Abstract
This paper investigated the problems of understanding basic or fundamental tenses in English grammar (the present tense, present continuous tense, present future tense, and present future continuous) that are faced by the first semester students of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. Basic tenses in English grammar play a decisive role in various aspects related to learning English as the target language. Accordingly, it is essential to conduct a study on the issues of basic tenses in order to assist students to overcome their grammatical problems. Data were collected through questionnaires that were emailed to the participants. Results showed that the students had difficulties in producing or analyzing the present continuous tense, the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous tense. The first semester students also faced difficulty in remembering the formula of each tense, admitting that they did not review the basic tenses regularly and the students found it difficult to comprehend their grammar lessons well in the classroom.DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijiet.2018.020206
Highlights
In Indonesia, English is taught as a first foreign language (Lauder, 2008) and it is included in the Indonesian curriculum which states that the students should have English lessons in their school
44% of the students regarded that the Present Perfect Tense (PPT) was difficult but more than fifty percent (52%) students assumed that the Present Perfect Continuous Tense (PPCT) was the most difficult tense compared with the other three
Most of students who involved in this study assume that Present Perfect Continuous Tense is the most difficult and complicated tense to be learned
Summary
In Indonesia, English is taught as a first foreign language (Lauder, 2008) and it is included in the Indonesian curriculum which states that the students should have English lessons in their school. It might because that English is global language (Lauder, 2008) that is used by many people around the world to be able to communicate each other so that Indonesia Government of education include English as one of the compulsory subjects to be taught at schools. Lie (2007, see Bram, 2016, p.58) said that the university students who do not take English-based study program, like the English Education or English Arts Study Program are given an English course “two hours per week” to improve their English skills, especially in speaking for good communication in English. It is to prepare the universities students to have good skills to communication in English
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