Students’ Perception of Using Phrase Structure in Understanding of Sentence Construction

Abstract

Understanding sentence construction is important for students when learning English. However, students usually have difficulties constructing various types of sentences. This study tried to investigate the students’ perceptions of the use of phrase structure in understanding sentence construction. The instrument used to get the data in this research are questionnaires and interviews. 29 students participated in filling out the questionnaire and 7 students participated in an interview. The student’s perceptions are focused on 3 aspects, such as students’ comprehension, students’ advantages, and students’ satisfaction. For students’ comprehension, 35,8% agree, 13,5% are neutral, and 7% disagree. For student satisfaction, 31,3% agree, 16,0% are neutral and 2,6% disagree. For students’ advantages, 31,3% agree, 9,0% are neutral, and 6% disagree. The results of the questionnaire showed that students positively perceived the benefit of phrase structure in constructing sentences. The interview related to the student’s comprehension; it showed that using phrase structure can help students understand the concept of sentences. Finally, it can be concluded that using phrase structure can increase students’ understanding of various types of sentence construction.