TENSES PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY ENGLISH FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

Abstract

Learners often avoid a shift of tense since they have problems understanding and using it correctly and adequately. This research aimed to investigate and describe the tenses problems encountered by advanced students of the English Language Education Study Program in Lambung Mangkurat University and the causes of those tenses problems. This research was conducted using the descriptive-qualitative method. The subjects were the students who had passed all three structure courses in the English Language Education Study Program of Lambung Mangkurat University. The researcher used a questionnaire, tenses test, and interviews as the instrument to gather the data. The data were analyzed qualitatively and using the descriptive method for the tenses test. The research result revealed that the students often encounter problems on perfect tenses and tenses that have more than one aspect. They have structural problems mostly on irregular verbs and memorizing long formula; then the semantical problem mostly identifies the kind of tense to use semantically. The causes of the problems are mainly because of lack of input and practice result in feeling unfamiliar with certain tenses, also the students rarely use certain tenses such as perfect tense so that they prefer to use other tenses they are familiar with. It is suggested that there is more input and practice for the students in tenses that they rarely use in daily life.