This final project is about difficulties in using past tense to write recount text at the eighth grade students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan in academic year of 2013/2014.
The objectives of the study are to describe the problem faced which made by the eighth grade students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan, and to describe the causes of using past tense which are made by the Eighth Grade Students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan in Academic Year 2013/2014.
This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. The population of the study was the eighth grade students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan in academic year of 2013/2014 which is consists 245 students and the researcher just take 16% or 40 students as a sample. The writer used cluster sampling.
To collect the data, the writer used test. After the data collected, the writer analyzed students’ work to find out the types by identifying, describing, explaining, and evaluating the difficulties.
The result showed that most problem faced by students was misinformation. The second rank was misordering. From all problem faced were made by the eighth grade students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan, the difficulties were caused by the mother tongue (first language) interferences and overgeneralization.
Key words: Difficulties, Past Tense, Descriptive Research

• THE STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN USING PAST TENSE TO WRITE RECOUNT TEXT (The Case Study of the Eighth Grade Students of MTs Salafiyah Hidayatul Athfal Pekalongan in Academic Year 2013/2014)