NOTICE OF THESIS EXAM ERRICHA FEBRIANTY

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NOTICE OF THESIS EXAM

 

 

 ERRICHA FEBRIANTY

202200010012

 

 

JULY 22, 2026, 09:00 AM

Building C, 7th fl., Room: C706

 

Adviser           : Ekarina, Ph. D.

Examiners     : Ferdinan Okki Kurniawan, Ph.D. & Dr. Engliana, M.Hum.

 

Title

 

 CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH REFERRING

EXPRESSION USAGE PATTERNS BY INDONESIAN

LEARNERS

 

ABSTRACT

 

This study aims to analyze patterns of the use of referring expressions in English by Indonesian EFL learners at two proficiency levels—Beginner and Intermediate—based on the Givenness Hierarchy framework developed by Gundel, Hedberg, and Zacharski (1993, 2006). This study employs a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative analysis to identify the type of cognitive status for each referring expression in the data, as well as quantitative analysis to calculate and compare the frequency of each cognitive status across the Beginner and Intermediate groups.

The research data were obtained from 40 transcripts of oral storytelling based on a series of pictures produced by 20 Indonesian EFL learners, with each learner producing two stories based on two different picture topics. All data were analyzed using the coding protocol by Gundel et al. (2006) to classify each referential expression into six cognitive status categories: IN FOCUS, ACTIVATED, FAMILIAR, UNIQUELY IDENTIFIABLE, REFERENTIAL, and TYPE IDENTIFIABLE.

The results of the analysis showed that of the total 689 referential expressions identified, the IN FOCUS status was the most dominant at 51.67%, followed by REFERENTIAL (20.03%), UNIQUELY IDENTIFIABLE (15.09%), ACTIVATED (9.29%), and FAMILIAR (3.92%). The TYPE IDENTIFIABLE status was not found at all in the entire dataset. A comparison between the two groups shows that the Intermediate group used the ACTIVATED status at a much higher rate (12.93%) than the Beginner group (3.94%). In contrast, the Beginner group exhibited a higher proportion of REFERENTIAL (27.60%) compared to the Intermediate group (14.88%). The forms of deictics found in the IN FOCUS category include personal pronouns such as he, she, they, his, her, and their, as well as character names used repeatedly. The REFERENTIAL category is dominated by indefinite noun phrases with the articles a or an, while the UNIQUELY IDENTIFIABLE and ACTIVATED categories are dominated by definite noun phrases with the article the, derived through bridging inference or situational context.

The qualitative analysis also identified several deviations from the standard Givenness Hierarchy, including inconsistencies in the use of gender pronouns (he and she)—particularly among Beginners—the omission of articles in newly introduced noun phrases, and the phenomenon of overexplicitness, characterized by the repetition of full noun phrases in contexts where pronouns should have been used. These deviations were interpreted through various theoretical frameworks of second language acquisition, including Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1985), Selinker’s Interlanguage Theory (1972), Swain’s Output Hypothesis (1985, 1995), as well as the Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) framework by Rose and Galloway (2019) and the concept of intelligibility in the context of English as a Lingua Franca by Jenkins (2000) and Deterding (2013).

The findings of this study indicate that the process of mastering referential expressions in English by Indonesian learners is gradual, progressing from basic abilities in introducing and maintaining referents to more complex abilities in activating referents through situational contexts. This study has significant pedagogical implications for English language instruction in Indonesia, particularly in developing students’ discourse competencies oriented toward communicative effectiveness in the context of global English.

 

Keywords: reference expressions, Givenness Hierarchy, Indonesian EFL learners, contrastive analysis, cognitive status, second language acquisition, discourse competence