English is one of the most important languages in this globalization era. In order to compete with others and have a successful life, people have to learn English as the second language besides their mother tongue. In learning a language, people
have to concern with its grammar because it will help them a lot to perform better in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Batstone (1994, p.4) stated that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable
guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified.” In addition, Osborn (1989) stated that grammar shows us how its parts operate and how it can be combined together to become a sentence. Therefore, teachers teach grammar to their students in order to help them master oral and written language.
One of the grammar parts that people have to learn is passive voice. It is more commonly used in written than in oral language. Eastwood (1999, p.134) stated that “we use passive in both speech and writing, but it is more common in writing.
We see it especially in the textbooks and reports.” Moreover, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1983) mentioned that people use passive when they want to emphasize the result of the action, the agent does not need to be stated, and passive
form is more suitable than the active form in the complex sentence. Therefore, passive voice is important in learning English because people have to deal with it. High school students must learn English because they have to develop the ability to
communicate in oral and written in order to achieve the level of informational literacy in which they have to be able to access knowledge (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2008). |