ANALISIS KESALAHAN PENGGUNAAN HURUF KAPITAL DALAM TEKS NARASI SISWA KELAS V SD

Abstract

This research is driven by the widespread mechanical errors made by elementary school students in applying capitalization rules within their writing. This study aims to identify and comprehensively describe the types of capitalization errors in narrative texts written by fifth-grade students, as well as to determine the most dominant error patterns. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study design, this research analyzed a narrative text titled "Tono's Holiday," written by fifth-grade students at SD Negeri 55 Palembang. Data were gathered through non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews with classroom teachers, and documentation of students' written work. Data trustworthiness was ensured through triangulation and member checking, while data analysis followed the interactive stages of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The findings reveal various forms of capitalization errors, reflecting an uneven level of student comprehension. The identified error patterns include misapplications at the beginning of sentences, proper nouns (people's names), and days of the week. Among these, errors in capitalizing the first letter of a sentence emerged as the most dominant pattern, whereas errors in capitalizing days occurred with the lowest frequency. These recurring errors are triggered by both internal factors, such as students' hasty writing habits without proofreading, and external factors, including limited instructional time allocated for spelling, the absence of collaborative editing stages, and teacher evaluation bias that prioritizes narrative substance over mechanical spelling details.