Nagartman, 2011:69). Their being anxious is 

mostly caused by their teachers who teach 

grammar strictly and the material which are 

commonly about memorizing rules. 

Talking about grammar, the common 

specific problem faced by the students is applying 

English articles. English articles are based on 

definiteness and indefiniteness evidently on the 

texts in the use of ‘the’ as definite article, ‘a/an’ 

as indefinite article, and zero or no article.  On 

the other hand, the article system of Indonesian 

does not classify into definite and indefinite 

articles. It is only similar with English in the 

function of use as determiners (Koesnosoebroto, 

in Kusumaningrum 2011: 1). Hence, the students 

easily make errors in applying English articles. 

The condition in which the students easily 

make errors in applying English articles is limited 

on my experience as a PPL teacher. Therefore, I 

am interested in doing a research about analyzing 

English articles errors in different school. I would 

like to know whether the problem faced by my 

students in PPL school is also become a problem 

for the students from different school.      

 

Reasons for Choosing the Topic 

The reason why I choose this topic is that 

English article system is one of the important 

parts of English grammar. It is mostly seen as a 

trivial aspect. Yet, it is very important to learn. 

Barret and Chen (2011:2) conclude that the use of 

articles supports an understanding between the 

writer and reader; enabling the reader to locate 

where a noun or noun phrase is as well as identify 

if it is already understood. Furthermore, they also 

mention that ‘English article involves the 

integration of semantic, pragmatic, and 

grammatical functions, as no one-to-one form-

function mapping exists for each article, creating 

a large number of rules for students to be 

mastered’ (Barret and Chen 2011:3).  

The are many proofs showing that article 

system of Standard English is considered to be 

one of the most difficult aspects of the grammar 

to acquire, especially by learners whose language 

does not have articles (Butler 2002; Geng 2010; 

Han, Chodorow & Leacock 2006; Huebner 1985; 

Ko et al. 2008; Master 1997; Parish 1987; 

Robertson, 2000; Robinson 2010; Thomas 1989; 

Whitman 1974; and others can be found in 

Guillemin 2013:1). However, the allocation of its 

teaching is limited. In fact, in textbooks, English 

article system is not explained clearly. Mostly, 

English teachers in Indonesia more focus on 

teaching certain English material to prepare their 

students facing the final examination rather than 

prepare them to master English 

communicatively. Meanwhile, English articles 

are important in the matter of communication. 

Thus, English articles are not taught clearly by the 

teacher so the students may not acquire it well 

and make errors on its application. Moreover, I 

am afraid that this condition will lead them to the 

fossilization which is even more difficult for them 

to make correction. 

The perspectives which see English articles 

as unimportant aspects to be taught make me 

encouraged to do this research. I expect to change 

teachers’ attitude towards English articles. I 

believe by holding an error analysis on the use of 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

3 

English articles will open up the fact that students 

do not acquire English article system completely. 

Thus, the teachers will aware of it and make 

changes in their teaching techniques.       

 

METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH 

To meet the objectives of the study, I apply 

the following methodology which is partitioned 

into seven sections: (1) Subject of the Study, (2) 

Object of the Study, (3) Instruments for 

Collecting Data, (4) Procedures of Collecting 

Data, (5) Procedures of Analyzing Data, (6) 

Triangulation, and (7) Research Design. The 

descriptions of them can be seen as follows: 

 

Subject of the Study 

The subjects of this study are 32 students of 

class X MIA 1 of SMA N 1 Binangun, Cilacap. 

This class was chosen based on the English 

teacher’s suggestion. He considered the students 

of class X MIA 1 to be the most motivated 

students in learning English. As this study is a 

case study, the result is only applicable to the 

students of class X MIA 1 and cannot be 

generalized to the other classes. 

 

Object of the Study 

This study focuses on the English articles 

errors. Thus, the object of this study is errors in 

using English articles which occurred in the 

students’ written descriptive texts. 

 

Instrument for Collecting the Data 

The instrument of this study is a writing 

test. Students will work individually to write a 

descriptive text during the given time. In order to 

trigger the students’ idea, I suggested some topics. 

The students can choose one of the topics and 

start writing.  

 

Procedures of Collecting the Data 

In order to collect the data efficiently, I 

firstly did an observation at the school. Before 

holding the writing test, I met the students of class 

X MIA 1 to explain about my research and their 

role as the subjects of it. I also discussed the 

proper time to do the writing tests. 

The writing test was held for 90 minutes 

and the students were given certain topics to ease 

them. They were ordered to write 15 sentences at 

minimum so there will be wider range to collect 

the data (English article error identification).     

 

Procedures of Analyzing the Data 

The data gained were analyzed to 

eventually determine the article distribution as 

has been done by Barrett and Chen in their 

research toward Taiwanese College Students’ 

EFL writing. In analyzing the data, I use the 

procedures of Error Analysis by Ellis as follows: 

1. Identifying Errors 

Counting English articles errors in each of 

students’ composition. 

2. Describing Errors 

After the total of English articles errors in 

each of students’ composition are identified, they 

are classified into their types of error. 

3. Explaining Errors 

In this step, the identified English articles 

errors are analyzed based on their source of error.   

4. Evaluating Errors 

The identified English articles errors 

gained from previous steps are put into table to 

show their distribution and analyzed to know 

what students’ difficulties based on the most 

exposed errors. 

 

Triangulation 

In order to ensure the validity of the result, 

I use triangulation for checking my data analysis. 

Triangulation is ‘a kind of checking technique of 

the validity which uses something else out of the 

data’ (Moeloeng, 2004:330). There are four kinds 

of triangulation: 

1. Data triangulation is the use of a variety 

of data sources in a study. 

2. Investigator triangulation is the use of 

several different researchers or 

evaluators. 

3. Theory triangulation is the use of 

multiple perspectives to interpret a 

single set of data. 

Methodological triangulation is the use of 

multiple methods to study a single problem. 

(Denzin in Kusumaningrum 2008:28) 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

4 

In this research, I use the investigator 

triangulation for checking the error identification. 

Thus, there will be a second investigator to 

identify errors made by the students. Then, the 

identified English articles errors by the second 

investigator are compared with my identification 

as the first investigator. 

 

Research Design 

In order to eventually gain the data of 

students’ error in using English articles, a case 

study is conducted as it enables me focusing on 

the case deeply. This has been emphasized by Yin 

(2009:56) that ‘case study investigates a 

contemporary phenomenon in depth and within 

its real-life context, especially when the 

boundaries between phenomenon and context 

are not clearly evident.’  A case study proposing 

that there is a ‘case’ which is an object of this 

study and should be ‘a complex functioning unit, 

investigated in its natural context with a 

multitude of methods, and contemporary’ 

(Johansson, 2003:2). Therefore, I am conducting 

this error analysis study by using a case study to 

get an exact result of the case (errors in using 

English articles).   

Different important aspect of case study 

methodology is validation. It is important that the 

data gained is valid by triangulation. 

Triangulation provides an important way of 

ensuring the validity of case study research. 

Normally, data collection methods are 

triangulated (many methods are combined), but 

in addition to this, data sources, theory, or 

investigators might also be triangulated (Denzin 

in Johansson 2003:8). A case study will be the 

research method of this study. The problem being 

investigated is errors made by the students in 

using English article system. 

 

DATA ANALYSIS 

This chapter covers the analysis and the 

presentation of the data. They are divided into 

three subchapters (Description of the Data, 

Analysis of the Data, and Triangulation) which 

are elaborated as follows: 

 

 

Description of the Data 

The data analyzed in this study were the 

English article errors found in the students’ 

descriptive texts. There were 32 texts from 32 

students as the subjects of the research. After the 

data were identified, it was found that all of the 

subjects made errors in the use of English articles 

in their texts. The examples of their errors are as 

follows: 

1. Ade Roswikasari (My Friend) 

 

2. Ari Okti N. (Destry, My Best 

Friend) 

Sentences Correction 

Destry is (…) good 

person. 

Destry is a good 

person. 

She always becomes 

(…) number one in 

the class. 

She always becomes 

the number one in the 

class. 

She also has (…) pet. She also has a pet. 

The pet is (…) goat. The pet is a goat. 

And she has (…) 

hobby, the hobby is 

eating. 

And she has a hobby, 

the hobby is eating. 

She likes a violet 

color. 

She likes violet color. 

She has (…) favorite 

drink that is orange 

juice. 

She has a favorite 

drink that is orange 

juice. 

3. Gilar Wildan A. (My House) 

Sentences Correction 

Sentences Correction 

My friend is a 

beautiful. 

My friend is 

beautiful. 

She is (…) student in 

one of SMP 

She is a student in 

one of SMP. 

She is the clever 

children. 

She is a clever 

student. 

And like annoying 

the some friends. 

And like annoying 

some friends. 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

5 

I have (…) small 

house but 

comfortable. 

I have a small house 

but comfortable. 

My house has two 

bathrooms, four 

bedrooms, and two 

kitchens which one 

of it has (…) hanging 

cupboard. 

My house has two 

bathrooms, four 

bedrooms, and two 

kitchens which one 

of it has a hanging 

cupboard. 

My bathroom has 

(…) shower, (…) 

closet, and (…) 

bathtub. 

My bathroom has a 

shower, a closet, and 

a bathtub. 

The room that I very 

like is my bedroom 

and (…) garage. 

The room that I very 

like is my bedroom 

and the garage. 

4. Lenny Riyanti (My Idol) 

 

 

 

 

5. Tri R. (My Sweet Bird) 

Sentences Correction 

I have (…) sweet 

bird. 

I have a sweaty bird. 

It is (…) beautiful 

bird. 

It is a beautiful bird. 

It has green fur with 

the small motif in its 

wings. 

It has green fur with 

a small motif in its 

wings. 

It has small legs with 

(…) ring in it legs. 

It has small legs with 

a ring in it legs. 

It lives in (…) 

wonderful bird cage 

with the yellow color. 

It lives in a 

wonderful bird cage 

with yellow color. 

Sometimes, I put the 

new food to it. 

Sometimes, I put 

new food in it. 

Note: In the sentences column, the ‘(…)’ 

symbol means that the students missed one 

article, and the italicized article means the 

student made error by applying that article. 

Analysis of the Data 

Based on the procedure of data analysis by 

Ellis as described in the previous chapters, the 

data which had been identified then were 

classified into the types of error. There are seven 

types of error found in the subjects’ composition 

as follows: 

Indefinite ‘a/an’ for zero substitution: 90 

errors 

This error was identified when the students 

used zero article instead of indefinite article 

‘a/an’ as the correct form in their sentences. 

For example: In the sentence Destry is 

good person, the student made an error by using 

zero article proceeding ‘good person’. The correct 

form should have been Destry is a good person 

because Destry is a name of a person and 

indicates a singular noun. Therefore, in this case, 

the students who made this kind of error show a 

lack of understanding in grammatical aspect 

(differentiating singular and plural or countable 

and non-countable nouns).    

Zero for indefinite ‘a/an’ substitution: 27 

errors 

This error was identified when the students 

used indefinite ‘a/an’ article instead of zero 

article as the correct form in their sentences. 

Sentences Correction 

I have a idol, his 

name is Justin Drew 

Bieber. 

I have an idol. His 

name is Justin Drew 

Bieber. 

He has straight hair, 

white skin, and (…) 

tattoo in his back.  

He has straight hair, 

white skin, and a 

tattoo on his back. 

He is a idol for all 

people with such a 

beautiful voice. 

He is an idol for all 

people with such a 

beautiful voice. 

He has a idol which 

name is Usher 

He has an idol whose 

name is Usher. 

He was inspired to be 

(…) singer from 

Usher. 

He was inspired to be 

a singer by Usher. 

He thinks Usher is a 

best singer in the 

world. 

He thinks Usher is 

the best singer in the 

world. 

He has (…) favorite 

color, it is violet. 

He has a favorite 

color, it is violet. 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

6 

For example: In the sentence My yard has 

a two big tree, the student made an error by using 

indefinite article ‘a’ proceeding two big tree. The 

correct form of this sentence should have been 

My yard has two big trees because ‘two big trees’ 

is a plural noun phrase and cannot be proceeded 

by indefinite article ‘a/an’. Therefore, the 

students who commited this kind of error actually 

have the same problem as the students showing 

the first type of error (problem in differentiating 

singular and plural or count and non-count 

nouns). 

Zero for definite ‘the’ substitution: 7 errors 

This error identified when the students 

used definite ‘the’ article instead of zero article as 

the correct form in their sentences. 

For example: In the sentence And like 

annoying the some friends, the student made an 

error by using definite article ‘the’ before the noun 

phrase ‘some friends’. The correct form of it 

should have been And like annoying some 

friends. This sentence is found in the text written 

by Ade Roswikasari (see Description of the Data) 

and classified as new information. Thus, the use 

of definite article ‘the’ is wrong and the students 

who made the same error have semantic issue of 

specificity as they overuse the definite article ‘the’ 

in the specific environment.  

Definite ‘the’ for zero substitution: 6 errors 

This error was identified when students 

used zero article instead of definite ‘the’ article as 

the correct form in their sentences. 

For example: In the sentence The room 

that I very like is my bedroom and garage, the 

student made an error by not using any articles 

proceeding ‘garage’. The correct form of the 

sentence should have been The room that I very 

like is my bedroom and the garage. This sentence 

is found in the text by Gilar Wildan A. (see 

Description of the Data) and ‘garage’ is classified 

as a specific information according to his 

references about his house which he had already 

talked about. Thus, he had to use definite article 

‘the’ before the word ‘garage’. The students who 

showed the same error have problem in 

pragmatic aspect as they cannot identify clearly 

the hearer knowledge of the NP. 

Definite ‘the’ for indefinite ‘a/an’ 

substitution: 4 errors 

This error was identified when students 

used indefinite ‘a/an’ article instead of definite 

‘the’ article as the correct form in their sentences. 

For example: In the sentence He thinks 

Usher is a best singer in the world, the student 

made error by using indefinite article ‘a’ before 

the noun phrase ‘best singer’ instead of definite 

article ‘the’. The correct form of this sentence 

should have been He thinks Usher is the best 

singer in the world. This sentence is found in the 

text written by Lenny Riyanti (see Description of 

the Data) and NP ‘best singer’ is considered as 

specific information and should be preceded by 

definite article ‘the’. The students showing the 

same error have semantic problem as they have 

difficulties to identify the specific reference of the 

NP. 

Indefinite ‘a/an’ for definite ‘the’ 

substitution: 3 errors 

This error was identified when students 

used definite ‘the’ article instead of indefinite 

‘a/an’ article as the correct form in their 

sentences. 

For example: In the sentence It has green 

fur with the small motif in its wings, the student 

made an error by using definite article ‘the’ to 

modify the NP ‘small motif’ instead of indefinite 

article ‘a’. The correct form should have been It 

has green fur with a small motif on its wing. This 

sentence is found in the text written by Tri R. (see 

Description of the Data) and the NP small motif 

is considered as new information in form of a 

singular noun. Thus, she had to use indefinite 

article ‘a’. The students who commited the same 

error show a pragmatic difficulty of 

understanding the hearer knowledge aspect in the 

sentence.     

Indefinite ‘a’ for indefinite ‘an’ 

substitution: 3 errors 

This error was identified when students 

used indefinite ‘an’ article instead of indefinite ‘a’ 

article as the correct form in their sentences. 

For example: In the sentence I have a idol, 

the student made an error by using indefinite 

article ‘a’ instead of indefinite article ’an’. The 

correct form should have been I have an idol. This 



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

7 

sentence is found in the text written by Lenny 

Riyanti (see Description of the Data) and 

included into the grammatical error. 

Based on the types of error explained 

above, the result can be drawn into a diagram as 

follows: 

 

After the data were classified, I used a 

formula proposed by Pica in order to accurately 

analyze the error distribution. In order to be 

accurate, the data identified from the students’ 

written descriptive texts, which obviously various 

in lengths, need to be normalized. According to 

Pica (in Barret and Chen 2011:11) ‘in a longer 

text, there are more opportunities for errors to 

occur, so ‘normalization’ is a formula that adjusts 

the raw frequency counts so texts of different 

lengths can be compared.’ Before the application 

of the normalization formula, the mean of the 

text length had to be counted first. 

Mean = 
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑠

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑠
 

The total words of the students’ descriptive 

texts were 3484 words from the total of 32 texts. 

Based on the formula previously explained, the 

mean can be determined as follow: 

Mean = 
3484

32
 

Thus, the mean of the text length is 109 

words per text 

Then, I analyzed the error distribution by 

using Pica’s normalization formula as follows: 

N= 
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦  𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡
𝑥𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 

(Pica, in Barret and Chen 2011:12). 

Finally, the accurate error distribution for 

the average of 109 words per text can be 

explained as follows: 

Article The Zero Indefinite 

‘a/an’ 

Fre

q 

% Fre

q 

% Freq % 

The   6.3 4.

65 

6.78 5 

Indefi

nite 

‘a/an’ 

3.0

2 

2.

2

3 

83.

32 

61

.5

1 

  

Zero 5.9

7 

4.

4

1 

  30.0

7 

22.1

9 

The table above is read from left to right. 

The vertical axis indicates the article being 

substituted while the horizontal one shows the 

article substitution. For example, reading the 

table from left to right indicates 4.65% the-for-zero 

substitution errors occurred. The highest errors 

which were exposed by the students are indefinite 

a/an-for-zero substitution (61.51%). The number of 

zero-for-the errors and a-for-the errors are low at 

5.97% and 2.23%, respectively, indicating that 

the frequency of definite article overuse is low. 

However, it seemed that the students underuse 

definite article for the result of the-for-zero and the-

for-a are 4.65% and 5% showing lack of 

understanding in term of specificity in using 

English articles. The result shows 61.51% 

indefinite a/an-for-zero errors, and 22.19% zero-for-

indefinite a/an errors as the highest exposed error 

in the students’ compositions. Based on the 

result, the students exposed more grammatical 

errors than pragmatic and semantic ones. 

Grammatical errors are due to noun countability 

in which the students must assign the indefinite 

article to singular nouns and zero article for plural 

or non-countable nouns. 

 

Triangulation 

The result shown in this research had 

already been triangulated to ensure the validity of 

the data analysis. In this case, I used investigator 

triangulation in order to check the validity of the 

error identification in the students’ compositions. 

At first, I identified the English articles errors 

0

20

40

60

80

100

a/an

for

zero

zero

for

a/an

zero

for

the

the

for

zero

the

for

a/an

a/an

for

the

a for

an



 

Sekar Bayu Swasti / Journal of English Language Teaching 5 (1) (2016) 

8 

found in the students’ compositions. Then, the 

second investigator who was the English teacher 

of class X MIA 1 (Sunaryo, S.Pd) also identified 

the English articles errors found in the texts. 

Lastly, I compared my errors identification result 

to his result. 

The data which had been compared then 

discussed as there were some differences between 

mine and the second investigator. However, they 

cannot be shown in the appendices for they do 

not affect the data analysis. The exact data result 

shown in the data analysis and the appendices 

were yielded after the discussion between me and 

the second investigator about the differences in 

our findings. 

 

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

Conclusions 

The main objective of this study is to 

determine the students’ acquisition of the use of 

English article system in their written descriptive 

text. Based on the data in Chapter IV, it is clearly 

defined that the students of class X MIA 1 did 

make errors on the use of English articles in their 

texts.  

Based on the result, the dominant error, 

indefinite a/an-for-zero substitution error, indicates 

that the students are apt to make errors in using 

English articles grammatically because they 

cannot differentiate appropriately between 

count/non-count nouns. Besides that, the 

students also made errors in using definite article 

which could be classified as errors regarding to 

the acquisition of pragmatic and semantic 

function of English article. Although the 

percentages of the errors are low, it is still 

concerned the errors might be led to the 

fossilization. 

The dominant error which shows the low 

mastery in understanding the differences between 

count/non-count nouns could affect the students’ 

learning in other aspects besides English article 

system. As we know, count/non-count is one of 

basic grammar features which the students have 

to master. Therefore, if they do not clearly 

understand it, they might find difficulties in 

learning other English features such as 

composing sentences referring to singular or 

plural nouns, unable to catch the meaning of 

noun with two meanings (count and 

uncountable), etc. 

 

Suggestions 

After conducting the research and 

measuring the students’ capability on using 

English article system in written descriptive texts, 

I suggest they pay more attention to the teaching 

and learning activities especially regarding to 

grammar. It is also best for them to increase their 

study towards English article system. 

For the teacher, I suggest that he should 

give more explicit explanation about the use of 

English article system. The teacher has to note 

that there is no rule such count/non-count in 

Bahasa Indonesia as the students’ first language 

that might become their difficulty in properly 

using English article system based on its noun 

countability. Furthermore, in order to follow up 

the teaching, the teacher should give more 

exercises to the students to improve their 

acquisition of English article system and give 

extra attention to the students who get low scores 

in their exercises and give them remedial 

teaching. 

The population of this study is limited to 

the tenth grade students of class X MIA 1 of SMA 

N 1 Binangun, Cilacap in the academic year 

2014/2015. Thus, it is suggested that an error 

analysis in the use of other English features can 

be conducted at other instutions. In the end,  we 

can see how the acquisition level of the students 

in Indonesia and give the best treatment to 

overcome their difficulties. Hopefully, the 

suggestions can help the students, the teachers, 

and the researchers to minimize the errors in 

using English articles and the teaching learning 

process will show a better result than before. 

 

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