English Affixation in Translated Short Stories: Student Error Analysis

International Journal of English Linguistics, Literature, and Education (IJELLE) Vol. 5 , No. 2, December 2023, pp. 87-98 ISSN 2686-0120 (print), 2686-5106 (online) 87 http://journal.univetbantara.ac.id/index.php/ijelle/index English Affixation in Translated Short Stories: Student Error Analysis Indri Wirahmi Bay a,1,, Sri Widyarti Ali*b,2, Nurwegya Dehi b,3 a,b, English Education Study Program, Letters and Culture Faculty, Gorontalo State University, Indonesia. , * * Corresponding Author 1 Received September 28, 2023 ; accepted January 22, 2023 ; published January 22, 2023 ABSTRACT This research scrutinizes the prevalent issue of English affixation errors in the writing of EFL students. These errors have substantial implications for the semantic accuracy of translated words from the student's native language into English. The study focuses on errors in short stories translated by students from Translation Class at the English Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. The research objectives encompass the identification and categorization of errors in English affixation usage and an exploration of their underlying causes. Dulay, Burt, and Krashen's error classification framework (2016), including omission, addition, misformation, and misordering, is employed and adapted for specific categories of English affixation errors. The study also investigates the causes of these errors, including interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning, and communication strategies, as outlined by Brown (2014). Utilizing a qualitative descriptive research approach, the study provides a comprehensive analysis of error types and their causative factors related to affixation. The research data, derived from short stories translated by students in the Translation Class at the English Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Gorontalo, comprises words exhibiting errors in the use of affixation in the English language, encompassing both inflectional and derivational affixes. Drawing upon Ellis's data analysis technique (1997), the researchers identified, described, and explained these errors. The findings reveal omission as the most prevalent error, followed by addition and misformation, each encompassing inflectional and derivational affixes. Notably, the inflectional suffix -ed, signifying the past tense, is a recurrent source of errors. These errors predominantly stem from intralingual transfer, with contextual learning, interlingual transfer, and communication strategies also contributing. In summary, differences in affixation usage between Indonesian and English significantly impact student translations of short stories. KEYWORDS Error analysis, English affixation, Translated shortstories This is an openaccess article under the CC–BY-SA license 1. Introduction The acquisition of language skills typically commences with the acquisition of vocabulary before achieving mastery of various linguistic competencies. Napa (1991, p.6) posits that words constitute a fundamental component of any language, and without them, a language would cease to exist. Within the framework of morphology, the structure of words is composed of morphemes, which are the smallest linguistic units endowed with both meaning and grammatical function. Lieber (2009, p.34) delineates this structure into two categories: free morphemes, capable of autonomous existence as standalone words, and bound morphemes, necessitating attachment to free morphemes for meaningful expression. doi :10.32585/ijelle.v5i2.4601 International Journal of English Linguistics, Literature, and Education (IJELLE) Vol. 5, No. 2, December 2023, pp. 87-98 88 ISSN 2686-0120 (print), 2686-5106 (online) Morphemes can manifest in different ways, forming entire words like "cook" or contributing meaningful segments such as the "-ed" suffix in "cooked." The most granular elements responsible for grammatical function within a word are referred to as affixes. Carstairs-McCarthy (2018) elucidates that affixation, a subtype of bound morphemes, is reliant on a root or base and cannot independently function as words. This linguistic phenomenon permeates all language skills, encompassing listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Notably, English exhibits distinct characteristics in affixation when juxtaposed with other languages, further dividing it based on function and position. Affixation, the addition of morphemes to a base word, encompasses two key functions. Inflection, altering grammatical function without changing word categories, is evident in examples like "children," derived from "child." Derivation generates new words with meaning shifts, such as "friendly" from "friend." Affixation's positional categorization involves prefixes ("unhappy"), infixes ("blinking" in some languages), suffixes ("doer" from "do"), and circumfixes ("redoing" with both prefix and suffix). These examples illustrate how affixation plays a vital role in language by modifying both form and meaning. The utilization of English affixation presents challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, as observed through preliminary investigations within the English Education Study Program at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. These students' affixation difficulties may stem from the influence of their native language, Indonesian, when applying English affixation rules. For instance, the addition of the English suffix "-s" to the collocation "day by day," altering its meaning and grammatical function, exemplifies the prevalent issue. These affixation challenges can be categorized as linguistic errors. Kalee et al. (2018) define language errors as deviations from standard rules and grammatical norms in Indonesian. Such errors are commonly found in spoken and written text, referred to as text errors. Error analysis, as outlined by Brown (2014), is the process of observing, analyzing, and classifying linguistic errors to uncover the structural patterns employed by learners. Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (2016) have categorized errors into four fundamental types: omission (absence of an obligatory element), addition (use of extraneous grammatical elements), misformation (incorrect morpheme or structure usage), and misordering (improper arrangement of morphemes within an utterance). Language structure errors can be discerned within written texts, which serve as essential communication mediums. These erroneous texts encompass academic writing, necessitating strict adherence to grammar rules, as well as literary works that contribute to language learning and entertainment. Short stories, in particular, are a popular and accessible literary form, often characterized by narratives, dialogues, a limited cast of characters, and self-contained incidents. Short stories provide a unique opportunity to examine language style, occasionally revealing lexical and morphological errors. Several studies have delved into error analysis concerning affixatio (...truncated)