Morphological Challenges in English Inflection Morphemes Acquisition among Indonesian EFL Learner
A Descriptive Quantitative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/foster-jelt.v7i4.514Keywords:
EFL Learners, Inflectional Morphemes, Morphological Difficulties, Phonological Salience, Third-Person SingularAbstract
This study investigated the difficulties experienced by eleventh-grade students at MAN 2 Kota Palu in using English inflectional morphemes and the factors influencing those difficulties. The study employed a descriptive quantitative design involving 217 students selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a grammar test and a questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated and tested for reliability using SPSS, while the data were analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages. The findings showed that the progressive form (-ing) was the most successfully answered morpheme (30%), whereas the third-person singular form (-s) was the most difficult (11%), followed by the past participle form (-ed/-en) (13%). The questionnaire revealed that students’ difficulties were mainly influenced by first-language interference and phonological reduction or low salience (68%), followed by limited exposure and practice (67%) and instructional factors (58%). These findings indicate that students’ difficulties stem from both linguistic and instructional factors rather than grammatical knowledge alone. The findings suggest that English teachers should provide more focused instruction on difficult inflectional morphemes through explicit explanation, contextualized practice, and increased opportunities for meaningful language use.
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