Analysis of Errors in the English Writings of Second Year English Major Students

7/27/2019 Analysis of Errors in the English Writings of Second Year English Major Students

1/41

ANALYSIS OF ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH WRITINGS

OF SECOND YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

RONALD CANDY S. LASATENMMSU College of Teacher Education

Laoag City

National Forum on Current and Emerging Practices

in Teacher Education:Challenges, Innovations and Transformations


2/41

Introduction

Humans are capable for learning and

acquiring a language.

Chomsky (1965) claimed the existence ofthe mysterious language acquisition

device (LAD) to explain the learners'

mastery of their native but still learners

normally commit linguistic errors,especially in the acquisition of the second

language.


3/41

There are two main reasons language

learners commit linguistic errors in the

second language.

1. interlingual/developmental

interference or negative language

transfer (Richards, Platt & Platt 1992)

2. intralingual interference

language being learned (TL),

independent of the native language(generalizations based on partial

exposure to the target language)


4/41

Among the four macro-linguistic tasks,

writing is the most dominantmanifestation of errors for it is the most

intricate and most complex task (Allen

& Corder 1974).

Its level of difficulty varies between

native speakers (NS) who think in the

language used (in our case it will be

English) and non-native speakers(NNS) who think in their own native

language (in this case it is Iluko).


5/41

While writing, non-native speakers

have, in general, to think about all

those rules they need to apply, rulesthat native speakers are supposed to

have automatized. Therefore, non-

native speakers are more prone to

making mistakes and/or committingerrors.

These linguistic errors are, in fact,

significant to Error Analysis, a type oflinguistic analysis that focuses on the

errors learners make.


6/41

It consists of a comparison between

the errors made in the target language

(TL) and that target language itself ofwhich Pit Corder (1974) is the

proponent.

This cognitive approach sees errors asa clue to what is happening in the

mind. In this approach, errors are seen

as a natural phenomenon that occurs

as a first or second language takesplace, before correct grammar rules

are completely internalized.


7/41

Moreover, Brown (1980) positively

viewed that such linguistic analysis

provides relevance to language

teaching, particularly in: 1) correcting

these errors in the classroom; 2)

providing grammatical explanations, and3) designing materials and curricula.

Indeed, the most noticeable language

errors are observed in learners writtenproductions.


8/41

In the tertiary level, the English major

students, in particular, are not excused

from the phenomenon despite that the

students are exposed to the language in

almost all of their academic subjects.

It is in this picture that the researcher

was encouraged to conduct an error

analysis to the written outputs of the

second year English major students ofthe Mariano Marcos State University

College of Teacher Education.


9/41

Objectives of the Study

The foregoing study has the following

objectives:

1) identify the types of errors committed bythe students in their English writings;

2) describe the errors made by the

students in their writings; and

3) draw out implications related to

language learning and teaching based

on the identified errors/difficulties..


10/41

Significance of the Study

Students The study could give them the

true picture of what they really need to

learn and eventually find strategies and

means to solve the identified difficulties.

Teachers The study could trigger them to

develop appropriate instructional

materials and use effective teachingtechniques, and construct suitable tests

that address the needs of the learners.


11/41

Significance of the Study

Syllabus and Curriculum Designers

The result of the study could help themdevelop responsive syllabus and

curriculum that directly address the

linguistic errors or difficulties of the

learners.


12/41

Scope & Delimitations

The study aimed at identifying and

describing the linguistic errors of the 25

second year English major students in their

English writings.

The Taxonomy for Error Analysis of Corder

(1974) was used to treat the students

errors.

The taxonomy of errors are classified as

to: grammatical, syntactic, semantic, lexical

and substance/mechanics.


13/41

Theoretical Framework

Transfer Theory describes the carryover of

previous performance or knowledge (L1) to

subsequent learning (L2).

Positive transferoccurs when the prior

knowledge benefits the learning task that is,

when a previous item is correctly applied to

present subject matter.

Negative transferoccurs when the previous

performance disrupts the performance on a

second task (interference/ interlingual transfer)


14/41


15/41

Theoretical Framework

Error Analysis (EA) looks at the product

(error) to the process (why students make

errors). Errors are seen as a natural

phenomenon that occurs as learning an L1

or L2 takes place, before correct grammar

rules are completely internalized.

Cognitivism is the theoretical base of EA

which sees errors as a clue to what is

happening in the mind.


16/41

Conceptual Framework

English Writings of theSecond Year English

Major Students

Error Analysis(Taxonomy of Error

Analysis)

Students errors on the

following aspects oflanguage :

grammatical semantic lexical syntactic substance/ mechanics

and their implications tolanguage learning &teaching


17/41

Methodology

Research Design

Qualitative/Descriptive Research Design

Locale & SamplingMMSU CTE, Laoag City

25 second year English major students

purposive sampling techniqueEnglish-American Literature Class


18/41

Methodology

Data Gathering Procedures

The students were asked to write a composition

observing the Standard English knowing thatthe students have already taken Introduction to

Linguistics and Structure of English. Likewise,

they were also instructed to write on not less

than 400 words but not more than 500 words.They were given sufficient time to write. They

started with an outline, then a first draft and a

final draft. Afterwards, the written outputs were

subjected to Error Analysis (EA).


19/41

Methodology

Research Instruments

Taxonomy of Errors with the following

categories:

grammatical

semantic

lexical syntactic

substance/ mechanics


20/41

Methodology

Research Instruments

English writings of the second year

English major students in one of theirliterature classes.

Statistical Treatment

Frequency

Percentage

Rank


21/41

Findings/Results

Students Errors in their English Writings

Grammatical Errors (f) Percentage Rank

Tenses of verbs 38 49.35 1

Use of prepositions 13 16.88 2

Use of articles 12 15.58 3

Reported Speech 3 3.90 4.5

Infinitives 3 3.90 4.5

Singular/Plural 2 2.60 7.5 Adjectives 2 2.60 7.5

Relative Clauses 2 2.60 7.5

Possessive Case 2 2.60 7.5


22/41

Verbs/Consistency of Tense

I answered and being obedient to

him, I agree to what he wants me to

take up.

I took a huge, heavy breath and

slowly get up my bed.

But an incident was happened.


23/41

Use of Prepositions/Articles

I cannot get rid from (of) the mistake...

I was --- (in) second year high school...

... that can hurt --- (the) feelings of others.

A question I usually asked myself.


24/41

Findings/Results

The result implies that the students were

not properly guided for being consistent

in verb tenses and in the use ofprepositions and articles. Thus, they

have to be given writing exercises that

could enhance their knowledge in the

consistent use of verb tenses and theproper use of prepositions and articles.


25/41

Findings/Results

Syntactic Errors (f) Percentage Rank

Sentence structure 33 73.33 1

Coordination /

Conjunction 5 11.11 2

Nouns & Pronouns 5 11.11 3

Word Order 2 4.44 4


26/41

Sentence Structure

... I was excited to be one of the centerof attraction...

Myself undesirable and unwanted.

(The student could not differentiate a

fragment from a sentence.)

...when we were together and hanging

out with each other.

(very wordy)


27/41

Findings/Results

The finding means that the students have poor

knowledge on correct structure of English

sentences thus leading to confusion in the

meanings of their sentences. Thus, the needfor their teachers to give enrichment activities

on the said aspect is important. Also, the

teachers need to encourage and expose the

students to various reading materials toimprove their linguistic skills, particularly in the

syntactic aspect of language focusing on

sentence structure.


28/41

Findings/Results

Lexical Errors (f) Percentage Rank

Word Choice 18 100 1

This implies that students vocabulary is

limited, which leads them to inappropriate

and improper word choice. Thus, theirteachers have to encourage them to read a

lot of materials to increase their vocabulary

banks.


29/41

Word Choice

I took a huge, heavy breath and

slowly...

...those days bumped on my

mind...

they addjoy in our lives

and findits solution.


30/41

Findings/Results

Semantic Errors (f) Percentage Rank

Literal Translation 18 100 1

The students could not express their ideas well in

English, thus they tend to translate their ideas

literally from Iluko to English language and the

intended meanings change due to very literaltranslation. It is believed that such error has been

caused by the interference and the negative

transfer of the L1 to the L2.


31/41

Literal Translation

Repentance comes at last. - English

Ti panagbabawi ket ada itikamaudyanan na. - Iluko


32/41

Findings/Results

Mechanical Errors (f) Percentage Rank

Punctuations 33 64.71 1Spelling 15 21.41 2

Capitalization 3 5.89 3


33/41

Punctuations

...because we did things according to

how we wanted it done...

No, the other father you have, he replied.(Direct quotation/speech)

Sometimes _ you have to make a big

mistake just to figure it out.

(Sometimes,you have to make a big

mistake just to figure it out.)


34/41

Findings/Results

It can be implied that the students

have difficulties on mechanics of

writing, particularly on the use ofpunctuations and correct spelling.

Thus, the teachers have to give

remediation on this aspect of writingto overcome the said difficulties.


35/41

Findings/Results

Summary of errors transpired in the students

writings.

Linguistic Errors (f) % Rank

Grammatical 77 39.09 1

Mechanical 51 25.89 2

Syntactic 45 22.84 3

Lexical 18 9.14 4Semantic 6 3.05 5

Total 197 100%


36/41

Conclusions

With all the indicated results, it can be

concluded that the second year English

major students of the Mariano MarcosState University College of Teacher

Education manifest different linguistic

errors in their writings. Thus, they have

difficulties in the English language.


37/41

Conclusions

The errors mostly committed by the

students fall under grammatical,

mechanics (substance) and syntactic

aspects of the English language.

Thus, the students need remedial

instruction along these areas to overcome

the identified difficulties. Teachers,likewise, are encouraged to develop

instructional materials responsive to the

students identified difficulties.


38/41

Recommendations

1. Language researchers should conduct same

study to similar students with another set of

their English writings so as to validate the

indicated result and findings.

2. Language researchers and language

teachers should conduct a more

comprehensive study on error analysis,covering a bigger number of students and a

wider range of materials (writings) to validate

the result of the study.


39/41

Recommendations

3. Language teachers should use theresults and findings in error analysis to

determine the emphasis of their language

instruction and develop remedialinstructional materials that address

foregoing students needs.

4. Syllabus designers need to improve their

syllabi based on the results and findingsfrom studies and investigations (e.g. error

analysis) to suit with the needs of the

learners.


40/41

Recommendations

5. Curriculum developers need to review

the existing language curriculum in the

tertiary level and incorporate targetstandards and competencies that

address students linguistic errors in

writing.


41/41

Thank you for listening!

Documents

Analysis of Errors in the English Writings of Second Year English Major Students