A STUDY ON THE ABILITY OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM FKIP UNIVERISTAS RIAU IN IDENTIFYING THE APPROPRIATE MEANING EXPRESSED BY MODAL AUXILIARIES

Abstract

Abstract: This research was aimed to find out the ability of the English Study Program FKIP Universitas Riau in identifying the appropriate meaning expressed by modal auxiliaries. The population of this research was the first year students of English Study Program FKIP Universitas Riau with the total number of 111 students. The number of the sample was 34 students selected by using cluster sampling technique. The instrument to collect the data was a test in the form of multiple choice tests which consisted of 40 questions. The test was used to know the ability of the students in identifying the appropriate meaning expressed by modal auxiliaries specifically the meanings of permission, obligation, possibility and ability. The data were analyzed by classifying them into four levels of ability, which are poor, poor to average, average to good, and good to excellent. Based on the findings of the research, it was found out that the ability of the first year students of English Study Program FKIP Univeristas Riau in identifying the appropriate meaning expressed by modal auxiliaries was in average to good level with the mean score of 66.10. The implication of this research is that the second year students of English Study Program FKIP Universitas Riau had good ability in identifying the appropriate meaning expressed by modal auxiliaries.
Key Words: Study, ability, identifying, modal auxiliaries