A Corpus-Based Study on English Prepositions of Place, in and on

Abstract

This corpus-based study examined the usage, mastery and developmental pattern (Norwati, 2004) of English prepositions of place, in and on across three different academic levels namely Form 4, Form 5 and College students. The Malaysian Corpus of Students Argumentative Writing (MCSAW) was used as the source of data in analyzing the use of prepositions of place, in and on in the students' argumentative essays. In achieving this, the concordance output was utilized to determine the frequency and types of errors made by students. This paper also presents other common errors in relation to the usage of these two prepositions. The findings showed that in terms of mastery levels and developmental pattern, there was no steady progress from Form 4 to Form 5. Yet, the College students managed to show a positive development in the use of prepositions of place, in and on. The findings also revealed that students are confused between in and on as well as using them with or without articles correctly. The findings of this study can benefit English teachers in teaching prepositions of place and the use of MCSAW can be fully utilized by teachers for further future researches.

Use of Question-And-Answer Method in Teaching English Prepositions to Primary School Learners

“…The use of questioning strategy assisted learners to master English prepositions of movement. The finding was incongruent with what, Arjan et al (2013) posited that it is difficult for foreign language learners to master the use of English prepositions of movement correctly.…”

“…Teaching technique and language use within the classroom environment is, in this regard, seen in terms of the need to communicate meaning to ensure access to knowledge of English prepositions and thereby foster individual development (Cleghorn & Rollnick, 2002). Arjan, Abdullah and Roslim (2013) indicate that it is difficult for foreign language learners to master the use of English prepositions correctly as many English prepositions have several different functions. In addition, Lorintz and Gordon's (2012) English prepositions are very difficult for English language learners to master due to the sheer number of them in the English language and their polysemous nature.…”

Investigating Preposition Usage Problems of English Language Education Study Program Students

“…Looking at the problems in using the prepositions which are shown in the previous studies (Arjan, Abdullah, & Roslim, 2013;Huang, 2010;Johanson, 2017;Loke et al, 2013;Mahmoodzadeh, 2012;Saravanan, 2014;Sudhakaran, 2015;Viloria, Ruiz, & Sanchez, 2017), the students tend to misuse the prepositions. From those misuses, Bram (2005); Chodorow, Tetreault, and Han (2007); and Jha (1991) categorized them into three types of preposition misuses:…”

“…In Malaysia, the students have difficulties in using prepositions on and at to indicate the time (Loke et al, 2013). Another study showed how Malaysian students also expesaga, Vol 2(1), February 2021 rienced difficulties in using prepositions of place, in and on (Arjan, Abdullah, & Roslim, 2013). All of them still look at how important the use of prepositions in writing is.…”

Pemanfaatan Video Online Dalam Pemahaman Materi Preposition of Time and Place (At, In, On)

“…Permasalahan ini juga ditemukan dalam penelitian sebelumnya. Siswa merasa bingung dalam menggunakan preposisi in dan on serta mereka tidak mengalami perkembangan yang signifikan dari satu jenjang pendidikan ke satu jenjang yang lain yang lebih tinggi (Arjan;Roslim, 2013). Hal serupa juga terjadi pada penutur asli Bahasa Arab yang menghasilkan beragam kesalahan dalam penggunaan preposisi.…”