AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE USE OF ARTICLE IN DESCRIPTIVE TEXT BY THE STUDENTS OF THE SEVENTH GRADE AT MTSN 3 AGAM
English writing is a fundamental skill in the Indonesian education system, yet it remains a significant challenge for many learners, particularly regarding grammatical accuracy. Among the various grammatical components, the correct usage of English articles (a, an, and the) is notably difficult for Indonesian EFL learners because their native language lacks a direct equivalent, leading to frequent errors. This study was conducted at MTsN 3 Agam with the primary objective of identifying and classifying the specific types of article errors made by seventh-grade students in their descriptive writing tasks. By pinpointing these linguistic hurdles, the research aims to provide a clearer understanding of the interlanguage development of young learners and the specific areas where they require the most pedagogical support. The research employed a descriptive qualitative design, analyzing 27 writing samples produced by students of class VII.1. The data collection involved a writing task where students described their favorite people, places, or pets. The identified errors were systematically classified using the Surface Strategy Taxonomy proposed by Dulay et al. (1982). The analysis revealed a total of 27 article-related errors. The results showed that omission was the most frequent error type, occurring 13 times (48.1%), followed by misformation with 11 instances (40.7%), and addition with 3 instances (11.2%). Notably, no misordering errors were found. These findings indicate that students predominantly struggle with the obligatory nature of articles, often failing to include them where required or substituting them incorrectly. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that seventh-grade students at MTsN 3 Agam face substantial difficulties in mastering English articles, largely influenced by the absence of a similar system in the Indonesian language. The high prevalence of omission and misformation errors suggests that students have not yet fully internalized the semantic and syntactic constraints of article usage. Based on these results, it is recommended that English educators move beyond implicit exposure and provide more explicit, targeted instruction on articles. Incorporating varied practice sessions, such as worksheets and interactive games like Quizizz or Kahoot, can help reinforce these rules and improve students' overall writing proficiency.