Substitution and Misordering Errors in Indonesian Academic Writing: A Syntactic Analysis of Grammatical Deviations

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze patterns of grammatical errors in Indonesian academic writing, focusing on substitution and misordering. The research employs a qualitative descriptive method, using data collected from students’ written texts. The data consist of ungrammatical sentences that were selected and classified based on specific error types, particularly the misuse of prepositions, incorrect correlative pairings, and improper arrangement of sentence elements. The analysis reveals that substitution errors frequently occur in the use of correlative prepositions, such as the incorrect pairing of antara … dengan … and antara … terhadap …, as well as the misuse of di in temporal contexts instead of pada. In addition, misordering errors are found in phrase and sentence structures, especially in noun phrases that do not follow the standard head–modifier pattern. These errors result in reduced clarity and grammatical inaccuracy. The findings indicate that learners still have difficulties in applying fixed grammatical rules and appropriate syntactic structures in academic writing. This study highlights the importance of explicit grammar instruction to improve learners’ writing accuracy and provides insights for educators in addressing common grammatical problems.